Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Business Journal and Other Publications Q1 2016 Business Journal | Page 13

cial societies will continue to divide over ideas. Polarizing topics of religion
and politics will dominate the landscape over the coming years. Division
will come in a number of forms, but a couple are: You will tend to live where
people agree with you and you will tend to seek information from people
who agree with you. As we had discussed, inclusion and separation are
factors we will face. How will your business deal with this separation? Will
you concentrate on those who agree with you or will you sell across “party
lines?” Either way, your decisions regarding this matter will impact your
business.

Resource Alignment-

Is the mission statement of your

business to make profit or something else? It’s about the “what” and the
“why.” What do we do and why do we do it? Does what you do and why you
do it align with your financial resources? Do your financial and workforce
resources line up with the goals of your company? Does this alignment
equal financial success? All of these questions and more will have to be
answered as we move our businesses into the future.

Catalytic Leadership- Leadership is talked about constantly, but what does this really mean for business? Businesses who lead are
solving issues and are making strides to further their community with their
contributions and efforts. Having a vision of where your influence is to be
enne, the way other businesses under your umbrella respond to a disaster
in Belgium will have an impact on your profitability thousands of miles away.

Population Shift- Increases of non-white, Hispanic, and multi-racial populations continue to have major impacts on the marketplace.
This fact combined with an aging white population means your customer is
changing too. Does your business have an inclusion strategy? Therefore,
does your business have a plan to market to races and ethnicities who you
have not traditionally focused on? You might be saying at this point, “I live
in Cheyenne, Wyoming, what does this have to do with me?” The fact is
our city and our state are not immune from these shifts. It is a shift taking
place in all communities and happens to change faster in larger areas, but
does not mean it is not changing in your city. Not having a plan to deal with

most is the first step. Then, measuring the impact of your actions will become critical. Having an understanding of those results can generate more
support and develop increased engagement. Being a leader does not require you to be a master of all trades but requires you to focus on a niche
and lead, no matter how small or large.
What or where will Cheyenne and Laramie County be in 10 years? Will we
be a model of success and advancement or will we be an example of stagnation? The decisions we make will decide the outcome, and certainly each
of the factors listed above will shape the destiny of our community in the
future. We can embrace or ignore part or all of these trends, but certainly
the choice will be ours. This means our future will not just have happened,
it will have been built. M

this shift and the changes it brings is, at the least, short sighted and at the
most, financial suicide.

Political and Social Fragmentation- As the population becomes more racially diverse and drawn together, culture and ra-

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