A look at Weatherby

It seems there is a lot of division and confusion around economic development currently in the recent Wyoming state legislative sessions.  I don’t have all the data and I certainly haven’t been in on all the conversations, but I feel it is my responsibility to share my personal business experience and perspective.  It is the voters that I want to share with.  I have already shared with the legislators but it is your turn to speak to your legislators on this topic. Hopefully it will help steer our state to continued and greater success, which banks on economic development efforts. 

Weatherby Inc. has been in the state almost 8 years, since 2018 when we moved our corporate offices and 2019 our full manufacturing operations.  This would not have been possible without intentional and aggressive economic development efforts. This state came to us with the best package of all the other states. Governor Matt Mead and Governor Gordon were instrumental in their support of our relocation. Without a doubt, Wyoming Business Council is the organization that made it happen and allowed SEEDA (Sheridan Educational & Economical District Authority) and Weatherby to have a beautiful partnership in Sheridan. Without WBC, Weatherby Inc. would never have been able to move its operations out of California and to Sheridan, WY.  We pay millions of dollars in payroll every year to our employees.  So far, we have recruited 111 employees from out of state and they brought their families.  Not only that, but they bought houses, eat out, shop local and pay property tax and sales tax in our community. They are paying customers for the local businesses: doctors, dentists, mechanics, etc.  Our business has created over 130 jobs and counting. Our corporate activities book hundreds of plane tickets out of our local Sheridan airport and 1000s of guests per year stay in hotels and eat at restaurants.  Every fall, visiting hunters visit our show room and load up on gear, giving visitors another reason to stop in Sheridan for fun instead of moving north over the Montana border.  We look to continue to grow and make a positive economic impact to our community.

Weatherby is a great Wyoming success story when it comes to economic development efforts, but there are others in Sheridan as well. Vacutech and Kennon Products moved their operations to Sheridan and have benefited from similar Business Ready grants facilitated by WBC. If the state wants more businesses to come to Wyoming and bring their employees and recruit others from out of state, government help is needed to ease the business burden of relocating and have a dedicated organization that can help businesses go through the many hurdles of extreme growth or disruption.  Business relocation is a huge undertaking that most people don’t understand. Some businesses can’t endure it without state fund assistance.  This perspective does not exclude the requirement that the state has to administer funds responsibly and accountability should be in place to do so.  I am in firm support of well spent funds and that may mean a stricter criteria for economic development efforts.

However, to completely dismantle the primary economic development engine of the state is very shortsighted. Other states like Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia are targeting businesses to relocate with generous packages. I know this because they have reached out to my business to come to their states.  I have always told them no, because Wyoming was and still is so good to us. Every dollar that was granted to SEEDA (Sheridan’s economic agency) to allow us to have a home here is gradually paid back every month through our facility lease and goes towards more economic efforts in our community. If you dissolve WBC entirely, Wyoming will miss out on this wonderful opportunity to open its arms to other companies and miss out on needed potential growth for the state and employment for the residents of our communities.  So, vote to audit spending, make WBC accountable for efficient use of funds, and vetting businesses who will be good for Wyoming, but don’t throw it out altogether.  Wyoming will fall behind as a state, kids who grow up here won’t be able to stay, and there won’t be dynamic growth opportunities for residents in new and thriving businesses.