Building a brighter future: How Utahns can strengthen their state

The prosperity that Utah enjoys today was earned by people who made hard choices and did the work. Utahns today are living on what earlier residents built.

That pattern will continue because what moves Utah forward has been luck or timing. It is people who decide to act. The conviction is the foundation of Utah Rising.

Utah Rising is a statewide, business-led plan spearheaded by the Salt Lake Chamber and the Utah Chamber.

The vision is straightforward: to become and remain the top-performing economy in the nation. The Utah Rising plan organizes that ambition into six focus areas: workforce and education, transportation, the business environment, housing, livability and natural resources.

Each one carries a strategic goal, a signature project and honest measures that help us improve as we go.

They recently completed the next phase of this plan and added something new.

Under each focus area, residents will find practical action items for businesses and organizations that want to play an active role in Utah's future.

While Utah Rising belongs to all Utahns, this next phase recognizes a simple reality: businesses have an extraordinary ability to shape our state's future through the decisions they make every day.

Whether you're a business owner, executive, employee or simply looking for ways to make a difference in your community, these ideas inspire action and conversations about building the strongest state in the nation.

If you're part of a business or organization, review the focus areas below and identify where your team can make the greatest impact. No business can do everything, but every business can do something. This is how thousands of individual commitments become a rising state.

Utah's future will rise highest when we build it together.

Workforce and education

The goal is the best-trained, healthiest workforce in the nation. Those involved in the signature project will invests $1 billion in training mental health professionals to improve counselor-to-student ratios in Utah, recognizing that a strong foundation for future workers begins in the state's schools.

Action items:

• Give employees paid time to volunteer for reading and mentoring programs.
• Partner with schools or organizations focused on literacy initiatives.
• Offer internships, apprenticeships and tuition assistance that lead to credentials.
• Value industry-recognized credentials when hiring and promoting.
• Offer flexible work environments that encourage employees to complete degrees or credentials.

Transportation

Utah has always been the Crossroads of the West, and it is becoming the Crossroads of the World. The goal is to keep people and goods moving as the state grows, measured by a statewide mobility index. The signature project is to double-track and extend FrontRunner along the Wasatch Front.

Action items:

• Encourage carpooling or use of public transportation by providing incentives.
• Offer transit programs, bulk-pass partnerships and staggered schedules to help pull cars off our roads at the busiest hours.
• Educate employees on transit options.
• Consider access to transportation when making location and expansion decisions.
• Advocate for policies and partnerships that align transportation, housing and economic development.
• Champion sustainable transportation funding and investment strategies.

Business environment

The next goal is to grow the number of mid-sized Utah companies (those with 100 to 999 employees) by 25 percent by 2027. The signature project advances the University of Utah's Responsible AI Initiative.

Action items:

• Mentor smaller companies through the hard part of scaling.
• Build supplier and vendor programs that help smaller businesses grow.
• Adopt new technology with intention, and partner with our universities on the innovation that keeps Utah competitive.
• Participate in mentorship: share expertise, resources and support to other emerging companies.
• Promote Utah's business environment to talent, partners and investors.

Housing

Utah should be a place where everyone who calls it home can have a home. The goal is to keep housing costs more in line with what Utahns earn. The signature project supports Utah's plan to address homelessness by increasing access to permanent housing.

Action items:

• Partner with developers and communities on workforce and starter housing.
• Weigh housing supply when deciding where to expand.
• Offer housing-related benefits, and speak up for the permitting and zoning reforms that help construction catch up to demand. Support workforce, housing and affordability solutions.
• Offer employees resources on housing options, financial literacy and homeownership programs.

Livability

Livability is what keeps talent here. The goal supports a statewide livability index to better know how to measure and implement improvement. The signature project is the Capital City Renaissance.

Action items:

• Bring people downtown for work and for events.
• Join the local alliances engaged in placemaking and activation.
• Back the arts, recreation and cultural assets that make people choose Utah.

Natural resources

Utahns are wise stewards of the environment and natural beauty. The goal is to keep energy affordable and reliable, lower per-person water use and improve air quality.

The signature project promotes an all-of-the-above energy strategy that includes utility-scale solar, advanced modular nuclear and a critical-minerals consortium.

Action Items:

• Set internal targets for energy and water use, share successes and lessons learned.
• Upgrade facilities for efficiency.
• Adopt water-wise practices in your operations and your landscaping.
• Teach employees conservation habits.

Invest in innovations that improve efficiency and sustainability

The action items highlighted here are just the beginning. Explore the full Utah Rising plan, including additional recommended action items, at utahrising.com.

If you're part of a business or organization, find one action your team can take. Together, residents of our state can build a stronger, more prosperous Utah for generations to come.