BRIGHAM CITY -- With layoffs still heavily outweighing job openings, Box Elder County has been designated as an "area of economic distress" by the federal Economic Development Administration.
As the only such county within an eight-state region, Brigham City Economic Development director Paul Larsen said, Box Elder now has federal funds available to develop a strategic plan to help attract new businesses and retain existing businesses. Larsen made the announcement Friday at an economic summit convened to assess the county's economic situation and discuss ways to improve it.
Larsen said the EDA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, officially placed this designation on the county after La-Z-Boy laid off more than 600 employees in 2009 and took those jobs to Mexico.
Additional layoffs at ATK and other businesses in the county this year have reinforced the hard times.
Brigham City, Tremonton, Box Elder County and the Bear River Association of Governments will work together to develop several projects throughout the next year. Additional funds will be available from the EDA to put them in place.
At Friday's summit, Tom Lee, dean of the Utah State University Brigham City Regional Campus and Education Center, announced the addition of a business resource center to the Brigham City campus.
The center will be in what is presently the USU Extension office and will offer assistance to people to turn their business ideas into reality.
Lee said the director of the BRC will be a small-business expert with support from retired business executives, the Governor's Office of Economic Development, and faculty and students from the Huntsman School of Business at USU.
Prospective business owners can learn how to develop a business plan or provide marketing and advertising for their new business, and more. The program could be expanded later to reduce beginning overhead costs by including the availability of office space and staff.
Lee anticipates services will be available early next year.
The Box Elder Economic Summit also resulted in the formation of the Box Elder Economic Development Alliance, a group of business leaders and city and county officials who will begin meeting next month to develop specific ideas and plans to stimulate growth.
U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said legislation is in place that may strongly encourage NASA to continue the Constellation program to create the next generation of space vehicle.
However, the focus of the summit was on the idea of an economic garden, or the idea of growing more small businesses and making sure they thrive to produce a good harvest of jobs and profits.
Lt. Gov. Gary Bell said this approach is often better in a rural area, because big business can often clash with the local agriculture industry.
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