During the economic winter of the past three years, Davis County and its 15 cities have been quietly working to organize and coordinate their efforts to attract and expand businesses.
A key part of that effort, a new economic development website, launched this month at www.daviscountyutah.gov/economic_development.
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Davis County has launched a new website for prospective businesses at www.daviscountyutah.gov/economic_development.
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"We wanted the website to not look like government, but to look more like a business website that [prospective businesses] could relate to," said Kent Sulser, director of community and economic development for the county.
The website touts Davis County’s proximity to Salt Lake City International Airport and downtown Salt Lake City, as well as its trail system and favorable demographics. It also has a pull-down menu mapping 11 key sites where businesses might find raw land or manufacturing, office and retail space.
"It should send the message that we are open for business, and are interested in growing our tax base and developing workforce centers," Sulser said.
Davis County already is outstripping other Wasatch Front counties in job growth.
In 2011, the number of non-agricultural jobs in Davis County rose by 4.5 percent, compared to 3.7 percent in Utah County, 2.2 percent in Salt Lake County and less than 1 percent in Weber County, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
Yet even with a growing number of jobs, Utah’s smallest county — geographically speaking — remains largely a bedroom community.
About 40 percent of the county’s workforce commutes out of Davis County for work every day, Sulser said. Some 18,000 commuter cars head north to Weber County and beyond, and 35,000 cars go southbound, mostly to Salt Lake City.
The county and its cities figure that is one of Davis’ sales points: it has a plenty of workers and many of them would love to shave an hour and a half off their days by working closer to home.
What’s a bit unusual is Davis County government’s aggressive role in economic development. There is very little unincorporated county left for development — most of it Great Salt Lake lakebed or in Farmington Bay. Adjacent cities will annex any remaining parcels as they are developed.
But Commissioner Louenda Downs said it made sense for the county to bring together the 15 cities to work jointly on economic development.
Each month, some 45 to 60 representatives of business, real estate, city government and the county get together as part of Davis Unified Economic Development for workshops and information sharing.
"The health of the county is dependent on all of us being healthy and strong," Downs said. "We’ve come to realize this, especially in economic development and quality-of-life issues."
Downs was on the Davis School Board in the early 1990s when the north and south ends of the county were often in competition for retail development and jobs. As cities grew and shared more boundaries, much of that parochialism fell away, she said.
"They see the bigger picture now. The lines have dissolved," Downs said. "It’s been to the benefit of the county."
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