CHEYENNE — Through the Business Relief Program, more than $419.9 million was awarded to 8,576 applicants with a total of 39,149 full-time employees. More than 7,000 unique Wyoming businesses (6,664) and nonprofits (396) benefited.
The Legislature initially allocated $325 million for the program and Governor Gordon shifted additional unallocated CARES Act funding to accommodate the high demand for relief assistance as COVID-related challenges persisted. Under the BRP umbrella, five funds (Interruption, Relief, Mitigation, Agriculture, and Endurance) targeted financial assistance to the diverse needs of industries, large companies, small businesses, and select nonprofits.
While operating continuously since the start of the pandemic, Wyoming’s trona industry suffered a significant decrease in the demand for soda ash due to the global impacts of COVID-19.
“The resources Genesis Alkali received from the Mitigation Fund have helped offset unanticipated health and safety expenses to keep COVID-19 out of the workplace and allow the mine and the plants to continue operating,” said David M. Caplan, Director of Communications for Genesis Alkali.
The trona companies, as well as others in the mineral and energy industry, used the Mitigation Fund to reimburse costs of COVID-19 prevention measures including personal protective equipment, site entry screening, and heightened disinfection activities and materials.
Being able to offset some of these increased costs “is especially valuable at a time when the business is impacted in such a negative way,” said Todd Brichacek, Senior VP, Site Manager Green River for Solvay Chemicals.
For Chancey Williams Music LLC, the pandemic was devastating. Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band normally play more than 100 dates per year but instead experienced a near-total work stoppage for its 10 full-time employees. The musician turned to the Interruption and Relief funds for assistance.
“It would be hard to overstate how proud I am to be from Wyoming,” Williams said. “I know how lucky I am. And I know, without a doubt, that the Wyoming response to this crisis is the primary reason my organization has fared so much better than many of our colleagues throughout the country.”
The Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps in Casper also had to completely cancel its 2020 season and temporarily close its bingo hall. The Troopers, founded in 1957, is the only competitive world-class drum and bugle corps in Wyoming. Closing was catastrophic to the organization, which lost its entire income for the year, and it sought assistance from the Endurance Fund.
“The funding from the Wyoming Business Council has indeed come from heaven,” said Susan B. Masterson, Troopers Development Director. “We were dying of thirst. Receiving funding was like finding a deep, cool lake in the middle of a desert. We can now not only pay for upcoming bills that we did not have the funds for, but we can find a path forward out of this nightmare.”
