When it comes to moving merchandise, Wyoming’s got the goods.

Interstate 25 is a north-south corridor that links Casper, Cheyenne, Denver and Albuquerque and provides perfect access to the Southwest.

Interstate 80 is a straight shot to lucrative Midwest markets; to the east are Utah, Nevada and California. In the north, Interstate 90 takes care of the Northwest and upper Midwest. Together, these quick trips to major markets mean good things for Wyoming's economic development.

The state has 10 commercial service airports, and the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe have lines that crisscross Wyoming.

Warehousing and Distribution Industry in Wyoming

According to state figures, the number of people employed in the transporta­tion-distribution sector skyrocketed almost 50 percent from 2000 to 2008. Transportation and warehousing together are Wyoming’s fastest-growing industry.

Wal-Mart’s distribution facility in Cheyenne serves three states. Lowes anted up $70 million for its distribution center, also in Cheyenne, which supplies stores within 600 miles.

Granite Peak Development LLC has two rail parks in the works, including Cole Creek Industrial Park, 72 acres in Evansville that has direct access to the Burlington Northern Line, says Bob West, company real estate director.

Evansville received a nearly $1 million grant from the Wyoming Business Council for rail spurs, water, sewer and roads as part of a recruitment package aimed at PolyPipe, one of the four largest makers of polyethylene pipe used in the oil and gas industries.

The Texas-based manufacturer built a 35,000-square-foot facility.

I-25 and the Old Yellowstone Highway are in close proximity and rail access is immediate, West says.

The 700-acre C-Tran Rail Park, another Granite Peak project, will handle 12,000 rail cars a year, offloading their contents for distribution by truck or accepting goods on trucks to be transported by train. A similar “transloading” indus­trial park in Upton was dedicated in January 2008.

The state has no inventory tax, a key factor for distribution operations.

Sierra Trading Post in Cheyenne

Sierra Trading Post, a large catalog and online closeout retailer and mainstay in Wyoming's economic development, has called Wyoming home since 1992 when it moved from Reno and became the first tenant in Cheyenne’s business park.

The costs of doing business in Nevada “were really going up,” says Robin Jahnke, the company’s director of fulfill­ment and corporate services.

Today, Sierra Trading Post ships more than 2 million orders annually – 8 million pieces of merchandise, from outdoor sporting gear to clothing and shoes and, its latest line, housewares and gift items.

So many customers now shop online and want their merchandise yesterday that Sierra Trading Post fine-tuned its delivery methods and now puts orders bound for the East Coast on trucks for UPS delivery out of Chicago.

The company looked at the feasibility of an eastern distribution center nearer those markets, but inventory issues and other complications scuttled the idea, Jahnke says.

“We are not moving out of here,” Jahnke says. “This is home.”