We invited them.
Mostly, it was our self-interest speaking.
In 2006, the burgeoning energy boom outstripped the capacity of Wyoming's labor force to keep up.
At the same time, Michigan was mired in hard times. General Motors announced plans to eliminate 30,000 jobs and close as many as 12 North American plants. Ford also slashed its work force, and suppliers like Delphi were hemorrhaging red ink.
It was Chris Manegold, then president of the Casper Area Economic Development Alliance, who hit upon the idea of recruiting skilled workers in Michigan for jobs in Wyoming.
Manegold reasoned that idled Michigan auto workers possessed the kinds of skills that could be transferred to the energy boom.
Wyoming and Michigan also had similar climates and recreational opportunities, which might make a move more palatable.
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It was more than just individual workers who Manegold wanted: "We're recruiting families," he said.
Families meant spouses and kids, teenagers who might work in restaurants, and wives or husbands who could fill other gaps in the labor market.
Recruitment wasn't limited to mining jobs. Wyoming had shortages in many fields.
So off they went, state economic development groups, community colleges, and business and Wyoming Workforce Services representatives.
In the winter and spring of 2006, they held job fairs in Flint, Lansing and Jackson, Saginaw, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.
Curious and sometimes desperate Michiganders showed up to see what Wyoming was selling. More than 1,100 attended jobs fairs in Flint, Lansing and Jackson. Their skill sets ran the gamut, from health care workers and welders, to engineers and laborers.
They took us up on our invitation, at least to have a look.
Liz Becher, then vice president of CAEDA, argued the recruitment effort should be viewed as a helping hand to Michiganders extended by fellow Americans. But Michigan state officials were not amused by what they saw as poaching.
"They were not one bit happy that we were taking their skilled workers," she said.
So unhappy, in fact, that Michigan officials launched something of a counter-offensive, running ads in Wyoming media to interest local workers in Michigan jobs.
CAEDA determined the six Michigan job fairs yielded 649 applications for 12 firms within months of the recruiting trips.
The number of Michiganders who actually showed up for work in Wyoming also increased. But much of the gains were short-lived.
Of the Michigan workers who came in 2006, only about half were still employed here at the end of a year, an analysis by the Research and Planning Section of the Wyoming Department of Employment showed.
Michigan workers remained at about the same rates as, say, workers from neighboring Nebraska, even though moving from Michigan was a more difficult undertaking.
Affordable housing was a major stumbling block, Becher said: "We all learned we ended up getting the people here, without the residential available to them."
CAEDA is no longer recruiting in Michigan. But the state still needs workers.
In Michigan, meantime, a bleak picture has darkened further. It's questionable whether the auto industry, upon which Michigan had depended for decades, will even survive.
As the national economy heads south, even more workers might find themselves looking westward.
But what will be the obstacles, physical and otherwise, to actually remaining here?
Reach business editor Tom Mast at (307) 266-0574 or tom.mast@trib.com.
Contrast in rates
In 2007, Wyoming's unemployment rate was 3 percent, among the lowest in the nation, while Michigan's was among the highest at 7.2 percent. And while Wyoming created new jobs at a healthy clip, Michigan lost jobs.
Search continues
The Wyoming Department of Corrections has announced new plans to recruit in Michigan. Of 125 corrections officers hired by the department last year, 72 came from Michigan.
