Recent News

Economic development in northeastern Wyoming gained speed around the turn of the twentieth century, pushing the area’s business like a steam locomotive speeding down into a valley. Consistent innovation since has centered around available energy resources, from coal to natural gas and oil. That innovation gave rise to the uniqu...Continue Reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 29, 2020 CONTACT: Michael Pearlman, Communications Director Michael.Pearlman@wyo.gov Governor Announces Applications for $225M in Business Relief Funding Open on August 4 CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  Governor Mark Gordon announced that applications for the next two waves of funding under the COVID-19 Business Relief Program will open to Wyoming businesses and nonprofits at 1...Continue Reading

The Wyoming Legislature crafted three grant programs during a special session May 15-16 to distribute $325 million in federal CARES Act funding for Wyoming small-business owners who have experienced hardship related to COVID-19. Governor Mark Gordon signed the bill on May 20. The Wyoming Business Council is working to stand up the three relie...Continue Reading

In response to the difficulties presented by the Covid-19 crisis, the U.S. Census Bureau has extended the 2020 U.S. Census data collection deadline to October 31. With the outbreak and spread of the virus, the U.S. Census Bureau had to temporarily stop all door-to-door transactions for the 2020 U.S. Census...Continue Reading

The Wyoming Business Council Board of Directors will hold a special call-in meeting to consider rules for two additional COVID-19 Business Relief funding programs at 3:30 p.m. on July 14. The Wyoming Business Council is responsible for distribution of $325 million in federal CARES act funding for Wyoming businesses and nonprofits...Continue Reading

SHERIDAN — While plans for this year’s Sheridan WYO Rodeo hit a wall when COVID-19 arrived in Wyoming, members of the local rodeo board said they hope many of the ideas and performances will shift to the 2021 event. Board members recognized that canceling the 2020 event meant a loss of incom...Continue Reading

SHERIDAN — Instead of filling Grinnell Plaza and Main Street on the third Thursday of the month, Downtown Sheridan Association’s 3rd Thursday Street Festival moves online for a virtual experience for vendors and patrons alike. DSA will create a 3rd Thursday Facebook event where vendors typically set up downtown may post pictures...Continue Reading

SHERIDAN — The Wyoming Legislature Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee entered day two of discussion prepared to “straighten out” the state’s animal cruelty statute, as Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, said, though Sheridan County Prosecuting Attorney Dianna Bennett cooled some concerns about a need for complete overhaul within th...Continue Reading

Please join the Wyoming Business Council for a Wyoming Business Relief programs informational webinar for the Northeast and Northwest regions from 8 to 9 a.m. on Friday, June 19th.  The webinar will provide legislators, local officials, WBC Board members, partners and stakeholders:  Updates on the successful launch of the Business Interruption Stipend (program 1) the week o...Continue Reading

It’s almost always good news when an industrial manufacturer needs to find a new plant site. It means business is growing, new markets are emerging, and financials are healthy. However, this is the point of time in the business cycle when decisions about next steps need to be made carefully...Continue Reading

The coronavirus pandemic has caused more economic disruption than the U.S. has seen since the Great Depression. No one can say for sure what the landscape will look like as the economy recovers, but it’s clear that a lot of puzzle pieces won’t snap back into the same places a...Continue Reading

The concept of an “innovation center” is certainly not new. However, without much fanfare, over time, some operations have reinvented the traditional center model, changing how and where they operate, leaning upon new partners and resources, and switching out the types of clients or markets served. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-1...Continue Reading

COVID-19 has significantly altered the landscape for businesses globally that will reverberate well beyond and into the future. Manufacturing and supply chain decisions for corporations have had to make adaptations due to the massive disruption from this pandemic. Understanding and implementing the new norms will be quintessential to success i...Continue Reading

Economic development compliance is historically a long process, one that is typically managed over a multi-year time frame. Companies have negotiated incentives to help offset costs associated with growth and expansion and count on the economic benefits as part of their strategic growth plan — specifically, their plan for buildin...Continue Reading

Until an effective treatment is proven or a vaccination is widely distributed, we’ll continue to have more questions than answers regarding a succinct definition or timing of the “new normal.” However, what we do know now is that the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the over-reliance on just-in-time global supply chains...Continue Reading

This annual report is usually a celebratory recognition of some of the world’s best performing economies, especially those most successful at attracting investment and creating jobs. And we’ll still do that. But it’s impossible to highlight last year’s successes as populations and economies in every corner of the world ar...Continue Reading

LARAMIE — Wyoming Women’s Business Center is announcing the launch of its COVID-19 Support Program. It aims to help women-owned small businesses build or enhance their online presence, launch crowdfunding campaigns, and implement accounting software at no cost. COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on women-owned industries. The 2019 State of Women-Owned Businesse...Continue Reading

The Crook County Farm Bureau Federation has selected the winners for three scholarships for the 2020-2021 school year. This year’s winners are Dalton Butler, Hunter Bailey and Lauren Haiar. In first place, Dalton Butler was selected to receive a $1500 scholarship from the Crook County Farm Bureau Federation for the 2020-202...Continue Reading

At a time when more people are working from home but business deliverables and deadlines remain the same, managers are seeking tangible ways to make remote work function just as well as the usual methods for employees they support. Below are four tangible steps that managers can take to combat communicatio...Continue Reading

Organizations should recognize that if you take care of culture, then the customer experience and profits will take care of themselves. Putting your people at the center of your thinking and decision-making will never steer you in the wrong direction. Culture is experienced in every employee’s actions, 365 days of th...Continue Reading

The turnover rate for hourly employees has always been, and continues to be, extremely high. Retail, for example, has a turnover rate of around 60 percent, and other sectors can be even higher than that. This is a real problem for businesses since replacing an employee costs on average $4,969, according to a 201...Continue Reading

Amazon may be preparing to make a big move into the self-driving vehicle world as the logistics giant is said to be in “advanced” talks to acquire Zoox, a stealthy developer of robotaxi technology, according to the Wall Street Journal. Along with Amazon, other interested parties are considering offers for th...Continue Reading

By making sustainable packaging for e-commerce and the industrial supply chain, Ranpak is doing well by doing good. Ranpak is a leading global provider of environmentally friendly protective packaging solutions, and its systems play an increasingly important role in an ever more complex and interconnected economy. Ranpak serves a broad arra...Continue Reading

With so many school districts around the country working feverishly to implement distance learning programs, there is no better time to talk about the digital divide and a student’s right to education. While the term "digital divide" can be used to describe many instances in which marginalized kids and those tha...Continue Reading