CoBuild Summit

October 20-22, 2026

UC Center, University of Montana, Missoula

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Across three days, you’ll engage with educators, investors, founders, cooperative leaders and community builders — people doing the work of building a stronger, more self-reliant Montana.

PREVIEW THE PROGRAM

Meet the Presenters

  • Keynote Speaker: Elizabeth MacBride

    Journalist, National Bestselling Author & Senior Consultant, We-Fi & The World Bank. Featured Keynote

  • Kaetlyn Cordingley, PhD

    Associate Dean & Director of Career Development, Community Partnerships, and Scholarships, Davidson Honors College, University of Montana

  • Soazig Le Bihan

    Interim Associate Dean, Director of the Prelaw Program, Interim Director of Humanities Institute, and Philosophy Professor, University of Montana

  • Paul Lukacs

    Interim Vice President for Research at University of Montana

  • Taylor Lennox

    Cooperative Development Director, Mission West CDP

  • Davey Madison

    Values-Led Consultant, Co-owner of Trillium Cooperative; Fort Peck Sioux and Turtle Mountain Chippewa

  • Tracy L Campbell

    Superintendent for the City of Missoula Stormwater Utility

  • Erik Guzik, PhD

    Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Montana I Co-Founder, CoBuild Montana I Founder, VBX

  • Kirstin Miller, AICP

    Executive Director, Ecocity Builders & Co-Founder, CoBuild Montana

  • Justin Angle

    Host: A New Angle Podcast on Montana Public Radio | Chair & Professor, Department of Management & Marketing, University of Montana

  • Kina Kuhn

    Director of Community Engagement & Media Relations, Blackfoot Communications I Montana Council of Cooperatives Board Member

  • Jan Tusick

    Executive Director and Food Center Director, Mission West Community Development Partners, Ronan

  • Cheyenne Robinson

    Consultant, Co-op Specialist & Speaker, Trillium Cooperative; Apsáalooke

  • Cole Mannix

    Founder & President, Old Salt Co-op, a regenerative marketplace for American Meat

  • Blake Lineweaver

    Food and Ag Center Manager, Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center, Mission West Community Development Partners, Ronan

  • Jana Richter

    Community Engagement Specialist at Front Step Community Land Trust

  • Makenna Sellers

    Executive Director, Montana Renewable Energy Association

  • Christy Johnson

    Founder & CEO, Artemis Connection II Adjunct Faculty at the University of Washington I Botha Chan Innovation Program at Stanford University

  • Ryan Nong

    Community Development Officer, Whitefish Credit Union

  • Colin Borgen

    AmeriCorps Member, Public Stormwater Team, City of Missoula Stormwater Utility

  • Beau Milton

    Geospatial Systems Fellow | CoBuild Montana, GIS Intern | HDR, CoFounder | Orion Farmstead, BS Geoscience (Hydrology), GIS Cert | University of Montana

  • Nicole Borner

    Co-Owner, Trillium Cooperative; Trust MT

  • David Atkins

    MT Wood Products Roundtable; MT Forest Owners Association; Citizens Climate Lobby

  • Jackson Crawford

    Co-Founder & Director of Community Partnerships, CoBuild Montana I Clean Energy Business Development | Solar, Electrification, and Climate Tech | Partnerships, Community Energy, and Sustainability Finance

  • Jasper Alviar

    Hellgate High School student, CoBuild member promoting greater youth awareness and engagement

  • Caitlin Byers

    Director of the Frontier Learning Lab at Montana Digital Academy

  • Jeremy Jeffay

    Founder, indelible.Blob

  • Lily Apedaile

    Director, Office of Health Research & Partnership, University of Montana

  • Eric Harry

    Founding Director, Wachholz Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Flathead Valley Community College

  • Mary Ellen Doty

    Author of Medicine At 50 Below | Founder & Chief Medical Officer at Wilderness Medical Staffing

  • Svein Newman

    Climate Action Program Manager at Missoula County, Montana

  • Andy Anderson

    Associate Professor of Strategy at University of Montana

  • Sara McClure Cox

    UM Program Lead, RESOLVE: A Rural Health Collaborative

  • Jeremy Flesch

    Clean Energy Program Coordinator, Clearwater Credit Union

  • Cara Harrop

    Owner at pureHealth DPC, Polson MT

  • Gregory Morse

    Managing Member. Blackfoot Crossing LLC

Building Value for Montana: Past, Present, and Future

Montana has a long tradition of building what it needs — businesses, partnerships, and institutions shaped by the people they serve.

That legacy still lives here. The question driving these three days is: how do we build the next chapter of Montana’s economy and what does it look like?

The CoBuild Summit brings together the people, organizations, and institutions building community-rooted enterprise across Montana — and turns ideas into action.

It also marks the ceremonial launch of CoBuild Montana, a new initiative for a more resilient, self-reliant economy created by and for Montanans.

Montana faces real pressure: housing shortages, strained rural health systems, soil stress and drought, fire risk, and workforce instability. At the same time, momentum is building among organizations, businesses, institutions, and community leaders around local ownership, place-rooted investment, entrepreneurship, and new models for building lasting value. The Summit connects those dots — bringing the right people into one room, grounding them in models that work, and moving the conversation from talk to commitment.

Why Now

This Summit is for those shaping the next chapter of Montana’s economy:

  • Organizations and businesses ready to grow, partner, and share capacity

  • Institutions and civic and economic development leaders building stronger Montana communities

  • Community leaders advancing place-rooted, values-aligned solutions

  • Cooperative leaders and members ready to connect and grow

  • Impact investors and philanthropists backing regional resilience

  • Rural health leaders exploring member-owned care models

  • Tribal and Indigenous leaders advancing sovereign cooperative development

  • Students and emerging leaders stepping into Montana's future

  • Founders and entrepreneurs seeking partners, mentors, and growth pathways

  • Sponsors and institutional partners

Who Should Attend

Journalist and co-author of Capital Evolution: The New American Economy, Elizabeth MacBride explores how capital, entrepreneurship, and community can build a more inclusive economy.

In her public evening keynote — open to the broader community — she'll share what a people-first economy looks like in practice, and why this moment matters for places like ours.

Featured Keynote: Elizabeth MacBride

Signature Themes and Topics

Values-Based Economy — how employee-owned businesses, nonprofits, co-ops, and other models can support long-term community value.

Community Ventures & Partnerships — sessions connecting ventures to capital and partners, anchored by the Startup World Cup USA Regional.

Venture Themes — deep-dive working sessions on housing, Montana-grown food, rural health, and biocarbon for soil and land resilience.

Indigenous Economy — Indigenous-led development grounded in sovereignty and community ownership.

Conversations Shaping Montana's Future

Healthcare & Rural Care — locally rooted clinics, shared-service models, and creative partnerships that bring reliable care closer to home.

Student-Led Session (Day 3) — organized by Montana high school students.

Creative Problem-Solving Workshop — hands-on, inventive ways to tackle real challenges.

AI & Education — why ethical reasoning, interdisciplinary thinking, and human judgment may become the most valuable skills in the next economy.

When you Reach the Summit

Every participant walks away with more than a conference badge:

  • New partnerships across sectors and communities

  • Practical tools and values-led models ready to apply

  • Named next steps for ventures, partnerships and funding conversations

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CoBuild Summit is Brought To You By

CoBuild Summit Hotel Partners
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Proudly Sponsored and Supported By
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About CoBuild Montana

CoBuild Montana is building a new era of values-based businesses, community-driven ventures, and collaborative initiatives, while creating real-world learning experiences for our state’s next generation of leaders.

Together, we’re keeping wealth, jobs, and decision-making rooted right here in our communities.

Connect With Us

Ready to learn more, partner with us, or request a sponsor or investor briefing? We’d love to hear from you.

Kirstin Miller, AICP: kirstin@cobuildmontana.com Erik Guzik, PhD: erik@cobuildmontana.com Jackson Crawford: jackson@cobuildmontana.com