Posted on 05/06/2006 8:19:45 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Wyoming is thriving, but who will fill jobs?
By Jessica Lowell rep5@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE - The state's economy is doing well, and with more energy development projects on the horizon, it could do even better.
And as Wyoming's capital city, Cheyenne is poised for more economic success as well.
That's the message that came from Friday's Economic Reports Luncheon, the final scheduled event for the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce's 2006 Small Business Week.
The biggest threat to continuing economic growth in the county and the state, however, is lack of people to fill jobs.
Both Cheyenne LEADS CEO Randy Bruns and state Department of Employment Director Cynthia Pomeroy said during the panel discussion that the area's low unemployment rate, coupled with the expected increasing demand for workers, could create a problem.
"If you aren't bracing for it, you ought to be," Bruns said. "The workforce is getting tight."
Wal-Mart, which is building a food distribution center west of Cheyenne, will send human resources staff to Cheyenne starting in July. About 500 people are expected to be hired by the end of this year or early next year.
"I fully expect hiring to go on for the next couple of years," he said.
Pomeroy said unemployment poses two very different problems.
"Unemployment brings social problems," she said. "Low unemployment makes it hard to recruit firms."
Wyoming has the second-lowest unemployment rate in the nation, behind only Hawaii, she said.
As low as it is, some county unemployment rates are far lower.
"Sublette County has an unemployment rate of 1.7 percent," she said. "They're going to have to employ deer and antelope."
Sublette County, in western Wyoming, is seeing tremendous growth in oil and gas development now.
Campbell County, in northeast Wyoming, is home to the state's most active coal mines and power plants.
Tom Schroeder, program principal of the state's Industrial Siting Division, said at least 15 more projects are being contemplated in the state. They include power plants in Campbell County, wind projects in Laramie County and elsewhere, and coal refinery projects, including the DKRW plant planned for the area outside Medicine Bow in northern Carbon County.
In Laramie County, the strong economy is what's fueling home sales.
Tony Duckworth, with #1 Properties, said 70 percent of the homes sales in the county are to people who already live here.
"There are a lot of houses on the market," he said, "but there are still a lot of buyers."
Dick Cheney.
If I was an inner city family tired and weary of drive-by shootings, poor schools and a lack of good jobs........
what keeps them on the farm?
Yes, very cold!
Just do like Tyson Foods... put up billboards on the Mexican border with directions on how to get to Wyoming.
Agoraphobia, perhaps.
Regards, Ivan
And yes it does get cold with some fierce winds
I am considering Wyoming as the place I want to hang permanently but the big problem for me is that A LOT of land in Wyoming is state so its make buying rural property expensive
Plus if you do buy you may not have mineral rights to your own property
I spent my last summer vacation in Wyoming so sign me up I am willing to move. I think Wyoming is the third most beautiful state (sorry Hawaii and Alaska win 1 and 2). After I showed my friends our vacation pics they made plans to go there this year.
Just DON'T use that as an excuse to hire illegals!
Wyoming is very cold and generally quite dry. Its high altitude and lack of moisture make summer mornings in much of the state very cold. Winter begins in September and continues into June. Even at Laramie (home of the University of Wyoming), the average growing season lasts just 84 days (compared to 113 days in Fairbanks, home of the University of Alaska) with overnight temperatures frequently dropping into the 40s and occasionally into the 30s even in mid-summer.
The bitter cold and very short growing season makes most of Wyoming too inhospitable for most agriculture. The state economy consequently depends overwhelmingly on mineral extraction, which regularly goes bust between brief booms.
If you stop and think about it, you probably don't have mineral right now, so that wouldn't really change.
Me too. Send the job offers.
There's always August.
Wyoming has a history of boom and bust.
There will be a labor shortage, people move in and about the time the population gets above 500,000, everything shuts down and people move out again.
It has been that way for decades.
Where do I send my CV? I'd love to get out of this beltway madness.
That's the case most everywhere west of the Mississippi.
2 questions
Are there a lot of single women in Wyoming and can I smoke a cigarette in a bar there
I've got Blue State Blues. I may have to check out job opportunities in Wyoming.
I'm willing to go. Can I catch a ride with somebody?
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