Utah Valley Growth & Prosperity Summit

By UVU Photo

October 29^th, 2021

Utah Valley’s going through some growing pains. The good news is that we have leaders from across the valley coming up with solutions to ensure that Utah County encounters strong and prosperous growth. Their meeting place: The Utah Valley Growth and Prosperity Summit (UVGPS) in the Noorda Center at Utah Valley University.

The Utah Valley Growth and Prosperity Summit featured several panels that addressed Utah County’s biggest issues, including business, workforce development, transportation and infrastructure, water, housing, healthcare, natural resources, and education.

Water is obviously precious. The Water and Natural Resources panels discussed what measures Utah County is taking to responsibly conserve and utilize the valley’s many beautiful and useful natural resources.

Utah Valley is home to 665,665 residents. By 2065, there will be an additional million. Is there going to be room? The Attainable Housing Panel met to discuss plans to create affordable and attainable homes for future residents.

School is cool. How are leaders and educators going to keep it cool with an additional million people? The Education and Workforce Development Panel, stacked with Utah’s finest educators and innovative thinkers, stressed that families, civic organizations, and businesses need to get involved in education in order to create skilled and competent workers.

The crown jewel of the UVGPS was the signing of the Growth and Prosperity Compact of Utah Valley, a document outlining the principles that will guide Utah Valley’s growth and ensure the possibility of its collective prosperity. Attendees signed an enlarged copy of the compact between breaks as a commitment to the document’s principles. The UVGPS reached its concluding event when a formal signing was done by Dan Hemmert, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, along with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and former governor Gary Herbert.

Read the full UVGPS recap here.

Footnotes

Photos by Emily Munoz, text by Nick Gledhill

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FootNotes

Photos by Emily Munoz, text by Nick Gledhill