SHERIDAN — While communities in other parts of Wyoming continued suffering in an economic downturn due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy industry decline, Sheridan County held steady, even experiencing economic growth. Here are some of the biggest moments in business in Sheridan County from 2021.
Renderings of the Falcon Car Corporation show the factory to be built in Sheridan County Airport Business Park.
Wyoming’s Dynamix Energy Corporation and Connecticut’s Falcon Cars Corporation announced intentions to join the Sheridan County Airport Business Park.
Airport Manager John Stopka said the airport has signed 40-year leases with Wyoming’s Dynamix Energy Corporation and Connecticut’s Falcon Cars Corporation. The former will lease two lots totaling 1.51 acres at the business park while the latter will lease five lots totaling 4.94 acres.
Dynamix will use the space to house its corporate aircraft and to conduct light manufacturing and development of electrical flight systems, Stopka said. The company will initially pay $5,000 a year for the first five years, and rent will then be increased based on the Wyoming Cost of Living Index for the remainder of the term.
Falcon Cars will utilize the space to conduct light manufacturing on electric vehicle components and electric flight systems, according to Stopka. The company will initially pay $15,000 a year for the first five years, and rent will then be increased based on the Wyoming Cost of Living Index for the remainder of the term.
Travelers retrieve their luggage at the Sheridan County Airport baggage claim Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.
Sheridan County Airport recorded an increase in enplanements after a successful pandemic year.
“In 2020, Riverton and Sheridan were the only two airports in the nation that increased enplanements,” Sheridan County Administrative Director and Critical Air Service Team board member Renee Obermueller said in November. “Wyoming is a good proposition for SkyWest. Wyoming has not felt the COVID impact as much as some states, and we’ve been a good client for them.”
Airport Manager John Stopka anticipates more than 20,000 enplanements to end 2021, a high rise from previous years where the airport struggled to meet the 10,000 enplanements required to receive federal funding.
Robby and John Smith have owned Sheridan Stationery Books and Gallery on Main Street for 28 years. Robby plans to retire this month. A new business will open in the bookstore’s current location with the bookstore set to reopen in a new location under new ownership.
Robby and John Smith sold Sheridan Stationery, Books and Gallery to Nick and Jessica Bohnsack after 28 years in business right at the intersection of Main Street and Grinnell Plaza. The Bohnsacks moved the business to the building that formerly housed Cosner Construction’s headquarters and renamed it Sheridan Stationery, Books & Gifts.
Roosters faith-based bookstore and gift shop moved into Sheridan Stationery’s former location at 206 N. Main St., and Gravity Performing Arts Center moved into Roosters former location on South Sheridan Avenue, starting a new generation of performing arts-trained youth in Sheridan County.
Other movements in downtown Sheridan included Jackalope Jump moving from its location near South Main Street to North Main Street.
Shabby Shack moved out of the Cady building in time for new owner Christer Johansson to begin renovating and restoring the historic building, with big plans to expand possibly to a fourth story and extend east with another building where Las Delicias once operated. Las Delicias now operates out of the former Wyoming Cattle and Creek building — which closed up shop earlier in 2021 and hopes to relocate — on Broadway Street.
Jim Fuller, the general manager at Holly Seed, looks over what is quickly becoming a vacant third floor at the sugar beet seed processing plant in Sheridan. The facility, built in 1915, is set to close its doors in two to three weeks.
Holly Seed announces closure
Holly Seed closed its doors to business after 100 years serving Sheridan County.
Holly Seed was purchased in 2005 by Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative, a company owned by family farmers in Minnesota which also operates a sugar beet factory in Brawley, California, with Holly Seed also more recently sharing an alliance with the Belgium company SESVanderHave.
While later making its home in Sheridan, Holly Seed was first started in Holly, Colorado, in 1905.
Greenhouses also connected to the business were purchased by the Scott Foundation and gifted to Sheridan County School District 2 in February.
Senior Research and Development Engineer Kelly Brennan explains some of the different projects he is currently working on during a tour of Kennon’s new facility Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. Kennon is one of the facilities located in the High-Tech Business Park. On Monday, the Sheridan City Council voted 4-3 to support moving forward with a planning grant application that will pave the way for the next phase of the business park.
Sheridan Economic and Educational Development Authority is looking to expand acreage in the High-Tech Business Park in north Sheridan, as only 4.5 acres remain in the 38.5-acre park.
The eventual final location of the expansion will depend on a variety of factors, including public-private partnerships with nearby landowners, SEEDA Administrator Robert Briggs said.
In addition,…
