Wyoming Department of Education ctEzine Spring 2022

ctEzine

Spring 2022

A publication of the Career & Technical Eduction team at the Wyoming Department of Education

CTE

Wyoming Department of Education 122 W. 25th St., Ste. E200 | Cheyenne, WY 82002 P: 307-777-7675 | F: 307-777-6234 | edu.wyoming.gov

© 2022 – Wyoming Department of Education; all rights reserved

Dr. Michelle Aldrich – Career and Technical Education Director | 307-777-3655 Mary Billiter – Perkins Manager, Career and Technical Education | 307-777-5329 Ilaine Brown – Education Consultant, Career and Technical Education | 307-777-3549 The Wyoming Department of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in admission or access to, or treatment of employment in its programs or activities. Inquiries concerning Title VI, Title IX, Section 504, and ADA may be referred to Wyoming Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights Coordinator, 122 W. 25th St. Suite E200, Cheyenne, WY, 82002-2060 or 307-777-7675, or the Office of Civil Rights, Region VIII, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Building, Suite 310, 1244 Speer Boulevard, Denver, CO 80204-3582, or 303-844-5695 or TDD 303-844-3417. This information will be provided in an alternative format upon request.

Table of Contents It’s about thinking outside the box that really matters.

 EMIT Technologies, Inc. Chief Operating Officer Michelle Butler........................................................2

The phrase, “Not all who wander are lost” is a lot of things ...  Small business owners and entrepreneurs Jon and Renee Jelenek ..................................................6 Sharon Fain is Wyoming through and through – it just took her awhile to get here.  Vice president of Rocky Mountain Power for Wyoming......................................................................14

The Spirit of the West is alive and well in The Cowboy State. From the Tetons to the High Plain prairies, Wyoming is unparalleled in beauty, history, and outdoor adventures. Wyoming’s workforce is as diverse as its recreational offerings.

The Equality State has something for everyone. Served by seven community colleges and our state University, students of all ages can discover their new path in Wyoming.

The Career and Technical Education (CTE) team at the Wyoming Department of Education strives to provide quality CTE experiences that are equitable while growing a competitive workforce. Whether it’s skilled trades, applied sciences, or a post-secondary degree, certificate or credential, we’re here to help you discover what Wyoming has to offer you in your educational and career journey.

Information about each college and university is provided on pages 12 and 18. Find more information at Wyoming’s Post Secondary Education Opportunities on the cover – Jon and Renee Jelenek stand across the street from the Paramount in downtown Cheyenne. The small business owners also own the Lincoln Theatre.

ctEzine is released three times a year by the Career and Technical Education team at the Wyoming Department of Education.

Publisher: Dr. Michelle Aldrich Editor: Linda Finnerty Contributing Writer: Thom Gabrukiewicz Graphic Design: Ed McCollum

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If you come right down to it, Michelle Butler could order up a manufactured box, have it fabricated to any specification, deliver it to anywhere in the world –

but hopes you wouldn’t just fall right into it.

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Butler, 35, is Chief cattle ranch near Moorcroft, Operating Officer at EMIT where she attended school.

Technologies, Inc. in Involvement in school activities Sheridan, a manufacturing - she’s a big proponent of company that, well, career and technical student according to its website: organizations, especially FFA, “We design, engineer, think FBLA, SkillsUSA, and Family critically, work our tails off and and Career and Community most importantly we build!

Leaders of America - helped With facilities in Sheridan, WY bring into focus what she and Greeley, Colo., our Team ‘wanted to do with the rest of produces a high mix of her life.’ solutions leveraging our “Those organizations, I Material Processing, mean, they are just so critical,” Fabrication, Coatings, and she said. “FFA, it absolutely Mechanical/Electronics made me who I am as a Assembly talents that carry to person today. Those multiple industries. We build organizations provide an Catalytic Converters, opportunity to work on your Michelle Butler is Chief Operating Officer at EMIT Commercial Buildings, Engine critical thinking skills, public Technologies, Inc. in Sheridan Control Systems, Automotive speaking skills, so many skills Accessories and so much more. and things you can learn outside of the state-required “And we’re just getting started.” curriculum, that I think can just contribute to a more And that box metaphor? well-rounded student.

“I got to where I am today through a lot of hard work “It wasn’t only about what I learned, and how I and a lot of dedication,” Butler said. “And by looking developed professionally and personally, but the and doing several different things in my career. I think connections that you make - I have very good friends it’s really important for today’s youth - you don’t have and a very close network around the state that helped to fall into just any box. I certainly would not have me get to where I am with those relationships I fallen into this box 15 years ago, but if you put your developed early on in 4H and especially in high school mind to anything, you can go a long way - and you can with my time in those extracurricular service do anything. organizations. It’s absolutely, absolutely critical to “It’s about thinking outside the box that really forge those relationships.” matters. Don’t fall into any trap - it’s your life, your career, and you get to decide where that takes you.”

Politics and The Press Butler was one of the lucky ones - she knew in high Growing Up Wyoming school what she wanted to pursue post-graduation.

Butler was born and raised in Gillette until she was A field trip to Washington, D.C. - through a program 8; both her parents worked in the coal industry - her called Close Up - cemented that choice. mother was the first female millwright ever in the Powder River Basin, and her father spent 25 years

by Thom Gabrukiewicz, Wyoming Department of Education working for Arch Coal. The family then moved to their

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“We spent a week in Washington, and that’s when Sen. (Craig) Thomas was there - and I was just fascinated with D.C., the energy and the power,” she said. “So I asked our tour guide, who worked for Senator Thomas, ‘How did you get to where you are?’

“He said, ‘Well, if you study political science’ - I’ve always been interested in government, I mean, I was active in student government in high school - ‘if you study political science in Wyoming, you can certainly become an intern out here.’

“From that moment on, since I was a junior in high school, I was set on that -and I only pursued going to the University of Wyoming. And, well, a year or two into studying for my political science degree, I thought, ‘What am I going to do with just a political science degree?’ I had taken several communications classes and I had a deep, deep background in public speaking through FFA, so I added communications - I was interested in the press and public relations, and the political side of things, so yeah that’s how that all happened.”

And as fate would have it, during her junior year at UW, she interned for Sen. Mike Enzi’s Washington, D.C. office. That led to her first post-college job in 2008 working for Sen. John Barasso’s Sheridan district office.

“I worked in Sheridan for a bit, then I found myself across the state in Jackson in the financial services field - Wells Fargo Advisors - and then I started having a family (Butler has two daughters, Kamryn, 9, and Kennedy, 7) and figured I was too far from home, so I moved back to Gillette and started at Cloud Peak Energy doing public affairs and government relations and spent seven years there,” she said. “So through the tough times in the coal industry, I had the opportunity to join EMIT in the summer of 2019, since the CEO was looking for someone in public relations,

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and I had always wanted to get back to Sheridan, because I really love this community.”

Finding Success at EMIT

“There’s never a typical day here for me,” Butler said, laughing. “I still have a public presence for the company that never did go away, and then I’m still heavily focused on human resources and accounting and finance, so yeah, it’s a lot. But that’s a good thing, I wouldn’t change that one bit.”

Through 2019, as the oil and gas industry struggled, so did EMIT - and that helped speed up the company’s transformation from a manufacturing company strictly centered on oil and gas to a manufacturing company that finds its work coming from several sectors. The company, Butler said, is now 75 percent non-energy focused - but will never completely drift away from its energy roots.

“We want to grow, we want to continue to diversify, we want to become the premiere manufacturing company in the world,” she said. “With hard work comes opportunity, I think.”

In the fall of 2019, Butler said, she had the opportunity to take over the human resources for the company, then stepped into accounting and finance “Through continued initiative I guess, and interest and curiosity in growing with the company” - and was named chief operating officer in November of 2020.

Giving Back to the Community

EMIT began in a garage on Main Street in Sheridan, the creation of Casey and Sue Osborn, in 2000. For several years, EMIT Technologies was spread out across Sheridan, until the opportunity to buy the old K-Mart building - a 93,000-square-foot retail space

and some 6.7 acres of surrounding land - and rehab it into a world-class manufacturing campus worthy of a Seattle tech startup, or something in California’s Silicon Valley, came to pass. The building has a barbershop, basketball court, auditorium, coffee shop - and no actual offices or cubicles, but several “collaborative spaces” where teammates can gather and work together in the most meaningful of ways.

Oh, and the building has but one entrance - where everyone from the CEO to the manufacturing team can walk through together.

“If you have expectations of recruiting high-level talent, the work environment has to match those expectations,” Casey Osborn told The Sheridan Press in 2021. “We want to be as good as a company as possible, and that comes down to every choice made.”

The company now employs some 130 people, with 100 working at EMIT worldwide headquarters in Sheridan, and another 25 working at its state-of-theart steel fabrication facility in Greeley, Colo., while a few of its teammates work remotely.

And through all of the adversity, EMIT has found itself being able to give back to the communities it serves.

“We want to be a place where our employees can come and work and feel like they are doing something greater than themselves,” Butler said. “We have a very unique culture here, we want our employees to feel like they are part of something great - and we want to give back to our community and our state. We give back to the community a percentage of our profits, and we pride ourselves on those relationships and the impact those contributions can make on a community.”

To that end, Butler serves on the board for the Wyoming Business Alliance, as well as several nonprofit organizations in Sheridan. Giving back, she said, creates

an organization that everyone feels empowered.

“I want an organization that everyone wants to come work at,” she said. “It’s something that, collectively, we can all say we are really proud of. At the end of the day, what we can provide to our customers, our employees and our communities that’s what really matters for me.”

The last word

Butler said she loves nothing more than to mentor young people, giving them an internship or career start at EMIT, or just by listening to their concerns, as they transition from high school to being college, career or military ready.

She always tells them to keep an open mind, and to think in grand terms.

“I would say, it’s always best to explore all your career opportunities,” Butler said. “A four-year degree is not necessary for everyone, and there are plenty of opportunities to start a career right out of high school, get some experience and grow within an organization like EMIT. Don’t pigeonhole yourself into believing that you have to follow one direction over another, but really explore all paths that are out there and where your passions lie.

“Where do you want to spend your career? Where do you want to go in life? Don’t feel like you’re ever trapped - be open to things that move you.” 

Through 2019, as the oil and gas industry struggled, so did EMIT - and that helped speed up the company’s transformation from a manufacturing company strictly centered on oil and gas to a manufacturing company that finds its work coming from several sectors. The company, Michelle Butler said, is now 75 percent non-energy focused - but will never completely drift away from its energy roots.

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The phrase, “Not all who wander are lost” is a lot of things ...

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... it’s line is from the poem “All That Glitters Is Not Gold” in “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien; it’s a popular tattoo; a trendy wall art piece - and for Jon Jelinek, it might just be words he’s actually lived.

Jelinek, 54, is a small business owner, entrepreneur, music lover, concert promoter, philanthropist, Mr. Fixit, veteran, mountain biker, historian - and local preservationist. He and his wife, Renee, own the Paramount Building, which houses The Paramount Cafe. Paramount Ballroom and The Second Floor, Cheyenne’s first co-working office space. The couple - Renee is the Second Floor’s interior designer and in-house idea factory - also own Cheyenne’s The Lincoln music venue, as well as a Plato’s Closet in Fort Collins.

Not too shabby for a guy who, well, might have wandered a bit on his run-up to high school graduation - and beyond “I had no clue what I wanted to do after high school, not one clue,” Jelinek said. “So I went into the army actually probably the single best decision I have ever made, except for marrying Renee.

“Like I said, I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I ended up with the really great decision to go into the army, which I did for 20 years, between active duty and working full-time for the National Guard. I ended up spending time in Washington, in Iraq, in Hawaii, a little time in Georgia, a little time in Oklahoma - you could say I got around a bit.”

From Wanderer to Entrepreneur

Jon and Renee Jelenek were both raised in Laramie.

“I was born and raised just over the hill,” Jelinek said.

“Renee was a military brat and came there, gosh, I think in eighth grade. We didn’t know of each other’s existence until we met at the same bar - the Cowboy Saloon - I was a bartender and she was a cocktail waitress.”

The pair got married, and immediately, Jelinek said, fell into the “What are we doing with our lives?, What bills are we going to pay on time?, the old paycheck-

to-paycheck grind.” Both held retail management jobs at the time.

“It was really sucking the life out of us,” he said.

The couple decided to sell their place in Fort Collins, Colo. and move to Cheyenne, to open up a Once Upon A Child clothing franchise. Renee and her sister ran the business, while Jelinek continued with his army career.

It was the birth of their son, Riley, in 1998, “Which forever changed our lives, right then and there.”

“Renee literally got up in the middle of the night to change our son’s diaper, and said, ’Oh my God, when was the last time I actually did this?’” Jelinek said. “He was either at daycare, or with a babysitter because we were always working - and that was the big catalyst of ‘Something’s gotta change.’”

Then September 11, 2001 happened.

“I found myself right back on active duty,” he said. “I went to the desert, spent my time there, and after I got back, I became a government contractor for several years.”

From Once Upon A Child, the Jelineks acquired some Plato’s Closet clothing stores, which gave the couple some autonomy over their lives - and some financial breathing room. But the grind continued.

In 2011, the Jelineks started a nonprofit, the Alternative Arts Project, an after-school program that used music to engage and enlighten young minds. The program provided musical instruments, instruction, music sharing and access to local concerts for participants. After running the program for three years, the Jelineks took a break to explore a few other ventures, but the program is back, better than ever, at Cheyenne’s The Lincoln music venue (more about that a little later).

“The Alternative Arts Project is really what ended up bringing downtown,” Jelinek said. “We were giving free guitar lessons to teens after school. The Hinds Building owners were gracious enough to let us in to

by Thom Gabrukiewicz, Wyoming Department of Education

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give the lessons and it just so happens that right theater section was remodeled into a movie house in across the street there was this little coffee shop, it the 1930s called the Paramount and was used as a was just a really cool little place. It’s just kind of funny movie theater until another fire occurred in 1981. The how life works sometimes - after going in and getting projector room still bears scars from the fire, as the coffee before giving lessons, or talking to parents walls and projectors burned. about giving lessons at the shop, we found out that it “Since we’ve been here, it’s all about creating might just be for sale - Renee got this random text environments for people to come together,” Jelinek said. message in the middle of the night, “Hey, do you want “And sure, we’ve been able to benefit, since we get to be to buy the Paramount?’” around really great And two weeks later, people all the time, and in 2013, the Jelineks that’s such a bonus for owned a coffee shop. us. We just kinda “After living in decided to become part Cheyenne for 14 years, of the solution - these and not knowing a lot of things aren’t being people, not really feeling created, so let’s create connected - all of a them and hope like sudden we found this heck that other people community of people in want to come down the downtown area,” he and do them.”

Patrons enjoy an evening at the Paramount Ballroom. said. “It’s like we finally found our people. Since And Then, we’ve been downtown, The Pandemic we’ve made some great friends and we’ve met some of It comes at no surprise that the leisure and service the greatest people you could ever hope to meet. And industries were the hardest hit during the COVID-19 we really feel part of the community.” pandemic that showed up in America in February of “Jon and Renee have been the critical catalyst that 2020. Opening a bar or restaurant is a leap of faith has helped change the way our Downtown functions, in-and-of-itself; even in normal economic conditions, operates and feels,” said Dominec Bravo, President as many as 61 percent of independently operated and CEO of Visit Cheyenne and Cheyenne Downtown restaurants fail within three years of opening, Development Authority. “Although still rooted into our according to a widely cited 2005 analysis from Ohio Western heritage, they have brought a fresh State University researchers. perspective and expanded the experiences visitors The pandemic has made those odds worse. After and locals can have in the downtown area.” months-long bans on indoor dining and a slow A year later, the Jelineks bought the entire Paramount rebound as people became vaccinated and started building; it was built as the Capitol Avenue Theater in going out in public, restaurant sales across the country 1905 and became a gathering palace for high school were down $240 billion in 2020 from their expected graduations and other community events, including levels, according to estimates from the National stage plays. Once, Renee Jelinek said, a rendition of Restaurant Association. Some 80,000 restaurants “Ben Hur” was staged, and stagehands built a giant have temporarily or permanently closed since the treadmill to run a real, live horse in the production. start of the pandemic, down from 110,000 at the peak The theater section burned down in 1915. The of the pandemic.

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Restaurant Industry Facts at a Glance: About $799 billion: Restaurant industry sales in 2021, down $65 billion from 2019’s pre-pandemic levels.

Some 14.5 million: Restaurant industry employees at the end of 2021, down 1 million from pre-pandemic levels.

About 90,000: Restaurant locations that are temporarily or permanently closed.

Nine in 10 restaurants have fewer than 50 employees (and that includes The Paramount Cafe and Paramount Ballroom).

“It was a challenge, it was a struggle,” Jelinek said. “And we did the things we needed to do to survive. And now we can face the future and come back even better.”

“The restaurant and foodservice industry has adapted and is carrying on with absolute resilience, so we’re optimistic about the path toward recovery in the coming year,” said Marvin Irby, Interim President & CEO of the National Restaurant Association. “We still have work to do to ensure that those operators struggling the most can survive. The Association will continue to champion the necessary government support needed at the federal and local levels to help keep these businesses — cornerstones of our communities — on a path to better days.”

Jelinek said he’s optimistic, too.

“I hate hearing people say there’s nothing to do in Cheyenne,” he said. “Because, man, all you have to do is open your eyes. The shops and the restaurants that are coming in, there’s something for anyone to enjoy.

And it just keeps getting better - there’s this spirit of getting back to normal, and I think that helps us all. I mean, let’s face it, we’ve all been so down during this, but let’s rise up, let’s get back to all the things we love to do, and that means coming to downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming.”

And the recovery continues, according to the National Restaurant Association: • The foodservice industry is forecast to reach $898 billion in sales in 2022.

• The foodservice industry workforce is projected to grow by 400,000 jobs, for total industry employment of 14.9 million by the end of 2022.

• More than half of restaurant operators said it would be a year or more before business conditions return to normal.

• Fifty-one percent of adults say they aren’t eating at restaurants as often as they would like, which is an increase of six percentage points from before the pandemic.

The Rise of The Lincoln

The Jelineks were looking for new commercial opportunities when they stumbled on a listing for The Lincoln Theater, at the time, Cheyenne’s only dollar movie house. The building was completed in 1928 (and was financed by Wyoming Senator Francis Warren, who died shortly after it opened). It was the first theater in Cheyenne to play talking movies. Built in the art-deco style, the interior originally featured the main level and balcony with 1,221 seats. In 1953, it was remodeled to accommodate two screens.

Buying the building, with plans to change it into a music venue, started off a little rough.

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In 1964, Jimmy Stewart and Carroll Baker and other stars arrived by train for the premiere of the John Ford film, “Cheyenne Autumn,” at downtown’s Lincoln Theater. Now, The Lincoln is a music venue owned by Jon and Renee Jelinek.

“Yeah, so, those first couple of months were a little rocky, as people accused us of killing the only cheap movie theater option in all of Cheyenne,” Jelinek said.

“There was a huge misconception in how that worked.

But bottom line, we looked at the price, figured that we could do it - but there in the ad was a blurb that really jumped out at us, ‘The owner would be willing to donate a significant portion of the sales price to a nonprofit.’ Well, we had one of those.”

Another key sentence that jumped out - “Whoever buys this property will have to sign an agreement that they won’t show any movies in the theater for 25 years.’” Jelinek said. “OK, fine. But people have to realize, there was another buyer interested who was

going to buy the place, tear down The Lincoln and put up a parking structure. We felt like a live music venue was a lot more fun than that. I kinda think we helped save a historic building downtown.”

The building’s transformation took several months - and a lot of donations to offset construction costs.

“We asked the Cheyenne community for help, and they really stepped up,” Jelinek said. “Just the demo we needed to do was $60,000 and people gave. We had raffles, we did Go Fund Me fundraisers, we did a lot of stuff to raise the money. But it all worked out.”

It also didn’t help that the venue’s doors opened in August of 2020 - smack dab in the middle of a global pandemic; the theater seats 1,250, but due to COVID-19 protocols in Wyoming at the time, the venue was restricted to 250 people.

“We needed to get it open,” Jelinek said. “We needed to pay bills. But it was an interesting time, since there weren’t a lot of bands touring, so it gave us time to learn all the things we didn’t know about running a music venue.”

The Lincoln is just now starting to find its footing, and has hosted such music diversity like Denver indie rock band Wildermiss, psychobilly legend Reverend Horton Heat, rapper Nef The Pharaoh and funk-rock favorites War - and looks ahead to acts like Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters, country music outlaw Orville Peck, country music legend Tracy Byrd, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and rock acts Daughtry, The Dead South and Puddle of Mudd. The venue also hosts Battle of the Bands nights, were local music acts can perform on a real, live stage, with a real sound system and lighting - and concertgoers can see what talent Cheyenne has to offer for a $5 cover charge, with proceeds going to that night’s winner as prize money.

And through the Alternative Arts Project, Cheyenne teens can experience live music for free.

“We set aside 50 tickets for every show we do, all of them, and kids 15-18, all they have to do is go online and request a ticket to the show they want to go to,” Jelinek said. “And when they show up at the door, we’ll give them a free ticket.”

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More About the Paramount The Paramount Gallery

The Paramount Gallery is a local artistic coffee space that provides a free platform for local artists to showcase their work. Exhibitions require 12-15 large to medium sized pieces and are shown for one month at a time, beginning the second Thursday of each month.

We do not sell any artwork outright, but will refer prospective buyers to the artist directly. Fill out this form if you are interested in exhibiting in our gallery.

The Paramount Stage

The Paramount Stage is a pretty great little feature of the shop. Acts are booked on a first-come firstserve basis and are free for musicians and free to the public. Instead of being a music venue, the Paramount is a coffee shop which happens to have music sometimes – therefore we do invite tip jars at our performances, but we do not charge a cover for any shows.

If you think your act might be a good fit for our shop, fill out this form.

“Opening the Lincoln Theater as the newest music venue in Cheyenne during the COVID-19 pandemic was a strategic risk that paid dividends to our community, ‘’ Bravo said. “It has been so amazing to be able to market all of the great and diverse bands and performers that have played at the Lincoln that has set our Downtown apart from many in the region.

Jon is as close to perfect for downtown improvements as you can get.

“With his military background that makes him strategic and unwavering to his music and artistic persona that emotes an impressive creativity and vision all coupled with a person that makes it happen, we are honored to have Jon and his amazing wife, Renee, in our downtown.”

The Paramount Ballroom

We love our building. Seriously. It is everything a historic building should be. It has housed a hotel, a theatre, another theatre, a millinery (a ladies hat store), and survived two fires. With everything we have done to the building, we have tried to stay true to the original architecture and make our concept adapt to the space, rather than make the space adapt to the concept. We have tried to incorporate our history in new ways – like our community table that we built from the old marquee, and our menu which is encased in an original program from when Ben Hur was performed here in 1905. All of our signature cocktails are named after shows that played in the Capitol Ave Theatre, that was built here in 1904.

We hope the Ballroom continues the legacy of this being the gathering spot for Cheyenne, and the place that our community is built.

The Lincoln is just now starting to find its footing, and has hosted such music diversity like Denver indie rock band Wildermiss, psychobilly legend Reverend Horton Heat, rapper Nef The Pharaoh and funk-rock favorites War - and looks ahead to acts like Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters, country music outlaw Orville Peck, country music legend Tracy Byrd, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and rock acts Daughtry, The Dead South and Puddle of Mudd.

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The Last Word

Jelinek said it’s a dad thing - he made fun of his dad, and his son Riley, 24, (who is set to graduate college with a music degree) made fun of him - but it’s kind of the truth; the dad-ism exists out there that says, “Hell, I don’t care what you do with your life, as long as you’re happy. Do something that makes you happy, then you’ll never work a day in your life.”

“Kind of corny, right?” Jelinek said. “But there’s some truth to that. Find something you like to do. I’ve talked to a few young entrepreneurial groups in high school and college, and it’s all about finding your passion, what you really want to do. Because if you’re going to be an entrepreneur, you are going to eat, sleep, breathe shower - work. Everything revolves around work. It’s really interesting, it becomes such a part of your life.”

Jelinek said he would recommend that students take full advantage of Career and Technical school organizations while in high school and college, if they so choose to go the college degree route. Then, go out and experience life - dissect things, bring back ideas that might work where you want to set up shop. Have a plan, and stick with it. Learn how to set up a corporation in the state you plan to live in,and study, study, study.

“Know what you’re getting into,” he said. “Have a solid idea and pursue it, go for it. If Renee and I would have listened to family and friends, we definitely wouldn’t be doing this. But that would have been a huge mistake.”

And finally, never say never to big ideas. Be open to whatever comes at you.

“Truthfully, some mornings, it feels really surreal for me,” Jelinek said. “What we are able to do - I was definitely not the model student growing up - I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life at 17. I dunno, I feel like such a regular guy, and Renee and I are built to work hard. We started out with nothing, and now we are here at this moment. Surreal. Yeah, that’s the word.

It all feels kinda surreal some mornings. It’s life. It’s your life. Live it. Don’t be afraid to jump off the high dive into the pool, without a net - and pray for a soft landing.”

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Your future begins now at NWCC. Welcoming all learners, NWCC empowers student success through a focus on career goals and educational programming. By broadening your career options and discovering occupations that match your personal preferences and attributes, NWCC supports their students’ personal needs and goal.

Northwest College – Your future, our focus – discover Northwest College.

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Sharon Fain is Wyoming through and through – it just took her awhile to get here.

by Thom Gabrukiewicz, Gabrukiewicz Wyoming Department of Education

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But don’t fault the A Career in Journalism Georgia native for taking Fain grew up in the suburbs some time in becoming a of Atlanta, and majored in total Wyomingite. She had journalism at Georgia State a good reason - an amazing University in downtown journalism career that Atlanta. It was an invitation to included stints at TV cover the Democratic stations in Atlanta, and at National Convention that CBS, NBC and Fox News. made all the difference in her And, the old story goes, it journalism career. was completely fated that “I had seen journalism she would arrive in students who had graduated Cheyenne to rise to vice who couldn’t find a job, and I president of Rocky realized it wasn’t about the Mountain Power’s degree, it was about the work Wyoming operations. experience,” she said. “So And she’s here to stay. what I did, I worked at the “It’s a story for so many school newspaper, the school of us,” she said. “We radio station, cable television weren’t blessed to be born station, for the football team here - but I got here as soon Sharon Fain, vice president of Rocky Mountain Power - and then in 1988, CBS News for Wyoming as I could.” hired me to cover the And it’s been a blessing Democratic National ever since.

Convention in Atlanta.

“People in Wyoming, they want to know if you’re a “What I love about education now, is that if you person of integrity,” Fain said of her introduction to have innovation and visionaries working with you, the state. “They want to know if you’re an honest you can do anything - the school allowed me to work person, but once they get to know you, they’ll do for CBS News, cover the convention and just write a anything for you - and I am so proud to now be a part paper, so I was out of school for two weeks,” she of that - and this state.” added. “I always felt like it wasn’t about the degree,

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but supplementing the degree with experience, so you graduate with experience.”

After graduation, Fain worked for local television stations across Georgia, interned for the CBS New bureau in Atlanta and then joined NBC News as its overnight anchor. Careers in journalism are fairly nomadic, and it also was the case for Fain’s career; she left NBC in 1997 to join Fox News in New York, where she managed the network’s breaking news. She also was Fox News’ bureau chief in Atlanta and Miami, before her arrival in Wyoming in 2007.

And that’s a story unto itself.

“Well, so, I was on the East Coast, and I met a fifthgeneration cattle rancher who had written ag policy on Capitol Hill, and had managed some major corporate ranches and we met at a wedding in Houston,” Fain said. “And seven years later, we met again - and got married - and decided we wanted to start a family in a place where he could do ranching, be involved in business and politics and my contract was up with Fox, so we had a 2-year-old daughter (Grace, who is now 17) and you know, Wyoming was perfect for us.”

That dashing cattle rancher/businessman who swept her off her feet - none other that Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dale Steenbergen.

“Best decision I ever made, moving to Wyoming - well, OK, second,” Fain said, laughing “Marrying (Dale) and having my daughter, yeah, those are firsts for me.

But he’s my rock star.”

Landing At Rocky Mountain Power

Upon her arrival in Cheyenne, Fain said she worked freelance for a time, then was hired at the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. From there, she did work with Laramie County Community College with its internship program, then moved onto Black Hills Energy as its external affairs/governmental affairs manager and then started her own firm, WyBrand Strategies, an advertising and public relations firm specifically centered on the worldwide energy sector.

Then came her big break. “(Then Rocky Mountain Vice President) Rita Meyer decided to retire, and Rocky Mountain Power

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extended this opportunity to me,” she said. “It’s an honor, what I really found in Wyoming is that mentorship, having Rita Meyer as a mentor for so many of us, if you can find that, it’s just incredible. We are just so blessed in Wyoming to have so many of us mentored by her.”

Meyer is something of a powerhouse in Wyoming.

Currently the CEO of Wyoming Energy Futures in Cheyenne, Meyer has served the state with distinction. Her company biography reads, in part: “She had a distinguished 23-year military career and is a combat veteran. Rita served as Rocky Mountain Power’s Vice-President for Wyoming from 20122020. Until her recent retirement, she was the company’s Director of Infrastructure Investments in the state of Wyoming. In 2006 Rita was elected to serve as Wyoming’s State Auditor. While her focus was as the state’s Chief Accountant and Payroll Officer, Rita also served alongside the other four statewide elected officials as a member of the State Board of Land Commissioners, the State Building Commission and the State Loan and Investment Board. Rita served as Chief of Staff to Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer from 1998-2002. Rita is a graduate of the University of Wyoming with degrees in both education and finance. She holds an MBA in International Business from Regis University as well as a Master’s in National Resource Strategy from National Defense University in Washington, D.C.” “Sharon has a unique set of capabilities from her experiences in a broad spectrum of jobs,” Meyer said “I call it a ‘patchwork quilt’ of knowledge and skills that have enabled her to seamlessly move into new career and civic engagement opportunities that look much different from her work and volunteer contributions in the past. I would say that Sharon’s ability to stretch and adjust to new and challenging environments is an enviable trait.

“While moving to Wyoming from the South was a complete culture change for Sharon, she met the challenge of adapting to Wyoming’s ’ways’ head on and without any hesitation. Indeed, she is a champion for Wyoming and never misses an opportunity to market the Cowboy State.”

A Day in the Life

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In all, PacifiCorp owns and maintains 16,500 miles of long distance transmission lines, 64,000 miles of distribution lines, and 900 substations with a service area of 143,000 square miles.

The company also gives back to the communities it serves.

Rocky Mountain Power is a division of PacifiCorp and part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy; it serves more than 1.2 million customers in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. The company supplies customers with electricity from a diverse portfolio of generating plants including hydroelectric, natural gas, coal, wind, geothermal and solar resources. In all, PacifiCorp owns and maintains 16,500 miles of long distance transmission lines, 64,000 miles of distribution lines, and 900 substations with a service area of 143,000 square miles.

In a July 2006 reorganization, Pacific Power’s territory in central and eastern Wyoming was merged with the Utah Power territory to form Rocky Mountain Power.

So what does a day in Fain’s life look like?

“As vice president of Rocky Mountain Power for Wyoming, I work with four regional business managers, they are responsible for areas in southwest Wyoming and across the state,” Fain said. “We really work very closely with our industrial customers to make sure they have the safe, reliable energy and electricity they need to continue operating, but also to expand and be profitable in Wyoming. We also work with the communities we serve, to make sure they are getting the service they need - and we also work closely with our regulatory team, they work with the Wyoming Public Service Commission and our government affairs team.

“And in the last two years, I have been focused on the coal transition as we identify the coal plants for transition, we really need to focus on the communities - and what that means for them.”

The company encouraged her to pursue a certified economic development degree - there’s only six people who have the degree in Wyoming, and about 1,300 degree holders worldwide - through the International Economic Development Council.

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“As a company, we felt like it added value to the conversations we’re having with these communities, and how we really diversify the economy, as we see the energy economy changing in Wyoming,” she said.

“How do we, as the utility, support these communities through this transition.”

The Last Word

Just as Meyer mentored Fain when she arrived in Wyoming, Fain loves nothing more to mentor youth.

Whether that student knows what they want to do with their life after high school graduation - and those who might struggle with the question.

“Kids who know what they want to do - it really is creating that path, and it’s almost like a vision board, and working with your counselors,” she said. “In speaking to kids, I ask, ‘What are you passionate about? Do you love automobiles, do you love computers, what do you love to do?’ Finding out what you are passionate about, working with your counselor, doing the research to find out what type of career really caters to that.”

Fain said Rocky Mountain Power has teamed up with Western Wyoming Community College to offer a new Powerline Technology Program starting this fall.

The program will provide students with real-world knowledge and skills to apply for apprentice powerline positions in the electrical powerline field. Western developed a one-year certificate in Powerline Technology and an Associates of Applied Science (AAS)

Fain believes in giving back to the communities Rocky Mountain Power serves in Wyoming, and recently feed FFA students during the organization’s annual get-together.

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degree in Powerline Technology - a career path that perfectly suited to those students who want to work with their hands.

“Also, I tell my daughter not to get hung up on the salary,” she said. “Because if you are good at what you do, and you’re passionate about what you do, the money will come. Focus on your passion and how to turn it into a career - because it will work.”

Another thing she told her daughter is that while she always wanted to be a journalist, and pursued that as a career through a formal education and years of hard work - sometimes the employment landscape shifts, often dramatically.

“You can leverage your skillset - and add to it - to fit the requirements of your new career,” she said., “Don’t get hung up on a title.”

Beyond everything else, Fain said, be adaptable. Be open to new possibilities. And don’t ever get discouraged. Change happens for a reason. ”In your career, one day you might get fired, one day you might get asked to leave,” Fain said. “But if you can get an education - no one can ever take that away from you. So go as far as you can, be really committed to certification and education and really identify with a career that you feel like you never work a day in your life. I love what I do, I’m passionate about Wyoming, I’m passionate about our company - they are really committed to diversity and total inclusion and advancement and hiring diverse teams. And I am never going to let that passion go.”

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