The Wyoming Community Navigator Program Recognized with Wyoming Economic Development Innovation Award

The Wyoming Community Navigator Program (CNP) received the Wyoming Economic Development Innovation Award from the Wyoming Economic Development Association (WEDA) at its annual Wyoming Working Together Conference in Lander on September 22. The Wyoming Economic Development Innovation Award recognizes an innovative project significantly impacting Wyoming and its citizens. The purpose of the award is to celebrate partnerships, innovative programmatic aspects and economic development impact. The Wyoming CNP received this award for its use of creative funding mechanisms, efforts to create efficiencies and reduce costs, unique partnership models, and techniques to enhance the economy across the state.

Through its first two years, the Wyoming CNP helped Wyoming entrepreneurs launch 55 new businesses and create over 200 jobs. In addition, funding partners within the program helped entrepreneurs access over $14.5 million dollars in loans, with half of the money going to women and minority owned businesses. The Wyoming CNP has served nearly 400 clients with over 2,000 hours of assistance and training. The program has a direct focus on reaching traditionally underserved entrepreneurs such as women, veterans, rural residents, and cultural and ethnic minorities. CNP’s client base is considerably more diverse by percentage than the overall Wyoming population.

The Wyoming CNP is directed by the Wyoming Small Business Development Center Network and includes partnerships with The Local Crowd, Wyoming Women’s Business Center, University of Wyoming Extension, Laramie County Library System’s Library to Business Program, Wind River Development Fund, and Wyoming Smart Capital Network.

To learn more about the Wyoming Community Navigator Program, visit
https://wyomingcommunitynavigator.org/.

For more information on the Wyoming Economic Development Innovation Award, visit
https://www.wyomingeda.org/