Wyoming Business Council urges investment to reverse decline; Albany County approves Safe Streets consultant RFP
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Summary
Josh Durell of the Wyoming Business Council told Albany County commissioners that stagnant employment, wage declines and youth out-migration require proactive investment. Commissioners approved advertising an RFP for a countywide Safe Streets consultant tied to a roughly $1.1 million grant.
LARAMIE — The Albany County Board of Commissioners on Monday approved staff requests to advertise a request for qualifications for a consultant to develop a countywide Safe Streets safety action plan, and heard a wide-ranging presentation from the Wyoming Business Council arguing the state must invest now to reverse slow growth.
County staff said the grant supporting the Safe Streets planning process is about $1.1 million, the total project cost is roughly $1.4 million, and the project will include city streets, county roads and state highways within the county. "This will include Highway 130 through Centennial up to the county line," a staff presenter said during the item; the board voted to direct the clerk to advertise the solicitation.
Shortly after the RFP vote, Josh Durell, CEO of the Wyoming Business Council, gave a presentation on statewide economic trends and policy options. Durell said Wyoming’s gross state product has been stagnant or declining relative to neighboring states, employment growth is flat and median wages have slipped. He described persistent out-migration among young people and an aging population as a threat to local labor supply and long-term community viability. "We need to be growing or we are declining," Durell said. "If we don't invest in our communities, we will get cleaned out by all of these places around us." Durell cited polling of about 514 registered voters and suggested that many residents would support targeted tax increases if they clearly fund economic opportunity.
Durell also referenced the state's sizeable savings vehicles, saying the rainy-day and sovereign wealth funds provide fiscal capacity and that the state could consider using some reserves for investment in infrastructure and job creation. He framed the Business Council’s role as encouraging communities to identify barriers to growth — from infrastructure deficits to regulatory burden — and to seek targeted investments and reforms. "We've got the wealth to do it," he said, "we just need the guts to do it."
Commissioners pressed staff and Durell on the scope and timeline of the Safe Streets work, including whether traffic counts and state data would be used and whether the consultant would produce construction-ready designs (staff said the work will include analysis and recommendations but not necessarily immediate construction). The board approved the RFP motion by voice vote.
What’s next: Staff will advertise the statement of qualifications for the Safe Streets consultant and return with responses and a recommended contract; the Business Council indicated it will continue to work with local governments on growth strategies and regulatory reform.
