Money Move: Scottsdale Mint Finds Greener Pastures in Casper, WY

Courtesy of Scottsdale Mint

It was 2020, and Josh Phair knew it was time to move Scottsdale Mint, the currency business he’d launched in Arizona 12 years prior. 

“Scottsdale was a wonderful place to play golf and shop, but it had gotten very expensive to manufacture there,” he says. “And it was becoming a difficult place to raise kids.” 

Phair says he considered “pro-business” states, including Tennessee, Texas and Florida, but also took a hard look at another potential landing spot. 

“Wyoming,” he says. “I was looking for stability. Wyoming was the No. 1-ranked ‘sound money’ state in the nation – it’s stable.” 

Phair zeroed in on Casper, the Cowboy State’s second-largest city, and visited there in January 2021. Barely three months later, he pulled the trigger – Scottsdale Mint began shifting operations to Casper in 2023 and is looking to have its entire operation in place and running there by early 2028. 

“Casper outkicks its coverage,” he says. “The terrain is incredible – hills, rivers, mountains – and it’s more exotic than Denver. It’s a place that offers opportunity, and the philanthropic culture is incredible.” 

The Pitch 

Scottsdale Mint produces gold and silver bars for investment as well as gifts and collectibles. It also makes hard currency for about 20 central banks and governments worldwide. 

“Bigger countries do their own,” he says. “But smaller countries outsource, and we’re a private option.” 

Asked to quantify Scottsdale Mint’s annual sales, he replies with three words: “In the billions.” 

Phair says he was “kind of blunt” when he gathered his team to pitch its members on the move. “I said they’d be trading a rugged summer for a rugged winter,” he says. “There was a handful who I thought would come who just couldn’t make it happen. But a lot I didn’t think would move said they’d love to give it a go. We ended up moving about 20 families, about 100 people in all. Most of us want to be part of a story or adventure.” 

The city proved to be the perfect combination: large enough to offer plenty of amenities, yet small enough to feel like a community. 

Courtesy of Josh Phair

‘A Lot of Pride’ 

While he was pleasantly surprised by the number of Scottsdale Mint staffers who said they’d join him on the trip north, Phair says the people he found living and working in Casper tipped the balance. 

“There are a lot of skilled workers,” he says, “and culturally, Casper is full of hard workers, doing things with their hands and a lot of pride.” 

There’s no manual on how to build a mint, he says. It took the company two years to get a major power upgrade, and Phair found the electric utility was easy to work with. 

And Phair says he’s already seeing the effect that the move is having on its new hometown. “We work with local tool shops, and the owners of some of those shops have told us that we’ve changed the direction of their companies,” he says. “The airport here has set new traffic records, and we’ve probably helped with that. We never thought that moving this business would be easy, but it’s been a blessing to work with this community and be part of this community.”