Kim and Matt's Excellent Adventure

Matt and I will be hitting the open trail bright and early Monday morning for a week-long trip through our great state.

Our mission: To gather video, photos, interviews, etc., on Business Council community development and business ready projects, and to get fodder for publications, ads and other PR needs the WBC may have.

Join us on the road as we blog, tweet, and YouTube about our adventures!

Check in daily on the blog, or follow us at:
Twitter at: http://twitter.com/wyobizcouncil
Facebook under: Wyoming Business Council
YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/wyobizcouncil

Happy trails!

Keeping Wyoming beautiful

We have to say: Wyoming is a darn beautiful state. But even those fortunate enough to be naturally gorgeous need a little help every now and then.

The Business Council and Wyo. Travel and Tourism spent some time last Friday walking our adopted two-mile strip of interstate picking up trash and debris to keep Wyoming the way Mother Nature made.

Part of the team at the beginning of the day...

Team members hard at work...

CEO Bob Jensen scours a drainage ditch for all traces of trash...

New employee Chava Case. We initiate all new employees this way...

A pleasant find amongst the muck...

Ag Division Director Cindy Weibel with another find: a basket for garden tools. Way to reduce, reuse and recycle!

Community Members Helping Community Members

Yesterday I spent the day with attending the Wyoming Rural Development Council's (WRDC) Community Assessment training in Cheyenne.

I usually attend these events as a fly on the wall, shooting video and photos and picking up as much information about the subject as I can, but in this case, I was part of the story.

WRDC’s Community Assessment training is for anyone and everyone interested in stepping up and volunteering to help Wyoming towns create locally-conceived and locally-driven development strategies to improve their communities.

Wyoming Rural Development Council Executive Director Mary Randolph and WRDC Senior Rural Development Specialist Jo Ferguson presented to about 15 community members yesterday in a recruitment push to fill future community assessment resource teams.

The purpose of these teams is to secure a diverse collection of experts in community and economic development to help rural communities discuss, plan and implement strategies that will improve their towns according to their resident's vision.

After individuals train, they are chosen to be on specific teams deployed to specific towns to hold three-day pow wows with community leaders and concerned citizens to nail down the major goals of the town and develop strategies to get there.

According to Randolph, the program has trained more than 500 volunteers and has assessed nearly every incorporated town in Wyoming.

The training provided a good chance to learn more about the WRDC, its mission and its impact on our state.

I highly suggest anyone who is civically minded attend one of these sessions.

To read more about WRDC community assessments, visit: http://www.wyomingrural.org/community.asp

(by Matt Cox, Marketing & PR, WBC)

Cultivating Leaders

The Wyoming Leadership Education and Development Program (L.E.A.D.) is holding a series of recruitment receptions for its next class around the state starting today in Cheyenne and ending June 4 in Riverton.

The receptions are a chance for Wyoming producers to learn more about what the L.E.A.D. program entails - a 14-month adult leadership initiative - and how it can provide tools to help producers enhance their broad-based knowledge, decision-making abilities and leadership skills for a sustainable agriculture in Wyoming.

“We are very proud of the success of the Wyoming L.E.A.D. program, which has been turning out agriculture leaders in the state for the last 25 years,” said Cindy Garretson-Weibel, director of the Wyoming Business Council’s Agribusiness Division. “We look forward to selecting Class 11 and helping them continue to meet the changing needs of Wyoming’s agriculture community.”

Following is the Class 11 Recruitment Reception schedule:

• May 20, Cheyenne, Wyoming Business Council Board Room, 7 p.m.


• May 21, Green River, Hampton Inn - John Wesley Powell Room, 7 p.m.
  
• June 2, Ag Resource and Learning Center - Midwest Room, 7 p.m.


• June 3, Buffalo, Best Western Conference Room, 7 p.m.


• June 4, Riverton, Claim Steak Restaurant Banquet Room, 7 p.m.

"The recruitment receptions are a great way to learn more information about the L.E.A.D. Program and visit with alumni about their experience," said L.E.A.D. program manager Kim Porter.

To learn more about the L.E.A.D. program read the Wyoming Business Council press release: http://tinyurl.com/dbuhc2.

(by Matt Cox, Marketing & PR, WBC)

One More Mission

Today was the first Wyoming Honor Flight for Cowboy State veterans, the national program that flies WWII veterans to Washington, D.C., to see their memorial and other nearby national landmarks free of charge.

Wyoming Business Council CEO Bob Jensen took time to escort a team of Wyoming vets on the trip. The group gathered this morning with state, city, and military officials for a send-off ceremony in Cheyenne.

The last time this gritty group of warriors stood shoulder-to-shoulder the fate of the nation rested on their backs. This time, nearly 60 years after the climax of World War II, these same men and women came together again, shoulder-to-shoulder, to celebrate their service.

With round trip boarding passes, a few carry-ons and the well wishes of more than 200 friends, family members and supporters, about 110 World War II veterans from Wyoming prepared to board a plane from Cheyenne to Washington D.C., to visit the monument built on their collective sacrifice.

While in Washington, the veterans will be recognized at a banquet and be present for the memorial’s wreath laying and flag ceremony

The veterans will return to Cheyenne Regional Airport tomorrow.

Stay tuned for Bob's account of the trip.

(by Matt Cox, Marketing & PR, WBC)

Change of address

Welcome to the almost new Wyoming Business Council blog!

We say "almost" because we are in the process of transitioning from our previous home.

The Business Council blog has languished a bit, but we're bringing it back with lots of information, lots of posts, and a brand new look that will hopefully knock your socks off.

Your online WBC personalities are Kim, Matt and Rachel, with a few guest contributers every now and then. Now that you know who we are, let us know about you! Leave us your comments and give us some feedback....

We like talking about doing business in Wyoming and hope you'll join the conversation.

Cheers,

Kim, Matt and Rachel

What do you want entrepreneurs?

Well, it's officially been an incredibly long time since I've posted anything on Wyospace. Much apologies.

Today, I was thinking about what we and our partners at the University of Wyoming offer as far as programs that directly benefit entrepreneurs, which lead me to a question: What types of programs would be the most helpful to you as an entrepreneur?

Being Wyoming and all, we can't really offer any meaningful grant programs (which probably is ok) though we do have some pretty good loan programs for equipment and buildings.

Nonetheless, will you do me a favor and comment on this story with some ideas on things we could do to assist you better as an entrepreneur?

Appreciate it!

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)

What makes an entrepreneur?

Occasionally, because the ridiculously long word is in my title, I get asked what the definition of "entrepreneur" is.

Most people probably think its anyone who has started a business, but I'm basically uncomfortable with that because it just doesn't seem right. Alas, today I was looking through an old book in my office and I found a pretty interesting perspective on what exactly makes up an entrepreneur.

Basically they share the Seven Perspectives on the Nature of Entrepreneurship. The title of the book is "Corporate Entrepreneurship" and is written by Michael H. Morris and Donald F. Kuratko.

Here are the seven perspectives. Good food for thought...

1. Creation of Wealth - Entrepreneurship involves assuming the risks associated with the facilitation of production in exchange for profit.

2. Creation of Enterprise - Entrepreneurship entails the founding of a new business venture where none existed before.

3. Creation of Innovation - Entrepreneurship is concerned with the unique combinations of resources that make existing methods or products obsolete.

4. Creation of Change - Entrepreneurship involves creating change by adjusting, adapting, and modifying one's personal repertoire, approaches and skills to meet different opportunities available in the environment.

5. Creation of Employment - Entrepreneurship is concerned with employing, managing, and developing the factors of production, including the labor force.

6. Creation of Value - Entrepreneurship is a process of creating value for customers by exploiting untapped opportunities.

7. Creation of Growth - Entrepreneurship is defined as a strong and positive orientation towards growth in sales, income, assets, and employment.

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)

Stimulating - well, at the very least, helpful

First off, go Pokes!

Now, on to business...

The federal stimulus package contains loan fee reductions, higher guarantees, new Small Business Administration (SBA) programs, secondary market incentives, and enhancements to current SBA programs to help unlock credit markets for the nation's small business sector.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $730 million to SBA and makes changes to the agency's lending and investment programs so they can reach more small businesses that need help.

More inforamtion is available here.

The original SBA press release is on top with tons of other information on the page too.

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)

Who wouldn't want to sell to someone who can print money?

I thought it was important to get the word out today about a conference coming up in a couple of weeks in Cody, Wyo.

It's called the Gro-Biz Conference and it's focused on how your business can sell to the deepest pockets in the world, the U.S. federal government.

This conference is the definition of legitimate (not some Mathew Lesko, buy my book balogna), featuring a speech from U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and procurement officers from multiple federal agencies looking to buy your goods and services.

You can find more information online at www.gro-biz.com. The conference will be held Feb. 18-19 at the Cody Holiday Inn.

We'll be there, and if you know what's good for your business, so will you!

See ya then!

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)