“I personally think that any state who only has one real form of economic stability needs to find ways to diversify,” senior Economics major Skylar Erikson said. “It’s basically adapt or die.”
The Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP) has received $27 million support from Governor Mark Gordon. The program, which seeks to aid in the diversification and growth of the Wyoming economic market will now see a flood of federal funding
“I believe there is urgency in launching the first phase of this initiative as a means to help Wyoming’s economy grow and thrive as we move out of the COVID pandemic,” Gordon said in a statement. “The projects this funding supports build on successes we have already seen to develop needed workforce and to engage the entrepreneurs of Wyoming so they can innovate and grow businesses and technologies.”
“For a long time, there has been the discussion of how to boost different economic sectors in Wyoming,” Erikson said. “It’s a discussion that needs to happen. Even if you believe natural gas and coal will be around and be successful forever, states need to have multiple sources of economic stability.”
“I think everyone knows the reason Wyoming is able to have some of the higher-end education in public schools and a supported program in colleges is because of the deep wealth brought by natural resources,” senior Economics and Business major Garrett Lawrence said. “But it’s a volatile market and if the state does not want to be subject to wild economic fluctuations, it needs to branch out for more stable paths.”
The current plan is to heavily utilize the University of Wyoming as well as community colleges in the state to help promote alternate economic sectors such as entrepreneurship.
“This investment will utilize our higher education institutions to help chart a path to a healthy future for Wyoming,” Gordon said. “By working together, we can create more opportunities for people to live and work in our state, and ensure our workforce has the skills they need for the jobs and industries of today and into the future.”
The WIP was created by the Wyoming Business Council as an initiative to promote growth in key economic areas for the state using educational goals set forward by the council and the state at large.
“To me, it seems like the diversification is about making Wyoming more business-oriented as well as expanding tourism and technology industries,” said Erikson. “We want our main source of income to be supplemented from people coming into the state as well as staying in the state to open businesses and services.”
The WIP seeks to not only expand Wyoming’s economic base, but also shore up the energy industry which itself is the current staple of Wyoming fiscal success.
According to the Wyoming Business Council, the WIP program will be split into phases with the first phase allocating money to the university and other community colleges for collaborative programs in digital infrastructure, energy, entrepreneurship, hospitality, technology, and tourism.
Much of these programs fall in line with some of the changes occurring already at the university. With academic reorganizations occurring at the university, many of the same programs focused on by the WIP have also been highlighted as important.
“We appreciate Governor Gordon’s commitment of this valuable federal funding to help the state’s higher education institutions launch new initiatives that we’re confident will provide strong returns for the state’s long-term economic future,” President Ed Seidel said in a statement. “This collaboration will allow us to accomplish much more than if we were to act independently, and the opportunities before us are exciting.”
“The university is no doubt happy with this decision,” Erikson said. “You look at the changes they’ve been making to open up programs for business or hospitality.”
“The first thing that strikes me is the digital infrastructure mentioned,” Lawrence said. “The School of Computing that has been talked about fits into that perfectly.”
The academic reorganization has been a hot topic on campus this semester. The plan was officially approved by the Board of Trustees on Nov. 19. The School of Computing plan has been held off and will be presented to the Board in January.
“I like the state’s efforts to create alternate routes. I know the university is struggling with how to do that, but we’re on the right path,” Erikson said.
“The goal is good and the desire to get to the goal is good,” Lawrence said. “I personally agree with the reorganization, but I can see where some people have a problem with it. My argument is that we should change and unless anyone can find a better way, we might have to go forward with this.”
One of the primary tenants of the plan is to set up a statewide computing education program.
This tenant includes the School of Computing proposal at UW; a launch of a software development degree in the Northern Wyoming Community College District (NWCCD); and for the creation of curriculum on fintech and the blockchain.
“These are tough concepts and if Wyoming wants to be successful as a competitor in the computing industry, it definitely needs to address these things,” junior Computer Sciences major Leslie Yerdech said. “It will take a lot of time and resources to figure out how to accurately teach this though, in my opinion.”
Furthermore, another tenant of the WIP is to promote a stronger tourism and hospitality industry.
The university will launch a Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Center; Caper College, Central Wyoming College, Northwest College, NWCCD, and Laramie Community college will receive funding in to support programs of search and rescue, culinary, restaurant/event management training, and outdoor recreation; and all institutions will receive support to improve underfunded program needs in this area.
The critical economic staple of Wyoming, the energy and natural resources sector, will also be receiving support as some of the funding and program direction is tied to improving the content education in community colleges.
The WIP is reportedly focused on, “workforce development on high potential industry sectors both statewide and regionally,” according to WIP reports.
The WIP program includes a variety of focuses such as supporting and training entrepreneurs and new business startups, a research and market analysis agenda aimed at technology transfer and commercialization, and developing outside revenue sources such as corporate partnerships to provide new opportunities for students.
There are not any current dates or benchmarks known for the first phase of WIP, but the money is set to be distributed to the colleges who will then allocate and build programs as directed.
