Wyoming Industry Snapshot

As an important agricultural market, Wyoming has a bioscience industry focused largely on agricultural biotechnology, with a handful of companies engaged in life science sectors. Excellent public higher education programs, however, are facilitating the growth of a diverse industry by producing a well-trained and modern workforce.

Despite the predominance of the agricultural biotechnology sector, private companies as diverse as Asherman Medical Products, Clinical Trials Services, Rocky Mountain Medical Supply and Chinook Engineering/Inter-Mountain Labs are all involved in various aspects of bioscience research, development and commercialization. Notable high-technology corporations are also engaged in the local biotechnology industry, such as the Western Research Institute, a technology development center engaged in the research and development of unique materials, technologies and services related to the environment, energy and highway materials.

The University of Wyoming is a doctoral university, rated among the top research universities in the nation. Several advanced bioscience degrees are offered, including Agroecology, Molecular Biology, and Health Sciences. Research is a top priority of the university. The university encompasses novel research facilities and modern laboratories, which produce marketable and licensable technologies. These include the Agricultural Experiment Station, the Microscopy Facility and the Red Buttes Environmental Biology Laboratory. Wyoming EPSCoR encourages research and development activities, while the Research Products Center promotes technology transfer between the university and the private sector. The University of Wyoming Research Office administers the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI), which has dramatically increased the number and amount of these awards in Wyoming.

Wyoming’s seven community colleges also contribute to an adept workforce. These public colleges offer curricula directly related to the needs of local industries. For example, Casper College offers a program in Medical Technology and the Northwest College offers an A.S. in Chemistry with coursework in Chemical Research.

Problems facing the biotechnology industry in Wyoming include an insular focus on agricultural biotechnology, inadequate public and private investment, and limited facilities. Nonetheless, with an increasingly competitive workforce supported by modern higher education institutions, the Wyoming bioscience industry is nascent.