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This story was originally published by High Country News.

Barnard Construction Company, Inc., an engineering contractor based in Bozeman, Montana, recently celebrated its 50th year in business. On its website, the company lays out a colorful history that starts in 1975, when 25-year-old Tim Barnard moved to Montana with “$1,000, two shovels, a pick, and all of his possessions in the cab of his pickup.” A timeline offers highlights of the half-century since, from building a natural gas pipeline in Utah and hydropower in Alaska to winning a federal government contract to bring down dams in Washington and increase spawning habitat for native salmon species.

What the website doesn’t show are the company’s largest federal contracts: the billions of taxpayer dollars Barnard has been awarded to build President Donald Trump’s border wall. Also unmentioned are its founder’s financial ties to the president.

Trump made finishing the border wall a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign, and soon after he took office, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act allocated $46.5 billion for the project. The administration has since waived dozens of federal contracting laws to expedite construction, and more than $28 billion in contracts have been awarded to a small group of companies, according to Customs and Border Protection.

A High Country News analysis of publicly available federal spending data finds Barnard is among the biggest winners. The company and its affiliates have been awarded more than $5.6 billion in federal border construction contracts since Trump returned to office. Add their previous border wall contracts and the total rises to more than $7 billion.

Meanwhile, Federal Election Commission records show that company chairman Tim Barnard and his wife have contributed millions of dollars over the years to Republican candidates and causes — including more than $1 million to Trump’s presidential campaigns.

Both Parties Have Turned the Border Wall Into a Death Trap

Experts say the contracts raise red flags, and Barnard’s competitors seem to agree: In May, another contractor sued the federal government after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) promised the lion’s share of new Texas and New Mexico wall construction contracts to Barnard and one other company. Now, Barnard is facing criticism both at home and on the border as it prepares to begin construction in one of the least-trafficked parts of the border.

Though it’s headquarted in an undulating building on the northern outskirts of town, Barnard’s financial influence is evident all over Bozeman. The chairman’s name decorates a science building at Montana State University, a domestic violence shelter nearby, and an aquatics center to the south. The Barnards have also given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Montana conservative groups and political campaigns.

The company’s revenue surpassed $1 billion in 2024, according to industry publication Engineering News-Record, making it one of the top 150 engineering firms in the country. It........

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