Happy September and welcome to the 79th edition of the Bozeman Build Report covering business and trade events happening in the Northern Rockies, thank you for reading as always! In todays edition we cover the Montana Heritage Center, rancher challenges, 4 day school weeks, hyrdrovacs, real estate dynamics in the front range, precious metals, and more.

Have a great day!

Daniel

_{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 Trade Pulse

Sept. 1, 2025 Montana Commissioner of Labor Sarah Swanson released today the 2025 Labor Day Report, highlighting the continued record growth in employment in Montana’s labor force and sustained improvement in wages for the fifth year in a row. (MT DLI)

Sep 01, 2025 Montana Heritage Center exhibits coming to life as construction continues There will be about 30,000 square feet of exhibits and will host a ribbon-cutting in early December and a grand opening in June of 2026. (KRTV)

September 03 2025 Agriculture Development Council to Meet September 2025 (AGR MT)

September 3, 2025 How ranchers in Montana's Blackfoot Valley are challenging the status quo amid existential threats (CBS News)

September 3, 2025 Atlantic Aviation has expanded its FBO network with the acquisition of Glacier Jet Center (GCI), the lone service provider at Montana’s Glacier Park International Airport (KGPI) for nearly half a century. The FBO has a 10,000-sq-ft terminal with a galley, eight-seat conference room, pilot lounge, flight-planning area, concierge, and crew cars. It is also adjacent to the airport’s U.S. customs facility. (AIN)

September 04 2025 2025 Third Quarter Oil & Gas Lease Sale - Sale Results (DNRC)

September 04 2025 Wildlife crossings are structures like underpasses or bridges built to protect animals and promote wildlife habitat connectivity while helping to reduce animal-vehicle conflicts. House Bill 855 sponsored by Representative Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, establishes the Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) Wildlife Highway Crossings Account to fund construction of the crossings. House Bill 932, sponsored by Representative Ken Walsh, R-Twin Bridges, directs a portion of marijuana tax revenue to support the FWP wildlife crossing account. (State of Montana Newsroom)

September 04 2025 Montana's State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and State Historic Preservation Review Board will hold their tri-annual public meeting on September 18 at the Big Timber Carnegie Library. The Board will consider nominations for six historic properties across Montana: (News MT)

• Shy Brothers Mercantile, Ashland

• Goughnour Lumber Company Office, Livingston

• Carpenter Paper Company, Billings

• First Congregational Church, Billings

• Musselshell River Bridge, Golden Valley County

• Milk River Bridge, Phillips County

September 05 2025 MISSOULA, Mont. – Origin Health opened its Missoula Birth Center today and will celebrate with a “cord-cutting” ceremony in upcoming weeks. The center is built to offer a “serene, home-like environment for low-risk, low-intervention births.” (Montana Right Now)

September 07 2025 Grizzlies dispatch an up-for-it Central Washington, with UM pulling away in the second half to beat the Wildcats 42-17. Montana earned the win over CWU in front of 26,309 fans, a top ten all-time crowd at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. (Griz Athletics)

Bozeman Trade Pulse

Sep 05, 2025 New childcare center opens in Big Sky to address shortage. The center is open to the public and can accommodate up to 24 children, from six weeks to three years old. (KBZK)

September 2, 2025 Montana State faculty member Emily Tomayko studies impact of four-day school week on children. In 2005, the Montana Legislature passed a bill that changed school attendance requirements from 180 instruction days per school year to a minimum of 1,080 hours of student instruction per school year. The change allowed schools to explore alternative schedules, and 10 Montana school districts transitioned to a four-day week by the end of the 2006-2007 school year, according to a 2023 report commissioned by the Montana Office of Public Instruction. Since then, the number of Montana schools operating four-day school weeks has increased significantly. To date, 117 Montana districts, comprising 260 individual schools, have adopted a four-day schedule. Nationally, four-day school weeks are in place in more than 2,100 schools in 850 districts. (MSU News)

September 02 2025 Governor Greg Gianforte recently attended a ribbon cutting in Belgrade, welcoming Rivian as the first electric vehicle manufacturer to invest in Montana. (State of Montana Newsroom)

Sept. 6, 2025 South Dakota State stopped Montana State on a fourth-and-one in overtime to earn a 30-24 double-overtime win in MSU's Gold Rush home opener on Saturday. (MSU Bobcats)

Continued Construction on Campus

Active construction on Jones Hall project, Facilities Yard, Gianforte Hall, Grant Street renovation, many of these projects appear like they should be wrapped up in 2026. (Current MSU Construction Projects - MSU RMA). While looking into construction updates, I found that ARCGIS has a tool that documents weekly areal progress snapshots of construction progress which is super sweet.

Hydrovac Utility Work

Been seeing a handful of Hydrovac trucks for both the city and private contractors around town last week. These trucks are super efficient for cleaning sewer lines along with locating utilities. Stillwater Electric is based out in Kalispell, the city of Bozeman has their own truck(s), TLC also provides hydro excavation services.

Cross Cut New MTB Trails

Found this reposed by Montana Trail Builder Pete Costain with Terra Flow Trails. Check out SWMBA for more info.

Northern Rockies Misc

August 28, 2025 The Bureau of Land Management Wyoming State Office announced Thursday that an oil and gas lease sale is scheduled for December 3, 2025, to offer 86 oil and gas parcels totaling 79,169 acres in Wyoming. (Sheridan Media)

Aug. 28, 2025 Mortenson breaks ground on $300M North Dakota hospital. The 300,000-square-foot facility will provide 140 beds in a modern, trauma-informed care environment, according to the news release. It will replace the existing hospital, which has operated since 1885 in Jamestown, ND. (Construction Dive)

September 03, 2025 Uranium Energy Corp. has announced plans for a state-of-the-art uranium refining facility that would be the nation's largest. Wyoming is on the short list to be home to the processing complex. (Cowboy State Daily)

September 4, 2025 Pay to pedal: Lawmakers propose state parks mountain bike user fee. (Wyo File)

September 05, 2025 Shapeshifting Metal Gallium Could Transform Electronics, Boost Wyoming Mining (Cowboy State Daily)

Front Range Spec

I pulled four charts publicly available issued by the FRED or Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis focusing in Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO. This area is near a 10 year high in inventory, sale price reduction, price, and days on market. If you pull up Zillow there are price reductions on many spec inventory listings, yes homes will still sell fast in certain neighborhoods, however the spec market might see further price declines but the declines noticed are nothing huge. I am not a real estate advisor, this is not financial advice, and we don’t know what were talking about.

Precious Metals on a Tear

Gold, Silver, and Platinum have gone wild Year to Date. Wonder if this will spur more mines to open/expand/rehire. Chart provided by (Trading Economics)

The Mission of the Sacred Heart

Located in Coeur d’Alene’s Old Mission State Park, the Mission of the Sacred Heart is the oldest building in Idaho. Also known locally as the Cataldo Mission, or Old Mission, the Mission of the Sacred Heart was built between 1850 – 1853 by Catholic missionaries and members of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest mission building in the Pacific Northwest. (Intermountain Histories)

Thank you for reading,

Daniel Zavadil

bozemanbuild.com & blockbiome.com