Tuesday, the Salt Lake Chamber held its inaugural Business and Policy Summit to preview the business community’s priorities for the upcoming 2017 General Legislative Session with the release of the 2017 Public Policy Guide.
Additionally, the Chamber made two major announcements to develop a long-term vision for Utah’s economy and a new an authoritative business survey that will measure the state’s economic sentiment of the state’s leading executives.
“The history of Utah’s economy is one of transformation, industry and purposeful planning,” said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “Today, we want to send a clear message that Utah’s economy is the envy of the nation, but we still have significant room for improvement.”
During the Salt Lake Chamber’s inaugural Policy Summit, a number of Chamber leaders previewed the business community’s priorities for the upcoming session, which are focused on investing in education, modernizing Utah’s tax code, reforming the state’s regulatory system and allowing new public-private partnerships to advance infrastructure investment.
In releasing the 2017 Public Policy Guide, KSL’s Doug Wright moderated a panel with Executive Appropriations Chair, Senator Jerry Stevenson and House Majority Leader, Representative Brad Wilson, discussing the Chamber’s priorities in relation to other major state issues.
“We look forward to working with the business community in the upcoming session to continue to advance the best economy in the nation,” said Wilson. “Much of our success as a state can be attributed to the collaboration between government and business, and the engagement of our business leaders in guiding Utah’s future.”
Additionally, the Chamber announced a new initative: “Sketching Utah’s Next Economic Blueprint,” which is meant to develop a forward-looking framework for the Utah’s continued prosperity.
“A purposeful, engaged and active statewide business community plays a vital role in Utah’s prosperity. To fulfill this responsibility, the Salt Lake Chamber board, committees and partners will build on current and past efforts,” said Beattie. “We really would like everyone to dream big, think hard and engage as we sketch Utah’s Next Economic Blueprint.”
The effort will focus on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, boosting economic mobility and high-wage job creation, creating a workforce for tomorrow’s jobs, maximizing the state’s global competiveness, making strategic capital investments and enhancing our unrivaled quality of life.Learn more about the process at slchamber.com/blueprint
The Chamber’s other major announcement was the “CEOutlook” – an authoritative business survey, which will take the pulse of Utah’s business leaders.
“The CEOutlook will gauge the confidence of 50 of our state’s top business executives on a quarterly basis,” said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “We’re extremely excited about this project and hope it will inform not just policymaking, but help businesses make better decisions.”
The survey will be conducted in partnership with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, who will oversee survey methodology and work with the Chamber on reviewing results to produce a “CEOutlook Confidence Index.” The initial results of the initative will be released in April of 2017.
