By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Juab County and South Utah County are areas attracting a
growing number of inquiries from manufacturers looking to
expand in Utah.
An economic summit, a first for the area, presented ideas
on boosting businesses in the region. Held Friday at Spanish
Fork Middle School, experts spoke about ways to attract more
business and the tax boost that comes with business to the
area.
Speakers at the first Nebo Economic Summit included Utah
Gov. Olene Walker, former Brigham Young University football
Coach LaVell Edwards, Cary Peterson, state agriculture
commissioner and Jonnie Wilkinson, associate director of the
Utah Department of Commerce.
The Nebo summit was organized by the five Chambers of
Commerce in Spanish Fork, Santaquin, Springville, Payson and
Nephi and area businesses such as Alcoa Engineered Products,
Mountainview Hospital and Longview Fibre.
Other organizers included the Nebo School District, Utah
Valley State College's small business development center and
the state Department of Workforce Services in Spanish
Fork.
Gov. Olene Walker, who presented the kick off address at
the summit, cautioned that some rural communities in the
area have to be prepared for the growth that will come
before it arrives.
Walker said south Utah County and Juab County had the
opportunity to benefit from spill-over economic development
along the Wasatch Front and Salt Lake County.
"This area used to be rural when I went to Brigham Young
University," Walker said.
"Now growth along the Wasatch Front is spilling over into
Santaquin, Salem, Spanish Fork and will reach Nephi and
Mona."
She said that Juab County, for instance, remains
primarily an agricultural area despite the area's growth
along Interstate-15, but the county should soon see
increased industrial growth and new jobs brought to the
region.
The growth also would require the area's rural
communities to prepare for urban growth challenges such as
limited water resources and Interstate 15 congestion, she
said.
Walker was referred to the Currant Creek Power Plant, a
$350 million, 525-megawatt gas fired plant that will be
built in Juab County and is set to have the first phase
on-line in 2005.
"We see a potential struggle for cities to determine how
to accommodate farmland with urban development, Walker
said.
She said a concern brought to her attention by city
officials from the region included requests to broaden the
Aerospace Aviation Tax Increment Funding Act in order to
benefit all Utah airports.
"Things are more positive than what some economists are
saying about Utah's economy,"said Russell Fotheringham, a
director of the Utah Valley Economic Development
Association.
He said some manufacturers are attracted to Payson and
Spanish Fork because they have a sizable number of
properties served by railway lines.
That is also true for the communities of Mona and
Nephi.
"A buildings materials maker, which may add 300 jobs in
Utah, and a wood products maker, are looking at Payson and
Spanish Fork, because railway-access means raw materials and
manufactured foods can be transported easily," he said.
The wood products maker may add 700 jobs in south Utah
County.
"Another manufacturer is also planning to substantially
expand in the south county area over the next three years.
This local company now has about 40 workers, and may add
another 200," Fotheringham said.
Of the 70 inquiries made in Utah recently, 30 are for
prospective projects in Utah County. In March alone, there
were 10 inquiries made, Fotheringham said.
"That's abnormally busy for March, especially since there
were no inquiries at all last March," he said.
That compares with a mere five business inquiries in Utah
in 2002.
While the South Utah County businesses could, if the
process proves successful, add to the economy of Utah County
the population spill over could affect the Mona and Nephi
communities.
In the past, the "bedroom" community which is what occurs
when a worker lives in one area and commutes to work in
another, has been a draw on the economy of the bedroom
area.
The big boost to the economy of Juab County is the
Current Creek Power Plant which will bring a property tax
benefit to the county. The needed shot in the arm will bring
needed money into the coffers of the county.
"The engine of Utah's economic growth is education and
health care services and supporting services for those
industries. BYU and UVSC have spun off lots of high-tech
activities that helped keep the economy going," said Jim
Robson, Utah Department of Workforce Services.
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