Summt / wasatch economic.

We have a partnership with the Bureau of Reclamation--the property owner--to do renovations. This May we increased to three lanes into the park rather than two to try to increase traffic flow. The third lane's not operational yet because we're using an automatic fee gate. We're trying to increase efficiency without increasing the cost of personnel.

We're bringing in more private businesses to do operations. A concessionaire is opening a floating campground, which is basically a floating dock that's two stories high that people can rent. Have you seen the fly boarding activity? You're basically hooked up to a jet ski with a water jet pack that comes out of your feet and you fly above the water. All these weird and interesting things are happening and we're right in it. Paddleboarding has exploded. As part of the renovation, we're going to build a paddleboard storage facility We have paddleboard events at our park. There's just as many paddleboards as boats. The Sailing Club has exploded also. Tuesday night there were 55 sailboats out racing.

BURNS: We have seen sales volume increase over the last three years by 50 percent every year. We've hit that sales record for the last two years in a row and we're well ahead of last year's pace now. That's an indication that things are going better, at least in the real estate market. As we talk to people we notice even people in Utah are feeling very confident about the economy and their personal situations. We're getting a lot of people out of the Wasatch Front who are very optimistic about the economy and are willing to take a risk of buying luxury real estate now. For us that's an indication that there is this confidence that we're seeing that we haven't seen before.

Not only are people building new homes, I, as the developer, feel good about where the economy is. We're making: We'd like to thank Deer Valley Resort for hosting the event and Myles Rademan, leadership director at Park City Municipal Corporation, for moderating the discussion

Summit and Wasatch counties have successfully bounced back from the recession, which has resulted in major growth in a myriad of industries. Here area leaders discuss key trends and challenges the area is facing, from a ski industry lawsuit to transportation constraints.

Is the Great Recession over for us?

THOMAS: I can definitely see the wave of change. The friends I have that have architectural practices and businesses in the city have an influx of new work and it's pretty staggering. They're all very busy again, as they were prior to 2008. We know from our data that all aspects of the community are up. Lodging is up, restaurants are up. We're really exceeding that curve of 2008. It's a cautious, optimistic environment.

OLSEN: We're seeing a number of different positive trends right now. We saw a great winter season, especially in our food and beverage. I always have what I call the "wine index." People are spending more on bottles of wine than they have in the past. It isn't really scientific, but during the economic decline, people spent less on bottles of wine.

The other indicator is our occupancy. Our occupancies are almost there, but that has more to do with the number of luxury hotels we have in the market. We've increased 400 to 500 percent over what it was in 2008 with the Montage, St. Regis, Waldorf and what have you. We have our own development, Stein Eriksen Residences. We built a model home this last winter and opened in the first of January. Of the 54 units, 30 have already been pre-sold and have hard money on them at very high prices. The money is out there. People are spending it, and that's the biggest indicator.

A lot of corporate groups have come back. They're still a little hesitant because of the beating they got back in the recession, where people were a little prone to jump on the bandwagon and say, "Why are you spending this money when everybody's hurting?" A lot of them have changed their travel. They don't go to the extremes they did back then. They'll come and do shorter events, spend less money at the events, but they're traveling again.

The financial sector is a little more leery of traveling, but we are seeing them come back. The JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs type groups are traveling again. They're not traveling in the volumes they did pre-recession. There's still a little bit of hesitancy for people to come to a five-star resort simply because of shareholders and people in the public sector looking in and saying, "Why are you spending this rate at a five-star hotel when you can go to a four-star hotel and spend a little less money?"

BACKUS: We've really seen an increase on the recreation side. State parks are doing better than ever with less money than ever. We were forced with the cuts that we had from the recession to constantly think and act more like a business and become self-sufficient. Jordanelle itself has now been self-sufficient for the third year in a row. We're turning money back into the system to help the museums and things that cannot be self-sufficient. It's been a lot of hard work. We're thinking outside the box.

This year was the first year we were allowed to raise fees. Everything we do is controlled through the Legislature. It's always scary when you increase fees. You're not sure if it's going to hurt you or help you, but we had the biggest Fourth of July weekend we've ever had. It was unbelievable. We raised day-use fees to $12 on weekends and kept it the same during the week so we don't push people out. Tent camping fees went from $16 to $20, $22 on holidays. RV camping went from $20 to $25, $28 on holidays. Again, we're trying to think like a business. When it's high demand, you increase the prices. We didn't see any fluctuation whatsoever as far as lack of reservations. a bet. We're putting $15 million into capital expenditures this year building amenities, like a clubhouse, and bringing new properties online, which we have not done since 2007. These are 160 new home sites that we didn't have before. We feel bullish on what's going on. Our buyers are coming to buy. They're buying built homes. They're buying properties to build and stay. We're getting people that are actually living on property now. About one-third of them are primary residences. One-third are people from the Wasatch Front driving up to spend weekends here. The other third are the typical vacation home, the second home. After trudging through the last seven years, the last couple of years have felt really good.

BUSWELL: From a construction perspective, because of financing, the private developer just went away quietly. It's interesting, even in the last six months, to see the dialogue of people talking about new, larger condominium and resort-type projects. They're not necessarily going to happen today, but all of a sudden people are back in the conversation.

During the recession there were a lot of subcontractors and even general contractors that essentially left the business. Now you've got our subcontractors getting busier. They have to say, "We either need to man up or let's put some profit into this thing." The costs, through manpower, start increasing. I love it when our...