Meeting the Moment: How Targeted Workforce Training Is Strengthening Rural Wyoming

Building the Workforce of the Future—Starting Now

In 2025, the NSF ASCEND Engine in Colorado and Wyoming set a clear workforce development target: enroll and graduate 50 participants through the gener8tor Skills Accelerator by the end of the year. This goal reflected a broader commitment to strengthening regional innovation by expanding access to high‑value, employer‑aligned skills—particularly in rural communities.

Through our partnership with gener8tor Skills, the NSF ASCEND Engine is delivering free, virtual, and flexible training in areas such as data analytics, project management, IT, and customer service—ensuring that geographic isolation and cost are no longer barriers to workforce participation. The impact of this investment is best understood through the experiences of the learners themselves.

Meet Shiloh Meeks

Shiloh Meeks is the File Clerk and Travel Coordinator for the Eastern Shoshone Business Council Secretaries’ Office, a mother of three, and a multi‑program graduate of the gener8tor Skills Accelerator. Her journey reflects how accessible, skills‑based training can translate directly into workplace performance, confidence, and community impact.

Meeks first learned about the gener8tor Skills program in 2021, when she saw a flyer advertising self‑paced, virtual coursework. She enrolled in the Customer Service course, followed by Project Management in 2022, and later completed IT Foundations and an advanced customer service course in 2025.

“Each of these courses has helped me in so many ways,” Meeks says.

Translating Skills into Workplace Impact

In her role at the ESBC Secretaries’ Office, she works with individuals from all walks of life every day, and the customer service modules have helped her thrive in this face-to-face environment. She has been able to apply her project management skills to assisting the Eastern Shoshone Archives/Public Relations office in organizing events such as the community Christmas lighting ceremony. Last but not least, Meeks’ newly acquired IT skills have made her the go-to person in the office for tech support for basic IT needs.  

The skills she has gained through the gener8tor program have helped Meeks improve her work performance and confidence, so much so that she recommends the courses to family members, friends, and co-workers.  

Human Skills in a Digital World

Meeks is keenly aware of the changing nature of work. “I see the summer youth workers who come in straight out of high school,” she explains. “They’re used to texting and don’t always know how to talk on the phone. Some interactions can’t be replaced with AI.”

Her customer service training helped her adapt her communication style across audiences. “There are big differences between generations,” she notes. “You really have to learn how people communicate—something as simple as eye contact can matter.” These skills now allow her to move comfortably between conversations with state leaders and community members ranging from their 20s to their 90s.

At the same time, she recognizes the potential of emerging technologies. In partnership with the NSF ASCEND Engine in Colorado & Wyoming, gener8tor is in the process of expanding future offerings to include AI for Leaders, and Meeks sees clear value in tools that will improve efficiency, writing, and meeting transcription. Still, in her workplace—serving a diverse, multigenerational community—strong interpersonal skills remain critical.

Coaching, Flexibility, and Access Matter

In addition to self-paced coursework, gener8tor Skills participants receive one‑on‑one career coaching. For Meeks, her coaches helped her better articulate her skills, prepare for difficult professional conversations, strengthen her resume, and present herself confidently on video.

Like many rural learners, Meeks also faced structural challenges. Reliable internet access is not guaranteed in her community, and long travel distances limited her ability to attend in‑person networking events, including a graduation ceremony in Casper—two hours away.  

Balancing full‑time work and motherhood also required flexibility. Meeks often completed coursework during evenings or while her children were at sports practices. Coaches accommodated her schedule by meeting outside traditional business hours, allowing her to take ownership of her professional development.

Aligning Skills Training with Regional Workforce Needs

Looking ahead, Meeks plans to continue building her IT skill set. “A lot of the positions emerging in Wyoming are focused on data centers,” she explains. Many of these roles do not require four‑year degrees but instead prioritize stackable credentials—similar to those offered through the gener8tor Skills Accelerator.  

NSF ASCEND Engine Wyoming Workforce Program Manager, Steven LeBlanc agrees with Meeks, “We are proud of the partnership we have with gener8tor Skills, and the impact of our 2025 pilot programs in creating new digital skills opportunities for rural and tribal participants. These are REAL jobs. Our communities have demonstrated a strong desire to grow with a Wyoming economy that is being increasingly shaped by data-driven roles. Our combined efforts will continue to strengthen workforce, drive economic growth and job creation in Wyoming, and reinforce the ASCEND-related talent pipeline in this region.”

Stories like Meeks’ demonstrate how targeted, accessible workforce investments can deliver measurable returns: stronger employee performance, increased confidence, and communities better prepared for the economic transitions we are beginning to see in Wyoming.

As for what the future holds, according to LaBlanc, “The NSF ASCEND Engine is proud of the pilot program we launched with gener8tor Skills in 2025, and will continue to partner to bring similar course offerings in 2026, but with an added dimension of building a network of ASCEND-focused professionals that will lead efforts to incorporate artificial intelligence into Wyoming's growing workforce needs."

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