Models, Markets and Momentum for Montana

There's a conversation showing up frequently these days.

The number of people filling roles our communities rely on who can’t get into housing they feel good about is escalating, along with its ripple effects across the community. Businesses are feeling it. Recruiting, retention—it’s all tied to housing. Stability at home drives productivity at work. Productivity secures the business. And business anchors the community.

It goes by a few labels: Community Housing, Workforce Housing, and The Missing Middle are popular.

Labels—we all understand why we use them. They are shortcuts. Conveniences. Designed to move the conversation speedily down the track. We’ve been paying close attention to these names, and here’s what we’ve found: they mean different things to different people—a difference that’s more significant than it might seem. Using them can lead to conversations that fracture, creating brittle understandings instead of the resilient connections we need.? So, we’ve decided to take a different approach. Rather than relying on catchall labels, we’re focusing on the specifics that matter. Dvele’s homes aren’t just structures; they’re solutions designed to meet real needs:

Self-Powered — Engineered to be 84% more energy-efficient, with a 12X tighter envelope and solar power integration.

Self-Healing — Equipped to capture 97% of airborne particles and eliminate 99.9% of viruses and bacteria.

Priced for the Everyday Family— Ever striving to align with underserved AMI thresholds.

These are the essentials we’re bringing to the table—solutions focused on affordability, health, and resilience, built to support the people and roles our communities rely on. And that’s what this article is about—what we’re building, who we’re building it for, and how it ties to our Butte agenda.

But first, a look at where we came from—it’s what made the future possible.

If you go to Dvele.com , you’ll see beautiful homes. You’ll read about our ethos, and with a quick look, you’ll get a sense of what we’re all about.

And those beautiful homes? If you're thinking...

Those homes don’t look like they’re built for everyday people ...

...you’re right. Those are the homes we started with.

Just as Tesla’s Roadster paved the way for the Model 3, the homes you see on our website laid the foundation for producing homes for everyday families. Our website just hasn’t caught up. We’ve simply been too focused to worry about it. We’ll get it updated eventually.

This is What We Build Today

Serving families and the workforce community—we know this will be a journey over time. It’s a mission riding a continuum.? Our goal is to serve more households by going deeper into the socioeconomic Venn. How? We can achieve this by continually producing our standard at lower costs. It’s Kaizen. It’s Kon-Tiki. Yesterday's constraints fuel today's challenges resulting in tomorrow's efficiencies.

Success lies in the cadence of lean innovation: focus on a segment where our product is a winning solution, drive efficiency, increase unit economics, and recharge reserves. Then innovate for the next ring deeper—rinse and repeat. That's how we go from pricing our standard at $260* per square foot today to less tomorrow and even lower the day after. It's how we advance from serving 140% AMI to reaching 80%.

*price includes transportation, setting, and stitching and is an estimate for a Montana location

Want a copy of our Catalog and Lookbook? Leave a comment, and we'll shoot it over.

Just as these homes differ from our "Roadster of Homes," so do our customers.

Who We’re Building For

Homeowners will always be at the center of our ethos—core to who we serve—but we’re not selling directly to them anymore. We’re now fully in the B2B domain, selling to developers, land owners, and enterprises. We’re doing that today. In Montana, we have projects underway in Big Sky and the Flathead. We’re also building relationships and gaining traction in Lewistown and Great Falls.

Most of us are familiar with the value propositions of modular construction. Here are a few key advantages: reduced and reliable construction time, cost control, and consistent quality. But every company has its differentiators. Our solutions are uniquely suited for projects looking for:

• DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes
• High-quality finish standards
• Modern design

Dvele isn’t just focused on developers and their projects. We also provide enterprises with Housing as a Service—a streamlined, white-glove service that helps them leverage housing to attract, grow, and retain their people. Like healthcare and retirement, housing can be part of a company’s benefits package. We guide businesses through the entire process, from evaluation to implementation, allowing them to stay focused on their core operations. (We’ll highlight enterprise services in a future edition.)

And if these opportunities are within 800 miles of Butte, they count toward our Montana goal.

How This Ties to Our Butte Agenda

Shipping costs are material to the goal of reducing housing barriers. And they ramp up quickly when multiple days of transportation are required. Eight hundred miles—or the distance to transport within a single day—is how we frame our marketplaces. And we have to prove a marketplace has the demand to warrant Dvele’s investment.?

Dvele’s investment must go beyond capitalizing the facility—it must reshape the landscape around it to raise the boat for everyone. So projects in Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Spokane, Boise, Denver, and the communities in between—those can be served from Butte. Those stack Butte’s pipeline. Pipeline makes the vision a reality.?

You Can Support the Butte Agenda

For those who believe a Montana housing supplier anchored in values of affordability, health, and resilience, who can provide solutions at scale, is a critical piece of a shared future...

Connect us with projects—Do you know of any, whether early-stage or ready to break ground?

Connect us with people—Who should we know? Who should we meet? Are there developers in your network??

Connect us with businesses. If you know of any large employers struggling to fill seats because of housing, we can help them.

Subscribe—Stay informed. Show your support.

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Introductions Can Change Everything

The next edition reveals something we’re eager to share: the Department of Energy has invited us to establish seven facilities across the country over the next decade—with Butte as the pilot. At its center is a public-private partnership with Montana’s leading institutions, including major banks, government agencies, and municipal authorities. It’s ambitious—a big step forward—but one that’s worth every bit of effort.

We’ll get into the details soon, and as always, we’re glad to have you with us on the journey.

Thanks for being here. Thanks for your attention. It matters.