Motivated by glaring evidence that Wyoming stands at the precipice of a long-term economic decline, driven by a shrinking workforce, the Wyoming Business Council brought the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee a proposal to help communities better attract and retain workers.
Lawmakers last week, however, declined to sponsor that draft legislation, which would have changed state statute to impose a higher minimum matching dollar amount for a key community economic development grant and loan program. Committee members worried the change would exclude poorer communities from getting the help they need.
“It didn’t make it past committee, and that’s okay,” Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell told WyoFile. “Really our goal was to just begin to develop a cadence with that committee where we’re going to bring [more] policy recommendations that we think are going to make a difference in Wyoming and have that open dialogue.”
For all of Wyoming’s efforts to attract the interest of nuclear energy developers, hydrogen energy hopefuls, carbon storage engineering, data and artificial intelligence computational centers and bitcoin miners, it doesn’t have the bounty of workforce to accommodate them, according to the business council.
In fact, Wyoming is losing its homegrown talent. Some 60% to 70% of Wyoming-born residents permanently leave the state by the time they are 30, according to analysis prepared for the agency. That, in turn, makes it more difficult to attract other workers and the businesses that would otherwise employ them here.
It’s a “vicious cycle,” Dorrell said. “We don’t have enough people to attract the jobs and we don’t have enough jobs to attract the people.”
“In Wyoming, most people have to leave to go to a city to fulfill their ambition,” Dorrell added.
Wyoming’s past efforts include a “Home Grown” initiative under former Gov. Matt Mead.
How does that challenge connect to a potential strategy of increasing the mandatory dollar match for the Business Ready Community grant and loan program from a varied scale to a flat 25%?
It comes down to a most bang-for-your-buck strategy, Dorrell said, beginning with a focus on backing shared infrastructure and enticing communities to rally behind projects that truly raise the potential for all businesses and job opportunities — not just a single benefactor or niche.
“We’re concentrating our effort [for example] in those places like Casper and Natrona County so that we can really kind of instigate that population growth in an area that supports it, and in an area that already has population,” Dorrell said. “From an economic standpoint, it makes a ton of sense to do that.”
It’s controversial, Dorrell admits, and there are many other factors that contribute to the workforce chicken-and-egg conundrum, like a dearth of daycare and lack of affordable housing.
“We are better than anyone in the nation at exporting our children,” Dorrell said. “But is that what we want?'”
For now, the business council is focusing on improving the tools it already has while hitting the streets to begin conversations about other looming factors like a mineral extraction-based tax-and-revenue system that actually makes it more costly for Wyoming communities to increase their populations.
“We’re going to be asking some big asks,” Dorrell said, hinting at more proposed initiatives to come. “We’re going to be looking for policies and investments that make a difference in our state, and it’s not going to look normal. It’s not going to look like whatever everybody has always said.”
Worland Republican Rep. Martha Lawley quizzed Dorrell about how raising the minimum grant and loan match might punish smaller, less-monied Wyoming communities.
“Have you guys ever considered having kind of a different track, so to speak, with some different requirements and different opportunities for smaller rural communities and some of the unique challenges that they face,” Lawley asked.
“Yes and no,” Dorrell said, adding there is a track record of some small communities mustering match dollars for a particular project, which is typically an indication of where a particular community wants to stake its economic future.
It’s true, Dorrell said, “Very small communities face a unique challenge. It turns out that almost every one of our communities is facing a similar challenge of resources versus the idea of growing. It’s a challenge for us.”
But enticing each community to get “more skin in the game” is most important, he added.
In light of the Minerals Committee declining to back a 25% match in state statute, the business council will continue to do just that via rule changes, Dorrell told WyoFile.
My Wyoming peoples it’s COMPLETELY AMAZING! What’s AMAZING? When an organization has to use our CHILDREN/YOUNGINS as an example of failure or failing is a SAD DAY/EVENT for ALL of us who call Wyoming HOME .
With all that said which model would “We the people” of Wyoming are willing/conditioned/trained to follow:
The WYOMING BUSINESS COUNCIL
(GOOGLE AI:”The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to work collaboratively with Wyoming businesses and communities to create a robust economic framework by providing leadership, policy, investments, and support for business creation and recruitment, ultimately helping businesses start, grow, and thrive. They offer services like licensing, permitting assistance, financing, expertise, and connections to help businesses succeed within the state.”)
OR
The DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
(“The initialism for a Downtown Development agency is almost always DDA, which stands for Downtown Development Authority. This name and acronym are used by many cities and towns to refer to their agencies focused on revitalizing downtown business districts.”)
Hmmmmmmm:
COINCIDENCE or TACTIC
NEIGHBORS another question to ask ourselves is:
Which one or are they connected/associated a member with this organization and what is this organization’s MISSION REALLY:
https://iclei.org/
Finally ask ourselves which or how many towns, cities in our wonderful state are “members” of this organization what/how was this possible with or without “We the people” knowledge/vote to be approved to do so…
Does this mean that these two are competing for the same funds/resources/monies?
How and who is requesting these funds/resources/monies?
When these funds/resources/monies ARE acquired are they eartag as: “APPRROPIATED” or “UNAPPROPRIATED” funds/resources/monies?
“UNITED we are STRONG with strength, Honor from and of LIBERTY”.
DIVIDED we FALL/fail because of incomplete logistics/information, mistrust, lacking Honor.
Thank you WYOFILE for this vital information/article but I ALWAYS love CHEESE with my whining and there are ONLY two TYPES of homosapiens in the world:
1) Those who are part of the problem.
2). Those who are part of the solution.
I believe as AMERICANS “We the people” are ALWAYS who are part of the solution(s) because of “our pursuit of/for happiness and JUSTICE FOR ALL but that can not happen without”HONOR”, thank you SEMPER FI!
I work in Colorado and live in Wyoming. I make 12 dollars an hour more heading south and my employer gives me a vehicle and pays the gas for my commute. I now have a kid doing the same thing. Wages are pretty bad in Wyoming and neighboring states are willing to pay considerably more. Colorado also gives me back most of the income taxes i pay to them. With the number of company logos I see with CO plates heading south every morning, I am obviously not the only one.
Given some of the commodities that need to be exported, such as trona, the trade war over tariffs and counter-tariffs, because of you-know-who, will not help at all. Added to this Wyoming’s great need of foreign tourists, who must be feeling terribly unwelcome because of the hostile pronouncements of you-know-who, too.
Fear not. The proposed “native” and “come home” hunting licenses will bring all the youth back to Wyoming, maybe for al long as a week.
Good analysis, but the graph for youth exodus ends at 2020. I assume the trend has not changed, but it would be good to see more recent data.
the state legislators are too busy on transgender bathroom bills impacting tens of people, they have no time to solve an issue that all of our livelihoods depend on.
It should be obvious that the powers that be don’t want the youth to stay in Wyoming. They would quickly lose power.
This issue has several faces. There is no quick fix. There are several aggravating factors that other comments have mentioned.
There are a myriad of issues why our young people move – and why some come back. The issue was the same when I was a young person many years ago – I left, spread my wings, realized what I had in Wyoming was too valuable to give up and came back. My daughter chose a similar path and has brought her high tech job with her.
I’ll give the Wyoming Business Council credit for stepping forward try and enact change. However, there are communities in this state that do not want to grow – they like things just the way they are and will put up road blocks to change. And if that is the choice they make, so be it. But there are other communities like Cheyenne that have invested in itself through private fundraising and public/private partnerships to build the economic tools to leverage opportunities. And we see young people that want to be here, see the opportunities available, we see the return on that investment. We have 5 in my business 30 and under that want to be in Wyoming and are taking advantage of the opportunities for growth and development the state has to offer – and there are many more.
Is it perfect? No. But it’s better than blaming everything on MAGA and far better than the tax and spend political environments in other states including the state south of our border. Life’s not all warm and fuzzy their either.
We have numerous issues in the state, but the biggest is government cannot seem to get out of the way and let business flourish. Wyoming is promoted as an “easy” state to do business. Frankly, it’s the opposite. We constantly increase rules, regulations, barriers to business and development. I know numerous people that want to invest their resources in the community but are hamstrung the burden of regulation. We work with young entrepreneurs and we watch government suck the drive out of young people willing to risk it all and build something – so they punt and take a job with the State. Its pretty sad watching that happen.
Young people need a place to live and communities continue to point to affordable housing as a high priority issue. But those same communities turn around and increase fees, increase development requirements, change the rules on the fly, etc, etc, etc. Housing costs in Cheyenne vary little from south of the border but where we should more cost effective housing we have burdensome regulation that adds more to the cost. Sometimes it may not seem like a big deal, but $50 here, $500 there, two weeks waiting for an inspection are problematic. I spoke to a young entrepreneur last week and they futzed around for 7 mos to get through the morass of City government and finally gave up, just rented another storefront vs improving their own location.
Let’s work with the WBC to enact change, not throw out the typical anti Trump/MAGA mantra. Obama and Biden had 12 years in power and the situation is no different. In Wyoming we are in a far better place that some of the more liberal states that struggle with the same issues – affordable housing, workforce development, budget deficits, crime, traffic. You will never “arrive” but we can certainly band together to build a better Wyoming vs sitting around like a bunch of old folks complaining about the Legislature.
As an emplHave any of the arm chair “journalists” spoken to
It is refreshing to see the WBC speak candidly about the “sobering economic realities” of the state, and the dynamics and policies creating those. Lately have seen them call out the youth exodus, job and wage stagnation, housing and childcare shortages, healthcare and education gaps. It’s a solid start to a strategic and realistic conversation, if Republicans want to re-engage with reality.
Let’s see. Start with very little in the way of jobs and careers that pay enough to keep up with the outrageous cost of housing. Outside of the few larger communities, nothing in the way of amenities or entertainment. Gen Z is not going to want to stay here. Oh and not to mention, no healthcare. Tourism may be the state’s #2 revenue source, but that’s not something that benefits anyone besides a handful of business owners, certainly not the people working in the restaurants and hotels. This is all besides the backwards MAGA politics, but then again MAGA has most of its adherents in the failing (rural) parts of the country if you haven’t noticed.
I love Wyoming. I got my first job here in 1963 at age 15. But Wyoming has little to offer young people, irrespective of jobs. We are governed by a Neanderthal state legislature, a nearly as Neanderthal governor, and national representatives who are little besides Trump stooges. Outside of perhaps Laramie, one is unlikely to find even a modest number of the opposite sex who are attractive, educated, and eligible. The state is nearly overrun buy six months plus a day (if that) wealthy retirees looking for a tax haven. Housing is impossibly expensive and jobs in the energy sector are boom or bust. And God forbid that you need the services of an OB GYN.
That pretty much sums it up! I retired here from CO for the tax break! Lovin’ It!
From a liberal and female perspective, we aren’t welcome or wanted in this extremist state, based on recent legislation. Not only will I advocate for all young people I know to bypass the state, but several of us older folks are also looking elsewhere. I will be giving up all holdings in WY and moving to a more balanced environment (along with my young adult kids). I think you can not overlook the political. You get what you pay for. This is what voters want here.
Bye. There are too many people here anyway.
It’s people like you that need to Cliff old boy!
$4.2 million goes to Harvard University from the Wyoming Business Council. What we got was incomplete analysis, and a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy that does not properly apply the strategic tools developed by Harvard’s own Michael Porter.
The money spent on this is completely wasted. The recommendations are poorly informed and sometimes truly nonsensical. The questions that these documents leave hanging are never addressed. The Business Council has managed to miss legislative meetings leaving legislators even more frustrated. The public is pretty much left out of the discussions.
Wyoming Business Council is the most out of touch organization in Wyoming State Government.
But according to Brad Enzi… we are hanging with the cool kids. He says that after we built an incredibly expensive Cirrus Sky Business Park that houses just a single client well after a decade.
Total incompetence.
Wyoming’s biggest export isn’t coal or cattle – it’s our kids. The Business Council’s analysis shows that roughly 60‑70 % of Wyoming‑born residents leave by age 30
wyofile.com, and research from Harvard indicates that most never come back
growthlab.hks.harvard.edu. It’s the opposite of a “boomerang effect.” That’s why our workforce is shrinking while states next door boom.
The Council’s push to raise the minimum match on Business Ready Community grants to 25 % is well‑intentioned – local governments should have skin in the game. wyofile.com. But in practice, a flat match risks shutting out the places that need help most. Many small towns simply don’t have the tax base to cough up a quarter of a multimillion‑dollar project. Even Casper, which the Council wants to focus on, is heavily dependent on state revenues. strongtowns.org. If Casper struggles to self‑finance growth, what does that say about Greybull or Saratoga?
Here’s the thing: money is only half the problem. Dorrell rightly acknowledged that the lack of childcare and affordable housing are “vicious” constraints. wyofile.com, yet the proposed fix doesn’t touch those. As someone who lives in Jackson, I watch young families leave because there’s nowhere to live, no affordable daycare, and wages that haven’t kept up with Denver or Boise. Our tax structure, built on severance taxes and mineral royalties, fuels the boom‑and‑bust cycle and hamstrings local budgets. strongtowns.org. When revenues collapse, even the governor has suggested “abandoning” small towns, strongtowns.org. So why are we doubling down on a funding model that depends on those same shaky revenues?
Wyoming has to play offense if we want people to stay. That means investing in broadband, childcare, housing, and AI, not just roads to industrial parks. It means a tiered or needs‑based match, so rural communities aren’t left behind. It means diversifying our tax base so we’re not hostages to commodity prices and making sure our social climate isn’t driving away women and young professionals. If we continue to export talent, there won’t be anyone left to match funds with.
Thanks Michael,
Well written.
The 60 – 70% figure of people under 30 moving out is incredibly telling. Add the comment of being the best at exporting our children was harsh – but spot on. I would move my family out before my kids started school.
Thanks also for citing sources.
Don
Wyoming is an acquired taste. Jobs aren’t enough to balance the weather and terrain.
The more people that leave Wyoming, the better. Too many people here as it is.
Thanks Adam for pointing out another reason they leave….unfriendly locals. I moved to Wyoming in 1974 for grad school at UW and met alot of friendly folks. I guess they all moved to CO…….
True.
Agreed.
You give “economical development” funds to folks who have no idea where or why to use it and expect voters to only hope they can have some of it! So far it goes to roads and folks who have nothing to give and ready to take all they can. I suggest you look at Wyoming as a single employer and develop a some guided plan that may not be sanctioned by the political establishment now in power. For example currently we just kick out undocumented folks no matter what their history guided them here and let the dreamers have the opportunity to contribute to our community.
Do not expect the Wyoming Business Council, which was explicitly created to give away taxpayer money to politically favored businesses, to solve any of Wyoming’s economic or demographic issues. It has, in fact, made them worse. It would greatly benefit the state to dissolve the WBC.
Instead, what we need is an environment conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship. But we’re headed the wrong way. We’re decimating the quality of our public education (which could be a big draw to entrepreneurs and skilled workers with families); chasing health care providers away; allowing our municipalities to impose heavy regulation that makes it infeasible to start or expand a business; unnecessarily raising our own cost of living by deprecating cost-saving measures such as cheap renewable energy. We need to improve our quality of life and our attractiveness as a place to live, and from that will come inward migration and a strong desire of our young people to stay.
In the next couple of years there will be less workers than now since Trump is bound and determined to deport a lot of the ones who work in Wyoming right now.
The business climate is just a small part of why our children leave. Our current political climate is not engaging with young people. The war on women in the “equality” state is a serious issue for not only the women but their entire family. Low wages, lack of healthcare, no body autonomy, no affordable housing to name but a few. And in reality it is no better for younger men. The focus on energy keeps those who do not want yo be associated with or forced into it to leave. No matter how great you think the energy companies pay, it is not true. Most are making just what were considered good wages 20 years ago. They also cannot find affordable housing. They leave. No one can blame them.
The state is overrun by retirees from other states who have contributed to the increase in housing costs by paying ridiculous prices because they have the money for a retirement home here. We have an aging workforce and nothing to back fill it. And you all are screaming about taxes. Well the individuals in this state currently pay and have always paid less in taxes than any other state in the union.
The solution will not be an easy decision but I assure you if we stay this course with who we elect and their focus on nothing but living in the past, religion and social/cultural issues it will only continue to get worse. Much worse.
100% correct
What industries need all of these workers? The 70% of Wyoming born people that permanently leave the state do so because there is nothing here for them.
It has been said, that Wyoming’s biggest export is not oil, coal or livestock but its youth. Kind of a sad commentary.
“We are better than anyone in the nation at exporting our children,” Dorrell said. “But is that what we want?’”
Dorrell’s use of an active verb to describe the Legislature’s role in the out-migration of Wyoming’s children is ironic. And it’s ironic not in the sense we commonly use it to denote a coincidence, nor in a Socratic sense where someone questions to educate, or reveal someone’s ignorance, but in one dramatic, or tragic. Dramatic irony occurs when we recognize that plans are going, or will, go awry. We, the audience, recognize that the best laid plans are doomed as the doom unfolds while the actors – the Legislature – who make and carry out the plans, don’t.
The Republican move to the right and their “planned” attempt to remake Wyoming’s political and social environment is an unfolding tragedy. To see the out-migration of Wyoming’s young people as other than a visible effect of the Republican plan is part of the tragedy we the citizenry/audience are witnessing.
The Wyoming Business Council has to accept the Legislature’s plan and be creative within its parameters. That a primary mechanism to bolster communities has the effect of accelerating the demise of our smaller communities is also ironic. How a flat 25% match from communities for grant dollars will help communities that don’t have this kind of money is tragically ironic.
” – It’s true, Dorrell said, “Very small communities face a unique challenge. It turns out that almost every one of our communities is facing a similar challenge of resources versus the idea of growing. It’s a challenge for us.” –
We, the audience of this play, see how the Business Council is forced to voice their part of the Republican plan – use of scarce resources to maintain infrastructure or adopting the Legislature’s mandate to grow. The tragedy unfolds as smaller communities lose their children, their elders die early and families battle domestic violence, substance abuse, and decreasing relevance of religion.
We know that a corporate credo is “grow or die.” But does it have to be the catharsis for Wyoming’s smaller communities? A catharsis here will occur when we, the audience to the Legislature’s plan, see and realize the wholeness of the tragedy as it comes to an end in the final scene. Just as we felt that Romeo and Juliet would come to a tragic end, so we know the Republican Legislature’s efforts will as well. Too many communities and family businesses will be dead for the Legislature in its current form to survive.
Another use of the word catharsis is to see it as the purification of corruption, what the audience experiences when the conflicts between the Montagues and Capulets is purged with the death of Romeo and Juliet. We are purified with the hope a new tomorrow. With our dying communities and loss of children to other States, catharsis is approaching. We can feel it.
Kick the right wing, fake christian goofballs out of office and things will start getting better.
Second to our mineral exports are our children.