Bozeman Build #73

Hi and welcome to the 73rd edition of the Bozeman Build talking Northern Rockies Business/Trade news along with some other goodies tossed in the mix, thanks again for reading and supporting the efforts.

Today we discuss Wilcoxon’s, cherry status, Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, Crazy Mountain Ranch water fights, VACOM in Lewistown, prescribed burns, Buzz Warners new golf course, MSU built satellite, KelTec, a new Wyoming data center, road to Nebraska, and more.

Enjoy,

DZ

_{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

BIG SKY TRUCK FEST August 15 & 16, 2025 - Rain Date August 17, 2025 @Yellowstone Dragstrip 8405 Raceway Lane Acton, MT 59002 (NHRDA)

I missed this earlier this June - Jun 05, 2025 but overheard from a guy at the gas station - Ownership Changes at Wilcoxson’s Ice Cream Celebrate Montana Heritage and Future Growth (Montana Independent)

July 22, 2025 - Full fishing closure takes effect Wednesday on section of Big Hole River (FWP)

Jul 23, 2025 Broadband Revolution: What the New Federal Guidelines Mean for Montana and Beyond (Western Montana News)

July 23, 2025 Federal scientists are launching an ambitious mapping project to hunt for what could be a mother lode of rare earth elements in Wyoming and the Black Hills. Low-flying aircraft with sensors will look hundreds of feet below the surface. (Cowboy State Daily)

Jul 24, 2025 Flathead Lake cherry harvest produces mixed crop, This year’s crop is a mixed bag as some orchards survived damaging winds and heavy rains to start July, while others weren’t so lucky. (KPAX)

July 24 2025 The IAA, announced July 15, 2025, lays out a joint vision for streamlining career and technical education (CTE) under Perkins V alongside Titles I, II, and III of Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) public workforce system funding. Thanks to forward thinking reforms signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte during the 2025 legislative session, Montana is already aligned and ready to lead. (MT DLI)

7/25/2025 Montana Invasive Species Council Hosts Quarterly Meeting in Trout Creek HELENA, Mont on July 29 at the Lakeside Hotel in Trout Creek. (DNRC)

Jul 25, 2025 FWP releases Bear Relocation Dashboard (FWP)

July 25, 2025 Zinke, Sheehy introduce legislation to increase fees on foreign visitors to national parks (Daily Montanan)

July 25, 2025 UM, RMEF Launch Unprecedented Center to Advance Hunting and Conservation (UM News)

Jul 25, 2025 Big Timber residents are speaking out after the recent announcement that the city would be selling 100,000 gallons per day to the Crazy Mountain Ranch to help irrigate its new golf course. (KBZK)

July 25, 2025 Zinke requests $25 million for western Montana projects (Missoulan)

Jul 25, 2025 Manufacturing company VACOM holds grand opening for first facility in Lewistown, Montana (MATR)

July 25, 2025 The U.S. Forest Service is moving forward with a plan to roughly double the acreage for prescribed burns across the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. The new forestwide plan would implement prescribed burns on roughly 40,000 acres annually through 2045. The goal is to reduce the amount of kindling that could feed a catastrophic wildfire in the future. (MTPR).

July 25, 2025 Counties in Montana will receive $46.5 million in federal payments this year to cover a lack of property tax revenue coming from federal lands. The payments are part of more than $644.8 million that will be distributed to 1,900 state and local governments this year. According to the Association of Montana Counties, this is the largest state payment in the PILT program’s history, a 7.5% increase over 2024. (Daily Montanan)

July 26, 2025 Buzz Warner, a former Wyoming Landowner, is close to opening his new golf course in Montana. It’s a monument to conservation that’s built around former owner Charles Kuralt’s infamous “Mistress Cabin.” near Twin Bridges (Cowboy State Daily)

MDT News

Last weeks MDT News Releases mdtnews.mt.gov/news/

• Roadway rehabilitation on 6th Street SW to require closures

• Construction to upgrade 7th Avenue North in Bozeman begins

• US 93 Kalispell intersections to be upgraded

• Sportsman’s Bridge replacement begins; open house scheduled

• Pavement preservation work to occur on US 93

• Construction update for MT 200 Shoulder & Slope Improvements

Bozeman trade pulse

July 22, 2025 A small but mighty satellite built at Montana State University is scheduled to head into orbit Wednesday, where it will spend at least six months collecting information about solar particles that escape Earth’s magnetic field and enter our atmosphere.. The Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss CubeSat, or REAL, is one of several scientific craft being deployed on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. (MSU News)

2 Jul 2025 RDO Trains Students in Machine Control engineering at Montana State University (MSU) (RDO)

July 23, 2025 We are thrilled to announce GVLT's fundraising campaign to build Bozeman's newest place for adventure: Bikefill Community Bike Park. (GVLT)

Jul 24, 2025 Community comes together: Belgrade vet receives new roof funded by Billings based based YellowBall Roof and Solar. (KBZK)

25360 Idaho Pole Company the Superfund site is north of Bozeman, is seeking to be annexed outside the city limits. Read more about the history of this site at the EPA

25296 Rocky Mountain Flats - 10 acres located at 5532 Fowler Lane - Site Plan This is an affordable housing project with 296 dwelling units using LIHTC funding (60% AMI or less).

Northern Rockies

July 21, 2025 The KelTec firearms factory in Rock Springs is up and running, producing unusual PR57 pistols the company hopes will grab a big share of the self-defense market. It aims to make 1,000 pistols a week. (Cowboy State Daily)

July 25, 2025 Crusoe this week announced a strategic partnership with Tallgrass to develop a 1.8GW AI data center campus located in southeast Wyoming. (Data Center Dynamics)

July 27, 2025 Steve Wallace grew up milking cows on a dairy farm, but now he’s milking Wyoming history for all it’s worth. The Casper man’s huge milk bottle collection traces 175 years of Wyoming’s rich dairy history. (Cowboy State Daily)

Trip to Nebraska

Last Thursday I traveled from Bozeman to Nebraska, here are a few things that were interesting along the way.

1.) Big things being transported in NorthEast SD.

July 22, 2025 Whoa: 385-Ft Long, 1.4 Million-Pound Superload Plodding Along I-80 On Wednesday (Cowboy State Daily) Not sure what this was parked on the side of Hwy 212 near Alzada, Montana.

2.) All the truck stops between Bozeman and Hardin were completely packed starting off the day.

3.) American Colloid Company and Bentonite Performance Minerals has a huge mining, refining, and transportation operation in Colony, Wyoming

3.) Belle Fourche, South Dakota is home to the Geographic Center of the Nation Monument. I thought it was in Kansas however I assume this is another center point.

4.) American Colloid Company and Bentonite Performance Minerals has a huge mining, refining, and transportation operation in Colony, Wyoming producing ALPHASIL® is a unique, specialized Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate (HSCAS) and foundry-grade bentonite and green sand molding materials for the metalcasting industry.

5.) As soon as you cross the SD boarder, the highway turned into concrete opposed to asphalt or chip seal.

Thanks for reading have a terrific week!

Daniel Zavadil

bozemanbuild.com & blockbiome.com