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University of Wyoming institute highlights workforce pipeline, Kemmer gift and statewide research
Summary
Dan McCoy, director of the Jay Kemmer Wirth Institute at the University of Wyoming, briefed the TRW committee on the institute's work supporting workforce development, research and statewide engagement for outdoor recreation and tourism.
Dan McCoy, director of the Jay Kemmer Wirth Institute at the University of Wyoming, briefed the TRW committee on the institute's work supporting outdoor recreation, tourism and hospitality across Wyoming. "Our mission is simply to expand and diversify Wyoming's economy by supporting the outdoor recreation, tourism, and hospitality industries," McCoy said.
McCoy described the institute's three core lines of work: workforce development (the outdoor recreation and tourism management degree and internship supports), research (economic-impact and fee-for-service studies for local partners) and statewide engagement (summits, search-and-rescue convenings and community fam trips). He cited the most recent estimates that place outdoor recreation as a roughly $2.2 billion industry in Wyoming, supporting more than 15,000 jobs and generating an estimated $244 million in state and local taxes.
McCoy said a recent, large philanthropic gift from Jay and Karen Kemmer, combined with legislative matching funds, produced $5 million to endow the institute and fund scholarships and internships. The institute also described a hospitality-innovation challenge that awarded $20,000 in student prizes and small internship stipends that helped one student secure employment after a recent statewide fam trip.
Four students from the University of Wyoming's outdoor recreation and tourism management program joined McCoy for the briefing and offered public comment. Student Mariela Villarrique of Sarasota, Florida, told the committee, "I love this state. . . . I can see myself living here the rest of my life," and other students described internships with state parks and conservation groups.
McCoy said the institute convened the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Summit with roughly 160 attendees and will hold its next summit in Saratoga; he also described an ongoing search-and-rescue convening that has supported cross-training, standards discussion and resource-sharing among county-level teams.
Ending: The committee thanked McCoy and the students and members encouraged continued collaboration between the institute, the Office of Tourism and local communities on workforce, research and product development.
