About
As the state economic development agency, the Wyoming Business Council leads economic growth in order to build resilient communities and create opportunities for people to thrive.
Who We Are
A resilient economy begins with the strength of its people. The Wyoming Business Council (WBC) operates on the fundamental belief that the state’s future depends on unlocking human potential. By dismantling systemic obstacles and providing essential tools and connections, the WBC empowers residents, small business owners, and community leaders to reach their boldest ambitions. This mission ensures that economic growth is driven by local ingenuity, allowing every Wyomingite to architect a future where they can thrive.
With a wide breadth of experience in recruitment, development, and investment services, the Business Council team works hard to create an economic framework so that Wyoming businesses and communities can be resilient.
Created in 1998, the WBC is a team of passionate professionals with a Board of Directors consisting of 13 business leaders from across the state. Governor Mark Gordon serves as co-chair of the board. With experience ranging from Fortune 500 companies, community banks, local and state governments, non-profit entities, private businesses, and economic development organizations, our team brings a wealth of expertise and deep local knowledge to Wyoming’s economic and community development efforts.
Headquartered in Cheyenne with offices in Casper, Cody, Evanston, Laramie, Powell, Riverton, Rock Springs, Sheridan, Torrington, and Wright.
Leading Economic Growth
Building Resilient Communities
Creating Opportunities to Thrive
Visionary architects
We are relentlessly focused on building a prosperous and sustainable economic landscape where every community and individual can thrive for generations to come. We are driven by a mission to reverse Wyoming’s economic decline and actively create boundless opportunities for YOU to stay or return to the Cowboy State.
We are the visionary architects of opportunity, empowering local leaders and businesses through strategic investment, proactive problem solving, and a collaborative Team of Thousands philosophy. We honor our rich heritage while boldly embracing innovation needed to ensure Wyoming’s long-term prosperity.
The Wyoming Business Council’s approach to economic development focuses on identifying problems and breaking down barriers obstructing a more resilient economy. Collaboratively, we test, adapt, and repeat the process to develop locally crafted solutions.
Building Wyoming's Future Together
We don’t view economic development as a series of isolated projects or a static plan; rather, we see it as a foundational, continuous process for architecting a stronger future for Wyoming. This is a fundamental shift in HOW we lead growth across the state. It is inherently action-oriented and driven by data, allowing us to identify and proactively dismantle barriers to prosperity.
Confronting Myths with Bold Hope
We are focused on identifying the deep-rooted policies and systematic limiting factors that are truly constraining our state and local economies. This is not about seeking short-term wins; it’s about pursuing sustainable opportunities that deliver long-term, systemic change and build true resilience. We are committed to myth busting the idea that decline is inevitable, approaching our state’s challenges with palpable optimism and the courage for bold action. The truth is, the current structure of Wyoming’s economic activities cannot sustain a high quality of life for all parts of the state in the long run. We are confronting this complex problem head-on.
Locally Driven, Collaboratively Built
Our methodology, visualized through the Economic Growth Flywheel, is a grassroots process designed to empower you. It is a shared framework for community and state partners to identify challenges and test locally-crafted solutions. It targets specific, unique issues because strengthening Wyoming means starting from the ground up.
While the WBC is taking the lead on launching these efforts, this is not a WBC program; it’s about collaboration and building a “Team of Thousands.” We are capacity-builders, committed to working with you to unlock your community’s greatest potential.
Complex vs. Complicated Problems
Complicated Problems
These problems may be difficult issues or challenges but there is typically a consistent process and we can generally define the expected outcome or solution.
- For example, building a new airport isn’t an easy process; it is complicated, long, and fraught with unexpected twists and turns. However, we can map out and manage the process and in the end, we have an airport.
Complex Problems
These problems may have many possible solutions or paths forward. Much is unknown (or possibly unknowable) and variable and there may be no “right” answer or “right” process. In fact, we don’t ever really SOLVE complex problems, we can just manage them.
- Examples: Ending world hunger; Planning an investment portfolio; Exploring the ocean floor; Diversifying an economy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Pathways to Prosperity? What problem are we trying to solve?
Wyoming has struggled to realize diverse, broad, and lasting growth. We have been working to diversify the economy for a number of years and want to understand why we haven’t met that goal. In order to do that, we need to understand the challenges at the local and state levels as well as the complexity of economic diversification. This methodology will help us tackle these issues and support local partners as they address their unique challenges and craft solutions.
How is this different from previous efforts?
This is a process and systems change for how we approach economic development in Wyoming. It is not just a “one and done” approach like a study or plan that may inform our direction for a set and finite amount of time. Rather, it is a permanent and long-term strategy for first identifying problems and working collaboratively to design solutions to address specific challenges. It is an iterative, cyclical process that can be applied to complex problems that do not have one simple solution.
Who else is involved in this work?
P2P is led by the Wyoming Business Council but is all about collaboration involving a variety of partners and stakeholders across the state. The Governor’s office, legislators, state partners and agencies, local businesses and organizations, economic/community development organizations, city and county officials, and other key groups are all integral to and involved in this work.
How will this impact smaller communities that represent a smaller sector of industries in the state?
This process of problem solving is applicable no matter the community size or industrial sector. The test>adapt>repeat methodology can be put into practice when addressing complex problems that may have multiple factors or potential solutions.
Where do we go from here? (Integration)
This is an ongoing process and we will continue to iterate to identify problems and address barriers to growth. Next steps include developing in-state training opportunities to educate partners on how to implement the process to address their unique local challenges. This process is also being shared through The Wyoming Academy curriculum as part of capacity-building activities.
What does this actually look like in practicality? (Impact)
This is a foundational shift and is HOW we do the work of economic development going forward. There may be some growing pains but we will continue to iterate and adapt as we implement this methodology in our various programs, investments, and policies across the state and locally.
WBC in the News
Poll Reveals Desire For Wyoming Growth Amid Youth Outmigration - K2 Radio
Most Wyoming voters say they want to see their communities grow — both in jobs and people — according to results from a statewide poll shared Tuesday with the Natrona County Board of County Commissioners.
The findings were presented by the Wyoming Business Council, which surveyed hundreds of voters across the state earlier this year. CEO Josh Dorrell said the message from residents was clear: nearly 8 in 10 respondents said they want their local communities to take strong action to grow the economy and create jobs.
Letter to the Editor: Wyoming Can’t Afford Performative Economics
Dear editor:
Wyoming is facing real economic headwinds: outmigration of young families, workforce shortages, housing constraints in growing communities, and other states actively recruiting our employers away. That’s not ideology. That’s reality.
So it was hard to watch a recent Wyoming Joint Appropriations Committee exchange with Wyoming Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell devolve into rhetorical theater instead of serious oversight.
Group seeks insights into what’s working, and what isn’t, in our communities
Dear editor:
Last September, several of us embarked on a 12-week journey with the Wyoming Business Council Assessment to Action (A2A) process. We are a diverse group of professionals from the local area with a focus on how we can see our citizens thriving, our communities successful, and support a sustainable way of living for all demographics and businesses that call Greybull home.
Over the past four months, neighbors across Greybull and south Big Horn County have been talking with us by one-on-one interviews and using the A2A Fishbone root-cause analysis about what’s working—and what isn’t—in our communities. We made sure to interview all demographics to get an unbiased and inclusive viewpoint.
Letter: Wyoming Business Council strengthens Wyoming's economy
Economic development in Wyoming does not happen by accident, nor does it follow a straight line. It requires patience, partnership, and a willingness to thoughtfully bridge the gaps that naturally occur during complex and volatile growth cycles that can span years or even decades. The Wyoming Business Council (WYBC) plays a critical role in making that possible.
For decades, the WYBC has supported Kennon and countless other companies across Sheridan County and the state of Wyoming. That support has allowed businesses like ours to grow, expand, and — most importantly — remain rooted in Wyoming. Kennon is now 100% employee owned and located in Sheridan. We generate international revenue that stays right here, reinvested directly into our employees, their families, and our local community.
Legislature should support Wyoming Business Council, SBDC works
I work closely with the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC), providing cybersecurity guidance to their clients who are the small businesses that are the backbone of Wyoming’s economy. I see firsthand how critical the SBDC is to keeping existing businesses alive and helping new entrepreneurs get started.
Many of the people the SBDC serves are exactly the people Wyoming needs to retain and attract: young entrepreneurs, first-time business owners and rural residents with ideas but limited resources. The SBDC provides confidential, no-cost advising that removes barriers for people who simply couldn’t afford private consultants.
Wyoming Business Council shares study findings with Natrona County Board of Commissioners
CASPER, Wyo. — Voters across Wyoming widely support efforts to grow the state’s economy and population, according to statewide poll results presented to the Natrona County Board of County Commissioners by the Wyoming Business Council on Tuesday.
Wyoming Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell shared findings from a 2025 survey of hundreds of Wyoming voters conducted by the Tarrance Group. According to Dorrell, the results showed that 79% of respondents favor their local community taking strong action to grow the economy and job market.
Dorrell also told commissioners the data help break down longstanding myths that Wyoming residents are afraid of growth or population increases.
The Wyoming Business Council looks to the legislative session
Amidst an economic downward turn, lawmakers have to balance the voice of the constituents while keeping Wyoming’s future in mind.
We spoke with the Wyoming Business Council to get their take on the upcoming legislative session and the structure of its work towards the future.
The Wyoming Business Council is informing people about funding for the next legislative session that will support economic growth and business opportunities in Wyoming.
Wyoming residents must decide what kind of future they want
e’ve said it before, but with less than two months until the start of the 68th Wyoming Legislature’s budget session, it needs to be said again.
Wyoming residents must decide what kind of future they want, and then clearly communicate it to those in the halls of power.
The good news is that seems to be happening, at least when it comes to the impact of last week’s topic – an outrageously ill-informed proposal to eliminate personal property tax and replace it with a hike in the state’s 4% sales tax. If letters to the editor are any indication, residents are realizing the potentially drastic impact this would have on basic local services, such as fire and police protection, infrastructure and public schools.
Five takeaways from the Wyoming Legislature’s budget hearings
The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee wrapped up two weeks of budget hearings Friday in Cheyenne and adjourned until Jan. 5, when the committee will reconvene for the remaining agency presentations.
Lawmakers will be responsible for crafting and passing the state’s next two-year spending plan, also known as a biennium budget, during the upcoming 2026 legislative session. It is the one task lawmakers are constitutionally obligated to complete in even-numbered years.
In separate discussions with the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming Department of Health, Freedom Caucus lawmakers pushed back on funding requests as inappropriate uses of tax dollars.
Wyoming lawmakers square off with business council over government’s role in economic development
Competing visions for the state’s economic future clashed Thursday as the Wyoming Business Council presented its budget proposal to the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee in Cheyenne.
While the council has functioned as Wyoming’s statewide economic development agency since its creation in 1998, some lawmakers argue that government shouldn’t be involved. Meanwhile, the business council is warning that stagnant job and wage growth, as well as low workforce availability, are fueling long-term economic decline in Wyoming.
Legislators Grill Wyoming Business Council, Say It ‘Picks Winners And Losers’
Wyoming’s top purse-holders Thursday grilled the leader of a state agency that exists to back business efforts in Wyoming over his $111.77 million budget request for the upcoming two-year funding cycle.
Multiple members of the legislative Joint Appropriations Committee cast the Wyoming Business Council as an agency that “picks winners and losers,” grows government, or skews the free market.
Wyoming Business Council (WBC) CEO Josh Dorrell countered, saying other states are investing in infrastructure and benefits to attract businesses, and Wyoming has no choice but to fund its own state-backed business incentives to defend its economy.
Budget hearings day 4: Business Council in the hot seat, state prisoners and more
The Wyoming Business Council faced scrutiny from state Freedom Caucus lawmakers on Dec. 4 who were skeptical of the economic development agency and its budget goals.
The lawmakers on the interim Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC), who also heard from officials representing the state Department of Corrections and Bureau of Parole the same day, discussed free market principles with Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell as part of four weeks of budget hearings.
Those hearings will eventually culminate with the JAC sending a marked-up version of Gov. Mark Gordon’s budget proposal to the full state Legislature.
Business council encourages mindset change
WHEATLAND – The regional director of the Wyoming Business Council, Drew Dietrich, attended the most recent commissioners meeting alongside Josephine Young, Platte Co. Economic Development director, to discuss removing barriers to business and economic growth in Platte County. Dietrich has been working with communities in Wyoming such as Glenrock, Lusk and Shoshone, and presented his findings to the commission, emphasizing that the need for quality housing has been a major element in growth lags, for example, in Shoshone.
Dietrich explained the WBC is partnering with Harvard researchers (the Tarrance Group) to study specific local demographics, economics and community priorities.
“Youth out-migration in Wyoming is 65%, whereas this trend is only 30% nationwide,” Dietrich said.
The Wyoming Business Council says the future is Nuclear
The future is nuclear, at least according to the Wyoming Business Council
We spoke with officials and have more on what’s on the business horizon.
The Wyoming Business Council kicked off its new community conversation series with its first episode, focusing on the nuclear industry in the state.
Wyoming Business Council Survey Results
According to a recent Wyoming Business Council survey, people want to see the state grow, with some arguing that this challenges a perception that state residents oppose development.
During the November 18th Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Wyoming Business Council Chief Strategy Officer Sarah Fitzgerald presented findings from a recent survey measuring attitudes toward economic development. Fitzgerald said the Business Council is often told Wyoming residents don’t support growth.
How Wyomingites are feeling about the state's economy. Plus, clearing up economic myths
As Wyoming’s legislative budget session draws closer, the Wyoming Business Council surveyed some 500 Wyoming voters about how they feel about the state’s economy. The Business Council is the state economic development agency, and Josh Dorrell is its CEO. He said he hopes the results can help state leaders make sound decisions.
The survey of 514 registered voters was conducted Sept. 20 to 24, 2025.
How Wyoming Is Trying To Become A Player In America’s Manufacturing Comeback
Wyoming business leaders say the effort to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. is an existential crisis for America and the world. Gillette businessman Mike Wandler, whose company makes components for NASA, says restoring the balance of power is critical.
CEO Josh Dorrell Joins the Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake
Wyoming Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell joins the Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake to discuss the findings of a recent statewide poll on voter attitudes toward economic growth and change.
The Wyoming Business Council looks at how the legislative budget session could encourage state growth
As the legislative session approaches, state and local officials say continued economic growth is important.
We spoke with the Wyoming Business Council about their survey and the push to stop the state’s economic decline.
”I think we got to not let that fear get in our way because we have the resources to really set our future up if we chose to use them, “ says Josh Dorrell, CEO of the Wyoming Business Council.
Wyoming’s future depends on courage, optimism and action
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.
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 State Loan and Investment Board meeting talks about the future of Wyoming investments
One of Wyoming’s biggest stumbling blocks that lawmakers and officials have to grapple with is state growth versus holding the status quo.
The State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) held a meeting at the Capitol on Thursday to discuss business investment infrastructure and Wyoming’s future.
Educational programming key to addressing economic development
Officials at the Wyoming Business Council offer a range of programs to diagnose barriers to economic development, developing solutions to move beyond those challenges on a community-by-community basis.
These supportive programs may be even more important in the next iteration for the Wyoming Business Council.
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Small business grant helps to boost Wyoming's economy
The Wyoming Business Council’s Kickstart Grant Program, helps to give a boost to local startups, with the ultimate goal of bolstering the state’s economy.
“We want to give them a little bit of a boost, a little bit of a kick, to get into the investment space,” said Faulkner.
Business Council approves local match requirement for BRC grant program
The Wyoming Business Council Board of Directors has approved a rule change requiring that local communities contribute a 25% match for economic development projects funded by one of the state’s longstanding grant and loan programs.
The WBC board voted to make the change at a meeting in Sheridan Wednesday, but Gov. Mark Gordon has up to 75 days to sign the changes.
Sheridan 'a fantastic case study' in economic development
Sheridan’s economic development efforts over the last 20 years could serve as a model for other Wyoming communities.
A few community members reviewed successful economic development endeavors at the Wyoming Business Council’s work session Tuesday afternoon.
Proposal to address ‘nation’s worst workforce exodus’ fails to get support from Wyoming lawmakers
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.
Wyoming is losing young people. Lawmakers are unclear how to fix it
People are leaving Wyoming at one of the highest rates in the country. This week, state lawmakers didn’t move forward one proposal to fix that.
Wyoming Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell spoke to the Legislature’s interim Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development committee on July 29 about what he calls Wyoming’s “chicken or the egg” problem.
Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake
WBC CEO Josh Dorrell recently discussed the BRC rule changes and the importance of public engagement on the Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake (interview begins at 3:43). Josh emphasized that gathering direct feedback is essential to aligning the rules with real community challenges. Leaders who commented provided valuable, on-the-ground insights into how our state can best support resilient communities.
Wyoming worker exodus threatens economic decline, business council says
Wyoming is experiencing a workforce exodus that will set the state on a long-term economic decline unless it grapples with how to enable communities to attract quality, knowledge-based jobs to compete with surrounding states, the Wyoming Business Council’s top officials say.
Lagging regions: what can policy-makers learn from Wyoming?
Despite an abundance of valuable raw materials and breathtaking natural beauty, the western US state of Wyoming lags its neighbours in terms of economic performance. This is largely due to a lack of substantial urban centres, driven in part by excessively restrictive regulations on housing.
Economic development commission develops strategic plan
During the two separate meetings of the Uinta County Economic Development Commission (UCEDC) in February and March, a strategic plan for 2024 was developed with the leadership of Kiley Ingersoll, regional director for the Wyoming Business Council. The commission needed to identify specific goals and create action steps to achieve them.
Q&A with Wyoming Business Council leader Josh Dorrell
Wyoming’s economic development agency is looking forward to the new year, with a focus on developing systems that will foster growth across the state.
Shoshoni fights housing shortage
The small hamlet of Shoshoni, Wyoming, has identified “attainable housing” as a major binding constraint and with help from the Wyoming Business Council they are working to address that challenge.
Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency chosen for Wyoming Blocks program pioneering downtown revitalization
The Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency (URA) is honored to announce its selection for the Wyoming Blocks Program, an innovative initiative by Wyoming Main Street/Wyoming Business Council. This transformative program aims to showcase the tangible results of the Main Street Approach by focusing efforts on a singular downtown block.