Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Sorted by date Results 217 - 241 of 306
On Oct. 30, just shy of their six-year anniversary of buying the business, Bobby and Danyel Chitwood, and daughters Dallys and Austyn, worked their final shift at Lollypops before closing the doors one last time as the owners of the nearly 30-year-old Valley institution. "A lot of the questions have been, 'Are you happy?' 'Are you sad?' and I would just honestly say it's a bag of mixed emotions," said Danyel Chitwood. The Chitwoods had officially purchased the ice cream parlor and restaurant fro...
Wyoming businesses seeking new markets for their products and services have a new resource at their disposal thanks to a revamped Trade Show and Market Expansion Grant program through the Wyoming Business Council. The new program expands the grant-eligible activities to include networking at industry-specific trade shows and conferences and traveling to attend meetings with potential buyers, in addition to displaying and selling products and services at traditional trade shows. "Wyoming is...
Elk Mountain is a small community that enjoys tremendous beauty around it. Though the town has plenty of history from pioneer times, it has become a bedroom community. There are now very few businesses in the town proper. Bow River Crossing, an establishment where residents can buy dry goods, food stuffs and alcohol, had its grand opening party on Sept. 29. The store actually opened on July 23, but according to Bill Jones, one of the founders, the decision to wait before throwing a grand...
Jezria Collins recently established a new Saratoga business, Provident Realty. "I am very connected to Carbon County since I was born and raised here," Collins said. "I got my brokers license at 20 and I have been involved with real estate 18 years. It feels like natural progression to open my own real estate company." The name she picked out for her business is special to her. "I came up with the name because I always loved the words provident and providence because of what it means," Collins...
As a part of Rocky Mountain Power's Energy Vision 2020 initiative last week the company began testing the process of replacing wind turbine nacelles and blades at the Seven Mile Hill wind farm. Rocky Mountain Power's Energy Vision 2020 initiative includes a re-powering plan to upgrade its existing wind fleet with larger blades, higher capacity generators, improved control systems and other new technology. "The rehearsal will identify efficiencies in the re-powering process which is scheduled to...
The second layer of the Economic Development Tiers Includes Quality of Life and Workforce Development. This month my thoughts turn to the third block: Infrastructure Development. Living in a small, rural, isolated community can be thought of as a negative situation. But many of us feel the exact opposite. We choose the Good Times Valley for a multitude of reasons and relish those attributes. Such as a sense of calm and quiet. Feeling safe. Knowing our neighbors by name. Support. However, when it comes to infrastructure, we want the same things...
Marcy Cooley is a total Carbon County girl, although in her early years, she was raised in Rock River. When her father told her the family was going to live in Encampment, Cooley was resistant. She considered the school a major rival. However, once settled in, she fell in love with the Valley. In 1994, when Cooley was in her early 30's, she found herself wondering if she should make the leap into the real estate profession. She had taken part time jobs, but her focus was raising her kids....
Doing business in the 21st century means thinking about the possibility of data breaches. Technology has become so prevalent in our everyday life, we don’t often think about what could happen if we lost all that information. When starting a small business, one may not think about the logistics of protecting the important data that becomes invaluable to running that business. CyberWyoming, through its Made Safe in Wyoming program, is looking to change that by partnering with Green House Data. In a recent press release from the Laramie-based comp...
Depending where you live in Carbon County, summer jobs for high school students can be difficult to find. Basil Phillips, a junior at Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Middle/High School and Tylor Goodro, a senior at HEM have been working for the town of Hanna to do mostly yard care. They also do yard work for residents in the town. Goodro and Phillips often work together. Both are glad to have jobs because, in north Carbon County, the opportunities for summer jobs is limited. "It was not...
Now that the "Susan Lucci curse" has been broken, Laura Morrow can add yet another award to her collection following the Women of Influence awards on Aug. 16. Morrow had already been awarded the Carbon County Board of Realtors Businessperson of the Year, but was also nominated for both the Lifetime Achievement Award by Cindy Loose and the Business of the Year by Elizabeth Wood. On Thursday, Morrow received the award for Business of the Year during the Women of Influence dinner at Little America...
Firewater Public House (Firewater) turned one year old on Aug 19. "It is shocking to me that it has been a year already but simultaneously it feels slow but there is relief we got here, there is no doubt about that," Danny Burau said. "It feels like a good notch to have in the belt to say a year, even though nothing really changed." He said there were a few surprises over the past year. Burau had been told he would probably have trouble getting good staff, but he said that was not the case. "I...
In the world of real estate, some people come and go while others stick around for the long haul. Marcy Cooley is the one of the latter. Having obtained her real estate license on June 1, 1994 she has been in the real estate business for 24 years now. For the majority of that time, she has been alongside fellow Realtor Laurie Forster, owner of Town and Country Realty. "I started with (Bill) Saulcy and then he closed this office down here, so Laurie started Town and Country," said Cooley. After...
Local business owner and philanthropist Laura Morrow calls it the "Susan Lucci curse." Lucci, who was a regular on the soap opera "All My Children" from 1970 to 2011, had been nominated for an Emmy 19 times before finally winning in 1999. Morrow herself has been nominated for awards, but had not won. "The running joke is, I'm nominated for business of the year," said Morrow. "I think I've been nominated the past four or five years through the (Saratoga/Platte Valley) Chamber of Commerce....
For 25 years, Michael "Hack" Patterson has been the trusted name when it comes to tackle, flies and guiding. Right up front, Hack will tell you that he is probably a little too honest and that his language won't be the definition of professional. According to him, though, that's probably why he has been in business for two-and-a-half decades: some people like his frankness. "I'm a pretty straightforward type of person," Hack said. Before going into business, Patterson had already been working...
The surname Hugus is not only well known in the Valley, but in other parts of Wyoming also. J.W. Hugus once owned 12 businesses in southern Wyoming and northern Colorado. The Hugus Company Mercantile in Saratoga was established in 1896, and the building is one of the oldest remaining historic buildings in the community. The descendants of J.W. Hugus have honored their ancestor by naming their restaurant after this visionary merchant of the Old West. "We weren't new to the game of running a...
The Small Business Administration of Wyoming (SBA) District Office gave the Small Business Spirit of Wyoming award to a business in Hanna. Kyle and Amelia Young, owners of the Hanna Market, was presented with the award on April 4 at their store by Jim Drever, Small Business Development Center (SBDC) regional director for Albany and Carbon County, and Amy Lea. This award is presented to small businesses that demonstrate potential for success in the areas of growth in number of employees, increase...
Beginning May 7, residents of the Platte Valley will no longer be seeing Kendra Sims' smiling face at Albany County Chiropractic - Saratoga. After 10 years, Sims has decided to go into business for herself as Platte Valley Chiropractic, Inc. Though she is moving locations, she will still be providing the thorough and complete chiropractic care that so many residents have come to her for. "This was the next logical step," said Sims. While Sims had played with the idea of going into business for...
Jenn Rothenberger has been selected as Carbon County Realtor of the Year for 2017. Jenn received her Real Estate license in 2007 and her Brokers License in 2010 and has been an active member of the Carbon County Board of Realtors, Wyoming Association of Realtors, and the National Association of Realtors since that time. Jenn is active in the community, is a team mom for the Raw Town Wrestling Club and is active in her church. She enjoys serving in various church positions such as Visiting...
Wyoming's average personal income saw modest growth in the third quarter of 2017 after two previous quarters of region-leading improvements, according to figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BEA) and Economic Analysis Division of the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information (EAD). Wage growth over the last three quarters are a significant improvement for the state which saw steep declines in personal income throughout all of 2016 as the state slowly recovered... Full story
After the first four months of Wyoming’s fiscal year 2017 elapsed, figures published by the state show some uptick in economic activity in the state thanks in part to a pickup in the oil and gas sectors. Other sectors of the economy have not fared as well, however. Oil prices surged in November, increasing from $51.56 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to an average price of $56.57 per barrel, an almost 10 percent increase over the month. In November 2016, the price for a barrel of WTI was at $45.66. Natural gas prices also were on t... Full story
A set of economic indicators published by the Economic Analysis Division of the State of Wyoming Department of Administration and Information this month show mixed results as the state’s economy struggles to improve from languid performance the last couple years. Economic indicators for the two largest cities in the state, Casper and Cheyenne, show disparities in how robust economic activity is in the two cities, and statewide figures still show economic activity in the state is below that of the post 2007-2008 recession high in 2014. For the c... Full story
For Adam Clarke, manager of Valley Foods in Saratoga, operating a grocery store is nothing new; it's been the family business for three generations, starting with his grandfather who opened a grocery store in Nebraska in 1939. When his grandfather went off to fight in World War II, his grandmother took over running the store. Later, Clarke's father took over the business that had grown from one store to three. While his father ran the family store, Valley Foods co-owner and former Valley... Full story
Burns Insurance, winner of the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce 2016 “Business of the Year” Award, was honored again for their professional staff and generous community involvement. Stacy Crimmins, Chamber CEO, nominated Burns Insurance for the state award and was recently notified of their win. Mark Anderson, President of Burns Insurance, accepted the award at the Wyoming Working Together Conference held Sept. 20-22 in Laramie. The conference was a collaboration between the State Chamber, Wyoming Economic Development Association and... Full story
Two years ago, Lois Buchanan put her bar on the market because she felt it was time after 22 years. "I wanted to start on my bucket list and there are some things I would like to do," Buchanan said. "And with Daniel (her husband who passed away) being gone it just wasn't as interesting and I lost the enthusiasm for it. The bar needed a breath of life and I knew it." Buchanan is confident the new owner, Marvin Francis, is that breath of life. "The potential is here, but not with me," concluded... Full story
"A customer came in on our second day of being open, ordered a pizza to go and when we gave it to him, he gave us a three dollar tip," said The Divide owner JoElla Vacher. "An hour later, he came back and gave us another $20 for a tip and told us that was the best pizza he had ever had." The Divide, a new pizza eatery in Encampment, not only features pizza, but also has calzones, specialty salads, appetizers, Italian dishes and the newest addition, a salad bar. JoElla said all the recipes are... Full story