Seize them
Wyoming is sitting on a wealth of opportunity. We have abundant natural resources, well-established core industries, and the room for us to grow, thrive, and respond to new prospects that many other states do not have. We are small, but that allows us to be nimble. We are one of the last places in the United States where an enterprising company can build a new industry from whole cloth. We can build new things without the burden of having to tear down what came before. We are fresh ground.
Despite this advantage, we are at risk of squandering our chances. We have become too focused on recreating the past at the expense of building the future. Historically, our strength has come from our willingness to say yes to opportunities. Recently, however, we have seen too many in our communities and our leadership who would stop anything that benefits the next generation out of fear it might upset their comfortable status quo. They do not care about building a legacy; instead, they are focused on maintaining what they already have. It is a short-sighted viewpoint.
The most glaring example of this is the recent decision by Radiant Nuclear to abandon its proposal to build a manufacturing facility in Bar Nunn. The reception this company got from some segments of our state was shocking in its hostility. By showing the company that they were unwelcome, the naysayers cost their community a potentially valuable new industry. Where would Wyoming be if these people were here in the 1970s? Wyoming coal was a small industry then, and national market changes resulted in quick development, often in difficult circumstances. Had our current attitude prevailed in Wyoming then, Wyoming coal may never have got off the ground, and our state would be far worse because of it.
If Wyoming is going to be anything more than a place for more prosperous states to get their raw materials, we must be open to new opportunities and industries. Our world does not stay static. It changes by the day, and that includes the industries that make our society work. Wyoming in the early 1900s was dominated by the agriculture industry. By the late 1900s, resource extraction led our state’s economy. In this new century, we must choose to take advantage of what comes next. Be it new energy, data and computing, advanced manufacturing, or something else entirely, we must recognize that the Wyoming of a century ago is not the Wyoming of today. We should love our past, appreciate it, and recognize that it is where we came from, not where we are going.
There are many who wish that Wyoming would not change. Most of us live here because we have chosen it. We love it as much for its hardships as its benefits, and many are uncomfortable with how the things we have always associated with our state may be replaced. We must remember, however, that we are a frontier state. The people who came here did so because it was a land of opportunity. We did not have “legacy” industries to fall back on. They came here because it was a place that fostered valid growth, building something great, and an entrepreneurial spirit. I fear we are losing the spirit of our heritage by focusing too much on what they built rather than on what we can build.
Today, there are many opportunities that our state could take advantage of. Alternative energy production would be well-suited to Wyoming, if we will have it. Data centers are already a blossoming industry in some parts of the state and have the potential to inject millions of dollars into our communities through both employee salaries and tax revenue. Our workforce is well-suited to advanced manufacturing, as evidenced by companies like Maven, Weatherby, and others intentionally locating themselves in Wyoming. Each of these has the potential to transform our communities for the better, but we must remember that transformation inherently means change. Our state will not look the same in the future, sometimes literally. Each new industry will bring with it opportunities and challenges. Nevertheless, we must be willing to take those
challenges on.
Wyoming is not a place stuck in time. We are not immune to the impacts of the outside world. We cannot keep Wyoming the way it used to be, because the things that drove that world are no longer the same. Our state’s history is full of people who came here to build something new. Our heritage is based on seizing opportunities. Lets focus on that part of who we are, so that the Wyoming of tomorrow is just as good as the Wyoming
of yesterday.