ENTREPRENEURSHIP & COLLABORATION - BRINGING STARTUP EXPERTISE TO WYOMING Wyoming employers, educators, and public partners are aligning around a shared goal: building a workforce and business ecosystem that responds directly to real economic needs. The Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP) provides the structure that turns ideas into coordinated action by connecting colleges, industry, and agencies so initiatives can be planned together, implemented consistently, and measured through shared outcomes. This coordination is already shaping entrepreneurship in Wyoming. Through the University of Wyoming College of Business, the state has developed a growing partnership with the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, bringing nationally recognized startup education directly to Wyoming communities. |
Last fall, nearly sixty founders, business leaders, educators, and economic developers gathered at Laramie County Community College for a five-day Disciplined Entrepreneurship workshop led by Bill Aulet, author of Disciplined Entrepreneurship. Supported by the WIP alongside Manufacturing Works, Laramie County Community College, and L&H Industrial, the workshop introduced Wyoming entrepreneurs to a shared framework for evaluating and scaling business ideas, giving participants a common language for building companies across sectors. |
Tap the thumbnail below to watch a short video about the workshop. |
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The effort continues to expand. UW also joined MIT’s Global Leaders of the Entrepreneurship Educators Network for 2026, allowing faculty and students to access entrepreneurship training and resources. Faculty completed MIT’s Train-the-Trainer program and are integrating the methodology into coursework and community programming, while UW students participated in StartMIT to develop venture concepts alongside MIT peers. This has also given Wyoming access to MIT’s Orbit platform and its AI JetPack tools to support idea validation, market research, and growth planning. “Wyoming entrepreneurs can now tap into the same cutting-edge AI resources available to MIT students,” said Ben Cook, Senior Assistant Dean at the University of Wyoming College of Business. “The partnership with MIT is helping build a more innovative and entrepreneurially capable Wyoming, one that reaches well beyond the classroom.” |
The Wyoming Innovation Partnership is what makes sustained efforts like this possible. From classrooms to communities, a coordinated entrepreneurial ecosystem is taking shape in the Cowboy State. Through unified goals and a strong vision, Wyoming is building new businesses and a durable innovation infrastructure for years to come. CONTACT
Lauren Schoenfeld
Director, Wyoming Innovation Partnership
Wyoming Business Alliance
lschoenfeld@wyoba.com |
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