Ames: Strong community keeps, attracts new businesses

By Brendan Ames

Generally speaking, communities that are thriving are intentional, collaborative and well-resourced.

The Forward Greater Cheyenne initiative is the cornerstone to ensure the future success of our community. Business Retention, Expansion and Attraction (“BRE”) is one of eight key initiatives identified by Forward Greater Cheyenne aimed to be a driving force of that future success.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush … or so the saying goes. How does this relate to BRE? Various studies have illustrated that the expansion of existing businesses within a community represents between 60 percent and 90 percent of a region’s job creation. The future success of our community is directly related to ensuring we champion the businesses that already call the greater Cheyenne area home.

Our community is very engaged and supportive when it comes to creating a network of people that we can connect with. Businesses trust the strong ecosystem currently in place and rely on each other in our community to be successful.

To read the full article click here or email Alexia Eanes.

Report: SVHEC has $66.1M impact on statewide economy

Special to Work It, SoVa

SOUTH BOSTON — The Southern Virginia Higher Education Center had an economic impact of $66.1 million on the statewide economy in fiscal year 2018.

Of that increased economic activity, $57.9 million of it occurred in the Southern Virginia region. These findings are from a newly released report examining the economic impact of the SVHEC on the local and statewide economy.

“We’ve always believed the SVHEC was having a significant economic impact on Southern Virginia, and now we have the data to support that belief,” said Betty Adams, SVHEC executive director. “We pride ourselves on being good stewards of the dollars invested in the SVHEC, and this report shows that the citizens of the commonwealth — especially Southern Virginians — are getting an excellent return on their investment,” she continued.

To read the full article click here or email Alexia Eanes.

Weinstein: Enhancing city’s economic future

By Sam Weinstein

Small businesses are the foundation of our national and regional economies and, in fact, make up about 60 percent of Wyoming’s private sector workforce.

Recognizing this, the Forward Greater Cheyenne initiative sought to assist this effort on a local level with the Cheyenne Center for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (C2E2). The C2E2 will be the catalyst for small-business growth in our community.

The initial research phase, completed by Market Street Services, revealed that Cheyenne’s entrepreneurial support system is underdeveloped. The Cheyenne community has a breadth of knowledge, support and data available to assist entrepreneurs in starting a business, and for small business owners to attain growth. However, this information lacks cohesion, and the goal of our board is to bring all the information to one location – virtual at first, then a physical brick-and-mortar spot in years to come.

Our aggressive four-part strategy, specified by the Forward Greater Cheyenne plan, includes the following pieces:

To read the full article click here or email Alexia Eanes.