Aqua Technologies of Wyoming Inc.

Aqua Tech sells modified bentonite, also called activated clay, or ET-1, that sucks up hydrocarbons while letting water run off. "Our material grabs hold of this stuff as it seeps out of the ground," says Tony Brown, Aqua Technology's {resident.  ET-1 Activated Clay is a 100% clay-based product from Aqua Technologies in Casper. (Other products on the market generally contain up to 70% anthracite coal or carbon to support the clay product in the vessel and to provide porosity.) ET-1 Activated Clay does not require such “fillers.” This unique technology is the key to cost-effective, successful remediation.

Automation and Electronics, Inc.

An industrial design and build electrical contractor with strong automation and communication departments, Automation and Electronics, Inc. has engineering, electrical contracting, programming, communication, technician, and electrician specialists for providing integrated, end-to-end solutions. Automation & Electronics has developed and is producing the WAG (Water Alternating Gas) Injection Controller with a wireless Bluetooth platform, designed to monitor and control the injection of water or carbon dioxide at the wellhead.

Defense Technologies

Defense Technologies received the award for being in the forefront of manufacturing in Wyoming by streamlining process and changing their production habits. Defense Technology Corporation of America, a division of Armor Holdings Incorporated, is a manufacturer of less lethal weapons and munitions such as pepper spray, bean bag projectiles, tear gas, and the like. (LEAN program) 

Emissary Pharmacy and Infusion

2007 Winners of Bravo! Entrepreneur Innovation Quotient Award, Richard Johnson, Steve Logan and Scott Soulek are pharmaceutical compounding specialists, compounding prescriptions into easier-to-take forms.  The goal of Emissary Pharmacy and Infusion is to provide quality medications at low prices and excellent customer service, especially for the elderly.

EXCAL

EXCAL INC. is a production and jobbing brass foundry located in Wyoming with casting capabilities ranging in weight from ounces up to thousands of pounds.  EXCAL is most innovative in their respect for environmental concerns. They recently developed ways to take foundry sand from waste products in order to put it to use.

John Martin and Mick McMurry

Martin and McMurry used new technology to extract hydrocarbons from the tight sands of the Jonah Field and Pinedale Anticline, unlocking the largest natural gas fields in the U.S. Martin and McMurry now operate a charter service for planes, M & N Aviation, which flies distances from regional to international.  Both have established family foundations in the state.  Mick McMurry is expanding his innovative work by purchasing HiCo, pursuing vast data-storage solutions and opening the Jonah Bank.

Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC)

The 10,000-acre U.S. Department of Energy facility located within the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3 (also known as Teapot Dome Oil Field) about 35 miles north of Casper, Wyoming, has developed innovative de-salinization of CBM water for reuse as a potential benefit for Wyoming. They team up with service companies and equipment manufacturers who test new ideas and products leading to increased recovery or reduced operating costs. Independent oil operators, inventors, environmental companies, national laboratories, government organizations, and universities all benefit from RMOTC facilities. 

APW/Wyott

APW/Wyott uses cutting-edge laser metal cutting technology to produce kitchen appliances for large-scale food processing. APW/Wyott participates in “Energy Audits,” which seek to improve the use of energy and maximize efficiency, and also uses alternative energy as a way to help the environment and cut costs.

Cheyenne LEADS

Cheyenne LEADS is a private, non-profit organization that bridges the gap between public and private long term economic development.  Winner of the 2007 Bravo! Entrepreneur Governor’s Award for Economic Development (NCAR), LEADS can assist non-retail businesses in all phases of relocation or expansion in the area.

Dyno Nobel

Dyno Nobel produces explosives for mines in Gillette. Their workforce has been remarkably stable, and many employees have spent two decades with the local facility. The approximately 120 employees operate the plant on a 24-hour basis with only a few shutdowns each year. (LEAN program)

Hoy's Drug – Cheyenne/Pine Bluffs

Hoy's Drug in Cheyenne, with the help of the University of Wyoming, has opened the first telepharmacy in the state at the University of Wyoming TriCounty Clinic in Pine Bluffs.  Patients simply bring their prescriptions to a pharmacy technician at the clinic who then puts the prescription under a video monitoring system so a pharmacist at Hoy's Drug in Cheyenne can read it.  The pharmacist chooses the correct medication on the computer, and it comes out of a 900-pound, bullet-proof "vending machine" back at the clinic in Pine Bluffs.

NCAR

The State of Wyoming is underwriting construction costs for a $60 million data facility by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR.)  The supercomputer center will attract entrepreneurs, top-flight scientists, professors, and researchers who can benefit from one of the world’s most powerful computers.  Access to knowledge will benefit a variety of disciplines and promote innovation throughout the state.

Nortrak

New buildings will facilitate Nortrak’s expansion into the manufacture of pre-stress concrete switch ties for the railroad industry (an investment of about $4.7 million). Nortrak will supply concrete switch ties to current customers and the railroad industry at large. The new facilities are state-of-the-art and will provide some 60 new jobs. The company has patented exclusive technology in the manufacture of highly sophisticated and improved technology to produce materials that last longer and operate more smoothly at a higher speed range, higher load tolerance, and longer stability under load. 

PlanCheyenne

"PlanCheyenne,” awarded the Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan at the American Planning Association's National Planning Awards, was adopted by the County on November 7th and by the City Council on November 13th.  PlanCheyenne is a much broader plan than Cheyenne's previous Neighborhood Plans and is more citizen-driven than any other community plan to date.

Puma Steele

Puma Steele uses computer design to engineer large steal beams for buildings. Puma can actually design an entire building on the computer and make beams to precision for shipping to building site using sophisticated automation technology.

Schroll Cabinets

Using CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) machines for precision cutting of cabinets and parts milling with a margin of error as low as one ten-thousandth of an inch, Schroll Cabinets can make precise cabinetry for innovative and customized use. Schroll also uses alternative energy and participates in “Energy Audits” to reduce waste energy and improve efficiency.

Y-TEX

Y-TEX produces a top-notch RFID tag for livestock that enhances livestock information and improves food security.  They are the world leader in insecticide ear tags for livestock and developed an original, one-piece ID tag for more efficient ear tagging. 

Wyoming Innovation LLC

Wyoming Innovation provides film production services from concept to completion.  Some of their projects include the award-winning short film “Half Trick Pony,” and “Thicker than Water.”  They have a variety of local talent that takes pride in living up to their name.

Devil’s Tower, Nation’s first National Monument

President Theodore Roosevelt established Devils Tower National Monument on September 24, 1906, making it the first National Monument in the U.S.  The tower has folkloric history as well as competing theories attesting to its origin, is a popular tourist attraction and a challenge for rock climbers. 

Harvey Jackson, Home&More realty publication

Harvey Jackson won the 2007 Bravo! Entrepreneur Emerging Entrepreneur Award, for his innovation and willingness to take risks.  The real estate publication “Home&More” began as “The Hut Hog,” and was originally distributed by a pink van with a pig on it to attract attention.

L&H Industrial

L&H is the largest after-market supplier in the mining industry, a world-class rebuilder of heavy mining equipment and an engineer, designer and manufacturer of alternative replacement parts for the surface-mining industry.

Leon Wandler

Leon Wandler developed multiple machining processes to customize services for both the oil and gas and mining industries and founded L&H industrial.

Wyoming Biodiesel Co.

A subsidiary of Sheridan-based Energy Fuel Dynamics LLC, Wyoming Biodiesel has the potential to be one of the largest biodiesel plants in the nation and would give Wyoming farmers opportunities for oil-seed crops.

Big Horn Quilts

Started by Julie Owens in 1998 using a $3,000 tax refund, Big Horn Quilts is now one of the premier quilting stores in the region and remains a leader in the market by selling fabrics online.

Joint Training and Experimentation Center (JTEC)

Funded by the federal government, JTEC applies a hands-on approach to robotics and training to help refine the U.S. military’s ability to disarm improvised explosives. In addition to developing unmanned aerial and submersible devices to help law enforcement, first responders and search-and-rescue teams – and even potentially to assist with nighttime aerial forest-fire fight – JTEC is reaching out to UW and community college students with an internship program.

Devils Tower Forrest

Devil’s Tower Forrest is the most highly automated sawmill in the nation, producing 40 to 45 million board-feet of lumber annually. Family owned for three generations, they manufacture and re-manufacture Ponderosa Pine in an environmentally conscious way.

Table Mountain Vineyards

It began with the Zimmer siblings, Patrick and Amie, winning the University of Wyoming’s $10k Business Plan Competition in 2004, and now Table Mountain is a full-scale vineyard and winery using 100% Wyoming grapes.  They use minimal chemical additives with their twelve different varieties of grapes to produce wines sold in the state.

ALCES

ALCES Technology develops semi-conductors for high-resolution optics such as telescopes, microscopes and printing.  This technology involves the “Smart Display Chips” proposal submitted to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program.  The chip combines high speed micro light modulators and key optics in a single package that can be scaled to fit a wide array of technology.

Cloudveil

Cloudveil makes outdoor clothing and athletic wear.  Creators Stephen Sullivan and Brian Cousins’s discovery and extensive use of Schoeller stretch woven fabrics made the Soft Shell jacket possible – and created a category of outdoor wear for the active mountain athlete.

Ward + Blakes Architects

Ward + Blakes specializes in “bringing creative, non-conformist ideas to cultured fruition, encompassing fine details within brilliant forms and materials,” by escaping the “cowboy-deco” tradition and using innovative materials that showcase the landscape of Wyoming.  Winner of 2007 Bravo! Entrepreneur –West Central Region.

Sarah Flitner

Sarah Flitner is the owner of Flitner Communications, which specializes in strategic communications, collaborative problem solving, and public relations. Since 1995, she has worked with clients and projects ranging from corporate retreats to small business positioning, in areas of business, government, conservation, tourism, health care, agriculture and education.

Square One Systems Design

Square One develops complex assembly robotics systems and has several NIH contracts. In 1997 they were approached by Intel and created an automated system for the critical photomask inspection process, now known as ZARIS from Brooks Automation, which now has become the industry standard.

NOLS

NOLS founder Paul Petzoldt's idea was simple: take people into the wilderness for an extended period of time, teach them the right things, feed them well and when they walk out of the mountains, they will be skilled leaders. The core of his idea was the extended expedition, one of sufficient length that a person could learn and practice the skills over and over again. That is the backbone of every NOLS course, and today the school is widely recognized as the world's leader in the extended expedition, from two weeks to twelve.

YellowstonePark.com

Named “Best Tourism Site in the World” by the Webby Awards – the New York Times called the Webby Awards the “Oscars of the Internet” –
YellowstonePark.com is owned and operated by Yellowstone International Corporation, based in Lander.

Coal Creek Coffee

John and Jody Guerin (owners since 1995) run both the west-coast style coffee shop and the whole been (certified organic) roasting operations (since 1998).  In addition to its unique commitment to creating the highest quality coffees from hands-on artisans, Coal Creek supports the community and fosters local artists. 

Delta Nu

Founded in 1997, DeltaNu won their first R&D 100 award in 2005 for the light-spectrum blood analysis drug testing they co-developed with CEM. Their won their second R&D 100 Award in 2006 with their RockHound model spectrometer designed especially for earth science applications.  The R&D 100 Award is a mark of excellence that is known to industry, government, and academia and is given to companies that produce the most technologically significant products in the scientific market over the past year, as judged by experts selected by R&D Magazine.

Handel IT Inc.

Handel Information Technologies designs information systems technology for Human Resource firms such as juvenile justice and residential treatment centers.  Their RiteTrack system can be run via desktop, web browser, or pocket PC, and provides a comprehensive suite of tools.  Handel IT is very active in community service as well. In 2006 they ran in the Jackelope Jump to raise money for Special Olympics, and they recently adopted and cleaned up part of the Laramie Greenbelt.

Bill Gern

Vice President of Research at the University of Wyoming, Bill Gern has helped UW gather external research funding for nearly 20 years, with each year bringing in more funding than the last.  His contributions will help to propel the university forward, hopefully to the point of developing patents which can provide the University with additional funding for more innovation.

Arch Western Resources, LLC – St. Louis (Black Thunder Mine Powder River Basin)

Arch Western Resources is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arch Coal, whose Black Thunder mine in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming has grown into one of the world's premier mining assets, with a safety, environmental and productivity record that is second to none.

Kennecott Energy

Kennecott Energy’s Cordero Rojo operation is located some 40km south of Gillette in Wyoming’s Powder River basin where the low cost of production, combined with Clean Air Act regulations that favor low-sulfur coal, have made the Powder River Basin the “OPEC” of coal, driving out competition from older coalfields in the East and Midwest.

Gluten Free Oats

Sufferers of celiac disease have come together as Gluten Free Oats, an “added-value” agriculture producer of gluten-free products for people with special dietary needs. Beginning as an FFA project by a freshman in high school, Gluten Free Oats is now the first company in the USA to offer “SAFE” oats to the gluten intolerant. They are the only gluten-free product on the market tested to 10 ppm.

BTI, Bonneville Transloaders, Inc.

BTI was founded as a soda ash transportation service, and has since become a diversified transportation services company offering trucking, transloading, railroad transport, and railcar repair. They continue to achieve excellence by maintaining an impressive dedication to safety.

Brunton 

Brunton produces camping gear and optics, portable solar power, GPS, and more. Most notably, they produce the Gannett cooking stove, which has won the Camping Light Editor’s Choice Award for the “best new camp stove” two years in a row.

Star Tech

Star Tech began as a small machine shop and has since grown to become the primary supplier of rollers to the world's largest manufacturer of treadmills. They manufacture a variety of high-quality metal and plastic components and have outstanding and precise automated machining for manufacturing to unique specifications.  They currently produce over 2 million rollers a year for treadmills alone.

Moneyhun/MESSCO

Moneyhun and MESSCO puts welding and robotics to use for creating a cleaner environment. They manufacture the patented VOCinerator, which allows  emissions flares to burn cooler and more efficiently, thereby removing 99.9% of the VOCs from vented gas associated with oil and gas production.

Bella Graphics

Bella Graphics makes 3D graphics and web designs.  Their work includes Miss America Pageant prints and cutouts, vinyl banners, logos, and much more. 

Big Horn Valve

Big Horn Valve developed and produces cryogenic valves for NASA and recently developed the revolutionary seamless valve.  Their products are used for medical, temperature sensitive, toxic and hazardous, transportation and petrochemical valves.

IPG

IPG is developing a less toxic production of chrome plating, which is safer for the environment than other highly toxic chrome-plating methods.  The company is the only one in the industry choosing to protect the environment rather than maximizing profits, and IPG is still competitively priced. 

Kennon

Kennon produces aircraft covers and insulation.  Their line of innovative additions to this market is extensive, including the Kennon Sun Shield, insulated propeller and spinner covers, heated cowl plugs, and soft gust locks, and their customers extend from private owners to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Charles “Don” Snow

Don Snow helped invent in-situ leaching to pull uranium from Wyoming’s sandy basins. 

Eleutian Technology

Backed by TCT’s robust broadband in the Bighorn basin, Eleutian combines state-of-the-art software with one-on-one video conferencing sessions led by Wyoming educators to teach English to Korean, Japanese and Chinese students. With teaching centers in Ten Sleep, Powell, Lovell, and Worland, Eleutian employs 60 trained teachers part-time and has plans to expand to over 130 teachers in the near future. By offering additional income opportunities, Eleutian has made it easer for Wyoming teachers to remain in rural communities.

B&G Industries

B&G Industries LLC operates as a precision CNC machining center. It manufactures precision specialty items, mining and oil field equipment, commercial products, hydraulic components, assembly machine parts, laser components, measuring instruments, and original equipment manufacturer replacement parts.

Wind River Canyon Whitewater & Fly Fishing

Environmentally astute whitewater rafting and fly fishing guide, WRCW&F uses only artificial tackle and barb-less hooks to catch and release trophy trout.  Their professionalism and strong dedication to conservation led to their being named the 2007 SBA Minority Small Business of the Year.

Don Holl

Don Holl developed the spent grain cattle pellet as a way to make use of spent grain from brewers.

Heartland Biocomposites

Less than a year old, Heartland Biocomposites uses carbon-based wastes/plastics, like milk cartons, to make simulated lumber that lasts longer than regular wood.  The process helps the environment and limits waste. 

Renova Energy

Renova Energy uses Wyoming corn to produce ethanol. Renova also supplies the pure ethanol used in the Indy 500.

$10k Competition

The University of Wyoming $10K Competition is designed to encourage students in the UW community to act on their talent, ideas and energy to produce tomorrow’s businesses. Among previous winners is Table Mountain Vineyards.

Business Incubator

The Incubator is designed to promote high-tech businesses in the state to help diversify the economy and produce patents and copyrights for the University of Wyoming.

Clean Coal Technologies Research Program

The program was created to stimulate research to enhance and improve clean coal technologies, with an emphasis on the use of sub-bituminous coal at high altitudes.

EnCana – Alberta, Canada (UW)

EnCana is a leading North American natural gas producer and a technical and cost leader in the in-situ recovery of oilsands bitumen.  EnCana Oil & Gas USA's recent $2 million gift to the University of Wyoming for new petroleum engineering research laboratories will be matched by the state for a total of $4 million going to the program.

SBIR/STTR Initiative

The WSSI is a program of statewide outreach through conferences, workshops and one-on-one mentoring in cooperation with personnel from the Wyoming Business Council (WBC), Manufacturing-Works (a manufacturing extension partnership), the Wyoming Small Business Development Centers (WSBDC), the UW Research Products Center (UWRPC), the Wyoming Technology Business Center, the UW Research Office, and UW faculty and staff.

Dixon and Western Biomass Energy, Rapid City, SD (new plant in Upton)

Scientists from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology have designed a plant aimed at producing ethanol from wood chips. The plant is the first of its kind and is planned to be located in Upton, Wyoming. It will be designed to produce 1 million gallons of fuel a year and could lead to a plant that will eventually produce as much as 20 million gallons of the fuel each year.

British Petroleum

In 2005, BP America Inc. announced an investment program in its gas field at Wamsutter worth $2.2 billion for Phase I of the expansion of the drilling program over 15 years. The outlay includes the drilling of 2,000 wells over the next 15 years and a two-year, $120 million technology field trial program which could lead to additional field development in the future and will develop many new jobs in the town. Recently, the town has received a $160,000 block grant for infrastructure to a build new child care center for BP workers.

BH Inc.

BH Inc. uses a combination of stainless steel and composite materials to create humane cages for research animals. 

Allied Seed

Allied Seed uses genetic engineering to produce seeds for grass and turf that grow to climate/use specifications. This is particularly helpful in the arid Wyoming climate.

President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill into law that created Yellowstone on March 1, 1872, based on the report presented to Congress by F.V. Hayden.  Yellowstone is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone.

Hathaway Scholarships

Hathaway scholarships are designed to provide an incentive for Wyoming students to prepare for and pursue postsecondary education within the State of Wyoming.

Business-Ready Grant and Loan Program, Wyoming Business Council

Through the Business-Ready Program $88.6 million dollars have been committed to over 76 projects with over 1600 jobs in committed business, 2800 acres of business park development and 56,000 sq. feet of building space.
GRO Biz – State Office in Rock Springs (also in Cheyenne & Sheridan)
GRO-Biz (Wyoming Procurement Technical Assistance Center) is staffed by people who have experience in dealing with the contracting arms of the federal government. They are often former government buyers whose backgrounds give them the ability to cut through red tape and help to build the local economy by bringing in outside money from government contracting.

Wyoming Business Council

Since 1998 the Wyoming Business Council has dramatically changed Wyoming's approach to economic development: Unlike the state's previous economic development efforts, this new organization has more of a corporate structure, incorporates private business practices in order to drive programs and has instituted regional offices throughout the state.

Wyoming Infrastructure Authority

Created in June, 2004 by the state legislature to diversify and grow the state’s economy through the development of an electric transmission infrastructure, WIA is looking into a clean coal, IGCC power plant that should help put the state at the cutting edge of clean energy technologies.

Wyoming Travel and Tourism

A 63% budget increase in 2007 led to a $5.4 million advertising campaign that enticed potential visitors more than ever. Much of the budget has been devoted to paid media buys that include a number of national magazines with an emphasis on family periodicals, such National Geographic Traveler and Family Fun.

Wyoming Technology Organization

The Wyoming Technology Organization speaks for technology businesses, driving the success of member companies while building the image of Wyoming as a leader in technology development and application.

Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust Fund

Created by legislative action in 2005 for the purposes of preserving and enhancing Wyoming's wildlife and natural resources, the trust account is governed by a Board of nine citizens, each representing a geographic district, and collectively reflecting "a broad spectrum of experiences including wildlife, agriculture, energy, sportsmen, and tourism" (WS 9-15-104a). Iincome from the trust account is used to fund a wide variety of wildlife and natural resource conservation programs that also provide a public benefit.

WYDOT, one-of-a-kind ERP, Enterprise Resource Planning

CIBER, Inc. has been awarded a multi-million dollar ERP contract with WYDOT to implement PeopleSoft® Enterprise Financial Management and PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management solutions and AgileAssets Inc.’s asset and maintenance management technologies. The new solution, which will be installed and hosted at CIBER’s IT Operations Center, marks the first truly integrated ERP/Linear Asset Management/Maintenance Management environment within a DOT and will allow WYDOT to streamline processes, reduce the time required for administrative paperwork, improve data accuracy, and enhance reporting capabilities.

Women’s Suffrage

In 1869, Wyoming Territorial Legislature extended voting rights to women – the first government in the world to do so.

Bravo! Entrepreneur Awards

Bravo! Entrepreneur is an entrepreneur awards program covering the entire state of Wyoming with objectives to: “Honor companies and individuals who have displayed the core values of entrepreneurship.”; “Foster the entrepreneurial spirit in Wyoming.”; "Create greater awareness of Wyoming both statewide and nationally as an entrepreneurial center.”; and “Encourage an atmosphere that promotes new ideas and risk-taking by entrepreneurs.”

Senator Mike Enzi’s Inventor Conference

All Wyoming residents are invited to attend the free annual inventor conference, “From Your Garage to the Assembly Line,” where inventors learn how to turn their entrepreneurial dreams into a reality and pursue an actual business venture.

In Situ Mining

James Finch writes “Sufficient evidence confirms that Wyoming, not Texas, first pioneered commercial ISR mining.”

Wyoming Market Research Center

WMRC provides services to Wyoming business at no charge (in most cases) addressing market research through a team of economic development professionals from the community.

NCAR

The State of Wyoming is underwriting construction costs for a $60 million data facility by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR.)  The supercomputer center will attract entrepreneurs, top-flight scientists, professors, and researchers who can benefit from one of the world’s most powerful computers.  Access to knowledge will benefit a variety of disciplines and promote innovation throughout the state.