FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Dec. 7, 2006

For more information contact:
Steve Achter, Director of Investment Ready Communities
Wyoming Business Council
Office: 307.777.2811, Cell: 307.631.1127

WBC Board recommends for approval Business Ready grants

LARAMIE – The Wyoming Business Council Board of Directors recommended for approval nine Business Ready Community (BRC) grants, totaling $16 million, during a meeting on December 7 in Laramie.

The board considered 15 applications, which totaled $27.9 million. However, the Business Ready Community Program has only $19.6 million left for this biennium, which ends in June 2008.

“The demand by communities for the Business Ready Community Program continues to outpace our funding,” said Tucker Fagan, CEO of the Wyoming Business Council. “The Business Council will ask the Legislature for an additional $55.7 million to fund future infrastructure projects being planned by communities across the state.”

The board recommended for approval nine projects for a total of $16 million, leaving about $3.6 million for the rest of the biennium. Two of the projects, Greybull and the Laramie Regional Airport Joint Powers Board, were recommended for partial funding. The board did not recommend for approval the following applications: Rock Springs, Kemmerer, Pine Bluffs, Rawlins, Riverton and Sheridan County.

The board’s recommendations will be forwarded to the State Loan and Investment Board for decision at their meeting on February 8, 2007 in Cheyenne.

The board recommended for approval the following applications:

• CASPER: The board recommended for approval the Casper Area Economic Development Joint Powers Board’s (JPB) application for a $3 million Business Committed grant to construct a building. The building would be owned by the JPB and leased to the Construction Careers Foundation for an expansion of the McMurry Training Center in Casper. Currently, the McMurry Training Center has capacity for 125 students a day. The building expansion would allow the Training Center to expand its entry level classes and then add advanced classes in construction, energy and leadership.
• GREYBULL: The board recommended for approval partial funding in the amount of $1.5 million for Phase I of Greybull’s Business Committed application. The town originally asked for $3 million for both Phases of putting infrastructure within the Greybull Industrial Site, formerly the Standard Oil Co. Greybull Refinery. Phase I would include installing a raw water line, municipal water line, sewer and roughed out, traversable roads. The board recommended that Greybull resubmit a request for Phase II, which would include paving the industrial roads. This project would facilitate the start-up of the Big Horn Basin Ethanol plant.
• LARAMIE: The board recommended for approval partial funding in the amount of $1.8 million of the Laramie Regional Airport Joint Powers Board’s (JPB) Community Readiness application. The $1.8 million would fund site work (access roads, parking, lighting, etc) and funds to construct about 17,500 square feet of space. The JPB original application was for $3 million to construct a 50,000 square foot building. The building would be used for speculative manufacturing space at the Laramie Regional Airport Professional Airpark Research Center.
• THERMOPOLIS: The board recommended for approval an application by Hot Springs County and the Thermopolis Hot Springs County Economic Development Company (EDC) for a $3 million Community Readiness grant for the two-phase development of a 22-acre business park south of Thermopolis, known as Red Rock Business Park. The first phase would involve design work and the installation of a sewer main to the future business park. Phase 2 of the project would involve the looping of water line and build 14 lots within the business park.
• CODY: The board recommended for approval an application by the city of Cody, in cooperation with the Cody Land Development Corporation (CLDC), for a $3 million Community Readiness grant for a two phase project to bring water and sewer infrastructure to the North Cody Light Industrial Area, the area straddling Road 2AB north of the Shoshone River. The infrastructure would increase the potential for business and light industrial development of approximately 65.5 acres. The undeveloped CLDC property would be subdivided according to business needs, but lots could range from 5 acres to 33 acres.
• PINEDALE: The board recommended for approval the town of Pinedale’s application for a $1 million Community Readiness grant to replace a 10” sewer line with a 24” sewer line to the west end of town. The town needs to install 9,415 feet of 24” sewer line from the town’s wastewater plant to the west end of the town where the town’s only developable commercial and residential properties are located. The increased capacity would make 50 vacant commercial lots business ready.
• BEAR RIVER/EVANSTON: The board recommended for approval an application by the Bear River Regional Water Joint Powers Board (Bear River JPB) for a $1.5 million Community Readiness grant for water lines branching off of a new water transmission line between the town of Bear River and Evanston along Highway 89. The requested funds would distribute water into a series of industrial areas along Highway 89.
• THAYNE: The board recommended for approval an application by the town of Thayne for a $790,000 Community Readiness grant for the looping of a waterline, sewer extension, and paving of Wright and Park Streets. These two streets border a new elementary school currently under construction (construction to be completed next year). The town has rezoned the 10+ acre properties across from the new school as Commercial.
• OPAL: The board recommended for approval an application by the town of Opal for a $321,582 Community Readiness grant to extend a sewer line and pave the commercially and residentially zoned Solliday Street. Most of the lots along Solliday Street are owned by the town and most are vacant, save one residence and a pump house.

For more information on any of these projects, visit http://www.wyomingbusiness.org/pdf/irc/brc_recs_12-7-06.pdf.

The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.wyomingbusiness.org.

###