In 1998, Wyoming lawmakers across the political spectrum, including conservative Republicans, voted to create the Wyoming Business Council (WBC) in the wake of a sluggish state economy and declining population.
Now, a new group of conservatives want to defund and disband the state economic development agency.
Skeptics of the WBC in the state Legislature have said the agency’s existence is in conflict with the principles of a free market economy and that it “pick[s] winners and losers.”
“The document that you gave us here that we've all gone through, slide after slide: ‘We are in a long-term decline. Jobs are stagnant. Wages are shrinking. Worst outmigration rate in this country,’” Sen. Tim Salazar (R-Riverton) said to WBC CEO Josh Dorrell during a Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC) budget hearing in December. “I guess my question is, help me understand what the Wyoming Business Council has done over the years. If we're continuing the slide of all this information that you've collected, that doesn't paint a rosy picture, given the investment that the state has given you over the years.”
But those involved with the WBC’s creation back in the 1990s say that while the agency has its flaws, it provides businesses looking to relocate into Wyoming with a valuable, centralized, one-stop shop for economic development.
“ All of a sudden, those tasks … were brought into a central organization,” former Gov. Jim Geringer told Wyoming Public Radio. His administration coincided with the creation of the WBC, which he supported at the time. “[Now] they're going to be passed back out to various state agencies. It didn't work back then. What makes you think it's going to work now? Why not come up with your criteria for success? That's my first question to the Legislature.”
Disbanding the WBC would make Wyoming the only state in the country without an economic development agency.
“This board and staff have not waited for a mandate to improve; we have proactively audited our own operations to ensure every dollar works for the taxpayer,” the board of the WBC wrote to the JAC. “Since 2020, we have eliminated six programs that no longer addressed modern barriers to growth and transitioned four others to different agencies to maximize state efficiency. We have consistently used our rule-making authority to revamp our efforts and have regularly brought data-backed statutory recommendations to the Legislature.”
Rewind to Wyoming in the 1980s
An energy boom that had fueled population growth in Wyoming in the 1970s began to fade into a bust by the early 1980s. For the next two decades, the state experienced economic stagnation and a dwindling population. From 1983 to 1990, the resident population shrunk by just under 57,000 people, over 11% of the state.
Then, as now, state leaders like Geringer heard from Wyomingites concerned about the out-migration of the state’s youth to places with more economic activity. Geringer took office in 1995.
“ What did we hear the most complaints about [in terms of] our economy?” he said. “Number one was, ‘Why do we have to export our best and brightest young people because they can't find jobs in Wyoming?’”
In the late 1980s, the Wyoming Heritage Society – now called the Wyoming Business Alliance – held annual meetings that often featured conversations about economic diversification, said Bill Schilling, the president of the society at the time and a key figure behind the creation of the WBC.
Eventually, Schilling said he assembled a group that included then-state Senator Cynthia Lummis, who served on the society’s board, and former Rep. Bruce Hinchey to discuss other states’ economic development agencies to see what might work here. Lummis is now one of two U.S. senators from Wyoming.
“Back then, we had no economic development in the state,” said Hinchey. “Basically none.”
In 1992, the Legislature commissioned a report evaluating the state’s economic development efforts. It concluded the state “lacked planning, consensus on a development approach, and coordination of efforts and resources.”
As if to drive that point home, after Geringer was sworn into office, he said he received four grant requests in a two-month period that were submitted by four different state agencies for workforce development.
“ I said, ‘Well, wait a minute. Four different ones. They seemed to be all targeting the same thing. Did they ever decide to try to submit one request for a larger amount?’” he said. “It turned out that two of the agencies were on the same floor in the … building and they never talked to each other. So you need a central coordinating agency. Not one that dictates, but one that facilitates. That's the way we pitched it to the businesses, to the Legislature.”
As the legislation to form the WBC was making its way through the state Capitol building, Schilling said it had the support of organizations like “the mining association, the petroleum association, the stock growers.”
“ It was a joint effort between the private sector, business people, conservatives reaching into their pockets to spend money on a wish for better tomorrow, and that's how it got created,” said Schilling. “ As soon as it passed, guess what happened? Applause and yelling and whooping from the audience, which you generally – you just never ever see that. That's how excited people were about the creation of the Wyoming Business Council.”
The formation of the WBC did not occur with unanimous support, Schilling said, but rather because of a contingent of what he called traditional Republicans, conservative Republicans and support from Geringer.
“ I think a lot of the people back when this was passed, that would be among the very conservative today, it was that they understood how you gauge success,” Geringer said. “ And then what do you do to stimulate that success? You don't just say, ‘Somebody come in and do this for me.’ No. You try to encourage people to take the initiative to become entrepreneurs.”
Fast forward to 2026: WBC on the chopping block
Schilling said that if lawmakers are concerned the WBC isn’t operating as it should, then they should reach out to communities for their feedback and input before dissolving the agency.
"It's always healthy to have a reset, shall we say, and review and stuff like that,” he said. “But the fundamental debate, fundamental questions are: Do we want to have economic diversification in Wyoming or not? And do we continue on or not? Has the business council done a decent job? How would you rate it one to 10? Is it a six? Is it a nine? Is it a four? What is it? Ask the local chambers of commerce, and ask the local economic development agencies.”
To Geringer, part of the challenge for the business council is they're “viewed as spending a lot of money” by lawmakers who then question the return on investment that the agency provides.
“What do you get for it? I don't think the business council has done a real good job of articulating what their benchmarks are,” he said. “And in turn, the Legislature hasn't been good at all at following up, saying, ‘These are important and these aren't.’ Having clearly identifiable objectives and then being able to measure them, and then how do you hold local communities responsible?”
In the WBC’s letter to the JAC, board members highlighted the council’s work.
“Since 2008, Wyoming’s homegrown, local economy – excluding the volatile swings of oil and gas prices – has grown by 77%. This isn't a ballpark figure; it’s the result of targeted work in all 23 counties,” they wrote. “This steady growth in manufacturing, technology, and professional services has served as the critical stabilizer for our state. Since 2020 alone, we have helped secure over 1,000 primary jobs and leveraged $300 million in private investment.”
They also pointed to specific businesses that used the council’s grants to get off the ground and other investments in infrastructure that have helped attract or retain large ventures like data centers.
The lawmakers on the interim JAC that forwarded the WBC dissolution bill to the upcoming session should have figured out an alternative or a replacement before doing so, said Geringer, instead of being “entirely negative.”
Between members and endorsees, the JAC is controlled by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, whose leadership has said it wants to bring the state budget “to a pre-COVID level of spending” so that “the growth of government … doesn't outpace [taxpayers’] paychecks.”
“What’s being cut? Ineffective and expensive government agencies that funnel your money into private businesses,” former caucus Chair Rep. John Bear (R-Gillette), who co-chairs the JAC, wrote in an op-ed earlier this month. “Take the Wyoming Business Council. Like many government programs that ‘fail up,’ it has spent nearly a billion dollars since its inception, yet struggles to demonstrate meaningful returns.”
The current chair of the caucus, Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams (R-Cody) did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Geringer wondered what criteria lawmakers like Bear are using in their estimation of the WBC.
“Spell it out before you start taking whacks at everything,” he said. “Spell it out. Take the responsibility you were given when you were elected, and come up with a way to make things work. And if you don't want government to do it, how are you going to encourage people to work together to do it on their own? What's your criteria?”
The legislation that would dissolve the WBC provides guidance about its loans, where to place savings accounts currently under the WBC, and which parts of the agency will be eliminated entirely. It also directs which other state agencies might pick up certain WBC programs that lawmakers have deemed useful.
The budget process is far from over, and the defunding and dismantling of the WBC is not a foregone conclusion. The draft budget bill will be introduced to both the House and Senate starting on Feb. 9.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
