James Kincaid opened the door of his two-story, yellow paneled home in Green River, Wyoming — a rural, high desert town built on the backbone of the state’s mining economy. 

Inside, not much was hanging on the walls yet, except one prominent decor. 

“This is a Kansas white tail deer,” Kincaid proudly said about the deer his wife shot in their home state of Kansas.

Hunting is a family love. It was Wyoming’s wildlife that partly inspired the Kincaids’ 1,000-mile move last fall, but also, it was his dream job. 

“I was doing what I love to do,” he said. “I love to tear stuff apart and put it back together.”

Kincaid worked on the machinery that moves trona, a translucent mineral, from underground to the surface. Once refined into soda ash, it goes into everyday items, like glass, batteries, baking soda and detergent. Southwest Wyoming is home to the world’s largest natural trona deposits. In fact, it is the state’s biggest export.

Kincaid hired on in October for $45 an hour with Genesis Alkali, which was one of the top players in the global industry.

“You know the HR lady kept asking me, she says, ‘Are you gonna be out here for a long time?,’” Kincaid remembered. “I said, ‘Until you fire me, yeah.’ And then two months later it’s like, here it is.” 

Genesis laid off Kincaid and 29 other workers, pointing to a global trona market downturn. That was confusing to Kincaid because he had been hearing about expansions and hirings in Wyoming’s trona mines. 

He thought he had a career-long job. 

“It wasn't the layoff that upset me the most,” Kincaid said. “You know, the layoff, I've been there before, but I wasn't a thousand miles and buying a new house.”

The layoff notice came just a few days after the Kincaids closed on their first house, with enough room for their three kids. 

“This is my daughter’s room,” said Kincaid as he opened a door framed by freshly painted white walls. 

And just how big is the house? 

“Freaking huge,” Kincaid chuckled. “It’s 2,100-square-foot, I think it is.”

But it is also a $2,100 mortgage. Kincaid scrambled to find a new job, applying to at least 30.

“My wife and I are stubborn enough that we're gonna make a go at it,” he said. 

Wyoming touts itself as an outdoor wonderland, hoping the wide open spaces and mountains will draw in workers for the big industries, like coal, natural gas and trona. And with Kincaid at least — it worked. 

“I absolutely just love it up here,” he said.  

The visit at Kincaid’s home was in early January. Since then, Wyoming’s governor said the trona layoffs were just a bump in the road. The state is still banking on the industry — and so is Kincaid.

That confidence is further solidified by President Donald Trump championing industries like coal and mineral extraction. Kincaid felt like if he stuck it out eventually something would come through, and it did.

In a follow-up phone interview this spring, Kincaid had good news to share. He got a job with another local trona company. 

He is back doing what he loves: tearing stuff apart and putting it back together.

“Yesterday, we worked on a hydraulic cylinder that needed to come out,” he said.

The 300-pound piece of equipment had to come out from underground.

“It's not something you just pick up and manhandle, you know,” Kincaid said. “You gotta find ways to get creative as far as rigging this stuff up.”

Now that he finally got work, Kincaid said he will be able to afford not only his mortgage, but time off for a family hunting trip — his big reason for moving to Wyoming.