Our View: Let's talk about GR's economy

Readers may wonder why we take such an interest in the local business climate.

Simply put, it doesn’t make sense why many businesses seemingly struggle here. It’s very bizarre that people living in a city of nearly 13,000 residents feel they have to travel a round trip of at least 30 miles to purchase their necessities. Worse yet, we’re upset with the general apathy displayed by many residents and elected officials about Green River’s economic environment, making excuses that the city is nothing more than a “bedroom community” or saying “business has always struggled here.”

Imagine that deciding to eat out at an Italian restaurant could be as easy as driving to a building on Flaming Gorge Way. Imagine a clothing store offering a sensible selection of clothing and shoes, going as far to have a small collection of uniquely designed shirts that doesn’t simply feature Wyoming’s area code in a stylized typeface. Imagine a candy shop with a collection of popular and hard-to-find candies that offers homemade treats as well.

Those are examples of businesses we think could work in Green River. The city does not have an Italian restaurant, nor does it have dedicated clothing stores or candy shops. These are the businesses an economic development organization should attempt to bring or incubate within Green River, but we don’t have one of those either.

If the city’s residents and governing officials want to improve the city’s business climate, they should be willing to fund a small-scale economic development agency focused on improving business in Green River. Likewise, Green River Main Street’s should brainstorm a list of unique businesses either not present in Green River or not available within the county, then rank the ideas into what would be most feasible and work with the economic development agency to bring that list of ideas to fruition. The city’s residents should also start sending clear messages to the county by voting against those who actively encourage moving county jobs out of the county seat. Moving those positions has done nothing to help Green River.

This is a dire problem we don’t think has gotten much attention. If the city doesn’t take this issue seriously, Green River will be a city where sleeping is the only thing anyone can do.

 

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