Nelson Insurance will become part of Wyoming Financial Insurance, Inc. on September 1. Discussing the sale of the 99-year Powell business are, from left, Ty Nelson, Jim Beukelman, Andy Nelson and Dick Nelson. 

First Company announced Monday the sale of Nelson Insurance to Wyoming Financial Insurance, Inc., based in Casper.

 

The sale, for an undisclosed sum, includes all three Nelson Insurance locations in Powell, Cody and Lander, and creates a total of 12 Wyoming Financial offices statewide. 

 

Nelson Insurance in Powell will remain, according to First Company President Ty Nelson, much the same as it’s been for the last 99 years. The Nelson family started the company in Powell in 1909.

 

“They’ll be keeping all employees on board in the Powell office,” Nelson said, “And Jim Beukelman (president of Nelson Insurance) will continue to be in charge of the Powell office.”

 

David Elmer, business development coordinator for Wyoming Financial, agreed.

 

“Our goal is that customers, and employees, don’t really even notice there’s been a change,” Elmer said.

 

Beukelman, who has been with the company for 32 years, added, “We weren’t interested in being run by an out-of-state or out-of-country company. Wyoming Financial only has offices in Wyoming, so they have a knowledge of the area.”

 

Elmer said Wyoming Financial views the sale as a merger of operations, a partnership which will benefit of customers, employees and the businesses themselves, adding, “Eventually we’ll change the name to Wyoming Financial Insurance, but that’s probably several years down the road.”

 

Nelson also noted, “We’ll be moving the money from the sale back into capital at First National Bank, so no money will be leaving the area.”

 

Dick Nelson, Chairman of the First Company Board of Directors, said the sale was “motivated by two things: The insurance business is extremely competitive. Unless you’re doing large volume, it’s difficult to be profitable. And you’re at the mercy of the insurance companies.”

 

Beukelman added, “On an ironic note, when I first came to Nelson Insurance 32 years ago, I replaced Bob Elmer (who relocated), and now I’ll be answering directly to his son, Dave (with Wyoming Financial).”

 

“That’s good news for our people,” said Dick Nelson. “We like the local connection.”

 

Zeb Lanham, a two-time qualifier for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, edged Gillette’s Bobby Welsh for first place at the Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour event at Stampede Park in Cody Saturday. 

 

Lanham, from Sweet, Idaho, achieved a combined 175.5-point total during the first go-round and the finals. That was enough to help him finish ahead of Welsh, who ended the event with 172.5 points and in the runner-up position.

 

“The key is to stay on two bulls,” Lanham said. “If you can do that, you can put yourself in a good position. Fortunately, I was able to draw some good bulls and had two good rides.”

 

 

 

Powell’s Kanin Asay is home and recovering after sustaining injuries during the bull riding competition at the St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo last Wednesday. 

 

Asay’s injuries occurred during his ride on Corey-Horst Rodeo Company’s 301 Cry Baby. According to the 2007 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, his ride took a turn for the worse roughly around the five-second mark. At that time, Asay lurched forward and met the bull with his head. A second and subsequent impact knocked out Asay, who was then dragged and stepped on by bull.

 

“He really got me strung out,” Asay said Monday morning during a telephone interview. “He hit me once, and I sat back up. Then he hit me a second time and knocked me out. I was knocked out for about six or seven minutes, and I don’t remember anything that happened from then until about two mornings after it happened.”

 

Asay was flown from St. Paul to Oregon Science and Health University Hospital in Portland, where he underwent surgery to remove his spleen. He also suffered a broken rib and facial fractures around his left eye socket and cheek. As if that wasn’t enough, he also had to have stitches for his ear lobe, which was torn during the incident. 

While the nation’s economy slows, much of the West still booms. 

 

The West currently is the fastest-growing region of the United States. While that growth is beneficial to economies of western states, the rapid influx of people also creates problems: the demand for more space and more energy, among other things.

 

In Wyoming and other western states, increased real estate development and the ever-expanding energy industry put tremendous stress on wildlife.

 

Wyoming’s Gov. Dave Freudenthal passed the gavel last week after a successful run as chairman of the Western Governors’ Association. The group, made up of the leaders of 19 western states and three U.S. flag-flying islands, recognizes the critical need to find the appropriate balance between development and the protection of wildlife habitat.  

 

The association has, for several years, sought to learn more about wildlife habitat and migration corridors in the West — and to identify ways to minimize the impact of population growth and the energy industry, while recognizing that these things make up the lifeblood of many western states.  

 

At last week’s annual Western Governors’ Association conference, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne pledged $1 million to help keep open a crucial pronghorn migration corridor in western Wyoming.  It is the same corridor migrating antelope have used for 6,000 years, and it’s crucial to their survival.

 

This pledge, coupled with proposed restrictions on oil and gas exploration in sage-grouse habitat, is proof that the federal government is coming on board.

 

The solid push by the Western Governors to effect federal policy on wildlife protection demonstrates the increasing strength and influence of the Wild West.

Thanks largely to the relentless rise in oil prices, the cost to widen seven miles of U.S. 14-A between Powell and Cody rose during the past year from just over $14.6 million to $25.9 million. 

 

“We incurred about 40-percent inflation last year,” said Cody Beers, public involvement specialist for the Wyoming Department of Transportation in Riverton. “It’s no different than what you and I are paying at the pump.”

 

Every aspect of highway construction is tied to petroleum prices  — far beyond the diesel needed to fuel construction equipment,  Beers said.

 

“Everything that we have — plastic pipe, the fabric we use, asphalt — it’s all oil-based,” he said. 

 

Consequently, department employees were forced to divide a planned project to widen seven miles of the highway west of Ralston into two shorter sections and spread it over two years.

A Heart Mountain couple was hospitalized after the deck they were standing on collapsed during a Fourth of July get-together Friday evening.

 

Ron and Betty Knopp were among a group of 10-15 people on the deck at the home of Glenn and Tonia Reed on Road 2EC east of Cody when it collapsed. A number of other people suffered cuts and bruises but declined transport.

 

Tonia Reed told deputies she was in the kitchen when she thought she saw the deck wave and then slowly pull away from the house and tip onto the back lawn of the residence. 

 

Kathy Reed, the Knopps’ daughter, said a lattice roof over the deck collapsed on some of the occupants, who were quickly freed by others at the party. Fortunately, she said, no one was under the deck when it collapsed.

 

“There were a lot of children there who could have been under the deck,” Kathy Reed said. “It could have been much more serious.”

 

Reed said she did not know how many people were at the party, where they were waiting for a fireworks display. The deputy’s report estimated approximately 50 people were on the lawn.

 

Ron Knopp suffered a broken pelvis and broken ribs, Kathy Reed said, and was still hospitalized Monday. Betty Knopp suffered a deep cut on her back and “a bump on the head.” Both are in their 80s.