Many diverse organizations are prosperous in the Thermopolis area. These stories display some of the advantages different organizations have found by locating here.
Phil Smith, President & CEO of CAPTEL recalled:
“We were invited to consider the State of Wyoming as a location to expand our business by the Wyoming Business Council in early 2005. Working with Bob Jensen, now CEO of the Business Council, the Council sent requests for proposals on our behalf to about 12 Wyoming cities and towns. Of the communities responding, we selected five for further evaluation: Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, Gillette and Thermopolis. Each community made compelling cases to CAPTEL; however, we ultimately selected Thermopolis because the Executive Director (Lorraine Quarberg) and President (Dee Hillberry) of the Thermopolis-HSC Economic Development Company at the time understood the nature of our business and the resources we would need to grow our company in Thermopolis.
In addition, we were impressed by the enthusiasm and support of the local business community and town government in particular, Mayor Steven Shay, Deputy Mayor Dan Stansill, members of the Town Council, and many town business leaders including Mark Mortimore and Dave Denton. We also received tremendous assistance from RT Communications in provisioning our building for telecommunications and Internet access, and, Leah Bruscino, the Regional Director of the Wyoming Business Council, for her work in securing the financing for us to acquire the building we now occupy. We were also appreciative of the former owners of the building, John and Cindy Nuss, for their great restoration work on the property, as well as their willingness to sell the building in a very short time frame so we could begin our operations by December of 2005.
We moved into our offices (formerly the Broadway Inn) on Dec. 12, 2005. The next day it was 25 below….and I thought “oh no, what have we done?” Being from the milder climate of the Mid-Atlantic States, I had never experienced a temperature that low. After a two week training period both in Washington, DC and Thermopolis, we began work after Christmas that year with four employees and a director. From those early beginnings, the company today has grown to 18 employees directed by Thermopolis native Heather Hayes Goffena.
After six years, we consider Thermopolis home. We are an active participant in a number of community activities, including sponsorship of the annual PRCA Rodeo, the Chamber of Commerce, Bobcat Booster Club, 4-H Auction and annual NRA Dinner.
The employees at our Thermopolis office are among the most talented and productive in our company. We are fortunate to be here, and our Western Regional Office has emerged as a significant part of CAPTEL’s business.
We love the people of Thermopolis, the physical beauty of Hot Springs County and the Big Horn Basin and being in the great State of Wyoming.”
