Wyoming Builds its Local Infrastructure with well funded program

Wyoming’s communities received a $25 million boost from this year’s legislative session in order to create business-ready infrastructures. “There are two ways to access the new program,” says Den Costantino, director of business and industry for the Wyoming Business Council. “Communities can either begin to build business parks and prepare the community with water, sewer, land, streets and spec buildings, or they can use the funds to assist a company that is moving in and needs infrastructure put in place.” The maximum funding per community is $1.5 million

Business Xpansion Journal

Costantino believes the three-year program will be extended by the legislature to ensure communities are ready for business.

Wyoming also passed a $3 million commercial air enhancement fund to study the state’s air service. The state has hired a consultant to best define how to enhance the commercial air market in the state.

Additionally, Wyoming continues to strengthen its fairly new Market Research Center. The center features a database housed at the University of Wyoming. The service is free to Wyoming businesses of any size, from the local shoe store to the manufacturer with a national distribution.

Targets

“Wyoming’s targets are mainly focused on manufacturing and there are a couple of reasons for that,” Costantino says. “We have an adequate transportation system with rail and highway to get to most markets. We also have lower energy costs because we are an energy producing state.”

While Wyoming officials understand that manufacturing continues to look overseas because of perceived cost savings, state officials believe that anything that can be manufactured in the United States will have more advantages in Wyoming than the rest of the country.

“It links to the tax situation because we do not charge corporate income taxes and we have fairly low property and sales taxes,” Costantino says.

Manufacturing companies that are best suited to conduct business in Wyoming include plastic and recreational equipment, such as the gun industry and the outdoor entertainment industry. The Wyoming Manufacturers Association provides the sector with education, mentoring and network opportunities.

“In Casper we want to attract manufacturing industries that can capitalize on the strong skills base we have in the oil and gas industries,” says Chris Manegold, president and CEO, Casper Area Economic Development Alliance. “We are looking for products that are not transportation sensitive and can be moved by air, such as aircraft or electronic components.”

Cheyenne is another community looking for willing site partners in manufacturing. “In Cheyenne we want to expand our manufacturing base and we have found interest from what I call niche manufacturers who have an advantage of staying in the United States,” says Randy Bruns, president, Cheyenne Leads. “Grobet USA, manufacturers of precision high-tech tools, just opened a relocated plant.”

Bruns says Cheyenne features a small cluster of aviation-related businesses, particularly in maintenance operations. He says that Cheyenne’s 90-mile proximity to Denver International Airport provides aviation companies with access to an experienced aviation workforce. He adds that Cheyenne Leads and Cheyenne’s airport authority are working to identify aviation-related businesses to target.

Costantino says another target industry in Wyoming is back office operations because the state’s populated areas feature an adequate telecom system to support them. Recently, Boise Office Systems opened a national order center in Casper, employing more than 350 workers.

Emerging industries in Wyoming are based on the oil and gas industry, a traditional source of revenue in the state. “One of our charges at the Wyoming Business Council is to diversify the economy so we have a clustering effect going on around coal, oil and gas,” Costantino says.

Manegold adds that the state’s basic manufacturing industries in the past were pipes and pumps for the oil and gas industry. “We are looking at ancillary services such as environmental and engineering that support those industries,” he says.

Manegold adds that new advances in technology and the new interest in coal bed methane are support industries that are growing in his area. “Companies are looking at the environmental questions that arise by drilling into coal beds to tap into the natural gas that is trapped in them,” he says.

Manegold also notes that Casper is working to attract entrepreneurs who found technology companies. “With the concentration of communications and redundant fiber optics we have, combined with the quality of life and air services we have, we are an ideal location for those entrepreneurs who could operate anywhere, but choose to live here for the quality of life,” he says.

Workforce and Education

A few years back the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming Community College Commission licensed parts of Georgia’s Quick Start program to improve workforce development. The state licensed the Certified Customer Service Specialist, Certified Manufacturing Specialist and Certified Warehousing & Distribution Specialist programs.

In other workforce development programs, grants are awarded to employers creating new jobs or adding jobs to their current workforces. The grants, which can range up to a maximum of $2,000 per trainee, reimburse expenses for training, instructor’s fees, materials, travel expense, workshop fees and the like.

In Casper, Nerd Tech will conduct technology training on specific software and conduct competency-based testing to get individuals up to speed. Casper also features the McMurray Center, which is run by the Wyoming Contractors Association, to provide instruction in welding, heavy equipment and other construction-related training.

Casper Community College is the state’s largest two-year college, which offers programs from the University of Wyoming.

Bruns says Laramie County Community College has been supportive of economic development activities in Cheyenne. “The college’s businesses and industry department works with local companies to identify training needs and ways to keep companies competitive,” Bruns says.

Business Climate

In Casper, there are two separate funds companies can make use of to finance projects. The Joint Powers Board is the product of a 1-cent sales tax, which provides a separate pool of funds and also finances the Casper Economic Development Alliance. The Forward Casper program is private sector money that has been donated to the alliance for discretionary use.

“We used funds from Forward Casper to assist WL Plastics in purchasing land and for constructing its facility when it relocated from Texas,” Manegold says. “The company bought the building, so we received our incentive money back.”

In regard to business assistance, the Wyoming Business Council features six regional offices to work with expanding and relocating companies. “We survey companies within every community once a year to see if there are problems related to growth and expansion,” Costantino says.

Wyoming economic development officials say a key benefit of conducting businesses in the state is not having to pay corporate or personal income taxes. The state also doesn’t collect inventory taxes. The state’s sales tax rate is 4 percent with a maximum 2 percent option at the local level.
Wyoming does charge an annual license tax/franchise fee for limited liability corporations, for-profit corporations, limited partnerships, and registered limited liability partnerships.

In terms of building inventory, Casper is revitalizing a former Amoco BP refinery location, which is administered by a public authority. BP is developing the infrastructure. Currently, the project has a business park with one office buidling under construction, which will have space for four, 25,000-square-feet spaces. There are also 250 acres on the site that will be converted to an industrial park, which will provide connector access to Interstate 25.

Casper’s airport also has 70 acres proposed for development as a business park. The property is currently under purchase by the county. The land will need additional water, street and sewer development.

Cheyenne is also adding to its building inventory. The city is currently planning to develop a new distribution and industrial park. The proposed 600-acre park will feature a new interchange to Interstate 80, if it is approved. The site will also be within one mile to Interstate 25. Bruns says Cheyenne’s current 900-acre park has about 300 acres left for development.

In terms of market access, a Wyoming location puts companies close to markets in Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City. The state features three interstate highways: I-25, I-80 and I-90. Casper is in the process of extending the major commercial street from the city limits by putting in 12,000 feet of five-lane road that will extend to the Interstate 25 interchange, which will open up hundreds of acres for development.

The Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe provide rail service in Wyoming.

Air service in Wyoming is found at 36 public airports, including 10 commercial service airports, all of which connect to Denver International Airport and Salt Lake International Airport. Casper’s airport just recently added a United Express line, which allows the community to offer eight commercial flights by various carriers to Denver; and there are four flights a day to Salt Lake City.

In regard to telecom service, the state recently entered into a $29 million agreement, called Wyoming Equality Network, with Wyoming’s local telecom providers to construct a statewide high-speed telecom network.

As for electrical needs, Wyoming produces more energy than it consumes. “We have several power plants in the state and the majority of the power is pushed out of the state,” Costantino notes.

For complete details visit http://www.wyomingbusiness.org, http://www.cheyenneleads.org and http://www.caeda.net .

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