Business & Tourism

Crypto Test Shows Wyoming’s System Can Get People Instant Payment During Disasters

A test of Wyoming’s digital currency system last week shows paying government contractors can take seconds instead of weeks, as it does now. That could be a game-changer during disasters, when people and local responders can get payments almost instantly.

Justin GeorgeJuly 23, 2025

KelTec Gun Factory In Rock Springs Aims To Churn Out 1,000 Pistols Per Week

The KelTec firearms factory in Rock Springs is up and running, producing unusual PR57 pistols the company hopes will grab a big share of the self-defense market. It aims to make 1,000 pistols a week.

Mark HeinzJuly 21, 2025

Amber Sessock, center, has worked at the Cowboy Cafe since she was 14. She was the lucky waitress who received a nearly $1,500 in a tip from two best friends from Iowa, Brandi Macumber and Tamara Bane, who are on a tipping mission to celebrate servers.

Dubois Café Worker Brought To Tears With $1,500 Tip

Two Iowa women on an annual road trip are on a mission to leave huge tips for local servers across the nation. They were in Dubois on Friday and brought their server to tears with a $1,500 tip.

Jackie DorothyJuly 20, 2025

A huge bronze installation of 70 larger-than-life longhorn steers that was cast at Eagle Bronze Foundry in Lander, Wyoming.

Famous Sculptures Placed Around The World Come From Lander's Eagle Bronze

Outside the art world, few may recognize the name of Lander’s Eagle Bronze Foundry. But sculptures created there are prominent around the world, including 70 larger-than-life 6-foot-tall longhorn steers in Dallas, the longest continuous-themed bronze sculpture collection in the U.S.

Renée JeanJuly 20, 2025

Wyoming Company Helps Develop Tech-Driven Early Alzheimer’s Detection Tool

Wyoming technology company Lunavi has helped develop a tech-driven digital tool to detect Alzheimer’s disease before most other tests can. It will make the tests inexpensive and available to anyone with an internet connection.

Renée JeanJuly 18, 2025

North Bridger Bison tries to make use of every part of the animal — bleached skulls for collectors and florists who use them in arrangements.

Bearded Bison Advocate Started His Own Buffalo Ranch North Of Yellowstone

Matt Skoglund is a bearded bison advocate who left a law career in Chicago for a Western ag lifestyle. Now his bison ranch north of Yellowstone has become a model of natural ranching that serves customers in Montana, Wyoming and as far away as Florida.

David MadisonJuly 13, 2025

Justin Beasley began working on bulls with his VOM tool, not expecting the amazing results or how tame a treatment would make the bulls to him.

Meet Dr. Cowboy, The Animal Chiropractor Putting More Buck Into Rodeo Bulls

When a rodeo bull refuses to buck, Dr. Cowboy uses his animal chiropractic tools to bring them back to life. He has successfully convinced even the most stubborn cowboy that this newfangled tool and technique is just the cure for their ailing bulls.

Jackie DorothyJuly 13, 2025

How A Young Cuban Exile Became A Wyoming Ag Hall-Of-Fame Rancher

Once an 11-year-old exile from Fidel Castro’s Communist Cuba, Juan Reyes was recently named to the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame. Juan Reyes knew nothing about the U.S. when he arrived, but says ranching in Wyoming became his American dream.

Dale KillingbeckJuly 13, 2025

A giant 15-foot buffalo skull made by Vic Lemmon from fiberglass forms the entry of the Laundromat and Carwash in Dubois, Wyoming. It will also be a temporary art gallery when it hosts a unique exhibit.

Fluff And Fold With Culture: Dubois Buffalo Skull Laundromat To Host Art Exhibit

A pair of artists in Dubois are planning an art show in an unusual space. Instead of a gallery, their show is going inside the town’s famous laundromat, the one with the giant buffalo skull entrance.

Renée JeanJuly 13, 2025

Visitors Can’t Find Rooms In Dubois, So Military Museum Owner Is Building A Motel

Despite a number of mom-and-pop motels and 90-some Airbnbs in the area, Dubois is often out of rooms for tourists in the summer. It was impacting growth for the National Museum of Military Vehicles, so owner Dan Starks is building a new 70-bed motel.

Renée JeanJuly 12, 2025

A luxury Jackson, Wyoming, home built for an avid golfer and once frequented by Payton Manning, has hit the market for $9.95 million.

$9.95M Jackson Home Once Fequented By Payton Manning Is Perfect For Golfers

A luxury Jackson, Wyoming, home perfect for an avid golfer and once frequented by Peyton Manning has hit the market for $9.95 million.

Renée JeanJuly 11, 2025

The imaging device used during an EP procedure.

Casper’s $7.3M Cardio Lab Will Save People Hours Of Travel For Simple Treatments

A new $7.3 million lab has opened at Banner Wyoming Medical Center in Casper that targets the electrical part of the heart. It will save central Wyoming heart patients hours of travel, sometimes out of state, to get 15-minute procedures.

Dale KillingbeckJuly 10, 2025

Wyoming Data Center Hires Public Service Commissioner Mary Throne

Prometheus Hyperscale, a new data center project in western Wyoming, has hired Wyoming Public Service Commissioner Mary Throne to help it navigate the regulatory environment. Throne starts Aug. 1 and will step down from her role at the PSC.

Renée JeanJuly 10, 2025

A herd of cattle stand in a pasture as a lightning bolt strikes behind them in this file photo.

Lightning Not Only A Wildfire Threat, It Also Kills A Lot Of Cows And Livestock

People were stunned by the death of a local animal celebrity, Larry the camel, who was stuck and killed by lightning last week but animal deaths from lightning are more common than many people might think.

Mark HeinzJuly 10, 2025

Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance Chairperson Carolyn Griffith, with megaphone, talks with Casper Mountain supporters opposed to gravel mining during a hike on the state school section last year.

Gravel Mine Developer Appeals State Land Board Denial Of Casper Mountain Leases

The company pushing to mine gravel on state-owned land at the base of Casper Mountain isn’t giving up. After the State Land Board denied renewing the leases for Prism Logistics, the company this week filed a judicial appeal of the land board’s decision.

Dale KillingbeckJuly 09, 2025

Shoshoni’s former Town Hall is at one of Wyoming’s busiest crossroads for travelers, now it’s for sale to spur economic development. A cardiology clinic wants to buy the property for an operation that can serve a wide region of the state.

Town Of Shoshoni In Talks For State-Of-The-Art Cardiology Clinic

The town of Shoshoni has a population of less than 500 people but its town hall sits on one of the state's busiest crossroads. To attract economic development, the city offered it for sale. A cardiology clinic has proposed building a 7,620-square-foot clinic there.

Renée JeanJuly 06, 2025

Surging demand for electricians is filling up programs to train them, like this one at the Business, Agriculture and Tech Department of Laramie County Community College.

Employment Boom: Wyoming Unions Say Thousands Of Electricians Needed

Jerry Payne with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 322 told Cowboy State Daily he has a project in Kemmerer that will need 540 electricians. His counterpart with Local IBEW 415, Truett Thompson, needs another 400 to 500 electricians. That's just the tip of the iceberg, they say.

Renée JeanJuly 06, 2025

Drinking Wyoming, Montana Edition: Knights, Kilts, And Dragon Steaks At Captain Scurvy’s

Captain Scurvy's Black Dragon Den in Billings, Montana, is a blast back to medieval times and the Renaissance. Cosplay is encouraged — 10% off if you’re in costume — while you devour turkey legs and “dragon” steaks.

David MadisonJuly 05, 2025

Sweetwater Memorial Hospital Medical Imaging Director Tracie Soller says the challenges in the radiology field today include finding technologists to work the imaging devices.

As Medical Imaging Tech Advances, Wyoming Has A Shortage Of People To Operate It

Technology for medical imaging is advancing at a frantic pace, but there aren’t qualified experts to put them to use in Wyoming. A new study shows Wyoming has 9 radiologists per 100,000 people, well below the national average of 13.

Dale KillingbeckJuly 05, 2025

Her Parents Fled Vietnam. These Veterans Fought There. Now They Eat Together

People have told V Cafe Owner KimChi Vu that her Vietnamese restaurant inside the Dubois VFW post is surprising or ironic. This short documentary explores how the cafe owners, veterans, and the community forge strong bonds over delicious food.

Reilly Strand & Hannah BrockJuly 05, 2025

Ian Munsick’s Line Of Western Accessories Sells Out In Nashville

Wyoming native Ian Munsick is one of country music’s fastest rising stars. He’ll headline Cheyenne Frontier Days for the first time this summer, and his new line of buckles, bolos and other Western accessories has sold out in Nashville.

Renée JeanJuly 04, 2025

Artillery is still the queen of the battlefield, and new business venture in Cody aims help meet the demand for ammunition by churning out 155-millimeter high explosive shells. A company called US Ballistic Laboratories plans to set shop in the former Cody Laboratories pharmaceuticals building on Road 2AB at the northern edge of town.

US Ballistic To Start Churning Out 155-mm Military Artillery Shells In Cody

A building in Cody that was once used for pharmaceuticals, then eyed by Kanye West as a shoe factory, is on track to start assembling artillery shells. US Ballistic Labs says it picked Wyoming for its patriotic and firearms-friendly culture.

Mark HeinzJuly 04, 2025

The Historic Cato Ranch is a working Black Angus cattle ranch.

Historic Sheridan Rodeo Ranch, Now A Working Angus Operation, For Sale

The P.K. Ranch hosted a rodeo that went head-to-head with Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1928 and still attracted 17,000 people from 28 states. The historic property, today known as the Cato Ranch, is going up for sale.