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Yellowstone-Teton Region’s Prosperity Will Require
Cross-Boundary Collaboration
Communities in the Yellowstone-Teton region have much to gain from
greater cross-boundary collaboration, according to a business group
whose members are located in 25 Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming counties
that surround Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
In 2008 the Yellowstone Business Partnership (YBP) used a $150,000 USDA
Rural Development grant to convene six multi-county task forces and
explore economic development issues of greatest concern to their
particular sub-region. Topics studied included public
transportation needs, land use planning coordination, availability of
affordable housing, and potential for recreation/tourism development.
After a year of public meetings and in-depth research on these
seasonally-related economic challenges, YBP has identified several
areas where cities, counties and businesses would benefit by
collaborating across jurisdictional boundaries. Recommendations include:
- Create a tri-state transportation cooperative that
establishes an integrated system of private and public operators across
Greater Yellowstone. Connect airports, retail centers, gateway
communities and area attractions to serve residents and visitors in all
four seasons.
- Assist businesses and tourist attractions with workforce
training, energy efficiency, marketing expertise, technology upgrades,
financing for expansion/research, new market development and
organizational capacity. Create an overarching brand used by
all tourism partners to convey a single, consistent image and message
about the Greater Yellowstone region.
- Provide opportunities for city and county land-use planning
staffs to share computerized map layers and other planning tools that
will improve their understanding of the region’s demographic
trends and growth patterns. Develop baseline “affordability
bands” for needed residential and seasonal housing in all
parts of the Yellowstone-Teton region.
- Expand the regional conversation by forming more formal
coalitions, in particular, a regional council of governments. Such an
organization would bring community officials into regular contact with
each other with an eye towards discussing collaborative ventures.
“In our proposal to USDA, we stated that we would improve
regional understanding, gain commitments to regional action, and build
new professional and support networks,” said YBP Executive
Director Janice Brown. “I am pleased to report that YBP has
met all three outcomes, and I look forward to briefing community
leaders regarding our project findings and next steps over the coming
months.”
James Klessens, CEO of Forward Cody, an economic development
corporation involved in the project, recognizes the importance of
YBP’s collaborative process: “Sometimes we need to
open our eyes to what others are doing differently in their areas to
get ideas on what we can do in our own backyard. There’s no
reason to reinvent the wheel.”
Shannon Madsen, Program Officer for USDA Rural Development in
Blackfoot, Idaho, is impressed with the quality of the YBP results and
diversity of participants. According to Madsen, “The regional
reports have shed light on areas where USDA can help. For instance, the
research [for both Eastern Idaho and the Billings-Cody area] showed
that a lot of little towns don’t have the capacity to fully
implement their current land use plans. USDA Rural Development can help
them with that.”
Copies of the six sub-regional reports may be reviewed on the YBP
website by going to http://www.yellowstonebusiness.org/our_programs/socioeconomic_research/
and clicking on the Sub Regions in the left menu bar.
About YBP:
The Yellowstone Business Partnership is an organization of businesses
in the Yellowstone –Teton region, an area encompassing 25
counties in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Its 250 members are dedicated
to preserving a healthy environment and shaping a prosperous and
sustainable future for communities of the Yellowstone-Teton region. For
more information contact Janice Brown, Executive Director, at (208)
528-0269 or visit the YBP website: www.yellowstonebusiness.org.
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About YBP 
