Wyoming Business: Wyoming Business Council on the move

Economic development group looks to relocate

CHEYENNE — Tucker Fagan and the Wyoming Business Council are looking for new space, and their search may turn out to help clinch the renaissance of Downtown Cheyenne.

The state’s economic development authority is “pretty close” to signing a contract to move into the long-vacant Hynds Building this summer. If that happens, developer Al Wiederspahn can proceed with ambitious plans to restore the five-story structure.

Wyoming Business Council CEO Fagan said he is still negotiating with Wiederspahn and is still considering all options, but he said a deal could be only days away.

The Business Council’s board of directors earlier gave Fagan the go-ahead to pursue a move from the council’s crowded existing headquarters in another downtown landmark. The council is currently in the Becker Building, across the street from the Union Pacific Depot, where its lease is up June 30. The Hynds Building tops Fagan’s list of relocation sites.

“There are some real benefits to moving there,” Fagan told The Northern Colorado Business Report. “We’re essentially out of space. I have some people who are in a hallway.”

The Business Council has a staff of 59 employees, including six regional directors, several located in Casper, and some based at the old Wyoming Travel Commission office off Interstate 25 south of Cheyenne. Fagan’s plan is to put about three dozen of them on two floors of the Hynds Building, located at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Lincolnway, catercorner from Cheyenne’s Depot Plaza.

Once a landmark of Cheyenne’s turn-of-the-century historic downtown, the Hynds Building, with its unique terra cotta tile facade, has been vacant since the mid-1980s. Wiederspahn, a lawyer who twice served as Downtown Development Authority president, bought the building several years ago but said he could not afford to renovate it until securing an anchor tenant.

Shop ’til you drop in Cheyenne

CHEYENNE — The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce has a new wrinkle in its “Shop Cheyenne” campaign this holiday season — chances for free gifts for shoppers who save their receipts.

For every $100 in receipts turned in to the chamber, shoppers will qualify for a chance for a gift at a special drawing at the chamber on Christmas Eve. Cheyenne-area merchants and businesses are donating gifts and prizes for the promotion.

Meanwhile, the Cheyenne Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is promoting a number of “Shop Cheyenne” holiday packages with participating local hotels. In addition, the convention and visitors bureau will be sponsoring its annual Holiday Lights Tours starting Dec. 15.

New gov. extends olive branch

CASPER — Gov.-elect Dave Freudenthal is reaching out to Republicans and business leaders, saying he intends to be governor for all Wyoming residents and wants their help during the coming four years.

Freudenthal, a Democrat, attended the Wyoming Heritage Foundation’s annual Wyoming Forum in November and pledged to work with the predominantly Republican business group. The unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate, Eli Bebout of Riverton, is the group’s immediate past chairman.

“It is probably as surprising to you as it is to me that I would be here today,” Freudenthal joked, adding “it’s an honor to address the Republican convention.”

“The campaign is behind us,” he said, “and my commitment … is to be a governor for everybody in the state. We may agree or disagree, but we owe it to the citizens of the state to make sure we continue the conversation.”

Whipple House reopening

CHEYENNE — Another Cheyenne landmark, The Whipple House, has reopened as a gourmet restaurant. The mansion in downtown Cheyenne has been vacant since Botticelli’s Ristorante Italiano closed its doors late last year.

Marc and Nancy Thayer and Louise Raimondi recently purchased the property and after renovations opened their restaurant Nov. 1.

Thayer, who operates Sentry Security across 17th Street from the Whipple House, joked that he was tired of seeing the elegant building vacant. He and his wife and Raimondi all agreed they didn’t want the historic mansion transformed into offices.

Betty Beierle, who operated the Whipple House restaurant for a decade, restored the 1883 Italianate mansion constructed by Ithamel Whipple during the 1980s.

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