Northern Utah economic effort off to good start

By Brice Wallace

A joint effort to boost economic development in Northern Utah continues to advance, apparently with early positive results.

And that has happened despite having no name, logo or website.

“I think we’re ahead of schedule,” Chris Roybal, executive director of the yet-to-be-named organization, recently told the Weber County Commission. “I really do. I think we’re off to a really good start.”{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

The Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) is working under a three-year contract to establish and support the new entity, which was approved by the commissions of Weber and Davis counties in June. Roybal, a former president and CEO of EDCUtah, was named executive director that same month. The new entity is charged with branding and promoting the Northern Utah region.

Roybal said a name and logo likely will be ready in mid-December, while website development is advancing and could be operational by the end of the month.

Despite being in place only a few months, the entity has been busy, concentrating primarily on boosting exposure of the area. A document promoting Northern Utah has been prepared and is scheduled to be sent to 800 national site selectors.

“We want these site selectors to know who we are up here in Northern Utah, and then quarterly we will be sending them new things about Northern Utah — who the companies are that are expanding up here, what’s going on. So, this is about exposure and letting them know who we are,” Roybal said.

A marketing trip to Northern California resulted in meetings with six site selectors. Four subsequently asked for more data, he said.

“That’s a good sign. They weren’t bored with us. They were interested in Northern Utah. They hadn’t heard specifically much about it outside of the Salt Lake City marketplace, so that’s what we need to do more of. Quite frankly, we could do that just about every month and it wouldn’t be too much.”

A similar trip to Southern California will take place in January.

The past few months also has featured meetings with major real estate brokerages, construction companies, banks, law firms and developers.

“We’ve had people come up and look at our market that have never been up here,” he said of the developers. “They’re interested. We’re a little weak on office development up here, industrial is pretty strong, but we’d like to see more office development and we’ve got some good opportunities here in Ogden and in Farmington. …They wouldn’t come if they weren’t interested.”

The area has several economic development attributes and several companies have announced or are planning significant developments there, Roybal said.

“We like to think that anything good happening in the region is good for everybody,” he said. “[If] something good happens in Ogden, it’s good for our friends in Davis County, and vice versa.”

Roybal said the effort is supported not just by the county commissions but by all of the municipalities in Weber and Davis counties.

“They love what we’re doing. They need the help. Most of them don’t have a full-time economic developer,” he said, adding that in January, the entity will start to meet with municipality representatives to train them on economic development and provide updates on the organization’s activity. “We’re sort of adding a little bit of muscle to their local groups, and they’re excited about it.”

As for the website, it will include a real estate database “so that any piece of land roughly five acres and up is going to be showcased on that website,” he said. “It’s going to be first-rate, A-plus.”

“I think we’re off to a pretty good start,” he told the commission. “We just need to keep the momentum, we need to keep the level of communication out there and the exposure out there for what’s happening up here for job creation and hopefully we’ll see a lot more success in the coming months. It’s going to take some time, but I think we’re off to a good start.”

The commissioners agreed. Gage Froerer said Roybal was doing “an excellent job.”

“It’s basically a matter of letting everybody know — including the brokers, site selectors and all these companies — that we have the best location between Davis and Weber in the state, and I think you’re making a good effort to do that,” Froerer said. “I’m a little prejudiced, but I think we are the place to be for the future, and with your efforts, I’m confident we’ll get there.”

Scott Jenkins agreed that the organization was ahead of schedule.

“I think if you would’ve said six months ago that this is where you hoped to be today, we’d have laughed, we’d have said there’s no way, but I think that’s exactly what’s happened,” Jenkins said. “And I do believe the commercial markets in Salt Lake are noticing this now. They’re watching us and looking at what’s happening north. And I’m excited. I’m excited what’s happening. That’s good stuff.”

James “Jim” Harvey said “there’s an excitement about Weber County.”

“Having been around Weber County government directly for more than 25 years, it appears that we’ve had more people looking at us in the last six months than we’ve had in the last six years, and that’s encouraging,” Harvey said.

The organization is charged with:

• Creating a strategy for regional economic development.

• Providing organizational structure and resources to implement and deliver on strategy.

• Coordinating with Davis and Weber County municipalities and businesses.

• Helping local businesses with expansion and retention initiatives.

• Engaging with local, national and international businesses to showcase Davis and Weber counties and attract new businesses.

• Engaging with site selectors to effectively market the region as a location of choice.{/mprestriction}

• Leveraging existing assets to maximize the marketability and attractiveness to outside business.