CHEYENNE – At the Feb. 6 meeting of the top five elected officials, the Town of Guernsey was approved for the last-ever BRC grant to be awarded by the SLIB board through the Wyoming Business Council.
The Wyoming Business Council (WBC), as stated at last week’s meeting with the opinion of the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) supporting the decision, will be changing their rules and procedures to eliminate the Business Ready Community (BRC) grant and roll the funds into other programs in the WBC that will better match the goals of the state agency.
Last Thursday’s meeting of the SLIB board included a presentation of the Guernsey project to add 2,500 square feet of space to the current senior center building which also houses the town’s library. The enlarged facility, which will also be utilized by surrounding communities, will create fully-ADA compliant bathrooms, the addition of up-to-date technology infrastructure, additional private meeting space for public health, mental health, veteran services, job training and exploration, entrepreneurial endeavors, etc., and a covered area for loading and unloading of patrons to give more protection from the elements.
Signing on as supporters of the project are Platte County School District No. 2, Eastern Wyoming Community College, and John Bunning Transfer Co., Inc., who each have an interest in utilizing the space to enhance their services and the ability to increase job training and counseling services.
The Town of Guernsey requested $750,000 of grant funds with the town providing a $486,880 match, which is 29% higher than the minimum required by the BRC grant.
Grants portfolio manager Noel Reed, of the Wyoming Business Council, said there is a recommendation of “do not fund” by the WBC. She explained, “We feel this project does not align with current WBC investment strategy, nor the current strategic direction of solving strategic barriers to growth.”
Additionally, Reed pointed out, information from the Wyoming Department of Revenue shows the town is receiving as income, a 4% sales and use tax, 1% local general purpose tax, and a 1% local specific purpose tax, for a total of 6% in taxes. With Guernsey realizing an average $493,714 in fiscal year 2024 from each percentage of tax, the WBC believes the town should pursue enacting the optional 1% municipal tax on its citizens to pay for the project or utilize other loan options instead.
Reed also concluded: the project is not in line with current investment strategies of the WBC.
CEO and director of the WBC, Josh Durrell, explained the position of the board. The business council has had to make some hard decisions over the last few years with a need to look at return-of-investment on the state tax dollars which are used for the projects funded through the agency. In the past, there have been many projects who don’t fit the parameters of the business council’s mission of “leading economic growth, building resilient communities, and creating opportunities to thrive.”

Governor Mark Gordon supported Durrell’s stance, pointing out instances where there was no measurable benefit produced from allocated projects, such as a business park in Thermopolis which sat idle for 10 years before being sold for “a rock-bottom price,” and “the infrastructure languished.”
“No project is a bad project,” Durrell said.
“The real question I have is, why do we have to work on projects that are community enhancements? Why as a state are we asked to fund a project that is good for a community, but the community feels they have no way to do it on their own?” Durrell said. He emphasized the time has come to change the program that didn’t change with the economic downturn of recent years.
“We have $76 million in BRC funding. There is also an amendment to take about 20 percent of that sitting in the [legislative] budget committee now. Do we have $76 million or don’t we? In the future those funds will be less,” Durrell said, emphasizing the direction the business council needs to go is to help communities become more self-reliant in order to handle current and future challenges that will inevitably come.
“…The actual problem [across the board] is lack of self-reliance at a community level,” Durrell continued. “The word ‘can’t’ do it without state funds is much more prevalent than I thought it would be. We have the opportunity to remove the ‘can’t’ and bring about community self-reliance. We’ve seen it happen.”
Superintendent of public instruction Megan Degenfelder, one of the five elected officials on the SLIB board, agreed with the need to “move away from the ‘nice to have’ community enhancements. We just cannot fund those any longer this way. We have to focus on the return on investment.”
“I find we have ourselves in a position where the rules have been set and communities have applied for that,” she added.
Before the final decision to approve by the SLIB board, Guernsey mayor Ed Delgado explained the reason the town was seeking a grant to supplement the project, rather than paying 100% of its own funds, is because the town is still paying money back for the landfill remediation project which was completed last year, as well as the $1 million it cost the Town of Guernsey for the recent water transmission and improvements to its water tank. He added, the project to improve the senior center and library has been pushed off for years, and he wanted to make sure it was able to be done.
Grant writer Bruce Heimbuck reassured the SLIB board, Guernsey’s track record for projects involving the WBC were all “done on time or early, and on budget or under budget… And I can tell you it is going to happen this time, too.”
He also suggested the scope of the project has been created to meet the needs of the community without adding unnecessary expenses, pointing out the plans are to add on to an existing building, which is the cheapest way to build.
“The BRC grant has the unique opportunity to address a unique need in the community. The point I’d like to make is we visited with the (WBC) regional director to help us reach our economic goals, and we invested as much as we can with this project. We visited with WBC staff and were told this is a good opportunity for our goals,” Heimbuck said at last week’s SLIB meeting. “Now we’re being told things have changed, and we kind of feel like we’re swimming upstream, and the rules have changed a little bit. We are being told there are other sources available. This program has been available, and we were told we could apply, so that’s why we are here.”
Summarizing the project, Heimbuck re-iterated, “We in good faith applied for a grant that did meet these needs…we’ve vested what we could, and times are going to get tougher for towns and cities – we know that. In investing in the Town of Guernsey now, you are not just funding a project. You’re ensuring growth and sustainability of our workforce, enhancing access to essential services, and improving quality of life for all our citizens. We believe this project will have a lasting impact and have a ripple effect on this community into the future.”
“All communities face challenges. We want to equip them to face those in the best way possible,” Durrell said, confirming the WBC will always be there to assist towns in finding resources and tools to help them become more resilient to face the challenges of the future.
Durrell concluded, the WBC board will be utilizing information gathered from the SLIB board’s recommendations to make the role of the WBC clearer in its rules and statutes.
Governor Gordon affirmed Durrell’s direction, pointing out as the state is “tightening its belt,” it needs to in many cases be a last resort for financial assistance, but rather give direction toward other funding sources.
“I am reconfirming you are doing the right thing. It is tough,” Gordon said.
The grant proposal submitted by the Town of Guernsey was approved, 4-1 by the SLIB board, with aye votes from superintendent Degenfelder, state auditor Kristi Racines, state treasurer Curt Meier, and secretary of state Chuck Gray. Governor Gordon was the only “no” vote.
Following the approval, the Guernsey mayor thanked Heimbuck for the work he put into the proposal and shared his gratitude for the project being able to move forward. “It’s going to be great for the town. I’m excited to see the project completed – it will bring a better quality of life for senior citizens, students, and the whole community.”