Bozeman Build #55

Welcome back the Bozeman Build Report discovering Montana trade content, thank you for your patience last Monday where we skipped an edition, today we will be covering two weeks of content dated March 10th-23rd 2025 so buckle up and enjoy the tour.

Today we discuss a passed co op model solar bill, a grant to support prisioners reentering the workforce, Sheehy Wildfire Response and Preparedness Act, coal mining back in order, March Manufacturing Report, Money flowing into Butte America for $2M grant for GE Aerospace expansion, $15M community center, and chic-fil-a, tow truck biz gets penalized for overcharging, Dakota Access Pipeline developer to receive BIG damages for protests that blocked its expansion, Montana fire crews fighting Texas fires, Horse Gulch Fire culprit, $2.7M River census study to better understand how busy Montana rivers are, Libby mine exploration in the works, Montana loggers to benefit from tariffs, riverside construction blocked, reimbursements resumed for USFS contractors, bears back in action, deer and elk permit deadline approaching April 1, Canada/Montana trade, US energy mapping, snow track jeeps, first-ever on-campus Gallatin College MSU building funded, traveling welding academy, record Spring break travelers out of BZN, 2nd pickleball facility to Bozeman, “Make Bozeman Montana Again” campaign, weather, and Montana Power brief history.

Enjoy!

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 trade content and news. We are not a financial or building advisors.}

Montana and Bozeman Trade Pulse

Montana trade pulse

March 12, 2025 Community solar bill passes Montana Senate The bill enables customers of investor-owned utilities to subscribe to community solar. (PV Magazine)

March 13 2025 Montana has received a nearly one million dollar grant to support workforce reentry for individuals returning to the state after serving a federal prison sentence. (MT DLI)

Mar 14, 2025 Sheehy proposes new wildland fire response time, centralization bill S-140, called the Wildfire Response and Preparedness Act of 2025, would set a 30-minute limit, “to the extent practicable” for fire crews to respond to an incident. It also sets a three-hour time limit for fire suppression efforts to begin. (KBZK)

March 14, 2025 Trump administration approves more coal mining in Decker. Decision is a reversal from the Biden administration, will keep coal mining in southern Montana for at least another 16 years. (Daily Montanan)

March 17, 2025 March 2025 Manufacturing News Report (Montana Manufacturing Extension Center)

March 17 2025 Governor Greg Gianforte today celebrated a recent $2 million investment from GE Aerospace at its joint venture site in Butte to increase manufacturing capacity of commercial and military aircraft engines. (State of Montana Newsroom)

March 18, 2025 The Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation in Missoula, Montana, has awarded a three-year, $15 million grant to the city of Butte in support of the construction of a multipurpose community center (NBC Montana)

Mar 18, 2025 A Billings tow truck company was pulled from the Montana Highway Patrol’s tow response list after overcharging a Bozeman hardware store thousands of dollars to have a truck towed from a crash scene. (KTVQ)

March 19, 2025 A Morton County jury on Wednesday ordered Greenpeace to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline, finding that the environmental group incited illegal behavior by anti-pipeline protesters and defamed the company. The nine-person jury delivered a verdict in favor of Energy Transfer on most counts. Energy Transfer estimated the damages awarded at nearly $700 million. A jury verdict form with the exact total was not immediately available. (Daily Montanan)

Mar 19, 2025 Montana fire crews helping battle wildfire in Texas. Twenty Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and 12 local government firefighters arrived on March 14. Because fire season has not yet started in Montana, the allocation of these resources to support other western states is both timely and critical,” said DNRC Deputy Fire Protection Chief Cory Calnan. (KBZK)

Mar 20, 2025 HELENA — A Lewis and Clark County teen has admitted to playing a role in starting last summer's Horse Gulch Fire. (KTVH)

Mar 21, 2025 Montana House preliminarily approves ‘River census’ study bill passed 67-32 in the House one day earlier, would require Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to produce a $2.7m report of all watercraft on 16 river stretches in the summer totaling 966 miles in the state. (KBZK)

• “HB 762 will count everything that floats — rafts, kayaks, drift boats, inflatable flamingos, canoes and tubes — and categorize them by type,” Seckinger said.

• The report will divide the data into private or commercial use, and it will distinguish between fishing or general recreation.

• The guiding and outfitting industry brings in half a billion dollars a year in direct revenue, not counting associated costs such as hotel and gas.

• “If we want to regulate the guiding and outfitting industry, let’s get some data,” Seckinger said.

Mar 21, 2025 Idaho mining company Hecla could receive approval as early as this summer to begin exploration work south of Libby. Exploration and reclamation phases, the company would likely employ 30 to 35 people. (Montana Free Press)

Mar 21, 2025 Montana loggers and saw millers say tariffs on Canadian products will help U.S. business (KTVQ)

Mar 22, 2025 Butte giving financial boost to Chick-fil-A planned as part of new development Cornerstone Plaza on South Harrison Avenue. Chick-fil-A plans to build the nearly 5,000 square-foot restaurant at just over $5 million and hopes to be open by 2026. (KPAX)

March 23, 2025 The Flathead Conservation District and Friends of Montana Rivers and Streams have filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of a home built on private land along the banks of McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park. (Daily Inter Lake)

MDT News

Updates released 3/18-3/21 2025 on mdtnews.mt.gov/news/

• 3/18/2025 - Construction set to resume on ADA upgrades in Lewistown

• 3/19/2025 - Crews upgrading signals at Canyon Ferry Road and Wylie Drive

• 3/19/2025 - Pre-construction open house for Zoo Drive Improvements on 4/2

• 3/20/2025 - US 93 Pavement preservation, safety improvement project near Darby

• 3/21/2025 - Lewistown Area Bridges - DAR Structures project open house

DNRC News

3/18/2025 Resume Work Order - Following recent reimbursement payments received from the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management is rescinding the stop work order issued on February 21, 2025. (DNRC)

March 20 2025 2025 Second Quarter Oil & Gas Lease Sale – Notice 2. The June sale includes 32 tracts. (DNRC)

FWP News

Mar 12, 2025 New funding available for community-led bear conflict prevention. The Montana Community-Bear Conflict Prevention Efforts Fund will provide up to $1 million to support community-led, non-lethal carnivore conflict prevention tools through the geographic range of grizzly bears in Montana. (FWP)

Mar 19, 2025 FWP reminder: Bears are waking up, time to be bear aware (FWP)

Mar 21, 2025 Application deadline for deer and elk permits is April 1 (FWP)

• Bighorn Sheep – May 1

• Bison – May 1

• Moose – May 1

• Mountain Goat –May 1

• Antelope – June 1

Freezeout Lake Snow geese migrations

See the numbers at arcGIS migration dashboard

Montana and Canada Trade

After various articles about tariffs surfaced last month, I never realized how much Montana buys from Canada.

• Montana exports $1.0 billion in goods to Canada annually.

• 57 Canadian-owned companies employ 1,450 workers in Montana

• Montana exports $217 million in services to Canada.

US Energy Map

Found this cool resource called Electricity Maps that displays power grids, who owns them, and what’s generating them.

Snow Wheel Drive

A friend sent over the picture of Best Rate Towing’s rescue rig (wrangler) and I ran into the Grand Charokee grooming outfit near Wade Lake, this guy grooms for the Wade Lake Resort and was pulling an old model of the Yellowstone Track System founded by Doug Edgerton of West Yellowstone.

Bozeman trade pulse

March 12, 2025 Gifts from Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, Lone Mountain Land Co. complete Montana State's $22.5 million fundraising goal for first-ever on-campus Gallatin College MSU building (MSU News)

Mar 12, 2025 Western Welding Academy is on a nationwide tour and stopped in Belgrade to teach students about the importance of trade jobs and options they have after high school. Belgrade High School is one of 30 high schools on Western Welding Academy’s Blue Collar Tour. (KBZK)

Mar 13, 2025 MSU has confirmed that over 50 research projects were affected and two programs canceled due to recent federal funding cuts and freezes. While a significant portion of those projects had their funding freezes lifted on the afternoon of March 12. (The MSU Exponent)

March 18, 2025 Bobcat men’s hockey to play for national title March 19 (MSU News)

Mar 18, 2025 Bozeman airport reports record high spring break travel numbers. “So, our spring break has been at record levels. We’re looking at about a 6% increase over previous spring breaks,” says Brian Sprenger, the chief executive officer of BZN.This past weekend for spring break, the airport saw around 5,000 departing passengers a day, compared to 3,500 departing passengers on a typical day. (KBZK)

Mar 18, 2025 Gallatin County has partnered with United Housing Partners, LLC, and HRDC to develop a new affordable housing development near the Gallatin County Rest Home. The project, called Hidden Creek, is currently in the initial review stage. The 9.8-acre lot is located north of Durston Street and south of Juniper Street. The proposed new neighborhood will include 182 apartments designated as low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) units for rent, along with a community land trust featuring 8 rowhomes that will be available for sale with equity restrictions. (Bozeman Real Estate Group)

March 19, 2025 BOZEMAN — The Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, in partnership with the Blackstone LaunchPad, will host a panel featuring B Corp-certified companies on Wednesday, April 2, at 5 p.m. (MSU News)

Mar 20, 2025 SWMBIA Home Expo took place on Saturday, March 22 (KBZK)

March 22, 2025 Derek Aspinwall grew up in Bozeman, Montana, and said the mountain town is changing to be more like an Aspen or Vail, Colorado. So he put up a billboard pleading with the community to slow the development and get back to its roots before it's too late. (Cowboy State Daily). The billboard reads “Make Bozeman Montana Again” paid for by Bozeman Mountain Wear brand Aspinwall.com

Bozeman is getting a second indoor pickleball facility called the Picklr. The Bozeman Classic Pickleball Club opened in November 2024 (KBZK) and some competition just came to town. The Picklr Pickleball Club, part of a national franchise with over 275 locations, will open a 36,000-square-foot facility featuring 13 courts, including 4 championship-sized courts in Four Corners on Laura Louise Lane adjacent to the new Gallatin County Sheriff’s headquarters. (Bozeman Real Estate Group)

Spitz - A Mediterranean fast food chain is opening a location in Bozeman April 18th.

Apex Sharpening & Laser Engraving - Opened earlier this month. 611 N. Wallace in Bozeman

Montana Weather

Windy start to the week with higher chances of precip closing out the week. Pleasant weather instore for the remainder of the month, will see what April brings.

History

The Montana Power Company is one of the largest utility companies in the Northern Rockies region of the United States. Montana Power also operates properties in non-utility businesses such as coal mining, gas and oil exploration, development and marketing, and technology, including electronic controls and telecommunications. By the early 1990s, the utility's sales had surpassed $1 billion, and its expansion had carried it into four countries, making Montana's only company listed on the New York Stock Exchange a recognizable and formidable force in the U.S. utility industry. With the arrival of utilities deregulation in the 1990s, Montana Power shifted its focus toward its telecommunications business, and by 2001 the company was divesting its utility and energy holdings in order to focus on spinning off its telecommunications interests as Touch America Inc. When the reorganization was complete, Montana Power would be operating as an autonomous subsidiary of the NorthWestern Corporation, while proceeds from the sale would be used to launch Touch America as a publicly-traded telecommunications company. (Reference for Business)

Have a sweet week!

Daniel

bozemanbuild.com & blockbiome.com