§ 9-12-105 — Economic development services

(a) It shall be the duty of the council to encourage,
stimulate and support the development and expansion of the
economy of the state. The council is charged with the following
duties and responsibilities:
(i) To see that there are prepared and carried out
effective economic development and diversification marketing and
promotional programs;
(ii) To make available, in conjunction and
cooperation with localities, chambers of commerce, industrial
authorities and other public and private groups, to prospective
new businesses basic information and pertinent factors of
interest and concern to such businesses;
(iii) To formulate, promulgate and advance programs
throughout the state for encouraging the location of new
businesses in the state and the retention and growth of existing
businesses;
(iv) To encourage and solicit private sector
involvement, support and funding for economic development in the
state;
(v) To encourage the coordination of the economic
development and diversification efforts of public institutions,
regions, communities and private industry and collect and
maintain data on the development and utilization of economic
development and diversification capabilities;
(vi) To establish such offices within and without the
state that are necessary to the expansion and development of
industries and trade. The council shall establish economic
development and diversification regions and offices within the
state based upon socioeconomic and geographic similarities;
(vii) To encourage the export of products and
services from the state to national and international markets.
In addition to conducting international and other market
research as authorized in W.S. 9-12-106(b), the council shall
employ or contract with persons for purposes of developing new
markets and expanding foreign trade efforts, including expanding
international markets for Wyoming services, Wyoming agricultural
and other products and commodities, and targeted consumer
advertising;
(viii) To advise the University of Wyoming and the
Wyoming community college commission in designating technical
training and other educational programs in Wyoming's community
colleges and the University of Wyoming beneficial to economic
development and diversification activities in this state;
(ix) To adopt a state broadband enhancement plan.
(b) The council, in consultation with the coordinator of
economic diversification, shall implement the "startup:Wyoming"
program in priority economic sectors identified in the approved
twenty (20) year comprehensive economic diversification strategy
under W.S. 9-12-1402(a)(iv). The program shall:
(i) Foster connectivity between entrepreneurs,
investors and mentors, aligning local entities through
coordinated points of contact in participating Wyoming
communities. The efforts shall include methods of communication
designed to allow interaction between stakeholders on a regular
and consistent basis;
(ii) Provide entrepreneurs with advanced resources to
help their business succeed, including mentoring, marketing,
legal and other business coaching services;
(iii) In conjunction with the University of Wyoming,
community colleges, localities, chambers of commerce, industrial
authorities and other public and private groups, develop
incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, makerspaces and
other unique work spaces and equipment to foster
entrepreneurialism.
(c) The council shall administer a "kickstart:Wyoming"
program to provide funding to early stage ventures of Wyoming
based entrepreneurs. Funding under this subsection shall be
provided upon approval of the council. The council shall adopt
rules for funding under this subsection in consultation with the
coordinator of economic diversification. Funding shall be in
amounts ranging from five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) to fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000.00) and be provided under the
following conditions:
(i) To individuals who reside in Wyoming and to
business entities which are, or agree in writing to be,
headquartered in Wyoming and organized under the laws of the
state of Wyoming and which:
(A) Have committed to maintaining a meaningful
nexus to the state of Wyoming, including after commercialization
of a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable
asset developed with the assistance of the funds;
(B) Proposes a service, product, concept, design
or any other marketable asset which has a probability of
providing an economic return to the state of Wyoming through
creation of jobs, expanded tax base and diversification of the
state's economy;
(C) Agree to provide a report to the council on
the progress to commercialize the service, product, concept,
design or any other marketable asset developed with the
assistance of the funds.
(ii) The recipient of funding meets other
requirements established by rule of the council to ensure
adequate consideration for the amount of the funding provided.
In establishing provisions for adequate consideration to the
state, the council may include, but is not limited to, requiring
a recipient to seek additional nonstate investment funding and
specifying requirements for maintaining a nexus to the state.
(d) The council shall administer a small business
innovation research matching program in accordance with this
subsection. The program shall match federal funds approved for
Wyoming based companies as provided in this subsection. The
program shall be administered by the council in consultation
with the University of Wyoming research office. The following
shall apply to the program under this subsection:
(i) To be eligible to receive funding, an entity
shall:
(A) Be headquartered in Wyoming and organized
under the laws of the state of Wyoming;
(B) Maintain a meaningful nexus to the state of
Wyoming, including for not less than three (3) years after
commercialization of a service, product, concept, design or any
other marketable asset developed with the assistance of funds
from the program;
(C) Have received funding under the federal
small business innovation research and small business technology
transfer programs;
(D) Propose a service, product, concept, design
or any other marketable asset which has a probability of
providing an economic return to the state of Wyoming through
creation of jobs, expanded tax base and diversification of the
state's economy;
(E) Agree to provide a report to the council on
or before July 1 of each year in the following manner:
(I) Prior to commercialization, the entity
shall report on the progress of the entity to commercialize the
service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset
developed with the assistance of funds from this program;
(II) If the entity commercializes a
service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset,
and continues to market the product, concept or design or asset,
the entity shall report for three (3) years on:
(1) The number of jobs the entity has
created;
(2) A salary range per job;
(3) The taxable assets of the entity;
(4) All revenues from sales of the
service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset
of the entity.
(F) Comply with the requirements of rules
adopted pursuant to this subsection.
(ii) Matching funds shall be awarded to recipients as
determined by the council in an amount not to exceed:
(A) For a recipient of a phase I award, a match
up to one hundred percent (100%) of the award, not to exceed one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00);
(B) For a recipient of a phase II award, a match
up to one hundred percent (100%) of the award, not to exceed two
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00).
(iii) Matching funds under this subsection shall be
awarded to the recipient as soon as practicable after approval
of the matching fund application;
(iv) An entity shall repay all matching funds
provided under this subsection plus interest at the rate of four
percent (4%) per annum compounded annually from the date the
matching funds were granted if:
(A) The entity commercializes a service,
product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed
with the assistance of funds from this program; and
(B) The entity fails to maintain a significant
nexus with the state of Wyoming within three (3) years of
commercializing a service, product, concept, design or any other
marketable asset developed with the assistance of funds from
this program and continues to market the service, product,
concept, design or asset.
(v) The council shall adopt rules for the program in
consultation with the coordinator of economic diversification.
The rules shall include but not be limited to:
(A) Application procedures;
(B) The number of awards and amount of funds
available for award in any fiscal year;
(C) Timing of issuance of funds awarded under
the program;
(D) Eligibility requirements;
(E) Provision for repayment of matching funds
plus interest as provided in this subsection;
(F) Provision for service, product, concept,
design or asset review and requirements under the program
consistent with this subsection;
(G) Provisions to ensure adequate consideration
for the amount of the funding provided. The council may include,
but is not limited to, assessment of those items specified in
W.S. 9-12-1405(b)(i) through (iv), specifying the allowable use
of funds, requiring a recipient to seek additional nonstate
investment funding and requiring the recipient to conduct its
research in Wyoming to the extent practical.
(e) Not later than October 15, 2018 and every October 15
thereafter, the council shall report to the joint minerals,
business and economic development interim committee concerning
the programs under subsections (c) and (d) of this section. The
report shall include:
(i) A yearly and total summary of the number and
amounts of matching funds awarded under each program;
(ii) A description of an entity and a service,
product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed
which was commercialized with the assistance of funds from these
programs within the prior three (3) years;
(iii) The realized economic impact of each program on
the state, including jobs created, salary range per job created
and potential impact to the local community.
(f) As used in this section, "commercialization" means the
creation by an entity of commercial processes, products and
services derived in whole or in part from research undertaken
with matching funds awarded under subsection (c) or (d) of this
section, which results in realized revenues to the entity of at
least three (3) times the matching funds awarded under this
section.