City creates economic development committee

A new economic development committee for Sundance was formed last week to operate under the umbrella of the city. Created to both support existing business and encourage new economic opportunities, the committee was suggested by a group of interested citizens and given the blessing of the Sundance City Council.

The goal, said Curt Williamson, who introduced the concept to the council, will be, “helping those that are already here and also those that maybe want to come”. A roundtable discussion was held at the end of August, from which the council was presented with a letter of request for its support.

“The ideology behind a lot of this has to do with the fact we were approached by James Williamson, who is representing Family Dollar coming in, and he gave us a lot of advice,” said Representative Tyler Lindholm, who was present at the roundtable meeting and has offered to serve in an advisory role along with Curt Williamson and Council Member Joe Wilson.

According to Lindholm, James Williamson suggested that a business like Family Dollar can be an economic driver, as companies of this nature tend to follow each other. It’s likely that other companies may see the new construction and wonder what Family Dollar knows that they do not.

Lindholm told the council what matters most when a company like Family Dollar is planning a location is a pro-business council and an economic development board to act as a “one stop shop” when the business gets to town.

From that committee, a company can gather the information it needs about the area, such as median income, age groups of its residents and so on. According to Lindholm, James Williamson has offered to share his experience of what makes a committee successful.

The council was enthused by the suggestion. “I think it’s a really good idea, I’m all in favor of it,” said Council Member Brad Marchant.

Mayor Paul Brooks agreed, saying that economic development can be tricky because “there’s a certain contingent of people out there that like it the way it’s been”. However, he said, a town in Wyoming can rarely become self-sustaining and cease to rely on money from the state until it reaches a population of 2100 or more.

There’s a long way to go to reach such a landmark, he said, and it would be unreasonable to expect a huge factory to land in Sundance. Instead, said the mayor, the city must work on adding a few jobs here and there, and an economic development committee can assist.

Brooks asserted he would like to see the committee operate under the city to add credibility and as “a billboard that says we are open”. At his request, the council passed motions to create the committee and instruct it to work on bylaws to be presented to the council via City Attorney Mark Hughes.

The five-person committee appointed by the council is to include Lars Williamson, Andy Miller, Dan Fairbanks, Sheryl Klocker and Randy Stevenson.