Bozeman Build #47

Welcome back to the Bozeman Build Report covering trade news around Montana and the Northern Rockies! Today we found out about the January MT USDA Newsletter, Missouri River runoff projected to be 79% of average, Glacier Bancorp inks deal to acquire Bank of Idaho, DNRC harvest near Whitefish, new 100 acre development in Great Falls, Montana timber industry trying to bounce back after a rough 2024, Spring Creek Coal Mine receives permission to expand production, more Commerce downtown grants announced, too much broadband money, Red Lodge received $3M for 2022 flood related repairs, Iowa based Decker Truck Line shuts down Missoula's terminal, cost of milk around the Yellowstone region. We also overheard that Wyoming is looking to build its own version of Mount Rushmore and that the State finally approved a location to retire decommissioned wind turbines.

Thanks for reading,

Daniel

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_{When and what is the Bozeman Build? The BB is a 1x/week free email newsletter delivered Monday mornings focused on Montana trades. We are not a financial or building advisors.}

Bozeman, Montana, and Nearby Trade Pulse

Montana trade pulse

January 2025 USDA Montana Newsletter

• Montana FSA Program Dates/Deadlines

• Montana FSA Offices are Hiring

• Montana’s Next Generation Conference returns to Shelby, MT, Feb. 1, 2025

• The USDA 1994 Tribal Scholars Program – Application Period is Open! DUE January 31, 2025

• Disaster Assistance for 2024 Livestock Forage Losses in 36 Montana counties

• Disaster Assistance Available for Livestock Losses

• FSA Apply Now Packets Available for Outreach and Customer Support

• Applying for Youth Loans

• Applying for Beginning Farmer Loans

• Register Now for the 2025 Montana Soil Health Symposium

• USDA to Enhance Support for Farmers with Increased Replant Payments

• NASS Important Updates

Jan. 8, 2025 Below-average runoff and reservoir storage expected for the Missouri River Mainstem System in 2025. For the 2024 calendar year, Missouri River basin runoff above Sioux City, Iowa totaled 23.3 million acre-feet, 91% of average. Dry conditions continue to affect the upper Missouri River Basin at the start of the 2025 calendar year, so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is forecasting below-average runoff into the mainstem reservoir system. For 2025, runoff in the Missouri River basin above Sioux City, Iowa is forecast to be 20.2 MAF, 79% of average. (US Army Corps of Engineers)

January 13, 2025 Glacier Bancorp. based in Kalispell said it signed a deal to buy Bank of Idaho Holding Company and hopes to close the transaction in the second quarter of this year if it can get regulators to sign off. Since the year 2000, Glacier has purchased 26 banks, with 12 of those in the last year. In addition to Mountain West, Citizens and Wheatland, Glacier has subsumed Heritage Bank of Nevada, First Community Bank of Utah, Altabank, Foothills Bank, Bank of the San Juans, Collegiate Peaks Bank, First State Bank, First Bank of Wyoming, Western Security Bank, First Security Bank, First Bank of Montana and Valley Bank. (Boise Dev)

January 14 2025 The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), Kalispell and the Stillwater Unit are proposing a forest management project, located about 4 miles west of Whitefish, MT. The proposed projects would harvest approximately 3 million board feet of timber from 1700 acres (Kalispell Unit) and 2800 acres (Stillwater Unit) (DNRC)

Jan 14, 2025 On the east side of Great Falls, Ted Mitchell of Mitchell Development & Investments has announced plans for "The Falls." This expansive 100-acre mixed-use development on 57th Street will feature 630,000 square feet of retail and office space, two hotels, 831 residential units, over a dozen restaurants, and two miles of trails. The project, estimated to cost between $500-700 million, includes 20 acres of landscaped public spaces and aims to become Montana’s premier destination for shopping, entertainment, living, and business. (Montana Right Now)

January 14, 2025 The recent collapse of western Montana's timber industry did more than eliminate jobs, it also left Missoula County and various management agencies with one less tool to manage area forests. But county commissioners on Monday joined officials with the Bureau of Land Management and the Blackfoot Challenge to explore ways to bring the necessary partners to the table and revitalize the region's timber industry. (Missoula Current)

Jan 14, 2025 The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement announced last week that it has prepared an environmental impact statement that allows the expansion that the owners of the Spring Creek Mine, located near Decker, first requested nearly two decades ago could increase its coal production by 19 million tons.

Spring Creek is the largest coal mine in Montana and one of the largest in the country. In 2023, it produced more than 12 million tons of coal, making it the eighth-largest coal mine nationally. According to the Montana Chamber of Commerce, the mine employs about 265 people. (KBZK)

January 15 2025 The Montana Department of Commerce announced today that nine Montana towns, cities and counties will share nearly $300,000 of grant funding to help plan significant community development projects. The funding is through Commerce’s Community Development Block Grant Planning Grant Program. (Commerce MT)

January 15, 2025 Montana has close to a billion dollars to expand high-speed broadband internet to all corners of the state. A new program beginning this fall at community colleges across western Montana will help grow the workforce needed for the effort. Around twenty percent of Montana lacks reliable access to high speed internet. (MTPR)

Jan 16, 2025 Red Lodge is set to receive nearly $3 million from the federal Economic Development Association to assist with repairs related to the 2022 floods. Red Lodge Mayor Dave Westwood said the money will go toward upgrading the stormwater system in town, which he said has been a problem long before the floods. (KTVQ)

January 16 2025 The Montana Department of Commerce announced today that more than $1.1 million in grant funding has been awarded to five Montana communities to support vital public safety and development projects in coal-impacted areas. The funding was allocated to these communities by the Montana Coal Board. (Commerce MT)

January 16, 2025 The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities today announced that Waded Cruzado, president of Montana State University and a champion of the public and land-grant university mission, will become the association’s next president July 1. (MSU News)

January 17, 2025 Family-owned Decker Truck Line Inc. of Fort Dodge, Iowa, confirmed that it has permanently closed its terminal in Missoula, Montana, citing findings from a thorough review of its operations and freight network as the main reason for the closure. (Freight Waves)

Milk Money$

How much is a gallon of Lucerne 2% Milk around the Yellowstone Region? Albertsons.com has a shop online tool where I researched the price of milk across 15 cities within a 7 hour drive time of Bozeman and found Boise to be the cheapest and Jackson to be the most expensive.

Bozeman trade pulse

Jan 07, 2025 Bozeman Real Estate Market Predictions for 2025 (Bozeman Real Estate Group)

Jan 16, 2025 Chick-fil-A confirms submitted plans for 19th Avenue location in Bozeman (KULR8) Chick-fil-A currently has 4 locations across Montana.

January 14, 2025 Bridger Aerospace Secures $20 Million 5-Year Contract with the U.S. Department of the Interior (Bridger Aerospace)

Jan 16, 2025 Belgrade-based aerial firefighting company Bridger Aerospace has about 10 people and sent two super scoopers to fight LA fires. (Bridger Aerospace)

January 17th 2025 The Guthrie, a proposed affordable housing project that has been the source of controversy over the past year, received preliminary approval from Bozeman city planners this week. A condition of final approval now rests on the installation of a roundabout as a traffic-calming measure. The proposed building would now be four stories high instead of five and have 91 units available for rent, down from 111. Of the 91 units, 46 will be priced affordably for residents making 80% of the area median income. Ten of those units will be studios -- a new unit type in this application -- 29 will be one-bedroom units and seven will be two-bedroom units. (NBC Montana)

Bozeman Classifieds

Classifieds posted last week in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle

• Jan 18, 2025 - ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID - Construction of a 105-space parking lot including 2 access drives - STORY MILL COMMUNITY PARK

• Jan 18, 2025 - INVITATION TO BID - Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport East Terminal Project – Schedule 2

• Jan 18, 2025 - The Gallatin Airport Authority is requesting proposals for financial and compliance audit services for the Gallatin Airport Authority for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2025, 2026 and 2027

• Jan 16, 2025 - Garbage Service for the City of Three Forks as a Customer

• Jan 16, 2025 - Request for Proposals (RFP) for Hidden Creek Apartments a new 182-unit affordable housing development across 5 buildings on a 5.8 acre site in Bozeman, MT.

Overheard Nearby

January 13, 2025 - Wyoming - A half dozen state legislators want Wyoming to have its own Mount Rushmore. Six sponsors have filed House Bill 106, “Monument to America,” calling for $40,000 to establish a task force to recommend a monument by the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026. (Wyo File)

January 17, 2025 - Wyoming - After three and a half years, the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has released the Record of Decision regarding the repurposing of inert decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers in Wyoming. In 2020, the Wyoming Legislature adopted HB0129, setting standards governing the use of decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers to backfill surface coal mining sites. (DEQ Wyoming)

Jan 14, 2025 - Utah - Members of the Weber County Commission unanimously voted last month to approve plans for a massive redevelopment around the Nordic Valley Ski Resort in the rural Ogden Valley. The plans show the redevelopment, called Nordic Village, would bring in roughly 56,000 square feet of commercial building space, 230 hotel rooms, 428 condo units, 159 chalets and 50 employee housing units to the Ogden Valley, according to project plans. In total, the development would span 512 acres in the western edge of the valley.

Montana Weather

Cold start to this week returning back to normal January temps mid to later this week. Some moisture is expected across the mountains this Friday. Looking at some Temperature Anomaly charts, it appears the rest of January will hold below average but will warm up near the end of month January transitioning into February. Here’s a look at some of the lows we will experience early this week.

History of the week

Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1864, Charlie Russell moved to Montana at the age of 16 to the Judith Basin area to try his hand as a cowpuncher. He would spend 11 years working various jobs and sketching in his free time. Charlie married Nancy Cooper in 1896. Nancy was his business manager. Under her support, guidance, and iron will, Charlie gained national recognition. His breakthrough success came in 1903 when the couple traveled to St. Louis to see about having Charlie’s paintings displayed at the World’s Fair the following year. Charlie and Nancy built a house in Great Falls, Montana, and three years later, a log studio filled with his vast collection of Native American and cowboy objects. You can visit the house and studio at the C.M. Russell Museum, located in Great Falls. He created more than 4,000 works of art during his lifetime, working in paint, bronze, ink, and wax. Russell died on October 24, 1926, in Great Falls, Montana. (Buffalo Bill Center of the West)

Keep warm,

Daniel

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