diff --git a/beams/tests/artifacts/egg_generator.py b/beams/tests/artifacts/egg_generator.py
index 466cb3a..3cf06ef 100644
--- a/beams/tests/artifacts/egg_generator.py
+++ b/beams/tests/artifacts/egg_generator.py
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
 from apischema import serialize
 
 from beams.tree_config.action import IncPVActionItem, SetPVActionItem
-from beams.tree_config.base import BehaviorTreeItem, EPICSValue, FixedValue
+from beams.tree_config.base import BehaviorTreeItem
+from beams.tree_config.value import EPICSValue, FixedValue
 from beams.tree_config.composite import SequenceItem
 from beams.tree_config.condition import (BinaryConditionItem,
                                          BoundedConditionItem,
diff --git a/beams/tests/test_bin.py b/beams/tests/test_bin.py
index 22ff2e0..f9505a3 100644
--- a/beams/tests/test_bin.py
+++ b/beams/tests/test_bin.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from beams.bin.main import main
 from beams.tests.conftest import cli_args, restore_logging
 from beams.tree_config import save_tree_item_to_path
-from beams.tree_config.base import EPICSValue
+from beams.tree_config.value import EPICSValue
 from beams.tree_config.composite import SequenceItem
 from beams.tree_config.condition import BinaryConditionItem
 
diff --git a/beams/tests/test_serialize.py b/beams/tests/test_serialize.py
index b056f25..9b8498c 100644
--- a/beams/tests/test_serialize.py
+++ b/beams/tests/test_serialize.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 from apischema import deserialize, serialize
 
 from beams.tree_config.action import IncPVActionItem, SetPVActionItem
-from beams.tree_config.base import BehaviorTreeItem, EPICSValue, FixedValue
+from beams.tree_config.base import BehaviorTreeItem
+from beams.tree_config.value import EPICSValue, FixedValue
 from beams.tree_config.composite import SequenceItem
 from beams.tree_config.condition import BinaryConditionItem, ConditionOperator
 from beams.tree_config.idiom import CheckAndDoItem
diff --git a/beams/tree_config/base.py b/beams/tree_config/base.py
index ed5ba90..338b199 100644
--- a/beams/tree_config/base.py
+++ b/beams/tree_config/base.py
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 import logging
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from typing import Any
 
 import py_trees
-from epics import caget
 from py_trees.behaviour import Behaviour
 
 from beams.serialization import as_tagged_union
@@ -38,35 +36,3 @@ def get_tree(self) -> Behaviour:
         # grab file
         # de-serialize tree, return it
         raise NotImplementedError
-
-
-@as_tagged_union
-@dataclass
-class BaseValue:
-    def get_value(self) -> Any:
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-
-@dataclass
-class FixedValue(BaseValue):
-    value: Any
-
-    def get_value(self) -> Any:
-        return self.value
-
-
-@dataclass
-class EPICSValue(BaseValue):
-    pv_name: str
-    as_string: bool = False
-
-    def get_value(self) -> Any:
-        value = caget(self.pv_name, as_string=self.as_string)
-        logger.debug(f" <<-- (EPICSValue): caget({self.pv_name}) -> {value}")
-        return value
-
-
-@dataclass
-class OphydTarget(BaseValue):
-    device_name: str
-    component_path: list[str]
diff --git a/beams/tree_config/condition.py b/beams/tree_config/condition.py
index 514f4e4..e185ee3 100644
--- a/beams/tree_config/condition.py
+++ b/beams/tree_config/condition.py
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 
 from beams.behavior_tree.condition_node import ConditionNode
 from beams.serialization import as_tagged_union
-from beams.tree_config.base import BaseItem, BaseValue, FixedValue
+from beams.tree_config.base import BaseItem
+from beams.tree_config.value import BaseValue, FixedValue
 from beams.typing_helper import Evaluatable
 
 
diff --git a/beams/tree_config/idiom.py b/beams/tree_config/idiom.py
index 96e2b63..fdcb808 100644
--- a/beams/tree_config/idiom.py
+++ b/beams/tree_config/idiom.py
@@ -49,4 +49,3 @@ class UseCheckConditionItem(BaseConditionItem):
 
     If used in any other context the tree will not be constructable.
     """
-    ...
diff --git a/beams/tree_config/value.py b/beams/tree_config/value.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8736061
--- /dev/null
+++ b/beams/tree_config/value.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import logging
+from typing import Any
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+import py_trees
+from epics import caget
+from beams.serialization import as_tagged_union
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@as_tagged_union
+@dataclass
+class BaseValue:
+    def get_value(self) -> Any:
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+
+@dataclass
+class FixedValue(BaseValue):
+    value: Any
+
+    def get_value(self) -> Any:
+        return self.value
+
+
+@dataclass
+class EPICSValue(BaseValue):
+    pv_name: str
+    as_string: bool = False
+
+    def get_value(self) -> Any:
+        value = caget(self.pv_name, as_string=self.as_string)
+        logger.debug(f" <<-- (EPICSValue): caget({self.pv_name}) -> {value}")
+        return value
+
+
+class BlackBoardValue(BaseValue):
+    bb_name: str = ""
+    key_name: str = ""
+
+    def get_value(self) -> Any:
+        logger.debug(f" <<-- (BlackBoardValue): checking blackboard: {self.bb_name} \
+                      for key {self.key_name}")
+        bb_client = py_trees.blackboard.Client(name=self.bb_name)
+        try:
+            value = bb_client.get(self.key_name)
+        except AttributeError:  # Note: seems like it should be KeyError, but in practice getting this one
+            logger.error(f"<<-- In blackboard: {self.bb_name} \
+                          key {self.key_name} does not exist \
+                          returning None")
+            return None
+        return value
+
+
+@dataclass
+class OphydTarget(BaseValue):
+    device_name: str
+    component_path: list[str]
diff --git a/examples/mfx_dg1/mfx_tree.py b/examples/mfx_dg1/mfx_tree.py
index de0c920..542c119 100644
--- a/examples/mfx_dg1/mfx_tree.py
+++ b/examples/mfx_dg1/mfx_tree.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 from beams.tree_config import save_tree_item_to_path
 from beams.tree_config.action import SetPVActionItem
-from beams.tree_config.base import EPICSValue, FixedValue
+from beams.tree_config.value import EPICSValue, FixedValue
 from beams.tree_config.composite import (SelectorItem, SequenceConditionItem,
                                          SequenceItem)
 from beams.tree_config.condition import (BinaryConditionItem,