Relocating Business/Family Into Wyoming - Area Suggestions (Sheridan, Cody: for sale, transfer)

[Elimax]

Our family is trying to determine the best location for a relocation into Wyoming. Currently we are leaning towards the Sheridan, Cody, and Star Valley areas.

First and foremost is our livelihood. We run a small business specializing in specialty vehicle parts. We are currently based in the S.F. Bay Area which has huge logistics benefits. However, those benefits come with bigger negatives in terms of quality of life and overhead. In 2011 92% of our business was out of the state of CA, primarily mail order. We've been in business since 1993 so we would be considered pretty stable and I am confident that we can operate successfully from locations within Wyoming.

We are a younger family with a 6 and 8 year old. Schools are important as we would prefer to use public schools. Currently they are going to a private school as the schools in my area are horrible.

We have family in the Worland, WY area and have been coming out for a week or two every summer for the last 10 years. From my research I am not convinced that the Worland area is right for us in terms of business logistics, etc.

Ideally we would like to find a little property 10-40 acres and run our mail order business from their. Not completely sure this is a viable option at this point. I currently operate out of a commercial 6000 SQ ft warehouse and I'm not quite sure if we could combine home/work in Wyoming. We definitely could not do it here.

We love the outdoors and love the mountains/trees. We spent a couple of days in Sheridan last week and really liked the area. We drove west thru Cody and south through the park into the Star Valley. I will say of the areas we spent time in, Star Valley seamed to be our preference in terms of scenery/mountain terrain.

I would love to hear your thoughts or comments. I have a few questions of my own.....

#1 - Which area (Cody/Sheridan/Star Valley) has the better weather or are they are pretty much the same?

#2 - Any feedback on zoning/home business regulations in these areas would be great. We have a couple of calls into the local planning/zoning departments to determine what is feasible.

#3 - From what I can see it appears that the schools systems in Wyoming in general appear to be top notch. Any thoughts on these specific areas.

#4 - 4-5 times a year I travel domestically and internationally. I am assuming that the most cost effective options for airport travel would be driving North out of Sheridan to Billings. Is this an accurate assumption.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Scott

[sunsprit]

Sheridan is, IMO, by far and away ... the top contender for your situation given the concerns you have expressed.

A wonderful town, some of the typically mildest winter climate ...

and very important to your business requirements and travels, has the best access for shipping and a nearest major airport.

Public schools are fairly equal through all these areas, so no one favored over another.

Acreage available in the area. Do consider that many rural areas operating from a residential address may not qualify for commercial shipping rates when you get into larger parts over what you can ship out on your UPS or FEDEX Ground accounts. It's been some months since I've last been in Sheridan, but I'd bet you can find commercial space suitable for your needs at a reasonable cost.

[flyonpa]

One of the 1st calls should be to your FedEx and/or UPS account Reps. You need to find out Where from a pickup point of view, FedEx/UPS can service you with the level of service you need.


What is your order timing pattern? Do most of your orders go out ground vs Air ?


Does being on the west coast give you extra hours + later pick-up times that allow you to get the order on the plane for next day. A 6pm (PT) pickup might be 2 or 3p (MT) pickup to get it to a plane in time. So for next day air you may need to locate near a airport that has a FedEx/UPS plane that goes in/out of it.


Airfares out of Small/Med Markets don't vary that much, Most of your flights are going to take you to a hub city (DEN, SLC, MSP) on a regional, where you transfer. So just about all you domestic will require at least 1 connection, International 2+ connections most of the time,

[Elimax]

A vast majority of our shipments go out via UPS Ground or USPS Priority. I met with the service center manager for UPS in Sheridan and it appears that we would be serviced quite well. I did not get the chance to explore Cody or Star Valley. From initial looks I believe the farthest out would be Star Valley which is serviced thru the Jackson UPS Service Center. I believe Cody has it's own center as well, similar to Sheridan/Jackson.

You bring up a good point on the Residential versus commercial rates. My existing account rep has suggested that it is common practice for them to write commercial rates into a contract that services a residential/rural area. We are taking into account the additional inbound logistics costs of a Wyoming location. Not so sure it's a huge issue on the outbound....but it is definitely an area to be addressed in detail.

Cheers,

Scott

[tigergal]

Originally Posted by Elimax

A vast majority of our shipments go out via UPS Ground or USPS Priority. I met with the service center manager for UPS in Sheridan and it appears that we would be serviced quite well. I did not get the chance to explore Cody or Star Valley. From initial looks I believe the farthest out would be Star Valley which is serviced thru the Jackson UPS Service Center. I believe Cody has it's own center as well, similar to Sheridan/Jackson.

You bring up a good point on the Residential versus commercial rates. My existing account rep has suggested that it is common practice for them to write commercial rates into a contract that services a residential/rural area. We are taking into account the additional inbound logistics costs of a Wyoming location. Not so sure it's a huge issue on the outbound....but it is definitely an area to be addressed in detail.

Cheers,

Scott

Cody does indeed have its own UPS service center; I pass it daily taking my daughter to school.

[Wm Jas]

Elimax - Read the next to last post in the thread below titled "Sell me on Wyoming". And it doesn't even mention the fantastic school system!

[jody_wy]

There is wearhouse space for sale in Star Valley, UPS hub is Jackson , not hard to set up a pick up if you have the volume with UPS , they looked at onetime moving thier flights to Afton from Jackson. The Right 40 acres (if it has irrigation) can be really productive in Star Valley, there ways to garden even with a chance of frost 365 days a year.

[Wm Jas]

jody,

I'm enjoying the joust - star vally vs. the powder river basin!!

[jody_wy]

Originally Posted by Wm Jas

jody,

I'm enjoying the joust - star vally vs. the powder river basin!!

we usually beat them in BB, Football and Wrestling

[Grapes software]

There is wearhouse space for sale in Star Valley, UPS hub is Jackson , not hard to set up a pick up if you have the volume with UPS , they looked at onetime moving thier flights to Afton from Jackson. The Right 40 acres (if it has irrigation) can be really productive in Star Valley, there ways to garden even with a chance of frost 365 days a year.