Northern Utah.

• Position: Regional Report - Interview

Let's start with Davis County. How is the area's economy faring?

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J. SMITH: There's been some really good, positive momentum. We've had new businesses coming into our county, into our different cities, a lot of it related to Hill Air Force Base or to the composites training. Our legislators seem to be going into the legislative session with a little bit of optimism this year, and that's a positive thing. At the chambers, we've also joined ranks with not just our two counties but also Cache and Box Elder in a coalition of chambers that gives us a little bit bigger voice.

We see retail strengthening. There's still some concerns with the small businesses, but in general retail is looking better. I think that's all because of some improved basics. We're starting to see some positive feelings on housing and construction, things like Station Park in Farmington and developments in Centerville. There's just a lot of good things that are happening right now.

Some segments and some companies seem to be doing exceptionally well; one that comes to mind is the medical industry. When you combine Lakeview Hospital, Davis Hospital and Intermountain Healthcare--we've got companies that are not just winning awards locally, these people are winning some national recognition for healthcare. That's a bright spot for Davis County right now.

SULSER: Two items that come to mind. One is optimism, and the second is really long-term sustainability for the region. I applaud whatever happens along the Wasatch Front. When Weber County gets a win, we applaud you folks. We think that there's so much relationship and synergy that's created regionally, we have to think like a business. They strip away county boundaries. They look for opportunities within their sectors, and so we applaud your successes as we applaud our successes.

It is all about jobs in the region. Specifically to Davis County, we're experiencing a 6.6 unemployment rate. Utah collectively is 7.1. The nation is 8.5. We're almost 2 percent below the national average. That is occurring because of the synergy and the opportunities right now at hand. We're close proximity to Salt Lake and we have great partners to the north.

How about Weber County?

HARDMAN: We're seeing some growth as well. I'll first just mention a few things on the retail side. Our auto industry is moving along really quite well. Most of the larger dealerships are seeing growth. They're not up to '07 standards but are seeing growth year over year for the last two years. This says that the economy is warming up a little bit. People are realizing that they are more stable in their employment and are willing to make a commitment and buy automobiles, which is the second-biggest purchase that they make.

Looking at general retail, it was a good holiday season for most of our retailers, especially those that are a little more established. Some of the smaller Ma and Pa retailers are still struggling. A lot of that is the capital needed to get their merchandise assortment up to where it needs to be. We're seeing some new retail come in. Our malls and major shopping areas are doing extremely well, but still under the peak that we had in '07. They're optimistic that if the economy continues to go as it's going right now, we're going to have some gains again in this year.

What are the counties and cities experiencing as this economy is slowly moving forward?

CURTIS: We're very fortunate in Layton to have not really experienced a heavy problem with the downturn. As far as housing, though, that has slowed, but it is on the up and up. So housing starts as well as occupation of existing new homes is moving along.

On the commercial side we feel very, very good about what's happening in Layton. Our Business Research Park on the east end of Layton is progressing along really well. So I feel very good about how the economy is doing up in our neck of the woods.

DOWNS: Davis County actually led the Wasatch Front in job growth. We had 4.5 percent job growth. That equated to a gain of about 4,600 jobs. So we're moving in a good direction. Are we where we want to be? No. But we're much farther ahead than most places in the nation--we're in a great state.

Because we have shovel-ready sites, we've been able to add East Gate. We've had our Station Park in Farmington. We have our Park Lane Commons that have gone in. We've got Falcon Hill that we're still watching. Even though it's slower than we would like, it's moving, and that's kind of a win for both counties. We've got Eaglewood Village going on in the south end of the county. And we've got a lot more shovel-ready sites.

From that perspective, Davis and Weber are headed in a very good direction and we're much healthier than most places. And we know we still have to push and continue to promote and work on things, but we've got a great crew, great businesses, great groups that are bringing new business to the area.

MILLHEIM: For a city to be successful it requires a three-legged stool. First, you need a good housing stock--a broad mix of all types of housing so you can meet the needs of all income levels. In Farmingtons case, as well as many Davis and Weber cities, we've done that. We've got a good cross-section of all housing types, and that's really helping our economy.

The second leg of the stool is really good retail/service space. Now, Farmington is playing catch up with that. Station Park is a huge impact on that, and we're growing. Our sales tax increase trend is at the top of the charts right now statewide. But really we're just taking those dollars from somewhere else and bringing them over to...