by Cindy Mullet
In March GROW began a capital campaign with the goal of raising $350,000 to purchase land and construct a 40-foot by 60-foot steel building with a 10-foot overhang. The new building will house current recycling projects of cardboard and plastic and will have room for expansion to include paper and glass.
The capital campaign budget includes hard costs of $154,884 for building materials and labor, $5,000 for road material, $40,000 for in-floor heating, $40,000 for purchase of property, $70,000 for electrical, $30,000 for plumbing and $1,000 for moving expenses.
Other costs outlined in the budget include $1,000 for permits and fees, $2,000 for fundraising, $1,000 for building site clean-up and $15,000 for concrete plus a $40,000 reserve fund for a total budget of $399,884.
By May enough funds had been raised to allow the group to purchase a ½ acre commercial lot in West Glendive. Trees were removed and GROW volunteers came together to clear and clean the site. Fisher Sand and Gravel will prepare the base for the building and roads leading to and from the site this fall. The company is providing this service at just the cost of materials.
On Sept. 14, GROW signed a contract with Graham Welding Services, LLC out of Baker and paid the initial installment of $64,000. Materials for the building have been ordered and are expected to arrive by late spring of 2023. In-kind donations for plumbing, heating and electrical have been received. Construction is planned to start in March 2023 and the building should be completed by Aug. 31, 2023.
As of mid-September $310,000 has been raised for the campaign. This includes substantial donations from Wells Fargo, Midrivers Cooperative, MDU Resources Foundation, Greater Glendive Community Foundation, Billings Community Foundation, Paddlefish Grant, Masons, Lions, Zonta, many local businesses and individual donors.