The WY Legislature is proposing to defund the Wyoming Business Council (WBC). In response, Governor Gordon is touring the State (Cody on the 16th), and all kinds of people are coming out of the woodwork.
We hear that the WBC is needed. The real question is: is it objectively successful? The most telling assessment is how Wyoming ranks in business compared to other states and if/how our ranking has changed over time after spending tens of millions of dollars. Below is that data with an apt comparison to our neighbor Utah.
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|
Utah |
Wyoming |
|
|
|
2021 |
3 |
36 |
|
|
|
2022 |
8 |
32 |
|
|
|
2023 |
9 |
37 |
|
|
|
2024 |
13 |
30 |
|
|
|
2025 |
16 |
31 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average |
10 |
33 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Source: CNBC ratings of Top States for Doing Business |
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Wyoming consistently ranks in the bottom 33% of States with no meaningful change, whereas Utah ranks in the upper 20%. Clearly, the WBC’s big government-insider approach of picking winners and losers has not worked. Most importantly, Wyoming has not addressed the systemic causes behind its lagging situation.
The WBC should be defunded. In the short term, a lean blue-ribbon commission of independent business persons should be established to expeditiously:
- Assess and validate the systemic root causes of Wyoming’s underperformance.
- Benchmark against winning States (like Utah) to determine their source(s) of success and where best practices can be adopted.
- Determine a new Wyoming State approach to business development within a Conservative philosophical/economic policy framework.
As Albert Einstein is alleged to have said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Let's stop the insanity with the WBC.
Jim Vetter
Cody, Wyoming