Appropriations committee presses Wyoming Business Council for metrics and a clear budget as council touts leverage from state investments

The Joint Appropriations Committee convened June 22 in Cheyenne to question the Wyoming Business Council about program results, staffing needs and whether state investments are producing jobs and higher wages.

At the meeting, Wyoming Business Council CEO Josh Derell framed the council's work as targeting the gap between rising household costs and stagnant median wages. "When we invest in ourselves, others will invest as well," Derell told lawmakers, citing an Evansville example in which roughly $9 million in public water, sewer and street improvements helped unlock about $77 million in private investment and hundreds of jobs.

Why it matters: Lawmakers said they want clearer performance data and a concrete supplemental request. Several members said they support the council’s mission but pressed WBC leaders for success metrics, clearer definitions of eligible projects and a staffing plan if the committee is expected to scale outreach to smaller communities.

Most important facts first: Derell said the council has tracked projects and outcomes and will provide more detailed reports on success rates, but he did not deliver a final dollar figure for a near‑term supplemental budget request. Chief Strategy Officer Sarah Fitzgerald presented wage‑impact data for the Business‑Ready Communities program (BRC), saying the program’s supported average hourly wages rose from about $19.43 (2004–2015) to $23.44 (2016–2019) and to roughly $31.57 since 2020 — an increase she described as evidence that stricter approval criteria have improved benefit‑to‑cost performance.

How projects are vetted: Derell described a multi‑step review: WBC staff analyze applications, the investment committee performs a further review, the WBC board recommends projects to the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB), and SLIB makes the final decision. He said the council uses case‑by‑case economic analysis, including return‑on‑investment considerations, and has expanded post‑project reporting to cover the life of financed assets or full loan terms.

Lawmakers’ concerns: Members repeatedly returned to several themes: (1) whether the WBC is picking winners and losers with grants and trade supports; (2) whether smaller communities receive adequate, ongoing planning assistance; and (3) how the WBC would spend additional operating dollars if the legislature provided them. Representative Haroldson and others pressed Derell to provide a specific dollar figure for the council’s supplemental ask; Derell replied that a formal straw proposal will go to the budget office at the end of the month and that the council expects to present a final ask after board review.

On capacity building: Derell emphasized the council’s "assessment to action" program and regional director network as mechanisms to help smaller towns hone planning and project readiness; he told the committee the assessment program is deliberately rigorous and resource‑intensive and said adding staff to scale that work would materially change outcomes in underserved counties.

On accountability: Multiple lawmakers said they want more accessible, standardized performance statistics. Fitzgerald emphasized that BRC projects now have longer reporting windows to improve transparency and that the council will re-send its historical outcome reports to the committee.

What officials asked for: WBC leaders asked the committee to consider at least maintaining current funding and to weigh modest supplemental resources to expand community facilitation staff. Derell said WBC operations were funded at roughly $15 million per year (about $30 million per biennium) under prior appropriations, and he characterized the council’s near‑term priority as sustaining staff and existing programs while the agency develops a more fully defined supplemental submission for the committee.

Next steps: The joint appropriations committee will continue deliberations; staff and WBC said they will provide detailed loan and grant success rates and an updated supplemental budget proposal at upcoming meetings, including a joint session with the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee planned for late August.

Ending: No formal appropriation or vote was taken during the session; the committee recessed to take public comment and scheduled further review once the WBC supplies the requested figures and additional documentation.