Wyoming Business Council (WBC)
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…
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, Sheridan, Torrington, and Wright. (https://wyomingbusiness.org/about/)
WBC is a Quasi-Governmental Organization
According to a May 1, 2021 Legislative Service Office Memorandum, the Business Council “is a body corporate operating as a state instrumentality operated solely for the public benefit.“. Some of the powers and duties of the WBC are:
- Issue business loans
- Make investments in projects that have potential to stimulate economic development in the state
- Make and execute contracts
- Acquiring, owning, leasing, transferring, and selling real, personal, and intellectual property
- Mortgage or pledge any or all of its revenue, income, or interest in or asset arising out of a venture agreement
- Encourage, stimulate and support the development and expansion of the state’s economy
The WBC, operating as a body corporate and not as a government state agency, is not statutorily bound by WY Government Ethics laws. WY statutes that create and define the WBC (WSS 9-12-101 to 9-12-114) only subject WBC board members to §16-6-118, which is Unlawful interest of officeholders in public contracts or works; exception.
In 2015 the WBC reported their activities, from 2003 to 2015, to the 2015 Joint Subcommittee on Economic Development in their 2015 WBC Business Ready Community Program Overview. They reported expending $318,028,155 for 315 Projects (page 9). The number of Direct Jobs Created from Completed Projects were reported as 2,758 (page 12). That means the WBC spent $115,311 per each job created. More egregious, in their Business Ready Community Project Summary (Appendix 7), they show that many of the jobs were temporary construction related jobs.
CREATION OF THE WYOMING BUSINESS COUNCIL
Constitutional Amendments
There are at least three amendments that were made to the Wyoming State Constitution that paved the way for the Wyoming Business Council:
Article 16 – Public Indebtedness:
- Article 16, Section 6 – Loan of credit; donations prohibited; works of internal improvement.
- Article 16, Section 12 – Economic development loan fund. (This amendment was written and lobbied for in 1986 by the Wyoming Future’s Project: The founder [Raymond Plank] was Governor Mark Gordon’s mentor; many WY officials were members of this organization including current U.S. Senator John Barrasso, WY Treasurer Curt Meier, Jr., and many former WY State officials and legislators.)
- Article 16, Section 13 – Industrial and economic development; powers of counties and municipalities.
Page 3 of the Legislative Service Office (LSO) Research Memo, Funding for community economic development organizations (Oct 5, 2004), discusses the potential unconstitutionality of Article 16, Section 6, and how the Wyoming Supreme Court “has not recognized economic development as a legitimate public purpose“.
Legislative Actions
The Wyoming Business Council was created in 1998 during a Special Legislative Session of the 54th Wyoming State Legislature via SEA4/SF0035 Economic development-restructuring, which was sponsored by the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Interim Committee. SF0035/SEA0004 provided a sunset date for the WBC on July 1, 2003 (pg 12). In 2002 the sunset date was amended to July 1, 2008 (HB0044/HEA0010), and then in 2003 the sunset date was repealed altogether (HB0045/HEA0008).
Legislative Appropriations (2001 – 2025) to WBC – Table at bottom of this page.
2015 Joint Subcommittee on Economic Development
One of the interim topics for the 2015 the Minerals, Business & Economic Development was:
Priority #: 20 Joint Subcommittee on State Involvement in Economic Development
A Joint Subcommittee, consisting of three (3) members of the Joint Appropriations Committee and three (3) members of the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic shall meet as necessary to study the state’s role in providing aid and assistance in economic development projects. This study shall include a review of the Wyoming Business Council, its programs, funding mechanisms and rules and regulations, and the expanded use of *Amendment IV funds. The subcommittee may also consider legislative responses to promote air services in Wyoming. Members and Chairmen of the joint subcommittee shall be appointed by the respective committee chairs. The authority of the Joint Subcommittee shall only be to make recommendations to the appropriate standing committee. The appropriate standing committee may then consider developing legislation.
(*Referred to as Amendment IV funds because it was the fourth amendment on the Nov 1986 general election.)
Thus the 2015 Joint Subcommittee on Economic Development had one meeting on Sep 30, 2015. Page 5 of their Sep 30, 2015 meeting minutes provides a list of their meeting materials. These documents include:
- WBC Overview Handouts (Appendix 4)
- 2015 Business Ready Community (BRC) Program Overview (Appendix 5)
- BRC Program Guiding Principles (Appendix 6)
- BRC Project Summary (Appendix 7)
- BRC Rules Change Matrix (Appendix 8)
The BRC Project Summary (Appendix 7) gives you the meat and potatoes of how much funding, between 2003 and 2015, each WY county received from the WBC. This list provides specific projects within each county, how much WBC funding each project received, how much outside funding (local contribution) each project received, and how many jobs they predicted each project would create. The list does not mention:
- number of actual jobs created compared to number of predicted jobs created
- how many of the created jobs were temporary
- which businesses are still operating
- which businesses are actually Wyoming owned
For example:
- In 2005 in Laramie County the number of jobs to construct a sewer line from the city limits west to the West I-80 Business Park for the North Range Business Park was projected to be 600 jobs. Whether it was actually 600 jobs is uncertain, what is certain however is those were temporary jobs.
- In 2010 a $2,998,599 WBC grant was awarded for a new headquarter building for Eleutian Technology in Cody, Park County. According to the Cody Enterprise, four years later, half the company had been sold to a Japanese company, and the other half appeared to be up for a sale.
- Bright Agrotech was founded in 2010 by agronomist Nate Storey, University of Wyoming graduate. In 2017 Bright Agrotech was acquired by a San Francisco company, Plenty (Plenty Unlimited Inc. #3898923, CA Secretary of State). In 2021, the WBC approved a $2,685,750 grant and $209,250 loan for Bright Agrotech (see page 12). In 2023, Governor Gordon proudly announced that Bright Agrotech (“first innovated here in Wyoming by one of our own”) would receive an additional $20 million WBC grant. Despite being backed by Jeff Bezos, one year later in March 2025 Plenty was filing for bankruptcy.
- Cody Laboratories was founded in 2000. In 2007 the business was acquired by Lannett Company, Inc of Pennsylvania. In 2012 Cody Laboratories received $2,531,424 WBC grant to “construct a 23,725 SF warehouse facility to be attached to the existing Cody Laboratories facility on the south side of the west end of the existing structure”. By 2018 Cody Laboratories was up for sale, and by 2019 it was shutting down.
More WBC documents are available under Wyoming Business Council on our Resources Page.
WBC and the Nuclear Industry
WBC lists “Nuclear” as one of eight “Target Industries” in Wyoming. Their 2 page Nuclear brochure was uploaded on 3/25/2025. Excerpts from Brochure:
NUCLEAR ENERGY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
Wyoming is leading the charge in the U.S. nuclear energy renaissance, driving innovation in research, development, and supply chain growth. By supporting advanced technologies and providing key components for nuclear energy companies, Wyoming plays a critical role in ensuring the deployment of new nuclear technologies. Recognized as an industry leader, the state is poised to become a global hub for nuclear energy advancements.
INTERMOUNTAIN WEST NUCLEAR ENERGY CORRIDOR
Wyoming, along with the Idaho through the Intermountain West Nuclear Energy Corridor (INEC), has been designated one of the 31 Tech Hubs by the Economic Development Administration and the only hub dedicated to nuclear energy.
RESEARCH HUB
The Nuclear Energy Research Center (NERC) at the University of Wyoming (UW) School of Energy Resources seeks to connect and provide opportunities for research, economics, regulation and more in emerging nuclear energy markets and tackle important issues to help create a robust nuclear economy in Wyoming and the region. The Idaho National Laboratory has also partnered with Wyoming to build capacity at UW.
WBC Board Meeting Notes:
| Sep 10, 2025 Board Meeting Pg 19: Approval of loan for Jonah Bank of Wyoming, Cheyenne for $500,000 loan for “Front Range Nuclear Services, LLC” [Medical nuclear imaging]. Pg 32: Past due loan payments Pg 140: Proposed Statutory changes to Business Ready Community (BRC) program; Business Ready Community Loans; |
| Jul 31, 2025 Board Meeting Pg 3: Loan application of Jonah Bank of Wyoming, Cheyenne for “Aquisition of a Mobile Nuclear Imaging Company” – $500,000 loan for “Front Range Nuclear Services”. |
| June 30, 2025 Board Meeting Pg 3: Amendments to CONTRACT WBC and CTC Technology and Energy |
| May 21, 2025 Board Meeting Pg 83: WEA; Prometheus; Pg 86: Evercore Energy; Pg 120: CONTRACT WBC and CTC Technology and Energy Pg 138: Amendment to CONTRACT with Lightbox Parent, L.P. Pg. 227: “Clean Energy” Revenue of $3,301,532.00 Pg. 297: “Clean Energy” Revenue attributed to Evanston |
| Dec 10-11, 2024 Board Meeting Pg 1: WEA as panelist in Work Session Pg 56: WBC Contract with A.T. Kearney, Inc; Pg 68: WBC Contract with Spectrum Pacific West LLC; Pg 86: WBC Contract with All West Communications, Inc; Pg 104: WBC Contract with BHT Holdings, Inc; Pg 137: Amendment One to the Contract Between State Of Wyoming, By and Through the Wyoming Business Council, And President And Fellows Of Harvard College, On Behalf Of The Harvard Kennedy School |
| Sept 10-11, 2024 Board Meeting Pg 40: WEA lead agency, partnering with Governor/UW/WBC in Economic Diversification Action Plan for DOE federal funding; Pg 54: WEA for Resilient Infrastructure Action Plan; Pg 167: Portfolio of Active Loans: |
| July 31, 2024 Board Meeting Pg 5: WBC Contract with Visionary Communications LLC; Pg 28: WBC Contract with Mountain West Technologies Communications; Pg 64: WBC Contract with Lightbox Parent, L.P.; Pg 82: WBC Contract with Warehouse Twent-One, INC; |
WBC Legislative Appropriations 2001 – 2025
All funds appropriated for the Wyoming Business Council occur under Section 085 in budget and supplemental budget bills. Bill links are embedded in year. To view entire 5 column table, hold cellphones horizontal.
| Year/ Bill Link |
General Fund |
Fed Funds | Other Funds |
Notes |
| 2001 | 2,000,000 | (Section 332) | ||
| 2002 | 21,942,094 | 7,688,091 | 1,755,612 | (Fed Funds for WBC in Section 001 Governor’s Office) |
| 2003 | 21,992,094 | 7,688,091 | 1,755,612 | |
| 2004 | 53,386,925 | 7,844,061 | 22,50,612 | |
| 2005 | 69,722,525 | 7,844,061 | 2,509,212 | |
| 2006 | 98,512,938 | 7,844,061 | 1,759,212 | $10,000,000 from Section 006 for Business Council Welcome Centers |
| 2007 | 131,762,938 | 7,844,061 | 1,759,212 | |
| 2008 | 114,178,070 | 7,919,061 | 1,503,019 | |
| 2009 | 114,178,070 | 7,919,061 | 1,503,019 | |
| 2010 | 77,670,784 | 7,844,413 | 1,578,019 | |
| 2011 | No Section 085 | |||
| 2012 | 78,717,746 | 7,876,279 | 1,775,180 | |
| 2013 | 74,186,546 | 7,876,279 | 1,775,180 | |
| 2014 | 94,193,880 | 6,216,186 | 1,792,180 | |
| 2015 | No Section 085 | |||
| 2016 | 60,278,509 | 6,236,031 | 1,741,200 | |
| 2017 | 53,075,030 | 6,236,031 | 1,741,200 | |
| 2018 | 55,832,165 | 6,224,757 | 1,748,103 | |
| 2019 | 55,832,165 | 6,224,757 | 4,748,103 | |
| 2020 | 40,640,269 | 6,252,924 | 9,752,241 | |
| 2021 | 35,326,245 | 6,252,924 | 9,752,241 | |
| 2022 | 40,801,096 | 0 | 9,943,094 | |
| 2023 | 70,942,363 | 0 | 9,943,094 | |
| 2024 | 86,977,306 | 1,242,905 | 5,955,117 | |
| 2025 | No supplemental bill passed | |||
| Totals | 1,452,149,758 | 131,074,034 | 74,789,850 | $1,668,103,642 |