Operation Carbon Valley

A community’s efforts to deliver the Wyoming Innovation Center

By Phil Christopherson

Energy Capital Economic Development (ECED) has always been dedicated to expanding and diversifying Campbell

County, Wyoming’s local economy. Today,

Campbell County, dubbed “Carbon Valley,” is home to the Wyoming Innovation Center (WyIC).

In economic development, it is not uncommon for projects to take over a decade from start to finish. But when a construction project is set to break ground at the beginning of the pandemic, you can imagine the setbacks to the timeline.

ECED and a dedicated team of community members began working on the Wyoming Innovation Center (WyIC) project in 2015. The plan for the center was part of a broader effort to spur innovation in Carbon Valley— located in Northeastern Wyoming—utilizing its natural resources and mines to grow and sustain jobs using coal and coal byproducts as a feedstock for advanced manufacturing. Plans to build a 5,500-square-foot coal commercialization facility on a reclaimed mine site in Gillette, Wyoming, received a $1.5 million grant from the Wyoming Business Council and a $1.46 million matching grant from the US Economic Development Administration (EDA).The City of Gillette and Campbell County each allocated $176,000 for the project, and additional funding came from private businesses. The mission of the WyIC is to provide a home to companies and researchers developing products using coal and coal byproducts. The project’s most significant supporters included Campbell County, the city of Gillette and the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources. The support stemmed from a desire to keep the region economically viable. With the project funds, ECED purchased the land for the site in November 2019. Arete Design Group completed the project design in December 2020. The plans for the WyIC were for a relatively simple structure: a metal building on a concrete foundation. The design was purposefully basic, allowing for flexible spaces that future innovators could utilize for various research and work. Once complete, the project was put out for construction bids with hopes of attracting an excellent contractor who understood that this project had a tight budget. Three local bidders came in with proposals just under the wire; all were close to the budget. Ultimately, Powder River Construction, a Gillette, Wyoming-based construction company, was selected for the project. The team held a groundbreaking at the beginning of June of 2021. Elected officials, business leaders, the Executive Director at the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources and other community members attended the event. Construction was initially scheduled to be completed in December 2021, and despite being in the middle of a global pandemic, the team was optimistic that it would meet that schedule. That was when supply chain issues spread.

The contractors and sub-contractors deserve recognition for holding the line on the Wyoming Innovation Center. The spirit of the project was that this building was helping the community.

WyIC Ribbon Cutting Holding the line

By the end of the pandemic, construction materials were in low supply. Despite the challenges, Powder River Construction stayed on budget. Extending time on a project raised costs it didn’t have. Difficulty obtaining materials drove the price up, but the subcontractor held to the bid amount— something unheard of in construction. The contractors and sub-contractors deserve recognition for holding the line on the Wyoming Innovation Center. The spirit of the project was that this building was helping the community. Community support continued with the donation of a wall, which was erected to make the facilities more inviting. There is a small natural gas building on-site near the entrance of the property that was an eyesore. With more traffic passing through, the idea of building a wall in front of the building was devised. Arete Design Group stepped up with a concept, and with no additional budget, the firm generously donated the design. Materials left over from the WyIC project were used for construction. Wyoming Integrated Test Center donated bricks, Black Hills Energy donated funds to buy other essential materials and S&S Builders lent the scaffolding for the wall building project. It was a true community project.

Carbon Valley

The mission of the WyIC is to provide a home to companies and researchers developing products using coal and coal byproducts.

Going all state of the art

The state-of-the-art center officially opened on June 14, 2022, and includes 4,000-square-feet of office, lab and workspace for tenants, along with a 1,500-squarefoot-building that can handle raw materials. Tenants have access to one of the six half-acre testing sites and one 1-acre site where they can upscale their lab-proven processes from using small amounts to up to several hundred pounds of coal or coal byproducts daily. The region holds 165 billion tons of recoverable coal, making it a desirable testbed for new and proven products produced from coal. Outside, there are seven large open-air pads with power and water available. The site also has a small water pump house. WyIC’s first tenant is the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), which focuses on applied research for producing and using clean energy resources. Some facilities at WyIC may be developed to commercial scale on-site. Additional land is available at the Fort Union Industrial Park for larger projects or commercial expansion for those technologies proving to be commercially profitable. The WyIC project is an excellent example of how economic development projects come into being. A concept is developed, explored and investigated. If the project makes sense and is supported by community leaders, a plan is developed, funding is sought after and, if successful, the project moves forward. Acquiring financing can take several years to obtain, as in the case of this project. Many projects are stopped along the line, and only a few may rise to the level of completion. Since construction is completed at WyIC, ECED sees a future in the product market. This project is just the beginning. Over the next five ,10 and 15 years, the area is expected to have had several research projects graduate and go into commercial production. Coal will most likely still be in decline, and the WyIC strives to join a community effort to provide hope to Campbell County and other communities. CCR Phil Christopherson is CEO of Energy Capital Economic Development (ECED).