Business Council to consider business committed grant for city of Evanston

The Wyoming Business Council Board of Directors will hold a special meeting by webinar at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22, to consider a Business Ready Communities grant and loan to the city of Evanston. 

The Business Council will accept comments from project representatives and stakeholders prior to voting. Individuals who would like to comment must notify Agency Services Manager Warren Appel by email at warren.appel1@wyo.gov prior to the start of the meeting. 

Join the webinar here: https://zoom.us/j/295704768 

Join by phone at 1-346-248-7799 or 1-669-900-6833. 

During the special meeting, the board will also consider an amendment to a contract with Warehouse Twenty One for marketing COVID-19 business relief programming. No other business will be conducted at this meeting. The agenda is available here. 

The Business Ready Community (BRC) Program

The Wyoming Business Council administers the Business Ready Community grant and loan program, which provides financing for publicly owned infrastructure that serves the needs of businesses and promotes economic development within Wyoming communities.   

Business Council staff review each application, conduct site visits and present projects to a board subcommittee before making final recommendations to the full board, which is made up of 15 businesspeople from across Wyoming. 

After Business Council approval, projects are considered by the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB). The SLIB is comprised of the five statewide elected officials: the governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer and state superintendent of public instruction. 

City of Evanston Application

On Thursday, the board will consider a staff recommendation to approve an application from the city of Evanston for a $3,000,000 grant and a $1,109,607 loan to construct a 60,000 square-foot manufacturing facility on a 3.6-acre lot in the Union Center Business Park for the relocation of Avalon International Aluminum. 

The SLIB will make final decisions on BRC project requests at its 8 a.m. meeting on Nov. 5. 
Contact Strategic Partnerships Director Ron Gullberg at ron.gullberg@wyo.gov or 307.286.9519 with questions or inquiries.