With the passage of S.B. 172 in the recent legislative session, GOED is charged with developing an economic development strategic plan by October 1, 2019. The statute directs GOED to consult with sister agencies to develop the plan, including the Division of Workforce Services, the Office of Energy Development, the State Board of Education, the State Board of Regents and the Utah System of Technical Colleges Board of Trustees.
The Economic Development Strategic Plan Committee consists of representatives from the following entities:
- Department of Workforce Services
- EDCUtah
- GOED
- GOED Board
- Governor’s Office of Management and Budget
- Governor’s Rural Partnership Board
- Office of Energy Development
- Technical Colleges
- Utah Capital Investment Corporation
- Utah Department of Agriculture
- Utah Department of Transportation
- Utah Sports Commission
- Utah State Board of Education
- Utah System of Higher Education
- Utah Tax Commission
- World Trade Center Utah
“The statute requires GOED and other agencies to review economic development programs in the state to ensure each of our programs is accomplishing its objectives. This is a great opportunity to reevaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various programs and make recommendations for ways to improve our economic development efforts,” says Val Hale, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
GOED has enlisted consulting services of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) to facilitate in this landmark effort.
Statute highlights
- Establishing principles and making recommendations to decrease competition and increase communication and cooperation among state-level economic development agencies, providers and administrators of economic development programs in the state, nonprofit entities that participate in economic development in the state, and local governments.
- Recommending a fundamental realignment of economic development programs in the state to ensure each program’s purpose is congruent with the mission of the organization within which the program is located.
- Addressing rural economic development by:
- Establishing goals and principles to ensure the state’s economic development strategy works for both urban and rural areas of the state.
- Providing recommendations on how existing rural economic development programs should be restructured or realigned.
- Assessing the effectiveness of the state’s economic development incentives and make recommendations regarding:
- How incentive policies could be improved.
- How incentives could be better coordinated among state-level economic development agencies and local governments.
GOED, as directed by the state Legislature, will work to evaluate all economic development efforts and identify the state’s most important levers to help drive continued economic growth. It will work to improve communication and cooperation, and where possible, reduce and simplify programs and initiatives.
Subcommittees
Subcommittees will guide the Economic Development Strategic Plan Committee’s work and consider various components of economic development outlined in the statute.
Subcommittees include:
- Energy
- Entrepreneurship & Small Business
- Incentives
- Innovation
- International Trade
- Local Economic Development (City/County)
- Measurement & Metrics
- Outdoor Recreation
- Public-Private Partnerships
- Realignment & Reorganization
- Rural Economic Development
- Sporting Events
- Tourism & Film
- Utah Strategic Industry Clusters
- Venture Capital
- Workforce Development
Surveys
Surveys to collect public input were open in June and July. Survey results were provided to each subcommittee to help inform their recommendations and reports to the strategic planning committee.
We look forward to managing this process for Gov. Herbert and the Legislature, and to delivering a forward-looking, comprehensive statewide economic development strategic plan this October.