Safe to Stay Open campaign receives $1 million coronavirus impact funds

The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) in Salt Lake City has received a $1 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to support Utah’s Safe To Stay Open campaign in response to the economic impacts caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The grant was announced by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and comes from the Economic Development Administration (EDA). The grant, to be matched with $250,000 in local funds, is expected to create 256 jobs, GOED said.

“This investment comes at a crucial time to help Utah and our nation’s economy come roaring back and provide hard-working Americans with new opportunities,” said Dana Gartzke, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. “EDA is pleased to invest this CARES Act funding to make resources available to Utah, including five national parks and seven national monuments, to support business training, recovery planning and a comprehensive marketing campaign to foster recovery and resiliency of Utah’s tourism industry.”

GOED said the project was made possible by the regional planning efforts led by Utah’s seven active Economic Development Districts: Bear River Association of Governments (AOG), Five County AOG, Mountainland AOG, Six County AOG, Southeastern Utah AOG, Uintah Basin AOG, and Wasatch Front AOG. EDA funds these AOGs to bring together the public and private sectors to create an economic development roadmap to strengthen the regional economy, support private capital investment and create jobs.

EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance, which is being administered under the authority of the bureau’s flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance program, provides a wide range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.