Celebrating Success Through
Challenges in 2021
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As we enter the holiday season and approach the end of another year, I want to express my sincerest wishes that you all have a very merry Christmas and an especially good year in 2022. This past year, and the one before, have been a very interesting and challenging. With COVID, the drop in minerals prices, then the dramatic rise in minerals prices, new businesses in town, continued growth in several markets, and so much more we have been through a lot together.
As I look around, I see many expressions of gratitude for the frontline medical workers and first responders who are battling to help us all. I too am grateful for their dedication and work on our behalf. They have been through a lot and have been instrumental in helping us get through this pandemic. As I consider what has been going on, I think about many more who have worked diligently though this crisis. I want to express my gratitude for all of you, who have continued to work in trying conditions. You have kept businesses going, kept people employed, and kept our economy moving forward despite many efforts to close things down. It is the small businesses, the oil, gas and coal companies, the support services, the social services, city, county and state government and many more that have continued your operations that have supported our local economy and the nation. Thank you for continuing to work provide a stable base for our economy. You have continued your businesses even though you have lost family, friends, employees, and others. No one has not been impacted by what is going on and you deserve thanks for persevering through this crisis.
As we enter the new year, I would like to leave 2021 behind and move forward with hope and optimism for a much brighter future. For the past several years we have been working very hard on our FUEL Business Incubator and on the Wyoming Innovation Center. Most of the work on these projects has been accomplished because of the help and support that many of you provide. The FUEL business Incubator will continue to have events and activities for our members. Most of our FUEL events are open to all entrepreneurs. If you are an entrepreneur, or know someone who is, have them contact us so we can invite them to the events. We are eagerly anticipating the opening of our Wyoming Innovation Center (WyIC) in February. This has been a long-term project that holds a lot of promise. A National Engineering Technology Laboratory Rare Earth Element project will be our first tenant. They have a Department of Energy funded project they are scaling up to determine the feasibility of extracting rare earth elements from coal ash. We expect them to take occupancy in late spring. To celebrate the opening, we will have a ribbon cutting in early summer.
In closing, have a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to connecting with all of you in 2022.
