The 2016 West Central Mountains Economic Summit was a tremendous success. With over 150 participants, including the Governor and Lt. Governor, many robust conversations took place that have helped us all better understand the challenges and opportunities that exist throughout our region. Below are are the main takeaways and goals from the breakout sessions:
Transportation & Infrastructure
- Pathways–connecting communities
- Bike lanes wherever possible
- Increased broadband infrastructure (enterprise for business and redundancy for all systems)
- Airport master planning to stay ahead of long term needs
- Multi-modal transit center w/ additional routes between communities
Health & Wellness
- Healthy resources–single parent households, reduce binge drinking, etc.
- Increase educational offerings
- Increase walkability–pathways
- Maintain access to trails and rec offerings
- Greater collaboration on local food resources
Art, Education & Recreation
- Pathways development to connect communities
- Art/music development–new auditorium
- After school programming and leveraging the 4H program
- Maintaining access to trails and recreation
- Regional emphasis on community development–food, housing, recreation, jobs
Jobs
- Improve workforce education/training resources including both soft and technical skills
- Youth development–Junior achievement, mentorship and apprenticeship
- Connect the gaps in seasonal employment–create 12-month employment cycle for seasonal workforce
- Workforce housing development
- Workforce development/diversification through targeting people’s interests, J1 program and training
Housing
- Streamline entitlement process at the city and county level
- More robust partnerships between developers and P&Z staff
- Create an incentive program for developers
- Community education effort to demonstrate value of new proposals
- Create resources for land donation for workforce and/or affordable housing projects
Regional Communication (Training Opportunities)
- Connect businesses with good design–responsive sites and blogs
- Social media enhancement–only use what makes sense for your business
- Content development workshops for businesses–less is more
- Multiple delivery channels for information–print, social media, PR, word-of-mouth, etc.
- Look at analytics–know what’s working