Bozeman Build Report #30
September 9th - 16th 2024
Howdy makers of Montana
Welcome back to the Bozeman Build Report covering trade related activities happening in Montana. Today we’re bringing up $257M annual research spending, cities establishing new historical districts, cold fronts vs powerlines, Town Pump mall of America, lower speed limits in Bozeman, upcoming Montana ag events, Barnard new HQ, Clash of the Carvers chainsaw fest, solar developments on BLM, jobsite explosions, Glacier Battery Systems, wildfire money, Stillwater mine layoff, DOT allotments, Montana airport volumes by city, one bar towns, mining equipment via rail, MT hay production, and branding books. Please enjoy the next 5 minutes covering what Montana is made of.
DOT drilling rig for trenching utilities under roads
Keep the saw sharp,
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Bozeman and Montana Trade Pulse
Bozeman trade pulse
Sept 05, 2024 - Missed the previous week - Montana State sets new record in annual research expenditures at over $257 million exceeding the prior year’s total by 12%. - MSU News
Sept 9th 2024. Bozeman Community Development Board receives update on Landmark Preservation Program. Potential changes include expanding the program beyond 10 districts and implementing it citywide, as well as allowing the city to establish its own historical landmarks and districts. -NBC MT
Sept. 11, 2024. A cold front rolled into town around 7pm Wednesday knocking down some weak limbs and stretching some powerlines, leaving a good set of folks residing in West Bozeman without power for sometime.
BOZEMAN/GALLATIN,MT (BZN) ASOS reports gust of 62 knots (71.4 mph) from S @ 0130Z — KBZN 120130Z 18041G62KT 5SM -RA BLDU OVC120 20/07 A2964 RMK AO2 PK WND 19062/0123 LTG DSNT ALQDS RAB27 PRESRR P0000 T02000067
Photo sourced from Reddit. This photo was taken on West Bound Durston Rd near Cottonwood.
Sept. 12, 2024. New Town Pump opens in Bozeman, becoming largest location in the state. The building is more than 30,000 square feet and even has grocery items and liquor store. - KBZK
Sep 12, 2024. Bozeman to lower speed limits on main roads next week. Roads effected will be Graf, Kagy, and Oak. - Montana Right Now
Sep 13, 2024. Yellowstone Airport Plaza at Bozeman airport will be home to new Hampton Inn and Suites. The groundbreaking of this project is expected to happen by the end of the year. The hotel will be 72,000 square feet and four stories high. -KBZK
MSU Celebrate Ag
Join us in November 2024 for the first-ever Celebrate Ag Week! Celebrate Ag is growing and we can't wait to welcome you to Bozeman. Find a full schedule, sponsorship opportunities and more below. November 4-9 2024. - MSU College of Ag
Barnard Bozeman
Ever see this building below off frontage? This will be Barnard Constructions new HQ. Tim Barnard moved to Montana to start a construction company. He had $1,000, two shovels, a pick, and all of his possessions in the cab of his pickup. His first job was a sewer project for the U.S. Forest Service in Northern Montana. He’d never done a sewer job, and he owned no equipment–but he finished more than two weeks ahead of schedule, making a profit of $10,000 in 10 days. - Barnard Inc/Story
Barnard Construction HQ under construction
Bozeman MT Project Portal
No “new projects” added to the project info portal last week.
Montana trade pulse
Clash of the Carvers International Chainsaw competition was hosted a few weeks back (Sep 5-8) in Libby, MT. See the work and artists here
Sep 09, 2024 - About 572,000 acres of land in Montana have some baseline potential for utility-scale solar development, according to BLM. The agency is expected to issue a record of decision finalizing the plan in December. - Montana Free Press
Sep 09, 2024 - BELGRADE — A construction explosion at the Amazon warehouse near Belgrade sent one man to the hospital Monday afternoon. Central Valley says there was only one person injured and they are currently recovering in the hospital. - KBZK
Sep 10, 2024 - The City of Helena approves updated sign ordinance after nearly 19 months of work - KTVH
Sep 11, 2024 - Cut Bank - BHE Montana hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for their new Glacier Battery System located between Cut Bank and Shelby on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, in order to support Montana's wind and solar generation. - KRTV
Roughly 7.6% of energy in Montana is wind generated.
The 75-megawatt Glacier Battery System will have two hours of energy storage
The construction will bring in around 70 contracted workers to Cut Bank and the surrounding communities.
Sep 11, 2024 - HELENA — Two national forests in Montana will receive more than $8 million to expand work to confront the wildfire crisis. - KBZK
Sep 11, 2024 - MISSOULA — The (MDT) is installing new median barrier cables east of Missoula by Rock Creek Road on Interstate 90. -KPAX
Sep 12, 2024. Sibanye to halve US mine output as losses persist, shares jump/ Reuters
Sept 13, 2024. Stillwater Mine to Cut Production, Lay Off 700 Workers as Low Metal Prices Drive Losses. The state labor department said Thursday the 700-worker layoff represents about 13% of payroll jobs in Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, as well as about 16% of mining jobs statewide. It also noted that mining jobs in Montana paid an average salary of $106,00 in 2023. - Flathead Beacon
MDT News
MDT News dated Sep 09-13.
20240912-080320 | MDT Secures $71.5 Million In Federal Redistribution Funds
HELENA, Mont. - The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) will receive an additional $71.5 million from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as part of an annual formula-based. Montana's required match rate is typically 13 percent (13% state / 87% federal,) which comes largely from state gas and diesel taxes. Fuel tax collections have remained flat while construction costs rise and infrastructure ages.
20240910-101305 | Asphalt Paving To Begin On Wolf Creek Project
20240909-145432 | BELL CROSSING ROUNDABOUT PROJECT QUESTIONS
20240909-141310 | Proposed Safety Improvements On Canyon Ferry Road
Montana Airport Numbers
Was interested to see how all the major airports across Montana compared in terms of arrival and departure volumes. We compiled these figures on September 12th 2024, note from each airports website. *Please not these volumes fluctuate by season.
Compiled by Block Biome Research
Montana one bar towns
A list of 15/70 of Montana’s greatest dive bars. Stay tuned for the remaining 55 in future editions. Bar names sourced from a reddit post back in July.
Train load of what
Spotted BNSF hauling about 20+ of these custom built mining contraptions heading east bound near Manhattan, MT (looks like something from star wars). The painted label says “Custom Built for Signal Peak Energy, LLC” Signal Peak is is a large coal mine located near Roundup, MT. We did some digging on their website and found these contraptions propping ground in their underground mining operations.
Herc Rentals
Spotted truck loaded with cubes labeled “Herc Rentals” (not Hertz!) pulled over outside Three Forks. Turns out these are portable fuel tank storage units called the “trans cube” manufactured by Western Global for rent by Herc.
Herc Rentals
Spotted truck loaded with cubes labeled “Herc Rentals” (not Hertz!) pulled over outside Three Forks. Turns out these are portable fuel tank storage units called the “trans cube” manufactured by Western Global for rent by Herc.
3rd hay cut
Typically in Montana, non irrigated land yields one cut per year around early July. Irrigated will yield around 2 cuts while certain irrigated areas with super fertile soil (such as Gallatin County) can yield 3 cuts. All depends on the season, soil, etc. This info was confirmed by a rancher in Livingston.
Marketplace finds of the week
Commodities
Covering volatility, building materials, and commodities of the Northern Rockies prices as of gathered from tradingeconomics.com and from gasprices.aaa.com
Volatility
Ethanol decreased by -7.48% last week down over 30% YoY.
Silver increased by 9.95% last week pushing the $30/oz price level priced at $30.70/oz.
Gold also jumped nearly 4% last week. Both silver and gold are up nearly 35% YoY.
Remember the news about the Stillwater mine above? They operate two sections including the “Western Section” and the “East Boulder” section.
Western section produces 260-300koz 2E per annum while the East Boulder section produces 160-200 koz 2E per annum of platinum and palladium in concentrate.
News about the mines job cut took place last week which effected the prices of the commodities they produced. Platinum increased 8.43% and Palladium mooned to 17.75% last week. Causation or correlation?
Weather
High elevations are starting to get dusted with snow, deciduous trees are at the brink of turning colors (Glacier Apgar Visitor Center Plaza Cam), Fall feels are filling the air.
This weeks weather outlook
History of the week
A handwritten index to the brands and marks that appear in Montana's livestock brand registers for the period 1873-1910 from the Livestock Brand Registrations for Montana page sourced from the Montana State Library.
Current livestock brands can be located on the Montana Department of Livestock’s website.
