moving our manufacturing plant to Wyoming? (Cheyenne, Riverton: college, tornado, living in)

[sunsprit]

I'd be looking strongly at Wheatland or Pine Bluffs.

Torrington is a nice ag town in many respects, but not well located for transport of materials in/goods out being some distance away from an Interstate highway.

Wheatland is on I-25, and relatively close to the mountains and winter snow/outdoor activity.

Pine Bluffs has land available, and is well served by rail and I-80. You'll get snows for sure in the winters. PB also has an established group of workers for this type of manufacturing, with plants like AllWayz Manufacturing, Bowman Irrigation, and another small plant that makes automated SS food handling/manufacturing equipment (one of the two largest automated fryer line manufacturers in the world ... for potato/vegetable chips, these guys know their stuff when it comes to automation and working in food grade Stainless Steel). Previously, Rocky Mountain Snack Foods operated a sizable plant in PB, but that's been shut down with new owners concentrating their manufacturing in another location.

Cheyenne has several major manufacturers associated with food service equipment, railroad support services, metal working, and similar industries. There's a fairly good labor pool, and you'd be competing with the $14/hour wages paid to the distribution center workers for a starting wage.

FWIW, PB's 5,200' airstrip is just outside of town, and has land and ramp space available for a hangar or tie-down ... if you use GA aircraft in your business. Neither Torrington or Wheatland are well served in this regard. Cheyenne has a major airfield, with commercial commuter service to regional cities and towns.

Depending upon the type of labor force and turnover you can tolerate, you might also consider Laramie. Well located upon I-80, with lots of land available locally without excessive costs compared to the "boom" or "tourist" areas. Home to Univ of Wyoming, there's a steady pool of entry level and above workers. Close to the Snowies and Veedauwoo recreational areas, lots of snow in the area. Also, a very good airport, although best utilized for GA and not well served by commercial aviation.

None of these towns would have you competing with the oil patch or extractive industries, nor are they "boom" towns. I think you'll find Cheyenne and Laramie are aggressively seeking to expand their industrial base, and the business development groups may be able to help you with site selection, utilities, etc.

[StealthRabbit]

Might consider Powell as well, tho not on a major Freeway, it is close enough to Billings to be worth a look. Also good ag based economy and workers + jr. College. Adequate snow to live with, and more than enough nearby... (East or West !). Not a lot of energy jobs to compete with. Lower cost of land, than the HOT SPOTS. Be advised... WY is cyclical in energy, housing. Don't buy at 'the peak of the boom'. Tho I don't see it leaving... carbon taxes might be tough on coal... And They may be Likely

[Maxattack]

Originally Posted by Heit

You do not seem interested in Cheyenne but I would like to point out a BIG attraction and advantage of doing business here. You have easy access to Interstates 80 & 25. Why do you think Walmart, Lowes and Sierra Trading Post have built massive distribution centers here? There are also plenty of land tracts available near Interstate 80. Just a little FYI regarding Cheyenne. Best wishes in your search of WYO.

[SIZE=3]I’m really more of a small town gal. [/SIZE]Cheyenne has over 50k people in it, that’s way too many. And I know this sounds a little prejudice but we mainly hire women as we provide on-sight daycare for our workers. The free day-care keeps them around.

[WyoMama]

If you don't like tornadoes - steer clear of southeastern Wyo - and that is some of the windiest country in all 50 states - including Alaska & Maine. I lived 3 miles north of the Bordeaux cut on I-25 which is documented as (for perpetual wind) the windiwst place in USA. AND I don't doubt it for a second. Chey-town has a lot of tornadoes (we spent a LOT of time in basements in Wheatland & raced them home more than once - very scary...). Cody has no tornadoes. A few twisters that just hit a little land, but don't do any more damage than maybe toss a 50 gal. drum around or something. BUT None of Big Horn Basin is anywhere near any railroad or interstate. It is 110 miles from Cody or Powell to I-90 & 149 miles to I-90 or I-25 thover the big Horns. 220 miles northeast of I-25 in Casper. Sounds like Dubois or Pinedale might be great choices for you - Afton in Star Valley (the western border) is BEAUTIFUL & also a great area - all the way up to Alpine along the Snake River - maybe consider that? You have everything there that is Wyo.

[ElkHunter]

There is rail service from Laurel Montana, down through Greybull, Worland, Thermop, and on down to Casper. But that's pretty much it along the Western Edge of the Big Horns.

We've all just been assuming. But are you wanting to set up where rail service is a factor, or major interstates? Because a lot of these secondary roads have closures on and off all winter. So moving material in and out is an iffy thing at times.

[paintersspouse]

I see that you want a small town and snow. Pinedale fits that well. Yes you are a bit off the beaten path but not too far from Rock Springs and the major highway.

The things to consider will be your costs and wages. Will you pay good wages? There are lots of people who have moved in for the oil boom and while it might be a bit difficult to find workers now , I am sure their are lots of spouses that are looking for good jobs.

It is a growing town and will need some more companies that are not oil based to move in a support the ecomomy as the oil boom slows off.

[shadowwalker]

Ummm, Saratoga? Close to mountains gets snow. Fairly close to I-80. Very small town, and could use the business for sure.
Glenrock, another small town, right on Interstate and gets snow close to mountains. It's east of Casper about twenty miles.
Just look on a map and ask the good people here about towns.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Maxattack

We are moving our manufacturing plant and looking at Wyoming as a possibility. We manufacturing Ag equipment so would be looking in an Ag area. Our plant would need to be located outside of town. We would prefer a smaller town (1500-3000) to a larger town as we do not want to compete with the mining ind for workers. We are not a large company and would only be hiring aprox 40 workers. I know it’s a windy state but there must be some not so windy towns with lots of snow and great views.

To tell you the truth, there's a lot of people getting frustrated. First you say you want an Ag area. So several people put thought into it and make recommendations. But then you say, we don't need to be where there is agriculture. So several more recommendations are made. Then you say, we really had our heart set on PineDale. You say you wanted a small town and didn't want to compete with the oil/methane boom industry. Again several recommendations are made. But then you say you hire mostly women.

Give us a break. What are you looking for? I know how the state is that your coming from, but the state your looking at doesn't like to play games.

[Maxattack]

We use UPS and Fed-x for shipping. The parts we make for Ag equipment are small, the reason we need an Ag type area is I don’t want to be in town so we do a small amount of testing for one of our customers keeps me in the country.
What are the summers like in the Pinedale/Afton.
I think we pay good wages. Can you give me an idea what is considered a good wage for unskilled labor, skilled labor and management? I know that’s a pretty broad question but I would appreciate the input.
Do you think it will really be difficult to find workers?

[paintersspouse]

Summers in Pinedale ar great, short but great. Not too hot, sometimes cool nights.

Pay rates vary but somewhere in the 12-20.00 per hour is now the going rate(DOE)