Port committee approves 1st loan

The Utah Inland Port Authority appointed the first members to its loan approval committee at a recent meeting. The committee is charged with recommending the terms and conditions of infrastructure loan agreements and making recommendations for infrastructure loans for UIPA board approval.

The makeup of the committee is dictated by the statutes passed by the state Legislature creating the port. The two committee members appointed by the{mprestriction ids="1,3"} governor are Duncan Evans, senior managing director of budget and operations for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget; and Jonathan Ellis, assistant director of the Division of Finance at the Utah Department of Government Operations. Stuart Adams, president of the Utah Senate appointed Kirt Slaugh, chief deputy state treasurer for the Utah state treasurer’s office. Adams and House Speaker Brad Wilson jointly appointed Steven Allred, deputy fiscal analyst for the state. Wilson still has a final committee member to name.

“The commencement of a loan approval committee is a crucial step in laying the groundwork for the advancement of project areas,” said Benn Buys, UIPA deputy director and chief financial officer. “The committee members’ expertise will be instrumental in steering the intricate aspects and details of project areas forward.”

The new committee elected Allred as committee chair and took up its first order of business. The members recommended that the authority approve an infrastructure loan to Commerce Crossroads for improvements in the newly designated Iron Springs Inland Port in Cedar City.{/mprestriction}