Is Wyoming caught in a resource trap?
Diversification of revenue sources is essential to breaking out of the resource trap, Herriges said. Just as diversification of a stock portfolio buffers it against disruptions in the market, he said, broadening sources of income protects cities from financial volatility in the industries they depend on. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}}  In Wyoming, according to the report, cities consistent access to state funds has allowed them to circumvent much of the small-scale economic development that ordinarily sustains strong towns. The incentive to actually cultivate local entrepreneurs, the incentive to have a really strong downtown that that can attract tourists or that can that can serve as a platform for local businesses that people want to patronize, as opposed to non locally owned businesses  all of those incentives are dulled when your budget is predominantly dependent on the extraction of some natural resource, Herriges said. Cities were historically built block by block, and establishing a strong town requires that same sort of incremental investment, particularly in the downtown core of a community, Herriges said. He characterized the rapid suburbanization and large-scale development seen in cities like Casper as being extractive in their own way: They tend to transfer wealth out of cities and into the pockets of corporations headquartered elsewhere.