The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) has changed its Center for Rural Development (CRD) team’s service model. The new model assigns each rural outreach manager to service specific counties and communities. Like the Associations of Governments business model, the CRD model will foster interactions with business and community leaders while addressing local economic challenges and opportunities, the agency said.
Two new employees will join the current team of James Dixon, associate director for the CRD team, and Eden Johnson, a rural outreach manager. The new hires are Colette Cox and Forest Turner, who will be rural outreach managers.
“Colette and Forest are great additions to our already-strong rural team,” said Ryan Starks, managing director of business services for Go Utah. “The Center for Rural Development now has more resources that support rural Utah than at any other point in the state’s history. The wealth of rural resources align with Gov. Spencer Cox’s commitment to providing economic opportunity to all Utahns.”
Collette Cox will serve as the outreach manager for Beaver, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Kane, San Juan, and Washington counties, supporting the Southeastern Utah Associations of Governments. She has served rural communities for the past 18 years in economic strategy, innovative startup development, small-business advising and workforce expansion.
Turner will serve Carbon, Emery, Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier and Wayne counties, supporting the Six County and Southeastern Utah associations of governments. He’s served rural Utah communities for the past 15 years with expertise in workforce development, recruitment support for employers, hiring incentives, internship development, participation in job fairs and other community events.