Wyoming

During Fiscal Year 2013, EDA invested $412,000 in four projects in the State of Wyoming. EDA’s investments help Wyoming communities achieve bottom-up, locally-defined economic development goals and strategies.

EDA offers a complementary, balanced portfolio of grant programs designed to help rural and urban communities grow their private sectors and create jobs.

Investment Spotlight: Master Plan for Disaster Recovery and Resiliency

Perched on the foothills of the Salt River Range, the town of Star Valley Ranch, Wyoming has a 600 foot elevation drop from its northeast edge to its southwest corner.  This steep descent, combined with the fact that most of the town’s roadways are still unimproved gravel, creates a precarious situation during annual spring snowmelt runoff.

Flooding and erosion damage in the spring of 2011 caused extensive damage to the town’s businesses and its infrastructure. Despite the destruction, the disaster could have been far worse: only the smallest of three possible canyons experienced flooding. If either of the two additional canyons had flooded, the damage would have been far more substantial.

The town needed a proactive approach to future flooding. In December 2012, EDA awarded $198,000 to the town of Star Valley Ranch to fund the development of master plans for surface water, roads, and economic development.  This plan will not only help the town recover from the flooding and erosion that occurred in the community in 2011, but also focus on making the community more resilient to future similar environmental disasters.  The project will identify imminent storm and spring runoff hazards, prioritize and develop a long-term investment strategy to stabilize roadways, and build a strategy to guide the community in future efforts to restore the regional economy and create disaster resiliency.