Casper's economy is growing, something everyone agrees with.

But is the growth strong and steady, or a boom?

If it's strong and steady, then Wyoming's future is positive, but if it's a boom, an inevitable bust may be on the horizon.

"This seems to be a more sustainable growth than a boom," said Ron Bailey, President of Security State Bank in Gillette. "I think Casper is in a good growth cycle, and there's going to be some ups and downs in a growth cycle."

Wenlin Liu, a senior economist with Wyoming's Economic Analysis Division, said compared to other states in the country, Wyoming is booming, but not in contrast to previous Cowboy State booms.

"Employment was increasing 5, 6, 7 percent for many years," Liu said, about the energy boom in the 1970s. "We aren't increasing as much as back then. Particularly since 2007, we are more a steady, strong economy."

Similarly, Brent Hathaway, the Dean of the College of Business at the University of Wyoming, said a boom can be considered double-digit growth in gross domestic product.

Wyoming has been around 4 to 6 percent, which is strong, he said, but not alarmingly strong.

"Part of why everyone says it's a boom is because we were so lean in the 90s," he said.

There are also similarities between the current growth and the increases in the 70s, he said, especially since both were triggered by energy.

Casper City Manager Tom Forslund said the line between booms and steady growth is relative.

We are in a boom compared to 10 years ago, he said.

"But are we in an unmanageable period of growth we can't keep up with in Casper?" he said. "No."

Casper's residential building permits are around 300 new homes a year, which he said in a community of 52,000 is "not a huge number."

Much of Casper's current growth is not directly coming from the mining sector, Liu said. From 2003 until 2006 roughly one-third of the new jobs in Wyoming were created by the oil and gas extractions industry.

"Since 2007, employment continued to grow strong, but the mining alone only increased 3 to 5 percent," he said.

Most of the current job growth is due to the construction industry, albeit mining-related construction jobs.

The main difference between the last boom and the current growth is the world scene, Hathaway said. Global demand for energy is much higher now than in the 70s, and as long as that remains strong, Wyoming will continue to grow.

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com