Casper is the Ideal Place to Live, Work and Make an Impact
Lesha Thorvaldson grew up in the Casper, Wyoming, region, moved to Denver for a short time, but found herself back at home, building a family, career and community.
Today, she serves as Chief of Operations at Mountain West Technologies, on the leadership board for Advance Casper and as a member of the Five Trails Rotary Club.
In This Article
Why is Casper a Good Place to Raise a Family?
Casper is just the right size. It’s small enough that I got to know all my kids’ friends and their parents, but it’s big enough that your friend group can vary. There have always been plenty of activities for my family to take part in. Also, we have great schools.
How is Casper Changing for the Better?
We’ve made progress in diversifying our population and diversifying the mindset of growth and welcoming people to move here. That mindset has brought about improvements to the livability aspects for the people who live here.”
What are Your Favorite Spots and Activities?
I go to events at the Ford Wyoming Center, like concerts and rodeos. I love the David Street Station events, like the concerts and farmers markets. My family also loves outdoor activities, like hiking the Bridle Trail, snowshoeing on the mountain in the winter or floating on the river in the summer.
Are There Career Opportunities in Casper?
From personal experience, I started a career in real estate and did that for about 10 years, then worked in the human services field at a nonprofit for another 10 years before transitioning to tech.
I started with an environmental technology company and worked my way to the internet industry. I landed in all these places through relationships within the business community.
Casper offers a lot of opportunities to build careers, because we are trying to diversify the economy and not be solely reliant on oil, gas and mining. But there’s a lot of diversity happening even within those industries.
Are There Networking Opportunities?
I’ve always gained a lot from Casper Area Chamber of Commerce events. They host luncheons and Business After Hours events regularly. I did the Chamber’s Leadership Casper program several years ago, and I met a lot of people I still stay in touch with today.
Advance Casper also does a great job with its events. I’m a member of the Rotary Club, and that offers networking statewide. People in Wyoming are just good at making partnerships and reaching out to one another.
Mountain West Technologies and Its Impact in Casper
This is the 20th anniversary of Mountain West Technologies. We started out as just an email company and now we offer internet, voice service, and we operate a data center that is being upgraded. We are considered a medium-sized ISP with a dozen markets in the southeast quadrant of Wyoming.
Three years ago, we were acquired by 307 First, which is what interested me in joining the company. The mission as a 307 First company is we want to take care of Wyoming customers with a Wyoming company and Wyoming employees, creating a legacy company for generations to come.
We really want to treat customers as our neighbors, because they are. And our employees aren’t just a number; their input is incredibly important to the business. That mission just really fits the Wyoming lifestyle and code of ethics, and that’s what I love about Mountain West.
Is there anything else you want to share?
There’s this goal in Wyoming that we want to keep our kids here. Going back to 307 First, our mission is not just to keep kids here, but to keep Wyoming companies here.
I love the idea of young people going out and experiencing things in different cultures, environments and places in the nation, then bringing that knowledge back to share. There’s a lot of statistical information about how many students from University of Wyoming end up being employed outside of Wyoming. I don’t think that’s all bad, but we also need to have a community that welcomes them back and welcomes their knowledge back.
The community has invested time and money into creating a community that people enjoy living in. We’ve improved upon what was already a great place to live by honoring our community and giving legs to that goal of keeping our kids here.
Get to Know Casper
Want to learn more about living and working in Casper, WY? Check out the latest edition of Livability Casper, Wyoming.