Torrington – Go Goshen recently held its first Community Breakfast of the year to award the annual Neil Newman Horizon Award and to recognize a graduate of its incubator program. A presentation was also provided by Ashley Harpstreith, Executive Director of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association.

The Neil Newman Horizon Award is bestowed upon community visionaries who see beyond the horizon. It is without a doubt this year’s recipient, Bill Law, exemplifies this award in every way. His dedication to serving Torrington, Goshen County and the State of Wyoming for the past 60 years is quite remarkable.

Law began his fire management career with the Yoder Volunteer Fire Department prior to relocating to the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department in 1962. He was appointed by the Goshen County Commission as county fire warden in 2004, while also serving as the City of Torrington’s emergency management coordinator until 2012. He then took on the role as a city councilman for two terms from 2012-2020.

Law recently retired from his service as Goshen County’s Fire Warden, a role in which he served for nearly two decades. He spent many years advocating for rural fire districts and firefighters, lobbying on behalf of local and state agencies. In a tribute to Law in his retirement, Senator John Barrasso stated, “Honest and humble, Bill is a man of great integrity. He dedicated his life to serving others, making his community and state better in the process. Though his experience and wisdom will be missed, I know he will continue serving as a mentor, advocate, and trusted adviser.”

Law accepted his award stating, “I thank you for this. Neil Newman is the kind of person who knew the meaning of community and he worked to promote what we had, and he wanted to see it grow.”

With 60 years of devoted service to Goshen County, we applaud Bill Law as recipient of the 2024 Neil Newman Horizon Award.

Also honored during the event was Patrick Kelley of Kelley Integrity Safety Solutions. From start-up to success, Kelley’s journey took perseverance to get through the COVID-19 pandemic and back on track.

Kelley Integrity Safety Solutions utilizes computer programs and virtual reality to build employee training workshops that companies across various industries use to prepare their new employees and continue the education of seasoned employees; with the foremost clientele being the oil industry.

Go Goshen CEO, Brayden Connour introduced Kelley Integrity as a success story of the incubator program and of Goshen County. “Go Goshen board and staff congratulate Patrick on his graduation and hope his business continues to do great things and continues to flourish,” said Connour.

The awards ceremony was followed with a tax talk presentation by Harpstreith. An overview of her presentation can be found here.

Go Goshen – which includes Economic Development, the Goshen County Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, and Tourism – is a non-profit organization that prioritizes the retention and expansion of local businesses. Since 1987, the organization has encouraged business growth, created jobs, and built on local community assets in five Wyoming municipalities: Fort Laramie, LaGrange, Lingle, Torrington, and Yoder.