An economic force in Laramie and beyond

LARAMIE — If the University of Wyoming were to shut down, it would be an immediate jerk to the state’s economy and standard of living, essentially triggering a recession, according to a recent economic impact report from UW’s College of Business.

Wyoming’s only public university contributes $720 million in value to the state every year by supporting nearly 15,000 jobs, as well as bringing in millions every year in research funding and out-of-state students who eventually become residents contributing to the economic churn.

The report, titled “Economic Footprint of the University of Wyoming,” quantifies economic impacts that would not occur in the state without the university, “including externally funded research support, direct expenditures by nonresident students and visitors, and spinout and startup businesses directly resulting from UW research,” according to the university.

“UW is one of the most important assets that the state has, we’re actually in the Wyoming Constitution, which is cool. We were set up two years before statehood,” said study lead author Anne Alexander, director of outreach and engagement at UW’s Center for Business and Economic Analysis and assistant dean of the Business College. “It has had lasting impacts on growing the workforce and the knowledge base of Wyoming.”

The economic impact report, published last fall, showed a huge increase to the gross state product, with annual growth rates improving to 1.8% from 0.3% in 2014, the last time UW conducted such a study. Much of the increase has been attributed to the number of graduates who choose to remain and work in the state, a factor that wasn’t studied a decade ago.

While Wyoming may be the least populous state in the nation, the college is an economic engine, churning out educated residents who are bringing more added value to the state by choosing to remain in the Cowboy State after graduation. 

In addition to traditional economic drivers such as energy and agricultural, along with an increasingly dense cluster of data centers, “we’ve also seen emerging systems in more high-tech manufacturing. Not like (Colorado) Front Range scale, but for us it’s a big deal because a lot of our manufacturing has been traditionally heavy industrial,” Alexander said. “We’re seeing high-tech manufacturing where they need business skills to help them continue to grow. There are a lot of pockets of industries that are emerging that could really provide strong, stable incomes, so there’s some movement now on our industry mix that might make it so people feel more like saying here.”

The last time the UW conducted its economic impact report, school officials didn’t have a handle on the number of graduates who remained in state. Now, they have a jumping off point with which to focus retention efforts.

The latest report shows that there is some work to be done. Only 37% of the university’s graduates choose to remain in Wyoming, which may still be suffering from the perception that wages are low in comparison to other states, a theme the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming Business Alliance working with the college to change, Alexander said.

“They’re partnering with UW to explore ways to make it more attractive,” she said. “Wages is part of it, but part of that is also a myth. I think our students believe that myth. There are really cool firms to work for in the state. We have a lot of emphasis on entrepreneurship and venture and innovation now that’s emerged in the past five years.”

The 37% retention figure is relatively low, Alexander said, though not the worst (UW’s rate is higher than West Virginia University, she noted.) in the nation. In fact, Alexander believes the school is only capturing data on about 50% of their graduates. 

“For those that we were able to match, we were able to estimate that they’re earning differential is about $92 million. So they’re creating, just by staying in the state with their wage premium, around $531 million annually. So that’s almost as much as the economic impact of the university itself.”

For any college, growing enrollment is important to stay relevant, but growing research and grant funding also puts a feather in a school’s cap.

UW’s research expenditures totaled more than $150 million and supported more than 2,800 jobs in the 2022-2023 fiscal year. This creates nearly $90 million in labor output, adds in excess of $127 million to the GSP and contributes more than $230 million in economic impact.

In addition, UW “received about $570,000 in licensing and dividend income from startup and spinoff businesses in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, as UW’s technology transfer office facilitated 40 invention disclosures, 33 patent applications and the granting of 17 patents,” the school said. “The university has incubated nine active startups and spinoffs, including several that have been acquired.”

Alexander pointed to Plenty Unlimited Inc., a company that originated on the UW campus, as a success story. UW graduate Nate Storey pioneered his vertical farming platform as a graduate student and entrepreneur a decade ago. The company has raised millions in the last two years, including a $400 million investment from Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT). Last September, Plenty said in a news release that it was “expanding its R&D footprint and building the world’s largest vertical farming research center in Laramie with the support of the Wyoming Business Council, Laramie Chamber Business Alliance and City of Laramie.”

Alexander said the UW impact report was perhaps short in one area, which was the impact of UW sports to the economy.

“I know I underestimated the athletic impact,” she said. But that impact may grow sooner than expected after the Super Bowl last month, which put a national spotlight on the school. UW ran a 30-second commercial called “Where real MVPs are made” to highlight its most celebrated former student-athlete, Josh Allen, now quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, which led the AFC East division with a 13-4 record in 2024 and competed in the playoffs. Allen was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in the 2024-2025 season.

“There’s a lot of data that shows that when your team itself has been quite successful you do see a bump in recruitment and successful enrollments in the following years,” Alexander said. “(Josh Allen) always says, ‘Go Pokes,’ in interviews, and that’s a little shout out to UW. We love him.”

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