Opinion
Wyoming has every right to debate the proper role of government.
But if we’re going to have that debate honestly, we need to stop pretending the Wyoming Business Council is simply a pot of money handed to a few businesses.
The missing piece is what this decision means for the Wyoming people and communities that rely on the support system behind small businesses.
Lawmakers recently advanced a vote to defund and dismantle the Wyoming Business Council. Many people hear that and think, “Okay — fewer loans, fewer grants.”
That is not what this really is.
The Wyoming Business Council is part of the statewide infrastructure that empowers everyday people to build a livelihood here, especially in rural towns where the nearest support system might be hours away.
The Wyoming Women’s Business Center (WWBC) is one of the organizations that does the “last-mile” work — the part of economic development that doesn’t make headlines, but keeps communities functioning.
Despite our name, we serve entrepreneurs of all genders. Our work is about building stronger local economies for everyone in our great state.
We serve the people most Wyomingites know personally:
- The parent building a home-based business because childcare costs more than a paycheck.
- The young person who wants to stay in Wyoming but can’t find a path forward.
- The rural resident with a talent and a work ethic, but no access to coaching, capital readiness, or a roadmap.
In 2024 alone, the WWBC served 1,138 active businesses, welcomed 654 new clients and delivered 2,175 hours of one-on-one business counseling, reaching entrepreneurs across Wyoming, not just in one city.
And just last year, we helped put more than $251,000 into the hands of Wyoming small business owners — the kind of funding that helps someone open their doors, buy equipment or finally take the next step.
What’s at risk is whether everyday Wyomingites can still build a life here, or whether that door quietly starts closing.
The Wyoming Business Council doesn’t just “fund businesses.” It helps fund the ecosystem that makes business ownership realistic — the coaching, systems, training, and statewide reach that turn skills into paychecks and ideas into Main Street jobs.
If the council disappears, the loss won’t show up as a single line item on a budget sheet. It will show up in quieter ways that Wyoming families will feel: fewer services in small towns, fewer people able to start and grow businesses, fewer reasons for young people to stay, and fewer Wyoming dollars circulating in the places we all love.
We can absolutely talk about accountability and improvement. But dismantling the Wyoming Business Council without understanding what it holds up is not reform; it’s pulling out support beams and acting surprised when the roof sags.
Wyoming’s future is built one small business at a time — one paycheck, one family, one community at a time.
Defunding the Wyoming business council is a really bad idea. Those wanting to defund it….pick another fight and consider a more productive growth oriented mindset in the process. The organization is effective, is essential and will continue to do good work for the people and businesses of Wyoming.
While the WBC might need some retooling, it’s also had some successes that people have quickly forgotten about.
One good example is WyoTech. Once what was one of the preeminent mechanical schools in the country was leveraged with WBC/State of Wyoming resources to be resurrected and is once again the training center for the automotive world.
Or the Business Ready Community grants to build infrastructure allowing smaller rural areas to compete and diversify their local economies – like Lincoln County. Or expanded broadband to rural areas.
It’s more than just picking winners and losers, but investing in Wyoming infrastructure to better compete with other areas of the US.
Thank you for this perspective. We agree the conversation is bigger than any one program. It’s about the infrastructure that helps Wyoming communities compete and grow. From WWBC’s standpoint, that includes the “last-mile” support for entrepreneurs and small businesses in all 23 counties, especially in rural areas where resources are limited.
The Business Council was originally formed to be an “end run” around the anti-corruption provision of the Wyoming Constitution which forbade the Legislature from appropriating money to private entities. Legislators wanted to do that, so they set things up so they could fund the Business Council… which would then “grant” the money to politically favored businesses. The Business Council was made opaque and unaccountable to hide this cronyism.
Nowadays, the Business Council’s bureaucracy has grown to suck more than $5 million out of the state budget in salaries alone. And if a small native Wyoming business calls it for help in growing or developing its business, it won’t get a return phone call – while a large out-of-state business that wants to come in, compete with it, and destroy it will get all the help in the world.
The agency has gone so terribly wrong that it’s beyond repair. Let’s dismantle it and start from scratch.
Thank you for sharing your perspective. We can’t speak for every aspect of the Business Council’s history or every program decision, but we can speak to the work we do at the Wyoming Women’s Business Center.
WWBC is a Wyoming-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving entrepreneurs of all genders across all 23 counties. The funding we receive supports operational services like one-on-one business counseling, rural outreach, and guidance for small business owners, not subsidies for large out-of-state corporations, and not our loan capital.
We agree that transparency and accountability matter. Our concern is that eliminating this support entirely would reduce access for everyday Wyoming entrepreneurs, especially in rural communities where few alternatives exist.
We welcome continued discussion about how Wyoming can best support local business owners in a way that is fair, accountable, and effective.
My experience with this counsel have borne out biased decisions and favoritism. How many tax dollars walked out of the state after getting “assistance” from the Wyoming Business Counsel? Good riddance to bad rubbish!
Thank you for sharing your perspective. We understand why accountability and fairness are important concerns in any public funding discussion.
From WWBC’s standpoint, our focus is on Wyoming entrepreneurs, the local residents starting and growing small businesses in their own communities. We are a Wyoming-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving all 23 counties, and the support we receive funds operational services like business counseling and rural outreach, not subsidies for out-of-state corporations.
We believe Wyoming’s small business owners deserve accessible, transparent support systems, especially in rural areas where few alternatives exist.
The business council needs more businesses to speak up on its behalf at this point.
Thank you, Travis. We’re seeing more Wyoming entrepreneurs and community partners speak up because this isn’t just about one agency, it’s about the statewide support network that helps small businesses start and grow, especially in rural areas. Organizations like WWBC and the Wyoming SBDC work alongside local business owners every day, and their voices matter right now.
TAKE TAX DOLLARS to give to the Wyoming business council so they can give
TAX DOLLARS to business. NO.
I understand the concern. One important clarification: organizations like the Wyoming Women’s Business Center don’t receive state dollars to “hand out” to businesses. Wyoming Business Council support helps fund operational services: things like business counseling, rural outreach, and guidance for local entrepreneurs. Our loan capital comes from separate sources and revolves back to support the next Wyoming small business owner.
The bigger question is whether Wyoming residents in every county have access to the support needed to start and sustain local businesses.