BOZEMAN — This spring, construction will begin on a new 80,000 square foot facility for local manufacturing company Lattice Materials in Bozeman.
The current facility is located off Tamarack; the new location will be off Prince Lane, just a few miles away from Bozeman Airport.
WATCH: Bozeman Company Creates 50 Jobs With $18.5M Defense Contract Expansion
“Believe it or not, Bozeman and Montana in general have kind of emerged as an epicenter for photonics and quantum technologies,” said Travis Wood, President of Lattice Materials.
“We specialize in infrared optics, predominantly for the military,” said Wood. “In-house, we actually grow silicon and germanium crystals that we then convert into windows, lenses, for a lot of the U.S. legacy defense programs.”
Lattice Materials was founded in 1989, but as Director of Engineering and Technology Zach Gill explains: “There’s a lot of folks who have lived here a long time and just don’t know that we’re here, what we do."
That’s why Gill and Wood say it is crucial for the community to know about their upcoming expansion, which will bring a new facility and 50 new jobs to Bozeman.
“The demand for the next three to five years for military optics, specifically ones that use germanium, is growing considerably. So, we just need more room to build out,” said Wood.
As Wood explains, the expansion is possible in part because of an $18.5 million grant from the Department of War.
“To fund capital to essentially double our capacity,” said Wood.
He says the expansion comes less than two years after China imposed export restrictions on germanium.
“China supplies 70% of the global demand. So, when you take that type of supply off the market, there’s a huge imbalance between demand and supply,” said Wood. “That’s why there’s this heavy investment in the domestic supply chain.”
Beyond supply chain impacts, it’s also economically beneficial for Bozeman and Montana as a whole, Bozeman Economic Development Director Brit Fontenot says.
“When you add additional high-paying jobs and more investment in our community, it expands our tax base, so it’s a real win for Bozeman that Lattice has chosen to stay here and expand here,” said Fontenot.
He also said that Montana State University plays a significant role due to its talent pool and research.
As Fontenot explains, the photonics industry in Bozeman employs more than 1,000 people. Most of the jobs created in Bozeman in 2025 were in the service and retail industries, he says.
“…Which aren’t the highest-paying jobs that we are trying to facilitate the creation of. So, I’m hopeful this will start a new trend for 2026 where we’re facilitating new job growth in the high-wage area,” said Fontenot.
It’s an expansion that employees like Gill are excited about.
“We’re super proud to be part of Bozeman,” said Gill.
The new facility is expected to be completed in 2027.
