About FORWARD SHERIDAN, INC.

FORWARD SHERIDAN, INC. is the economic development organization in Sheridan County, Wyoming.  In December 2002 the Sheridan Area Development Alliance was created as an independent economic development organization, having been a committee of the Chamber of Commerce until that time.  Then, in January 2005, SADA's Board of Directors embarked upon a formal 4-year economic development fundraising effort entitled FORWARD SHERIDAN, and the organizational name was changed in December 2005, and a 16-member board was seated from the Investor base. 

FORWARD SHERIDAN, INC. runs on a fiscal year (July 1-June 30) and is funded by an investor base with 68% of the funding coming from local business investment and 32% coming from City and County investment.  The budget for fiscal year 2007-08 will be approximately $375,000.

In August 2006, the 16-member Board of Directors established a one-year plan of work that included working with partners in the community to address issues such as the workforce shortage, child care, workforce housing shortages, and developing an aggressive Business Retention and Expansion effort with local business. They approved contracting for a Target Industry Study (completed in May 2007) to direct business attraction efforts.  (Click on "Research" in the lower navigation bar to download the Target Industry Study.) The Board also approved a proposal to develop of an Economic Development Strategic Plan for Sheridan County.  From September 2006 through July 2007, with input from hundreds of committed and concerned citizens from varied backgrounds and walks of life, as well as information from past assessments done in the community, a task force of 25 community volunteers embarked upon the process of creating an implementable, measurable strategic plan for economic development in our community.

Beginning with fiscal year 2007-08, and over the next five years, FORWARD SHERIDAN will take actions to align economic development efforts in Sheridan County with the community vision as set forth in the Economic Development Strategic Plan for Sheridan County, which is being released to the public approximately November 1, 2007. (The Strategic Plan can be downloaded from this website  by clicking on "Strategic Plan" above).  From the Strategic Planning Task Force have emerged individual task forces that will implement specific stratgegies to address the top ten challenges to economic development in Sheridan County.  These strategies support and align with FORWARD SHERIDAN's core responsibilities of Economic Development, Workforce Development, and Community Development, to support a stronger economy for Sheridan County and the surrounding region.

FOCUS ON OUR FUTURE!