Laramie, Wyoming is located in the Southeast part of the state. Most of the publicity regarding 
Wyoming is about the area around Jackson Hole in the Northwest part of the state; however, the area around Laramie – and this part of Wyoming – has its own beauty. Laramie is mainly a college town where the University of Wyoming is located. The population of Laramie is in the 25,000+ range and it sits on a high plateau at 7,200 feet. To the west of Laramie is the Snowy Range (elevation is a little over 12,000′ in places) which is in the Medicine Bow National Forest and part of the Southern Rocky Mountains. There is snow on the Snowy Range peaks at all times of the year.
Interstate 80 runs by Laramie, and right off exit 311, sits the West Laramie Fly Store www.flystore.net. They offer gas, fishing/hunting licenses and gear, food, coffee, collectible items, and friendly service. They have been there for many years and have both repeat and new customers. In fact, they sell more fishing licenses than any other single location within the state of Wyoming. Their customers are loyal and the owners are deeply involved in both state and local activities. They are extremely hard working people who are typical of so many successful small business owners throughout the United States. They have to find ways to compete with the national chains – like Walmart who has been in Laramie for a few years – and also against national truck stop chains like Pilot which is in the next exit up from the West Laramie Fly Store. These small business owners – like so many others like them – are not in line for Bailout Funds. They are on no ones list for Special Interest. They have no lobbyists in Washington looking out for their interests. They have to build, and retain, their business with their own resources and ingenuity. They obtain – and retain – their business one customer at a time. They do not ask for a quick fix to the nations economic problems – they just want a “fair shake” in competing in the marketplace.
The West Laramie Fly Store is a symbol of what makes America great. It is this type of business that will keep our economy going – create and keep jobs – and take us into the next phases of our nation. Some of the arguments – for continuing pumping funds into some companies is that they are TOO BIG to fail. I believe this is reverse logic as I think some businesses – that keep our country going – are TOO SMALL to fail.
Amen to that! These small, neighborhood businesses are definitely the backbone of our country and the only reason it hasn’t all fallen to pieces. The bailout philosophy – throw more money at debt and failing businesses is so flawed – can’t even begin to say. Logic and common sense are out the window it seems in favor of these more modern and politically correct “strategies” (and I use the term loosely). Anyway – good for this small business and all the others out there just like it.
Never been to Laramie, spent a lot of time in Jackson though. That town went from small business paradise to swanky chain store land in about 5 years. I haven’t been back for several years but I heard they have a Gucci’s now. Sad.
Agree on the small business sentiment.
I teach a seminar in Small Business Management for owners, managers and future entrepreneurs. The risks most small business owners take is tremendous, both financially and emotionally. Because virtually all corporations are driven by the stock market, the executives always get huge salaries and usually “golden handshakes” when the BOD decides to eject them because the corporation lost money under their direction. Unfortunately, without the bailouts, hundreds of thousands of jobs would have been lost, and we would now be in a depression.
Frankly, I am in a depression thinking about the courageous, hard-working small business owners who are the heart of our economy, yet are ignored or even abused by government regulations — especially the IRS. Unfortunately, they are not in a position to make huge “campaign contributions” to the legislators who decide which business gets favored and which gets screwed. By the same token, the people actually in the military, who risk their lives for our country, also get very little, while the legislators vote themselves huge pay raises and full retirement payouts for life after one term in office.
There is a new golden rule in our country: Those who make the rules get the gold.
I love the way you combine text, pictures and links. You are our writer of the future, Bob, showing us all the way.
Mind you, some of the topics I write about, you probably wouldn’t want photographs, sound effects or links.
Well said. You pushed one of my sensitive buttons and here I go. I feel strongly that people similar to the owners of the West Laramie Fly Store built America. Avarice linked to Wall Street in New York City did not build America. The family farms and family stores and the people that worked for the family farm and family store built this country and most of those people are gone. The Wall-Marts (a growing cancer) of America are what is really changing the United States into a credit card nation fueled by narcissism instead of family values. From everything I’ve read and heard about Wal-Mart, that family is more concerned with power and adding to their already huge wealth while destroying lives. They don’t give a hoot about the people that work for them. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Wal-Mart is anti union, anti public education and anti teacher, and the Wal-Mart family uses its huge wealth to influence events in America cutting out the voters, who do not have much say in the real goings on behind the scenes. The only time “we the people” get to show how we feel is when we vote and when the majority doesn’t vote the way the Wal-Mart Cancer wants us to vote, we see a large segment of the media start to find excuses to explain why some invisible, liberal force influenced and mislead the voters. When “we the people” do not vote, we are marginalized while the Wal-Mart Cancer still spreads faster. If you truly love America and what it is supposed to stand for, don’t shop at Wal-Mart. I have nothing against China, but Wal-Mart “sounds like they are patriots” but more than 90% of their products are made in China. China didn’t ask for Wal-Mart to manufacture what they sell in China.
Great article Bob, and I once visited Jackson Hole, WY and loved it. There is a bar there where the stools are actual Saddles….To sit at the bar, and this is a fantastic bar, you have to straddle the saddle.
What makes America great!
rob
I like the article, Bob, a lot, and I agree with you about small businesses. I’ve always liked going into them and supporting them. The big/huge ones muscle their way in and shove the small guys aside without real regard for local conditions, local people, local pride or the local economy, as they’re mostly interested in local eyeballs, wallets and cash.
Keep up your writing, Bob Grant; you have some very good skills.
George
Lloyd,
Just one small correction to what you said about Walmart–not all of their goods are produced in China. They are actually an equal opportunity sweat shop, the largest in the world, and many of their products are made in South America and other SE Asian countries. I don’t normally advocate Michael Moore, but if you feel that strongly about Walmart you might watch his pseudo-documentary “The High Cost of Low Prices”, which is all about Walmart since its founder (who was actually a very good guy, according to all reports) died and left the business to his children. You think you hate them now…
Don
I think that all you guys are closet Marxists.
150 years ago, Karl Marx predicted that economic developments would inevitably result in a concentration of wealth into the hands of a few indutrialists and that we would become in effect slaves to them.
This situation is nothing new – it has persisted throughout history. What is new is the basis for this power – economic force rather than physical force – and the people in charge of it – the industrialists rather than the landed gentry.
Naturally, Marx’s prophecy was hopelessly inaccurate and nothing like that could ever really happen in reality – or continue to happen in direct conflict with the forces of democracy, more is the point.