Dear editor:
As Wyoming legislators, agencies and media outlets debate recent program cuts and business incentives, and university funding – they are rearranging deck chairs while our state's economic ship takes on water.
The real crisis isn't whether to trim another university program or business subsidy, it's that we're failing to address the fundamentals: energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and housing affordability.
Wyoming faces a unique fiscal reality. We have some of the lowest tax burdens in the nation, yet we require massive public investment simply to function.
For example, WYDOT maintains over +/- 6,800 miles of highway across the tenth-largest state with fewer than 600,000 residents.
That's exceptional infrastructure costs per capita that states like nearby states simply don't face. Our geography isn't a luxury — it's an economic reality that demands strategic investment.
Yet our budget debates remain captured by Cheyenne and Laramie with priorities that feel disconnected from the rest of Wyoming.
The University of Wyoming is important, but when programs too often reflect political favoritism rather than statewide economic necessity, you will face scrutiny for cuts.
Meanwhile, the very industries that could diversify our economy — energy development, advanced manufacturing, value-added agriculture — struggle to find workers with technical skills and the infrastructure to support operations.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: businesses aren't avoiding Wyoming because we lack business incentive programs.
They're avoiding us because our workforce lacks specialized technical training, the energy infrastructure is lacking a clear direction, our broadband is inadequate outside city centers, and our housing costs have skyrocketed.
When a young professional in Gillette, Sheridan or Rock Springs can't afford to buy a home because retirees/refugees from California, Colorado etc. have driven up prices, we're watching our future leave the state. (Me being one of them)
Our young people are getting a clear message: Wyoming is becoming a retirement destination, not a place to build a career and raise a family.
They see limited technical education pathways, stagnant wages in traditional industries, and housing markets that favor out-of-state buyers with retirement nest eggs.
So, they leave for Colorado, Montana, or Texas — taking their skills and tax revenue with them.
The solution isn't more targeted cuts or business subsidies. It's honest prioritization.
We need significant investment in technical education programs aligned with traditional (energy, mining and agriculture) and emerging industries (manufacturing, tech).
We need housing policy that addresses affordability for working families, not just market-rate development.
We need infrastructure — particularly electricity (power generation), broadband and transportation corridors — that makes Wyoming competitive for 21st-century industries.
Wyoming's low-tax model has served us well, but it only works if we're strategic about where we do spend.
Every dollar should ask: Does this help working families stay in Wyoming?
Does this create pathways for young people to build careers here?
Does this address our unique geographic and economic challenges?
The current budget debate suggests we're still not asking these questions.
Until we do, we'll continue losing our greatest resource — our people.
Sincerely,
Aaron Gray, Sheridan
