UNIFIED ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
Brice Wallace
Starting its fourth cycle of activity, a state commission aimed at fostering a stronger economy in Utah will take a different approach this year.
At a recent meeting, the co-chairs of the Unified Economic Opportunity Commission vowed that the commission will be “more targeted” and have “robust” discussions.
“UEOC was created to be nimble, addressing a variety of economic issues,” said Gov. Spencer Cox, a commission co-chair. “In the past years, we’ve addressed some of the largest economic issues in our state. … This year, we want to shift and be more targeted and focused — a little bit of a lighter touch this time around.”
The commission works to produce bill proposals for the Legislature’s next general session and recommendations for the governor’s budget, with long-range vision in mind.
In past years, the commission has relied on working groups to do a lot of its legwork. They focused on growth and transportation; government efficiency; water, energy and natural resources; and technology, innovation and investments.
That will change this year. Gone are the working groups.
“We are going to be the working group, and so over the next, after today, four additional meetings, there’s going to be a lot more robust discussion at this level, rather than ‘Let’s go back and have a committee come back and report at a later date,’” Ryan Starks, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and commission co-chair, told the group.
“So, we invite you to roll your sleeves up. This is where, really, the rubber’s going to meet the road.”
Remaining in place are three legislatively required subcommittees focused on housing affordability; women in the economy; and talent, education and industry alignment. They will report to the commission occasionally, Starks said.
The commission this year “will meet fewer times but have more focus,” he said. Four more meetings are scheduled through mid-November.
“We really want to go back to our roots this year, making this a true working commission,” Cox said.
The governor said he appreciates that Utah often is at the top or near the top of rankings of states with the best economies in the U.S. “The question I always have is, how do you stay No. 1, how do we keep doing what we’ve done well and really do it better?” he said.
But he emphasized that the commission needs to have a long-range outlook. He pegged the 2034 Olympics, which Utah is expected to land, as providing “just extra motivation that we need to stay relevant and to get this right.”
“There’s nothing inherently special or different about the Olympics. We can choose anytime,” Cox said. “I just think, for any organization, anybody, it’s nice to have markers out there to kind of give us something to look forward to and something to plan towards, and the Olympics give us a natural opportunity to do that.”
House Speaker Mike Schultz, also a commission member, commended that approach.
“So often in government, people are playing Whac-A-Mole with the current issues of the day. Certainly, we have to do that and it’s a bit interesting at times,” Schultz said. “But in business and in so many other ways, if you get ahead of things and plan for the future, we know you’re going to be better off.”
Part of the commission meeting featured an economic briefing by Natalie Gochnour, director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and chief economist at the Salt Lake Chamber. Based on job growth, Utah no longer has the nation’s top economy — it’s currently No. 10 — and is “teetering” near the national job-growth rate, she said.
Gochnour urged the commission to not become complacent after Utah has had the nation’s top economy for so long.
“We are absolutely a top performer. It’s just that our track record of being No. 1 or in the top three has changed since about mid-summer,” she said, noting that the two major reasons for the slippage are high housing prices and labor shortages.
“It’s hard for firms to grow without labor, and it’s very hard to attract people to come here when they can’t find housing,” she said. “Those are the two, in my opinion, limiting factors to being the top- performing state right now.”