Q&A with Wyoming Business Council leader Josh Dorrell

WBR: What work is the Wyoming Business Council prioritizing in the upcoming year?

Dorrell: It is hard to say that we are focused on one particular industry or one particular segment of the state. What we’ve been focused more on for the last couple years, and what will continue, is: How do we create what I call an economic flywheel for the state? What that really means is, how do we help an individual community begin to focus on its growth problems? How do we find a project that is going to solve that problem? And, how do we help get that project going and build capacity for the next project?

What we’re trying to do more than anything is, rather than saying, “We’re going to focus on light manufacturing,” or “We’re going to focus on nuclear energy,” what we’re really trying to do is develop an economic development growth model for each community that we work in.

WBR: So, it is a focus on building that structure, rather than growing one particular industry?

Dorrell: We’re really developers of the system. Picking a particular industry or picking a particular business is not our (goal). Our whole goal is to develop a system the whole state can use, and individual communities can use. To develop a system can be pretty hard to do, because people want one answer. But our answer is, we’ve got to focus on the system, and we will work with you to do that. And as people do that, they realize how much power and local control it gives. Communities and people in Wyoming love local control, and we want to provide a system so they can do this on their own.

WBR: Within that framework, are there certain things that you see on the horizon for the business community in Wyoming?

Dorrell: This is not news to anyone, but the state lacks economic complexity. We rely on a few really key industries to keep us going, but there are pockets around the state where other, new industries have emerged. They have really taken a foothold and begun to grow, whether that be in technology or data centers or distribution or light manufacturing. Those all offer opportunities that, frankly, all of our communities could take advantage of. Some more than others, because they have size and workforce, but what we are trying to encourage is a clustering (of industries). So, as you decide to get into other things outside of energy, or agriculture, as you bring other things to the table, thinking about, how do you cluster those? How do you make one project turn into two, three, four projects?

WBR: Can you give an example of that happening in Wyoming? Maybe Gillette comes to mind?

Dorrell: You could use Gillette, because there is a lot of light manufacturing and fabrication there. Some of the best in the world. There have been businesses that are steady and growing there, but also new businesses that address new markets.

Sheridan is sort of the poster child for this. Ten years ago, they really worked to attract light manufacturing in, and now what they have is a number of firms — 10 firms — that are doing that. So what employees have is mobility, security, and that actually doesn’t create a workforce war. What it creates is an opportunity to grow and an attraction for more workforce.

WBR: Are there any challenges to building this system that the state’s business community needs to address?

Dorrell: There are a tremendous amount of challenges to building this system. Within the system that we are creating, really, we have three tools. We have investments, so things like Business Ready Communities grants and loans … so, the money we bring to the table. We can also bring policies to the table. Policy work is important. Finally, there is this idea of leadership. How do we put all of these pieces together, and make it easier to do this?

Across the state, no two communities are the same. No two communities have the same level of economic development maturity. That is just a reflection of where communities are in their growth. So, one of the big challenges we have is that, let’s say we have $100 million from the Legislature in our Business Ready Communities grant program. That doesn’t mean every community will get $1 million.

In some communities, the money is less important than the facilitation, the know-how and the leadership we can provide at their stage in maturity. We want to make it easy for people to reach us, so we have six regional directors across the state with a geographic footprint. They help as the best, first step as a community figures out, “How do we set a strategic plan?” Or, “How do we do this work to get things moving in the right direction?” Or, maybe more than anything, “How do we assess what our challenges are?” We can help with that.

WBR: In a lot of places in Wyoming, local leaders wear many hats. As we talk about economic diversification in some of our smaller communities, those leaders may not have the same expertise as folks at the WBC. What does the WBC bring to the table for Wyoming’s varied communities?

Dorrell: Our Community Leadership program is exactly for those types of communities. Our regional directors work to address the challenges in (particular) communities, and what are the things we can do to address them.

We all look for that silver bullet, but not everyone has (economic development) as their full-time job. We work on taking off bites that we can manage.

WBR: Is there anything you would like to add that people should know about Business Council work or the upcoming year?

Dorrell: The most exciting part of what we’ve done over the last year is work that we’re doing with other groups and agencies around the state. We’re working to tackle problems with other groups that, traditionally, we might not have tackled. We’re working with 26 other agencies or organizations on a number of different challenges that Wyoming’s economy faces. Things like housing and workforce. We’re not necessarily the experts (on those topics), but we’re working with the experts because those issues are a barrier to growth.

This idea of silos and duplicating efforts, that’s something we’re working to break free from. There’s a lot of collaboration going on. There are a lot of groups working together on these problems, and that’s the most exciting thing. It is about bringing in the expert you need, and making sure we are really approaching the problem the right way.