Across Wyoming, people are ready to build, grow and move forward. From Rock Springs to Sheridan and Torrington to Powell, there is a growing sense that it is time to stop talking about what is slipping away and focus on what is possible.
Opinion
A new statewide poll conducted for the Wyoming Business Council confirms this shared belief: Opportunity, good jobs, and the chance for our children and grandchildren to stay close to home are not optional — they are essential.
The poll shows that most Wyoming voters want their local community to take decisive action to grow jobs and the economy. A clear majority supports responsible population growth when it means more opportunity for families and neighbors. Nearly everyone agrees that retaining young people and attracting new ones is critical for Wyoming’s future.
In the Cowboy State, decisions mean more when they reflect the voice of the people. Polling helps us listen, not politicize, showing what residents value most, what worries them and what gives them hope. It ensures every community has a seat at the table and captures the collective wisdom, optimism and grounded spirit of Wyoming.
This data gives us confidence to make the important, and sometimes big, decisions to grow. It shows that most of Wyoming wants progress that fits our values, but also progress that keeps our families rooted here.
More than half of the respondents have a child, grandchild or family member who has left the state for opportunities elsewhere. That fact hits home for many of us. However, the same poll shows that there is still deep hope and a desire to thrive. People want to see investment in job creation, housing and infrastructure. We want visible progress and responsible leadership. We want results, not excuses.
The greatest obstacle Wyoming faces is not a lack of opportunity. It is fear. Fear of change, conflict and the anxiety of losing the Wyoming we love. That fear often manifests as deeply damaging myths that block our path forward.
One myth we hold onto is that our economy is just fine, and we have time to wait. The numbers tell a different story. Our state has seen a long-term decline in GDP and we have the highest rate of youth outmigration in the country. We watch businesses and our young people move to other places for better opportunities. Voters are feeling it, citing the cost of living and housing availability as top challenges. This is an urgent situation.
Too often, those who support new ideas or projects stay quiet when the conversation turns loud or heated. We’ve seen this play out recently across the state. Even when most people support a business or development idea, many stay silent because they do not want to be caught in the crosshairs of controversy.
That silence has a cost. It pushes opportunity away and tells the next business or investor that Wyoming might not be ready to grow. It sends the wrong message to our young people, who wonder if they can build a life here.
We have always been pioneers, and our future must be led by a Team of Thousands — local leaders, businesses and partners who are ready to build.
Wyoming has a strong contingent of people who want progress and economic growth. The poll clearly shows that. People understand that our economy faces headwinds, but we are not giving up. We are practical, hopeful and ready to take bold action.
Our job at the Wyoming Business Council is to help turn that collective optimism into a visible reality. These poll results are a roadmap for building stronger communities. Growth in Wyoming has always started locally. It begins with leadership at the community level and partnerships with the private sector.
Wyoming residents are not opposed to investment. They simply want to know that their dollars are being used wisely. When local leaders and businesses work together and deliver results that matter, people respond with trust and support.
We cannot afford to keep losing opportunities, especially when every one of us wants our children and grandchildren to live and thrive in the beauty of Wyoming. The good news is that none of us is alone in that hope. All across this state, there is a shared belief in the potential of Wyoming people and communities.
There is opportunity everywhere, but we must make our optimism louder than the naysayers. Our challenge is to match belief with courage and take action.
The next chapter of Wyoming’s story will not be written by fear. It must be written by the people who dare to build.
Will you be part of the Team of Thousands? Review the polling data and share YOUR story, visit wbc.pub/teamof1000s.
Some of you nay sayers are just as much of an issue as the people you complain about. The sky is falling because we are too conservative…….The legislature has been problematic for as long as I can remember – nobody is ever happy with the legislature.
There is opportunity in this state, sometimes it is a little harder to flesh out, but it’s here. I work with entrepreneurs every day that throw caution to the wind and go for it. Welders, plumbers, engineers, electricians, programmers, restaurants, attorneys, doctors, transportation, mechanics. There are businesses here and technology that nobody else knows about – thriving – both the business and the employees. Look how many retired Air Force members we have in Southeast Wyoming – being part of the community, creating jobs? There is a reason for that. Some communities do not what to grow, and that is fine. Others want to grow but put up burdensome regulations. We can be business friendly and retain our youth, but we have to think outside the box. We have four wonderful young staff people in my office that all want to be here, want to build their careers and raise their families in Wyoming. It takes a lot of work and effort to build the environment that attracts quality people, but it can be done.
I left and came back, my daughter wants to be here and has put down roots. Opportunity does not create itself, but it certainly helps when you create the right environment. We cannot change that the wind blows and it can be cold, but there is no place like Wyoming in the summer. Where else can you live 10 minutes from the urban centers and at the same time be miles away from anybody in 30 minutes? Where else can you go that traffic is getting caught by the light vs stuck in traffic for an hour? Sure, Wyoming is an acquired taste, it’s not for everybody – thank goodness – it’s not perfect, but it is one of the last best places.
The question is, can we create welcoming environments, cut to the chase and make business creation easier. Get up out of the Lazy Boy and be part of the solution.
Josh you can add little town of Newcastle to WBC’s list of starry-eyed optimists. Up here in eastern Weston County our business leaders are quite literally paving the way toward Wyoming’s new future. Here are just a few shining examples of our progressive leadership: First Northern Bank recently purchased and bulldozed one of our business district’s many empty storefronts. Their win-win solution added a couple extra employee parking spaces to their existing lot while reducing the need to potentially finance a risky loan for another business startup at that location on Main Street. Another recent example of our contagious Pollyanna can do spirit is Wyoming Refining Company. When it was discovered that hydrocarbon soil and ground water contamination extended beyond the boundaries of their property on Newcastle’s Main Street they stepped up to secretly and quietly purchase several surrounding businesses. One of them, Decker’s Market, a grocery store that had operated at that location for nearly 75 years was spared the wrecking ball by their benevolent actions. Now it is the property of WRC and its coolers which once held ice cream and Thanksgiving turkeys will now be available to Weston County Homeland Security to use to hold cadavers in the event that there is a mass casualty event involving things like chemical releases or refinery explosions in Newcastle. Decker’s Market did rebuild at a new location on the west end of town— well beyond the potential blast area.
Mr. Dorrell
Your opinion piece addresses one aspect, but many others are ignored. When, frankly, white males of a certain socio-economic, gender affirmed, and Western European Christian diaspora speak, I hear Winnie the Pooh telling Christopher Robin, “Tut-Tut, it looks like rain!”
The economy is but one aspect. The eroding of women’s bodily autonomy is another. OB/GYNs are leaving the state in droves. Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment for our queer population states we don’t want “those”. The fear of eroding voting rights adds in. The erosion of our public education and anti-teacher sentiment is one more. Let’s not mention we have 10% Democratic representation, and almost 50% of GOP is Freedom Caucus.
Sir, my children were born and raised here. They love the mountains, camping, hiking, fishing…but they have left and don’t have plans to return for every other reason than the economy.
The opportunities for younger people and families are not there, and we continue on that path as our legislative leaders and Washington reps continue to look in past instead of where the world is going. There’s not an extractive industry proposal that they’ll deem as unwise, and any proposal for a project like wind and solar development, etc. is bad mouthed and taunted. And what major projects are proposed other than energy, mining, logging, etc. Data centers don’t employ many once they’re built. If your child were to graduate from UW with a degree in biology, history, math or any fine arts degree where would they find a career in WY?
Secondly, our state leadership tends to focus on things that tend turn many younger generation away. Many want acceptance and respect for LGBTQ+ rights as they have friends and persons that they know are of those orientations. They don’t care what other consenting adults do in the privacy of their own bedroom. They do want a clear separation of church and state. They want good schools that are funded and not driven by some state legislator’s definition of morality. They want safety for their families. They want some type of common sense of control of firearms as this generation has seen school shootings their entire life. They want an income that will allow them live beyond paycheck to paycheck, and an employer that offers reasonable benefits. They live and see income inequality.
Our state leaders worry about some illegal voter boogeyman where it has been shown over and over that illegal voting is a non issue that politicians are using to stir up people. How many proven illegal voters have there been in the past 25 years and how would they have affected the outcome? What a waste of time and money. They worry about books in libraries while everyone has access to adult information on the smartphones that we all carry. They worry about “illegals” that aren’t taking your job, they’re doing the jobs that most of us won’t do – work in farm fields, clean hotel rooms, wash dishes, work in meat processing, etc.
Because we’re traditionally conservative in the past few years the more extreme representatives have moved to our state and have taken roles of leadership. They cut taxes for the already wealthy, they cut services for those that are on the edge, they bad mouth anyone who contradicts their beliefs, cut funding for schools, bad mouth education professionals, run off medical professionals that follow science and propose vaccines, want to control woman’s health, cut mental health care, do nothing to address high housing costs, giving breaks to crypto, etc. Our state legislative leadership Freedumb caucus insults anyone with proposals that don’t align with their preconceived standards. And our reps in Washington just reiterate Trump and never question. Have some values and standards AND stand on your own two feet.
If you were younger and had a family where could you have a career in WY? Would you want to bring your family here? I miss the WY that I moved to 35 plus years ago that was live and let live. Sorry for being long winded but I’m damn tired of our state leaders and Washington reps being short sided pining backwards to the past instead if looking to the future. Is our leadership willing to change or do we continue as we’ve always done, and watch our state wither and contract? Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results is the definition of insanity. And our leaders sure seem to be following that axiom.
As our older bigoted residents move on, wyoming might be able to achieve what you’ve described. The gullible who embrace chrumps authoritarian streak are the same who agree with the tenets of christian nationalism.
Long winded or not, your comment was spot on.
Great comment, I whole heartedly agree.
Mr. Josh Dorrell does not mention the various possibilities for development in Wyoming. For example the lead article in today’s WyoFile is about developing WY for manufacturing nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel where the entire plant would be returnable and WY would store the spent fuel. Information sessions are sponsored by pro-nuclear politicians and very-pro-nuclear corporations — the very people who believe they would benefit from the scheme. What can be expected from such? The benefits are extolled and no downsides are mentioned, of course! For example, TRISO fuel is formulated to avoid production of radioisotopes; but radiation, itself, cannot be removed from nuclear fuel. It’s one of 4 basic forces in the universe. TRISO fuel will gamma-radiate and nothing can stop that. The spent fuel will be at least 1000 times worse (no exaggeration).
I, on the other hand, am foursquare against any radioactive installation and yearn for a multi-generational industry which down through the years will employ hundreds, and I envision thousands of people. Internationally, humans hanker for Wyoming. The riches are in its big sky, its rocky hikes, its tourist lodges, its music, its dramatic talent, its writers, its history, its nature walks, its forests, its fascinating deserts, its clean water, its clean air, its animals. But in tourism nobody gets filthy rich; just a long-term living for generations of families and people who simply love the stuff: history, air, water, sky music, mentioned in the previous sentence. Has WY got $100 million, as suggested to attract BWXT to access WY’s uranium resources; even when the state got stuck with mine clean-up in a previous investment bubble? And consider New Mexico’s spent U-mines that industry abandoned.
Tourism can be Wyoming’s treasure. No $100 million from citizens’ purses to some outsider’s pocket. Mr. Dorrell wants a courageous plan for development? Please! Consider REAL SUPPORT for tourism — expand. Wyoming and the whole world needs it.
Hi Jan,
I share your vision for Wyoming’s future. We want the same things – big sky, clean air, forests, a place our grandkids can build lives. That’s why I’m thinking hard about energy choices.
I agree that growing our state’s tourism is an important piece of the solution. This requires watching what’s happening to the Wyoming we’re trying to preserve. In 2012, over 350,000 acres of Wyoming burned, three times the normal amount. 2020 was nearly as bad. The NCICS state climate assessment shows summer droughts are projected to become more intense and wildfires more frequent and severe.
And it’s not just about acres burned – it’s about the health of people living here. Every summer now, we’re breathing wildfire smoke for longer stretches. Those particulates damage lungs, hearts, kids’ developing brains. There’s no safe level of exposure, and the seasons keep getting longer.
You mention gamma radiation from spent fuel as an invisible danger – and it is. But wildfire smoke is a visible and invisible danger, one we’re already breathing. Nuclear waste can be contained in concrete and steel and monitored. Smoke from burning forests just disperses into the air our families breathe. Solutions like nuclear, solar, and wind help address the root causes of the increasing wildfire seasons, and we will need all of them.
I’m not saying nuclear doesn’t have real risks that need serious long-term management. It does.
This isn’t tourism versus nuclear.
The question for me is how to manage the full picture. Watching more of Wyoming burn each summer while breathing worse air isn’t working for the future we both want.
Truth. We should be building the future, not screaming in fear of the piccocurrie.