Growing local economies in tourism-dependent communities requires building off-season businesses, but planners say that depends on first tackling a host of issues ranging from regional transportation to affordable housing.

The Yellowstone Business Partnership, a nonprofit group working to foster environmentally responsible economic growth around the Yellowstone region, hosted a Sustainability Summit in Cody this week to discuss "turning on the off season."

A study on the Yellowstone regional economy commissioned by the group looked at the 25 counties closest to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, with the goal of examining common factors in each of the communities.

"What we learned is that we had more in common with one another than we had with other areas of our respective states," said Jan Brown, YBC executive director.

Brown said that each of the counties was at least somewhat dependent on tourism, but also on construction related to new residents migrating into the area.

Some communities fared better than others in providing health care, transportation or affordable housing, but in general, "we don't collaborate well across boundaries," she said.

The group is working to foster better communication and planning among business and government leaders in rural communities, so that successful ideas can be more easily implemented in neighboring cities and towns, she said.

The study showed that Park County was among the minority of counties studied that was a net exporter of labor earnings, sending $9.2 million in annual wages to other counties, states or regions.

Park County is also highly dependent on construction and real estate income, according to the study, conducted by the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana.

In 2004, the county's economy derived 17 percent of all labor income from travel and tourism, up from 14 percent in 1990, the study showed.

Finding other jobs to augment or replace seasonal tourism work remains a challenge in Park County, where in 2006, 16 percent more people were employed in summer than in winter, a trend that has not significantly changed in 15 years.

A survey of 1,700 off-season visitors to the Yellowstone-Teton region hints that developing more spring and fall recreation activities in Park County may yield better results than trying to build activities strictly limited to winter.

Among off-season activities, wildlife viewing ranked first, favored by 88 percent of all respondents, while skiing finished last, at 8 percent. Hiking, camping and visiting museums were all preferred by 30 percent or more of those asked, while snowmobiling was favored by 16 percent.

While some communities might consider recruiting manufacturing companies, others may choose not to, fearing it might alter the town's rural character, said Ann Adair, an economist at Montana State University Billings.

Such growth also requires convincing employers that an area has adequate health care, transportation and affordable housing, with the latter being the biggest challenge for most communities in the region, she said.

Contact reporter Ruffin Prevost, based in Cody, at rprevost@billingsgazette.com or (307) 527-7250.