Business Council board recommends Business Ready Community Applications

In a press release, The Wyoming Business Council Board of Directors announced their recommendation of three Business Ready Community Grant and Loan Program (BRC) applications from the City of Lander, Laramie County and the Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport Board made during its March 10, virtual meeting. 

“These projects demonstrate Wyoming’s entrepreneurial spirit and are good examples of projects that help create new opportunities for Wyomingites,” Josh Dorrell, Business Council CEO said. 

“Whether it’s by pivoting to capture new markets, continuing to grow Wyoming’s burgeoning tech scene, or opening access to air travel for Wyoming businesses and citizens, each of these projects works to create good jobs and better lives for people in Wyoming.” 

The Board also emphasized their ongoing efforts to execute Wyoming’s economic development strategy, which includes continuing to improve the BRC Program. Board work is planned to continue to examine BRC review processes. 

The Business Council board of directors unanimously recommended the following projects:  

Business Committed  

The City of Lander requests a $3 million grant and $2.7 million loan combination from the Business Ready Community Grant and Loan Program (BRC) to construct a 22,500 square-foot facility on 1.54 acres of city-owned property for the Maven  headquarters. The site lends itself to further expansion, as it is adjacent to Central Wyoming College – Lander campus and the Lander Economic Development Association’s (LEDA) Enterprise Park. The funding will allow them to expand their product lines and sale as well as create 23 new jobs.  

Managed Data Center Cost Reduction  

Laramie County requests a $2.25 million Business Ready Community (BRC) Managed Data Center Cost Reduction grant to reduce utility and broadband costs for VM Accel’s Accelerated Data Center in downtown Cheyenne. The company offers high-performance computing services for workloads including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, video transcoding, weather modeling, data analysis, and more. The company is required to contribute 125% or $2.8 million in capital investment and payroll.  

Community Readiness  

The Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport Board requests a $3 million Business Ready Community Grant and Loan Program (BRC) grant to modernize the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport’s commercial airline terminal through renovation and expansion. This project will also enable the development of over 170 acres of land that can be marketed to aerospace or other industry.  

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 work with public entities to prepare applications, review each application, conduct in-person or virtual site visits, and make presentations to a board subcommittee before making final recommendations to the full board.   

The Business Council board is required by statute to forward BRC grant and loan recommendations to the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) for final approval. 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.   

The SLIB will make final decisions on BRC project requests from the March 10, WBC Board meeting at its 8 a.m. meeting on April 8.   

For more information, check out the meeting materials here. 

The Board will hold its next regular meeting on Tuesday, May 11, in person in Cheyenne.