The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services launched a program this month that hopes to help people from out of state find jobs within Wyoming.
Hayley McKee, Public Information Officer and Policy Administrator at the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services worked with a team to develop the Wyoming Grown program. This program will allow people from out of state to send in a copy of their résumé and receive help finding a job in Wyoming, McKee said.
McKee went on to explain the reason behind the development of the program.
“We have a research and planning team in Casper,” McKee said. “They did some research and found that of all 18-year-olds working in Wyoming from any given year, only an estimated 40 percent are still working in Wyoming ten years later.”
Potential participants in the program can enter their information in the Wyoming Grown website, or they can be referred by a friend or family member, McKee said.
“[Program participants] will receive a letter from Governor Mead that says ‘we’d love to have you here back in Wyoming. Consider our unmatched quality of life, our beautiful landscapes,’” McKee said. “If he uploads a resume, that’s going to go to one of our Department of Workforce Services staff members, specifically our Wyoming Grown coordinator, who will get him involved in the program and get him matched up with a personal recruiter in the town where the son is interested in relocating.”
The program is currently working with over 200 people and has assisted eight people with finding jobs in state so far, McKee said. While the program is offered to anybody thinking of relocating to Wyoming, it is directed more toward former Wyoming inhabitants.
“We do know that people that are familiar with Wyoming, our culture, our values, our climate, we know that those people are more likely to stay,” McKee said. “That’s one really important piece about this program–we want people to come and we want them to stay.”
Ryan Kiser, owner of Hero Depot, an arcade in Laramie has lived in Wyoming his whole life. He explained what it is about Wyoming that appeals to him.
“I like living in an area where there’s not a lot of people,” Kiser said. “Growing up in Wyoming, I always kind of thought I would want to go off and move out to the city and see bigger and better things, if you will. But the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized I like the Wyoming vibe. I like the slower pace. I like the outdoors.”
Kiser went on to explain why he believed so many people ended up leaving Wyoming.
“Well, I think it is hard to find jobs in Wyoming, particularly in Laramie,” he said. “I think a lot of people have that mindset, even when they’re going to school here that it’s just a stepping-stone to get them to the next place. I know a lot of people that have graduated and actually wanted to stay in Wyoming, but they just couldn’t find work so they had to explore other options and move out of the state.”
Kirsten Blacketer, a romance novelist, was born in Pennsylvania but has lived in Wyoming for three years. The Wyoming life is more conductive to her writing, Blacketer said.
“It’s a nice pace for me here and it gives me a chance to, if I need to take a break from working, I can go out and I can take a walk, I can go see a show if I want to I can go take part in the Cheyenne Frontier Days, I can go to Yellowstone,” Blacketer said. “There’s so much that I can do if I needed to take a break and recharge from writing or whatever I’m doing from home.”
“I think that everybody kind of wanders away from the quiet in search of something bigger, grander, faster and, you know, they’ll reach a point where they realize they miss that slow pace,” Blacketer said. “So then they do end up coming back. But, there’s not a lot of pizazz here. There’s not a lot of bright lights and skyscrapers or that fast pace. But I guess that’s why I like it here.”
