Cato the Elder was a senator during the Roman Republic. After a trip to Carthage, he became convinced that the North African city-state was a great threat to Rome and that this issue was the most important of his time. He took to finishing all his speeches, regardless of topic, with the phrase, “Carthage must be destroyed.” Ultimately, Rome acted as he urged, Carthage was destroyed and the story of his single-minded focus lives to this day. Opinion Sometimes, I worry that I am becoming like Cato the Elder, but with a different topic. I have spent a great deal of time and column space writing about the importance of Wyoming’s economic future. Were I to adopt Cato the Elder’s approach, every essay would end with the phrase, “Wyoming’s economy must be diversified.” It is a topic we have discussed for decades, but its importance grows daily. Just as Carthage was the greatest threat to ancient Rome, economic decline is Wyoming’s greatest present-day threat. We need to grow new business sectors in Wyoming, or risk economic catastrophe. One of the greatest barriers to attracting new businesses to Wyoming — whether imported from out of state or founded here at home — is the difficulty of finding a qualified workforce. We all understand that businesses need employees. What may not be as apparent is that the necessary workforce must exist before a company will invest in a community. We often imagine a company moving to a new community and bringing its workforce with it. The truth, however, is that companies rarely depend on workers from outside communities to meet their employment needs. This makes sense when you think about it. A software company moving to a small town may be in serious trouble if its lead engineer leaves and they are unable to find a qualified replacement. That is why they depend on existing populations to fill their needs, rather than depend on creating qualified employees through in-house training. Put differently, the workforce builds businesses more than businesses build the workforce. Wyoming must focus on attracting, developing and retaining the types of workforces that lead to business formation in Wyoming communities.   In building these workforces, we must start by playing to our strengths.  Wyoming generally does well with high school graduation rates and the number of people who obtain further education or training. This means that the skills likely exist in many of our communities to support businesses that require trained labor, as long as the right businesses focus on the right places.   Instead, the challenge in building attractive workforces likely lies elsewhere.  Does Wyoming offer what working people need to live and thrive? This is where we currently fall short. For starters, we lack affordable housing, among other basic needs. We are not going to attract qualified workers if they cannot afford to live here, if our schools do not do a good job of educating their children, and if we can’t offer enrichment outside of work. To grow Wyoming’s economic opportunities, we must start with a focus on the basic necessities. Even though these are the obvious first steps, they are not the only things that we should do to support economic change. Once we know our workforce is ready, government or quasi-government agencies should take an active role in recruiting and supporting new businesses.   Organizations like Cheyenne Leads have been extremely successful in developing new economic sectors in their home communities. We should learn from their examples and try to develop similar organizations in other places. We should also strategically focus on encouraging similar companies to locate near one another.  A company rarely thrives in a vacuum. Instead, companies have their own communities, and this is necessary for a healthy economic ecosystem. Tech companies are often located near other tech companies, where they can exchange talent and training. The same goes for manufacturing or information-economy jobs. If we can help these sectors build some momentum, Wyoming’s economy can become much more stable for the next generation. At the same time that Cato the Elder was warning of the dangers of Carthage, another faction was preaching idleness. This too exists in Wyoming. Just as some of us point out the need and urgency for Wyoming to develop a more vibrant economy, there are those who would have us stay complacent. They reject any calls for change or modernization, instead hoping to continue to coast on the same economic sectors that have carried our state for the last generation. Unfortunately, this is not a realistic course for Wyoming and it will lead to ruin if we pursue it. As Cato the Elder might have said if he lived here now, Wyoming’s economy must be diversified. It is the only path forward. The post Want a strong Wyoming economy? Meet workers’ basic needs. appeared first on WyoFile .