Anthony Rodd
arodd@uwyo.edu
In an interview on Wyoming signatures last week, Matt Mead spoke with Pat Wolfenbarger about the Wyoming economy, and essentially laid out his game plan for improving the economic climate in the state.
So where does Mead’s focus lay? Technology, alternative energy and coal, but not coal in the way a Wyomingite would think.
“I want technology to be our fourth largest sector because I think that is the appropriate fit,” Mead said.
Mead said he is glad companies like Microsoft have chosen to invest $750 million in Wyoming, setting up a data center in Cheyenne, but he wants more tech companies setting up shop within the state.
In addition, Mead said alternative energy, primarily wind energy, is an excellent prospect for economic development, but simply harboring the wind farm is not enough.
“It’s not enough to build the largest wind farm, and put up the transmission, and ship the electrons to California,” Mead said.
Mead said this process is far too akin to the “dig and ship” model, where the state has traditionally dug minerals like coal and shipped them off.
“If we are going to build the largest wind farm in the country, which I think we will do in Carbon County, we need to do more than just put them up,” Mead said. “We should get involved in the manufacture of it, the maintenance of it and the scientific development of it.”
Mead added that wind energy should branch out in the economy, bolstering job opportunities in maintenance and manufacturing.
Mead also had the same to say about technology. He said the tech industry will branch off and should bring people into Wyoming that do not necessarily want to be farmers or miners.
“It is the best way to keep our most important resources – our young people – and also to give them as many reasons to live and stay in Wyoming as possible,” Mead said.
Following up on technology and wind energy, Mead said he is very excited for the technological advancements in coal research being made here at the university, the biggest technological prospect being the ability to turn coal into more than just energy.
“We’ve always thought of coal as ‘how do you burn it, how do you get a heat source,’ but now the university is looking at it differently,” Mead said.
He added that the university is asking what else can be made from coal, and that he is very excited for what this could mean in terms of the diversity of the economy.
“If someone said today, ‘we’re going to use half the coal for producing energy and the other half for making products,’ that would be very exciting for the states economy, and that is the direction the university is headed.”
