Broadview data center developer adopts agreement to hire local labor for projects

“They have committed to making sure that they're stable working conditions, a good livable wage and benefits package for the area, and to use apprenticeships as well,” McCauley said.

The memorandum of understanding was not shared with the Gazette, with Quantica recommending to reach out to union leadership when asked about the agreement.

McCauley said there’s a lot of information the union still doesn’t have. Further details like what wages will be still needs to be determined as part of future agreements for projects.

Nonetheless, the union leader has been advocating for hiring local labor with the project for months, with his union handing out posters outside of past events on data centers led by environmental groups in January and again this week. McCauley’s previously helped organize labor for data centers in Wyoming, including a 1.8-gigawatt data center, which used about 1,800 workers for carpentry needs.

“While we're fighting for this project, we're not fighting as a union,” McCauley told the Gazette in January. “This is a community conversation. It's about building wealth in this community and building a workforce for Montana and Yellowstone County. So you want to make sure that people are getting equitable wages. We're not seeing contractors coming out of Texas and paying $15 to $20 an hour. You want good, high paying jobs coming to your community that are creating opportunities for people to want to stay and grow Montana's workforce.”

McCauley pointed to refineries in Billings as hiring a growing share of workers out of state. He said about 90% of the labor force used to be local, but that’s changed in recent years.

“The refineries are just trying to hire cheaper labor,” McCauley said in the past interview. “They're not getting good, equitable jobs. They're bringing in out-of-state people to do this work, and the local people are getting the shaft when we give them the tax breaks.”

The press release also came with a new Quantica spokesperson: Travis Hall.

Hall used to work as Gov. Greg Gianforte’s senior adviser and director of strategic communications starting in the governor's first term, before becoming the deputy chief of staff and senior adviser in the administration's last two years. Hall left the governor’s office on Feb. 4 and started his own private consulting firm in Peregrine Peak Strategies.

There are now three different public relations firms contracted with Quantica for their Big Sky Digital Infrastructure project near Broadview, as data centers have reached new levels of public unpopularity amid environmental and energy concerns.

Labor also plays a part in those concerns, with data center opponents questioning how many employees will be hired in the long-term and whether they will be local.

In response to an email inquiry, Hall didn’t provide estimates around the number of workers the data center would require in the short or long-term. He instead referenced the company’s worker commitment the agreement reportedly established.

“BSDI is committed to hiring locally whenever possible,” Hall stated. “This includes partnerships with Montana trade schools, apprenticeship programs, and workforce agencies; local contractor preference for construction and ongoing operations; and workforce development programs to train Montanans for data center careers.”

Interconnection requests by the company show plans for 8,835 megawatts of gas, storage, solar and wind power to be connected to the Broadview substation. Not all of the planned projects might come to fruition though. The power projects were spread out from 2029 to 2032, with the first phase of the data center intended to come online by late 2029.

The press release came ahead of the Montana Democratic Party convention scheduled in Billings on June 20 and 21. Yellowstone County Democrats have adopted a position wanting a two-year moratorium on data center development to become part of state legislative Democrats’ agenda, though state unions have cautioned against negative messaging around the projects.