Be sure to check out the CBI Focus newsletters!
GLENROCK BUSINESS LEADERS IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH
GLENROCK, Wyo. -- The need for additional hotels/motels topped the list of the type of business most needed to improve the overall economy in Glenrock. Additional manufacturing entities and a fast-food restaurant were also top requests in a recently-completed business survey completed by Glenrock business owners and managers.
Approximately 50 people attended a public meeting Monday, January 30, 2012 in the Glenrock Town Council Chambers to hear the findings of the business survey and an independent economic analysis. Consultants from Community Builders, Inc. (CBI) summarized the results of the business survey and presented an economic analysis of the Glenrock economy.
The Glenrock Main Street Board and Glenrock Economic Development Corporation (GEDC), engaged CBI to conduct the business surveys and to develop an economic baseline study of Glenrock. The surveys and business inventory will help measure the success of future efforts to strengthen the downtown area and general business community.
Using the surveys and a visual door-to-door inventory, CBI developed a business database specifically for Glenrock downtown area designated as the “Main Street District.” CBI also developed another database that includes the greater Glenrock business community.
"Approximately 170 total commercial businesses were identified, with 75 of those located in the downtown area," CBI consultant Bobbe Fitzhugh said. Fifty percent of those downtown businesses responded to the business survey. “The survey results provide great insight into the perceptions of current business owners and building tenants, regarding the major assets, benefits and obstacles facing them," added Fitzhugh.
Seventy percent of the survey respondents own their building, and 73% report the condition of their building as being in "good" to "excellent" shape. “These are very positive attributes of a vibrant downtown environment,” said Fitzhugh. “That, together with an extremely low vacancy rate downtown, places Glenrock in a strong position to grow further.”
Survey respondents were also asked how they would rate a number of qualities in the community. "Safety, friendliness of merchants, and cleanliness ranked very high," according to Fitzhugh. "At the other end of the continuum, variety of goods and services, and availability of qualified workers were ranked fair to poor."
Proximity to Casper and Douglas was rated positively by 40% of the survey respondents, while 24% felt that proximity to those towns was an obstacle to their business success. "These different perspectives are probably a function of the survey respondents’ type of business," said Fitzhugh. "If you're selling fine dining experiences, proximity is an asset, while competition for grocery business probably suffers with nearby big-box stores who are able to provide greater variety at lower prices.”
CBI also presented their economic and demographic analysis of the Glenrock area. Although the Converse County economy is dominated by the mining and public administration sectors, those industries are less prevalent in Glenrock. Instead, the Utility, Wholesale, Retail, Service, and Accommodations & Food Service sectors provide most of the jobs in and around Glenrock.
“The Glenrock downtown area has a good mix of retail businesses. More broadly, the Glenrock area has strengths in the Sporting Goods, Other Motor Vehicle Dealers, and Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages),” said Joe Coyne, another CBI consultant.
There are several retail sectors in Glenrock that are “leaking” sales to other market areas. “Automobile Dealers, Grocery Stores, and Gasoline Stations are three sectors that are leaking more than a million dollars each to other markets,” said Coyne. “There are several other sectors that are losing business out of Glenrock, but big box stores in Casper dominate the small retailers in this region.”
According to Coyne and Fitzhugh, one strategy that Glenrock could pursue is to improve their marketing efforts. “Many Converse County residents know that Glenrock has great restaurants, but advertising may help growth,” said Fitzhugh.
“Another strategy is to tap into the travel market on Interstate 25,” said Coyne. In particular, the data suggests that there is an opportunity to sell more gasoline, open a fast food restaurant, and a motel,” he added.
"This is the first step in a process to help businesses plan for the future," said Glenrock Community Development Director Kathy Patceg. "Our Main Street Board and the Glenrock Economic Development Corporation (GEDC) will now dig into this information in greater detail and develop some strategic plans and goals," she said. "This initial process focused on the perceptions of the business community. Seeking feedback from the entire community will be a next step," she added.
The planning project is funded by a combination of a Wyoming Main Street Technical Assistance Grant and GEDC funds.
Glenrock Main Street and Glenrock EDC to Conduct Business Survey
GLENROCK, Wyo. – The Glenrock Main Street and Glenrock Economic Development Corporation (GEDC) organizations are working together to conduct business surveys in the Glenrock area. A key goal of the surveys is to create a business profile for Glenrock, which will be used as a baseline for measuring improvements to the downtown commercial district. The surveys will also be used by the GEDC to guide their economic development efforts in the area. Survey data to be gathered includes age and condition of buildings, business information, anticipated business changes, as well as assessments of major assets, benefits, and obstacles facing each business.
Surveys will be distributed in October by GEDC and Glenrock Main Street members to every known business in the Glenrock area and is available on line at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GlenrockBizSurvey. “We would like to include every business, including home occupations, to make sure that we understand the business community’s needs and desires,” said Kathy Patceg, Town of Glenrock Community Development Director. Together with a downtown building inventory, the surveys will establish an economic baseline that the Main Street program can use to help measure the success of its efforts to strengthen the downtown area.
Surveys will be collected from the entire Glenrock area, not just the downtown. “The reality is that our business community extends far beyond our downtown area, so we want to hear from all businesses,” said Mary Cannady, GEDC President. “We are all in this together.”
The Town of Glenrock and GEDC have hired Community Builders, Inc. (CBI) to assist with the surveys and related work. CBI is a Wyoming-based consulting firm that specializes in assisting communities with economic and community development work. Bobbe Fitzhugh, a CBI consultant, said, “Glenrock has a great downtown, with very few building vacancies. We think that the business survey will reflect the community’s pride and commitment to making the downtown even better.”
In addition to the building inventory and business surveys, CBI will complete an objective review of the Glenrock economic base. “We will research employment, sales, demographic trends, and similar data to create an economic profile for the Glenrock downtown and for the area more generally,” said Joe Coyne, CBI consultant.
The project is funded by a combination of a Wyoming Main Street Technical Assistance Grant and GEDC funds. Current plans are to complete the business surveys by November 15, and for CBI to report their findings to the public in mid-January 2012. Anyone with questions about the survey should contact Kathy Patceg at the Town of Glenrock, (307) 436-9294.
Sheridan Senior Center Implements CBI Plan, Center Stage newsletter (Aug-Sep 2011)
SHERIDAN, Wyo. – August and September are the last two months of our fiscal year at the Senior Center. We are busy making sure we end the year in good shape and at the same time looking ahead to October when our new year begins. The completion of a needs assessment, sponsored by the City of Sheridan and funded through the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming Department of Transportation, has provided us with a lot to consider as we look not only to next year but beyond.
Joe Coyne and Bobbe Fitzhugh, owners of Community Builder’s Inc. completed the assessment in May. They studied the Senior Center from many perspectives. Looking internally they reviewed our history, each of the program areas, the administration and they surveyed people who use the services. They also looked externally and studied local demographics, identified and spoke with representatives from other organizations and researched Senior Centers across the country looking at “best practices”.
The study confirmed what is happening across the country. The Baby Boom generation’s coming “of age” is going to impact Sheridan County big time over the next 30 years. The final report is comprehensive with recommendations that the Board of Directors and staff will be considering in the days, months and years to come.
This next year we will be positioning ourselves to serve more people as efficiently and effectively as possible. It will take all of us working together to assure that older people are fully engaged and integral members of our communities. There will be many opportunities and challenges. If we come together on this, Sheridan will be “elderich” and people of all ages will reap the rewards!
Carmen Rideout, Executive Director
Dubois Assisted Living Center Breaks Ground
DUBOIS, Wyo. – More than 60 community leaders and supporters gathered in Dubois on August 27 to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new assisted living facility. The Dubois Assisted Living Center (DALC) will offer 25 units in an attractive facility, and provide high quality services to future residents. The site is located on the Wind River, next door to the Dubois Medical Clinic.
Construction of the DALC will be partially funded with a $1.5 million Business Ready Community grant, with most of the funding coming from private donations and a loan to be financed with facility revenues. The project has benefited from strong local community support.
Community leaders have worked for years on the DALC project. They acquired the site from the Nature Conservancy, and secured other funding to develop infrastructure for it. They collected more than $400,000 in local donations before securing the WBC grant, and then arranged financing for the balance needed. “We have watched far too many loved ones move away from here because of the lack of assisted living opportunities,” said Carol Petera, project coordinator.
Market demand for the DALC is expected to be strong enough to fill the facility to capacity within two years of its opening, according to a feasibility study and business plan prepared by Community Builders, Inc., a Wyoming‐based consulting firm. Most DALC residents will come from Fremont County, although the facility will be open to all who are interested. “Our hope is to be open for business in 2012,” said Dick Hodge, another project leader. Timing will depend on the construction process and weather conditions. Preliminary architectural plans have been completed by Nelson Architects, LLC, based in Riverton.
New Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facility Top Long-Term Care Needs in Platte County
WHEATLAND, Wyo. – More than 40 people attended a public meeting Thursday, August 11th at the First State Bank Conference Center in Wheatland to hear the findings of a long-term care facility study completed for the Platte County Nursing Home. Consultants from Community Builders, Inc. (CBI) summarized each step of the Platte County Long-Term Care Facility Study and provided an overview of the planning process.
The Platte County Hospital District (PCHD) Board is aware that the number of local residents who are age 65 or older is large and growing. The Boomer generation is just now starting to swell the ranks of this population group. Therefore, the PCHD Board commissioned the study to determine current and future needs, and to identify options for the community to consider.
According to Joe Coyne, consultant for CBI, Platte County's Nursing Home is full and needs to expand from the current 43-bed capacity to 50 beds by 2015. Demand for nursing home units will continue to grow for the next 30+ years. Other findings concluded that Platte County could fill a new 22-unit Assisted Living Facility (ALF) almost immediately. "These objective conclusions considered all competition and local residents' ability to pay for services based on current household income," according to Coyne.
Platte County Hospital District Vice-Chairman Chuck Frederick and member Lori Modesitt asked attendees what they felt the community would support. In a straw poll of attendees, constructing a new nursing home and assisted living facility on a new site was the clear favorite of options presented. This option comes with an estimated $8.9 million price tag. It would result in a new 50-bed nursing home and a new 22-unit ALF, both on a new site. Cost of adaptive re-use of the existing nursing home facility would depend on the anticipated use. New Platte County Memorial Hospital CEO Shelby Nelson indicated that she is “looking forward to listening to the community’s ideas and exploring opportunities with the Hospital District Board."
Bobbe Fitzhugh of CBI presented the architectural/engineering analysis for the nursing home, which had been completed by Nelson Architects of Riverton. That analysis concluded that the existing facility has been well maintained, but is nearing the end of its useful life. Any renovation or remodeling will require compliance with new building codes (including accessibility measures) and would not allow for easy relocation of residents during construction.
General options include expanding and renovating the existing nursing home; constructing a new nursing home and remodeling the existing nursing home to an assisted living facility; constructing a new nursing home and assisted living facility on the current site, or the favored option of constructing a new nursing home and assisted living facility on a new site.
Topics discussed included the costs for any of the various options; pros and cons of being located away from the hospital and/or outpatient services; and the ability to generate the necessary funding for a new facility. A Capital Facilities tax, various public grants, and private fund-raising are all possibilities to construct the new facilities.
Representatives of Country Club Living, a licensed Boarding Home that provides personal daily living care, questioned the need and demand for both a boarding home and an assisted living facility in the community. According to Wyoming rules and regulations, Assisted Living Facilities are staffed by licensed medical personnel and do provide limited nursing care in their core services. Boarding Homes do not require licensed medical care providers and thus cannot provide medical care to residents, although residents may receive services from a licensed home health care provider for care beyond that provided for in the state rules and regulations.
There was some discussion from Country Club Living owner Norb Olin about the possibility of seeking Assisted Living Facility licensing for the Country Club Living facility to meet the demonstrated need for a 22-bed assisted living facility in Platte County. PCHD Board members will meet in the coming weeks to discuss next steps. CBI recommends that the PCHD Board move the project forward by creating a long-term care advisory committee with representatives from various senior service providers, long-term care providers, medical facilities, and local residents.
The Platte County Commissioners will soon post the study on their website, http://www.plattecountywyoming.com/.
Torrington Main Street Partnership to Host Workshop
TORRINGTON, Wyo. – Business Owners need a sharp pencil to stay competitive in today’s economy. That is why Torrington Main Street Partnership engaged the firm Community Builders, Inc. (CBI) to conduct an economic baseline study of Torrington, Wyoming. CBI will be presenting the findings from this study in a workshop that is free to the public.
The presentation will include an economic profile and the underlying information that can be helpful for businesses to plan for the future, specific recommendations for training and application, an outline for business plans, and sample marketing plans.
The workshop will be held on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 from 8 – 10 a.m. at Platte Valley Bank Community Room located at 2201 Main Street, Torrington, Wyoming.
Following the presentation, CBI will be offering individual consultations to businesses (limited to eight businesses). These consultations will be $25 for a 30-minute session and will be conducted at the place of business requesting the consultation. Contact Goshen County Economic Development Corp. at 307-532-5162 to schedule a consultation.
This workshop is made possible by a technical assistance grant through Wyoming Main Street.
