Building the Wyoming We Want announces staff
Mary Hogarty joins as Project Coordinator
by Building the Wyoming We Want
March 30, 2010
The Building the Wyoming We Want (BW3) initiative has named Mary Hogarty as Project Coordinator and Steve Achter as Board Liaison.
Building the Wyoming We Want (BW3) is a non-profit initiative that engages people in preserving safe and friendly communities and outdoor spaces for future generations. Last month, BW3 launched its first pilot project, called the High Plains Initiative, which is a regional visioning process taking place in Platte and Goshen counties.
BW3 hired Hogarty to provide assistance and help assure the success of the High Plains Initiative. She will work closely with local leadership in Platte and Goshen counties to develop goals, strategies and guiding principles and will help coordinate meetings with local business leaders, policymakers, stakeholders and local media to explain the visioning process. Achter will assist Hogarty with the initiative, help build resources for the initiative and future BW3 projects and will manage contracts. He acts as the liaison to the BW3 board.
"The Building Wyoming We Want initiative is very fortunate to have such talented people interested in addressing ways Wyoming residents can preserve what they love about the state," said Terry Cleveland, Chairman of the BW3 Advisory Committee. "Mary and Steve bring a wide range of community development experience to the table and we are very lucky to have them join us."
"I feel fortunate to be part of a project that considers the important values of Wyoming residents," said Hogarty who encourages residents to participate in shaping their community’s future. "We all live in Wyoming for a reason. As the state grows and changes, we are working to find a way to maintain the love for our state and the strength of our communities."
"I am excited to be working with the Building the Wyoming We Want and High Plains initiatives in Platte and Goshen County," Achter said. "I have come full circle having started my planning and community development career as the Platte County Community Development Director back in the late 1970's."
Hogarty brings a background in sustainable development, as well as her experience working in local government in Wyoming. Most recently, Hogarty served as the assistant to the Mayor of Pinedale where she acted as a liaison between constituents, mayor and town council, researched and analyzed policy related to Pinedale and Southwestern Wyoming and participated in forums and monitored issues relating to local and state government. She has a Master of Arts in Sustainable Development from SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, VT. She served as a policy committee member on the Wyoming Association of Municipalities’ EENR Policy Committee. She currently serves as a board member of ServeWyoming for Sublette County.
Achter served as the director of the Investment Ready Communities Division of the Wyoming Business Council for almost ten years, before retiring in 2008. During his tenure, the division increased services available to Wyoming communities; developed two new programs - the Business Ready Communities Grant and Loan Program and the Community Facilities Grant and Loan Program; and invested over $136 million into community development in every county in Wyoming. Since 1979, he has served with every economic development predecessor state agency of the Wyoming Business Council.
Development of the BW3 initiative was sparked during a 2008 conference where more than 500 Wyoming residents discussed how to protect what we love about Wyoming while addressing the long term challenges of economic growth. Today, led by a board and an advisory committee, BW3 assists communities and regions in identifying their shared values and long-range vision for the future, as well as help showing residents what future growth might look like and how they might direct the course of development to save what they value most for their children and grandchildren. Join the conversation at www.buildingwyoming.org.
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