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Gillette-Campbell County, WY Business Overview

Local economy is advanced in several sectors.

By Kevin Litwin on May 1, 2015

Black Hills Power Plant in Gillette, WY
Wes Aldridge
Black Hills Power Plant in Gillette, WY

The oil, manufacturing, and construction industries are large and in charge in Campbell County, with many companies experiencing economic success and growth in those sectors.

Oil

Oil remains a powerful economic force in Campbell County, with area companies producing 10 to 15 million barrels per year and accounting for 20 percent of Wyoming’s annual production, according to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Commission. One of the major companies is Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, which controls about 2.8 billion barrels of proven recoverable reserves. Other thriving companies include Devon Energy along with Yates Petroleum Corporation, which is based in New Mexico but drills in four states, including Wyoming.

Coal Companies in Gillette, WY

L&H Industrial Inc.

A key manufacturing company in Campbell County is L&H Industrial, which in 2013 was awarded a major NASA contract to machine and assemble replacement components for the Crawler Transporter #2. The Crawler is a gigantic machine that slowly transports rockets and space shuttles from the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the two launch pads that are 3 and 5 miles away.

NASA actually has two crawler transporters that were built in the 1960s and are the largest land transport vehicles on Earth, and L&H is producing about 1,300 large replacement parts for Crawler #2. The manufacturing and assembly project is scheduled for completion in 2016.

Construction Industry

Several companies in Campbell County make up a vibrant construction industry that is built to last. Croell Redi-Mix makes concrete along with asphalt, gravel, sand and stone, while DRM Inc. is a general contractor specializing in road and site-work construction. Other top area contractors include High Plains Builders, Lifestyle Custom Homes, and S&S Builders.

Coal

The coal industry still has a bright future in Campbell County, with companies extracting low sulfur, sub-bituminous coal from several surface mines. Cloud Peak Energy operates three mines and annually ships more than 80 million tons of coal to customers in the U.S. and around the world. Other top coal-based companies include Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal and Peabody Energy.

See What’s It’s Like to Live in Gillette

Power Plant

Dry Fork Station is a coal-based electric generation power plant that began operations in late 2011, using bituminous coal from the Dry Fork Mine north of Gillette. Dry Fork Station can theoretically provide electricity to 300,000 homes and uses pulverized coal and pollution control technologies that result in low emissions.

Transportation Assets

Gillette-Campbell County Airport serves the region with carriers Delta and United that offer daily flights to Denver and Salt Lake City. The airport began offering jet service in 2015. Residents rely on DC Cab LLC for taxi and limo services. For recreation, charter bus company Coach America/Powder River Transportation supplies motorcoaches that can transport up to 55 people to national parks, Las Vegas, sporting events, ski trips and more.

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