This Ain't Yer Daddy's Boom

Carbon County Higher Education Center (CCHEC) and the City of Rawlins have partnereted to host and facilitate a series of roundtable discussions to proactively address the issues surrounding the impact of energy development in Carbon County and the effects on the local communities. And so the Carbon County Community Impact Forum was created to assess and identify energy impact challenges as well as to determine the next steps to implement solutions to aide the community. Ron Surdam, Director of the WY Geological Survey began the meeting by presenting statistics on energy development in Carbon County. David Nightingale, President, Hyland Enterprises Inc., then presented local statistics on Energy Development from the perspective of a local industry leader. These set the stage to look at the future challenges for Carbon County. To help brainstorm community solutions, Laurie Latta, Assistant Mayor, Town of Pinedale and Jeffrey Jacquet, Socioeconomic Analyst, Sublette County, spoke to the energy growth which their community has been experiencing and the value of community preparedness. Mike Reed, Police Chief, City of Rawlins spoke on the public issues the county is currently facing as well as future projections of issues to come with the impending increase in population. Steve Lindly, Deputy Director, WY Department of Corrections spoke on the creative solutions the Department of Corrections has engaged in to solve issues surrounding the state penitentiary. One innovative endeavor is a partnership formed between WYDOC and CCHEC to offer childcare services to employees and students working long and varying shift schedules. Joan Evans, Director, Carbon County Higher Education Center, spoke on the creative childcare center partnership formed with Wyoming Department of Corrections and the facilitation process that will encompass several meetings and breakout groups to tackle the outlined community impact issues.