With the Joint Appropriations Committee having voted to remove all funding from the Wyoming Business Council, its regional representatives are out in force to explain to local leaders just what the council does. 

Kristin Fong, northwest regional director for the Wyoming Business Council, met with Park County commissioners last week for an annual update. 

The focus was, of course, on the Legislature’s potential moves to eliminate funding for the organization. 

“We’re actively working as a team to make sure that our impact is known,” she said. “I think generally there’s some confusion around the fact that we don’t actually invest in businesses, specifically, that we invest in communities, and then the communities can use those funds to provide infrastructure that businesses need.”

Fong spoke of the impact the council has made locally, assisting communities, and through them businesses, in Powell, Cody, Basin and Lovell in the last year, helping with planning projects in communities across the basin and more. 

She noted a specific instance where True North Academy, a day care in Cody, had been able to expand thanks to a Challenge Loan via the WBC and a local bank. That day care recently absorbed seven new children after another Cody day care abruptly closed. 

“They had the space available and were able to absorb seven kiddos in less than 24 hours notice,” Fong said. 

She also noted the success of their succession loan program, which, she said, enables legacy business to continue operating throughout a transition. The way the program works the council partners with local banks to actually handle the loans. 

Fong noted the council does a lot of partnering with local businesses and governments, from loans to community planning, which is moving forward in Big Horn County, and more. 

Since 2020, the council has helped secure over 1,000 primary jobs and leveraged $300 million in private investment, according to the council’s response letter to the JAC. 

Fong said there are other organizations reliant on the business council for funding, such as the Wyoming Women’s Business Council and Wyoming Small Business Development Center, which would be in jeopardy if the council went away.  

She said the council is prepared to alter its structure if needed to address a potential change in funding. 

“That’s exactly why I chose to work with the Wyoming Business Council, is because they’re constantly seeking self improvement. They’re not OK with the status quo,” Fong said, adding “There are misunderstandings I think about what our programs can do and what they can fund, and who’s eligible. And so if there’s confusion about that, then that tells me that there’s probably a problem but, you know, obviously we’d love the opportunity to fix the problem instead of just go away.”