Katie Roenigk

September 5, 2024

A legislative committee heard an update last week about the new Controlled Environment Agriculture program being developed at Central Wyoming College in collaboration with the Wyoming Innovation Partnership.

WIP

WIP works with the University of Wyoming, state agencies, and community colleges to “align education, workforce development and industry to support Wyoming’s economic development needs,” according to its website.

Since the agriculture industry is “a primary driver of Wyoming’s economy,” WIP says it is “helping establish new programs and facilities” in that sector, “advancing areas such as CEA and precision agriculture.”

“These industry innovations are ushering in the exploration of high-yield food production and building out the state’s CEA business network and education partners, further developing opportunities for Wyoming to grow its workforce and capacity for sustainability into the future,” a recent WIP report states.

Dr. Carmela Rosario Guadagno, Assistant Director of the CEA Center at UW, is leading WIP’s CEA partnership, which aims to “provide the CEA business network with ongoing support across the state to empower tailored, high-yield food production,” according to the WIP report.

That CEA business network currently needs a bigger workforce to draw from, Guadagno told the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Education Committee during a meeting last week, and WIP is working “to overcome this lack of a workforce in CEA.”

“We can form a better workforce in CEA and bring in more and more jobs into Wyoming, but also keeping our students in Wyoming,” she said.

CEA at CWC

CEA is “a technologically advanced and intensive form of agriculture where plants grow within a controlled, enclosed environment to optimize horticultural practices,” according to WIP.

“It includes several indoor farming styles, from single-level greenhouses to more compact vertical farming,” WIP says. “CEA can produce a high yield of crops per unit area all year round, creating a resilient and robust supply chain for fresh produce to build nutrition security in remote areas.”

CWC’s Local Food and Agriculture Instructor Ethan Page said CEA “really fits” with the school’s existing Grow Your Own: Food, Jobs and Community initiative, which was designed to “increase the availability of locally-grown food and expand employment and business opportunities in agriculture,” according to its website.

“Having the opportunity, through WIP, to add the CEA component has really (been) exciting,” Page said. “Really the goal (is) being a regional hub for CEA training, education, and workforce development, so they have these wider effects of increasing that local food system resilience, keeping some of those dollars local, and seeing those economic benefits (and) health benefits from increasing the local food production and consumption as well …

“It’s a really exciting time to be in agriculture and local food in this area.”

Freight Farms

CWC received $366,000 from WIP to “lay the groundwork” for the local CEA program, Page said – a process that included infrastructure development, course development, and the purchase of a hydroponic container farm that should be delivered in the coming weeks from a Boston-based company called Freight Farms.

Page called the freight farm “the biggest and most exciting part of this.”

The “fully self-contained unit” can grow up to four acres of produce annually, operating “year-round,” Page explained.

“Being able to provide fresh produce to our community in the dead of winter is going to be very exciting,” Page said. “And being able to train students (and) future workers in this area, on this pretty high-tech piece of equipment, is going to be a really exciting thing.”

CWC is also building a small greenhouse on site to “demonstrate a few other growing techniques,” Page added.

He said the greenhouse will be completed as part of the next phase of CWC’s WIP collaboration, which also includes hiring a manager for the new CEA program, finalizing the curriculum, and holding classes, likely beginning next fall.

Other partnerships

CWC was listed as a partner on several other WIP Initiatives last week, including two focused on digital infrastructure: the Software Development program, which “provides students across Wyoming with pathways into high-demand technology careers,” and the the School of Computing program, which works to “meet the rising demand for computing professionals and facilitate articulation with Wyoming community colleges.”

In addition, WIP’s Central Wyoming Entrepreneurship program supports CWC’s Bootstrap Collaborative, which partners with local organizations to “provide essential tools, co-working spaces, web design, and marketing consulting (to) help start-ups and advance existing companies through innovation,” while WIP’s Central Wyoming Culinary and Hospitality program works with CWC as it expands its hospitality and tourism offerings, including “a new AAS degree in Hospitality and Tourism for the 2024-25 academic year” and “a certificate in Event Planning (that) is set to launch in spring 2025.”

Finally, WIP’s Advanced Manufacturing Expansion program helps CWC collaborate with Sheridan College and Laramie County Community College “to expand advanced manufacturing training through curricular enhancements and equipment investments.”

“This initiative aims to create a cohesive pipeline for advanced manufacturing education, featuring state-of-the-art technology and relevant training programs for local manufacturers,” WIP said. “CWC has already seen over 60 participants in its first four training programs on Soldering, Solid Works, Lean Manufacturing, and Supply Chain. These trainings have led to over 15 industry credentials.”