In case you didn't receive the recent email, Pleasant View is looking for an Assistant City Manager. Click on the link here to get the PDF job description and how you can apply for the job.
Pleasant View seeking Assist. City Administrator
Job Opening for Salt Lake CIty Corp.
DIRECTOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
Salt Lake City Community Development/Economic Development Division
$95,000 yr. or salary commensurate with experience
Salt Lake City Corporation is seeking an Economic Development Director to lead the city’s efforts to expand its tax base, support growth of neighborhood economies and create opportunity for local entrepreneurs. Reporting to the Director of Community and Economic Development Department, typical duties includes overseeing the city’s economic development investment portfolio, managing recruitment and retention efforts, managing small business support programs, and leading productive partnerships with internal and external stakeholders. Job details @ www.slcgov.com/jobs. Closing date: 5/24/13. E.O.E.
"COOL" Spring Meeting
Last week's Spring Meeting in Spanish Fork was another great one. We met in Spanish Fork at the North Park Grand Pavilion where we had the opportunity to hear from some great presenters, to network and to enjoy some great food. If you didn't have the opportunity to attend the meeting, go to our meeting resources section to see the presentations you missed.
Make sure to mark your calendar and plan ahead to attend our summer meeting on July 18th in Logan. We know summer can be kind of hectic, so we're giving you a heads up now. More details on the agenda and where we will meet will be to you later next month.
Utah Tourism Conference Scheduled for May 14
Online re
gistration is now open for the 10th Annual Utah Tourism Conference that will be held at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George from May 14-16, 2013. The conference is co-sponsored by the Utah Office of Tourism and the Utah Tourism Industry Coalition (UTIC).
“Tourism drives the Utah economy with jobs and tax revenues, so it's really important for all industry partners to gather once a year,” said Vicki Varela, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, Film, and Global Branding, an agency of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “We will brainstorm, share successes and collaborate to make sure tourists experience the very best of Utah Life Elevated®.”
The agenda includes sessions on domestic and international marketing, research trends, social media, a legislative update, and other topics.
Utah is #1 in Digital Education
Utah ranks No. 1 when it comes to state policies dealing with online education, according to a new national study . The Beehive State was the only state to receive an overall “A” grade, according to the Digital Learning Now Report Card, a pro-digital nonprofit in Washington, D.C.
For the first time this fall, Utah high school students can enroll in up to three, free, online courses. Also, home-school and private-school students will be eligible for the first time. “A lot of folks are looking to Utah,” John Bailey , executive director of Digital Learning Now, said Monday . “Utah has done well because of very bold leadership over the last couple of years.”
The report highlights lawmakers passing SB65, which allows students to take online courses throughout the state, through the Statewide Online Education Program.
The number of Utah high school students taking online courses continues to increase, more than doubling this school year to 475.
Utah continues to support Entrepreneurs
Utah recognizes the importance of diverse financing options to encourage small business growth. A top priority for the State is to continue to find new ways to assist promising new Utah business ventures and the jobs they create.
A collaboration between the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), the Governor’s Economic Council and the Utah Small Business Growth Initiative (USBGI) recently announced the allocation of $4 million in State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) stimulus funds which will be placed in seed or early-stage venture funds who are or will be investing in Utah companies.
In recognizing the need to expand financing options available to Utah small businesses, the Utah Small Business Growth Initiative (USBGI) has been selected to administer these funds on behalf of the State. USBGI is led by Mike Plaizier, who is also the executive director of Utah Center for Affordable Housing and has 30 years of banking experience.
GOED Appoints new Managing Director
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) has hired a new managing director of Business Outreach and International Trade. Vincent Mikolay, a long time strategy and business development specialist, has accepted the position and will transition into his new role immediately.
“We’re extremely excited to welcome Vincent to our team. We continue to work to recruit the very best and Vincent is an example of that effort; he has the depth of experience that will enable him to hit the ground running. Vincent’s unique skill set is exactly what we need in the leader of our business development team as we refine and further operationalize our strategy to accelerate the growth of our key economic clusters in order to ensure that we keep Utah a premier business destination,” GOED executive director Spencer Eccles said.
Sahara Inc. named General Contractor for the Horse Station
Sahara Inc., a diversified construction service company based in Bountiful, Utah, has been designated as the General Contractor for the Horse Station at Cache Valley according to the project’s Master Developer, Strategy 5 LLC. Sahara Inc. has provided professional design/build and construction management services using a unique collaborative approach for the design and construction of commercial, industrial, institutional, retail, residential and sports facilities throughout the western United States since 1985.
“Sahara Inc. and its President and CEO Thomas C. Mabey have long expressed a particular enthusiasm for the whole concept of the Horse Station,” said Strategy 5 Principal Ernest E. Bleinberger in an interview. “Their clear understanding of the destination nature of the Horse Station which includes hotel and resort-type facilities, arenas and other major elements, coupled with the importance of retail and other commercial components, makes them a particularly good fit for us.”
Dixie College becomes a University
Despite some renewed debate over the school’s controversial name, a bill to make Dixie State College a university won approval from the Utah Legislature Wednesday.
"For some members of our community, the term Dixie is associated with slavery and racism, and it’s important for their voices to be heard," said Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City. "On a regional level, it’s based on culture and heritage but if you look at the rest of the U.S. it becomes associated with slavery."
The bill passed the Utah House with six votes against and 68 votes in favor and passed unanimously in the Utah Senate. Gov. Gary Herbert is scheduled to sign the bill Saturday at a ceremony in St. George, said Dixie State President Stephen Nadauld, and it will go into effect immediately.
"It’s pretty clear that at every level there’s dissent from a small number of folks, and we understand that," Nadauld said after the vote.
Rep. Lowry Snow, R-St. George, said on the House floor that in Utah, Dixie signifies a "spirit of tolerance, love and welcome."
"The move to create this university is an accomplishment of part of its destiny, not just for Southern Utah, but for the whole state," he said.
Dixie is a nickname for the region that traces back to a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission in the 1800s that sent pioneers, some of them former slave owners and drivers, south to grow cotton.
Confederate imagery, including the flag, a soldier mascot and occasional student use of blackface, was part of the school for decades; the symbols were formally retired in the late 1990s. The mascot’s retirement is "a painful thing for a lot of people in southern Utah, believe me," said Rep. Brad Last, R-Hurricane.
"In the community, where most students come from and the supporters come from, there is support for this name," said Last, referencing an advertising firm’s study released last month that found an overwhelming majority of people in and around the school were in favor of keeping the word in the name.
Bill sponsor Rep. Don Ipson, R-St. George, said university status will be an economic boon to the community, keeping more students and tuition dollars in the community longer.
"It’ll be phenomenal," said Ipson. "It’s kind of an emotional thing for me."
The final version of the bill removed a $4 million budget request; the higher education appropriations subcommittee is now considering a recommendation to give Dixie State an additional $1.34 million next year.
At the Utah Senate, rules requiring a third reading and a committee hearing were suspended to vote on the bill immediately. It passed that body unanimously, without debate over the name.
Sen. Patricia Jones spoke in support of elevating the school, which she’s been familiar with for decades.
"Dixie was then known as a party school. That has changed so much. It’s now known as a fine institution where students from Utah and outside the state long to go," she said.
To qualify to become a university, Dixie State officials spent four years tripling the number of bachelor’s degree programs to 42, hiring new 60 faculty members and meeting other benchmarks set by the Utah Board of Regents.
The fast timetable for the bill will allow the school to print "Dixie State University" on diplomas for students graduating in May, Nadauld said. After the signs are repainted and the logo changed, officials will let the school adjust a bit before considering adding master’s degree programs.
"It’s been four years of dramatic change," Nadauld said. "I think we’ll need to let it digest."
Despite some renewed debate over the school’s controversial name, a bill to make Dixie State College a university won approval from the Utah Legislature Wednesday.
"For some members of our community, the term Dixie is associated with slavery and racism, and it’s important for their voices to be heard," said Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City. "On a regional level, it’s based on culture and heritage but if you look at the rest of the U.S. it becomes associated with slavery."
The bill passed the Utah House with six votes against and 68 votes in favor and passed unanimously in the Utah Senate. Gov. Gary Herbert is scheduled to sign the bill Saturday at a ceremony in St. George, said Dixie State President Stephen Nadauld, and it will go into effect immediately.
"It’s pretty clear that at every level there’s dissent from a small number of folks, and we understand that," Nadauld said after the vote.
Rep. Lowry Snow, R-St. George, said on the House floor that in Utah, Dixie signifies a "spirit of tolerance, love and welcome."
New Board Elected for 2013
Congratulations to the newly elected board for 2013. As in the past, the board is made up of representatives from both urban and rural settings, corporate and government entities. We are looking forward to another great year at the alliance. If you have ideas, questions or want to participate on the board in the future, please give Linda a call or email. We would love to hear from you!
Linda Gillmor, President
Mickey Beaver, Vice President/President Elect
Kent Sulser, Past President
Doug Meldrum, Secretary
Les Prall, Treasurer
Tammie Lucero, Board Member
Susan Davis, Board Member
Rick Stock, Board Member
Matt Rich, Board Member
Marlin Eldred, Board Member
Delynn Fielding, Board Member
Marian Hein, Board Member, Special Assignment/Web
Utah Job Growth is Positive
Utah employers added 35,800 jobs and experienced job growth of 2.9 percent in 2012, the state's highest rate since 2007, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.About 71,000 Utahns are still looking for work, but the state improved from a 5.8 percent unemployment rate a year ago to 5.2 percent. Utah remains far below the national average of 7.8 percent.
Several Utah industries made significant gains in 2012. The professional and business services sector, consisting largely of accounting, engineering and design, added 10,400 jobs, an increase of 6.3 percent. 
"That's absolutely what you want to see because these are generally high-education, high-salaried jobs," said Mark Knold, chief economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. "It creates a strong trickle-down effect for the rest of the economy here." Knold said Utahns are learning to adjust in the face of a post-recession economy and several rapidly changing industries.
"The important thing to employers now is thinking, innovating and problem-solving," he said. "That's what's going to get people ahead and drive our economy forward in the information age."
