Q&A: Weber & Davis: regional roundtable.

• Position: Special Report: Weber & Davis Counties - Discussion

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

A special thank you to Angie Osguthorpe, president of the Davis Chamber of Commerce, for moderating the discussion.

PARTICIPANTS

Mike Bouwhuis, Davis Applied Technology College

Chad Buttars, Utah Executive Real Estate

Mike Caldwell, Ogden City

Roger Christensen, Bank of Utah

Chris Falk, Newmark Grubb ACRES

Rob Lindsey, Cushman & Wakefield/Commerce

Bret Millburn, Davis County

Brad Mortensen, Weber State University

Scott Paxman, Weber Basin Water Conservancy District

Timothy Pehrson, Intermountain Healthcare

Brandon Rawlins, JLL

Darren Rogers, Utah Department of Workforce Services

Dana Slaughter, Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College

Eric Smith, CBRE

Bob Stevenson, Layton City

Sara Toliver, Visit Ogden

David Webster, Davis Conference Center

What is the overall economic outlook in our area?

CALDWELL: For four of the past five years, Ogden has been rated as one of Forbes' 20 fastest growing cities in the United States. Having grown up in Ogden through the '80s and '90s, I don't think anyone would have believed we were going to turn the corner like that.

MILLBURN: Weber County and Ogden have been focused on the outdoor industry. But that's started to trickle down into Davis County with Cabela's. On even a grander scale, in the Station Park area is the construction of the corporate headquarters for Vista Outdoors, which is ATK's conglomeration of outdoor companies. That's a Fortune 500 company that's located right here in Davis County. It's the beginning of many great things that are coming down the pipe.

CALDWELL: The outdoor piece is unique because it's lifestyle based. Typically you locate in places where people can get out and ski, ride their bike, fish, hunt or whatever they want. But that has resonated with other companies like Home Depot and Esurance and a lot of these others that have relocated into Ogden. The lifestyle piece played more into their decision than just about anything else. It was equal to workforce. In a global economy that really matters; now you get to choose where you can live, work and employ your talents.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

RAWLINS: Level 9 Sports, headquartered in Woods Cross, just acquired a mountain bike cycling component to add to its business. That's huge for the Legacy Park trails. You're going to see a lot more of those bike shops. There was also another startup that came out of Weber State called Climate. Climate is an outdoor apparel company that's located in Centerville right next to the Legacy trail as well.

PEHRSON: We're seeing a tremendous amount of growth in the community as witnessed by the fact that we just broke ground on a new hospital in Layton. And we're committed to open up a brand new beautiful sports and orthopedic center in Ogden. We just opened a clinic here in Kaysville. The University of Utah is putting resources down in Farmington. So the healthcare providers are responding to the growth both in the population as well as in the businesses.

When businesses are deciding whether to locate here, the questions they ask are: Is the education great and is there good healthcare? If you get those two things right and you have a wonderful location like we have in both Weber and Davis County, you have a winning combination.

What are our greatest economic strengths? What is being done to capitalize on those strengths?

MILLBURN: Our greatest strengths are our people. Our location is another strength--our proximity to great transportation options, 1-15, Legacy, the airport, and great infrastructure that we have.

BOUWHUIS: The fact we live in a beautiful environment is so attractive for a lot of people. The environment, low energy costs, low taxes, all of those things come to together, and we're poised to grow dramatically over the next few years.

PAXMAN: A big one is Hill Air Force Base and all the economic growth that it brings to both Davis and Weber counties. And the...