‘It’s important that they give us a look’: Rural Matters committee shares report with Gov.-elect Cox

Mayor Jon Pike stands before the wall of mayors. Photo taken Dec. 16, 2020, St. George, Utah | Photo by David Dudley, St. George News.

ST. GEORGE — After meeting twice weekly for several weeks, the Rural Matters Committee, chaired by St. George Mayor Jon Pike, unveiled a 20-page document Sunday summarizing their vision for the future of rural Utah.

In this June 25, 2020 file photo, Utah Republican Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox speaks at the Utah State Capitol during the daily briefing on the state’s efforts to fight COVID-19, Salt Lake City, Utah | Associated Press photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News

“The vision is relatively simple,” said Pike, who was tapped by Gov.-elect Spencer Cox on Nov. 5 to chair the committee. “Rural Utah deserves a voice in our ongoing conversations around economic development. Of course, the challenge will be how we get there. This report is a kind of road map.”

The presentation, which took place via Zoom, lasted about 45 minutes, and played to an audience that included Cox, Lt. Gov.-elect Dierdre Henderson and several senior officials and advisors.

Pike called the report a distillation of the committee’s ideas.

“We didn’t want to make a binder that would collect dust on a shelf,” Pike said. “We wanted short- and long-term ideas that could be put into action.”

St. George Mayor Jon Pike stands before the wall of mayors, St. George, Utah, Dec. 16, 2020 | Photo by David Dudley, St. George News.

The committee, which includes members from Cache, Beaver, Grand, Duchesne and Washington counties, was chosen by Cox. They are tasked with developing a vision and then teasing out its aspirations.

“It’s important that Lt. Gov. Cox gets this information now,” Pike said. “This way, it may tie into the upcoming legislative session.”

While Pike said that he couldn’t go into specifics regarding what’s in the report, he said his collaborators are paying close attention to land use, roads and infrastructure in rural areas.

“We’re focused on increasing our technical capabilities,” Pike said. “We’d like to see broadband internet throughout these places as soon as possible. As more and more people are working from home, this will be crucial. People will need this infrastructure to do their work.”

Pike said that the committee had discussed ways to help build smaller businesses, incentivizing them to create more jobs, and, in doing so, to help them become more sustainable.

“A lot of Washington County’s smaller businesses are tech-related,” he said. “Many are operating out of home offices and garages. It takes a lot of resources to go from a home office to an actual office. We’re hoping to get grants into the hands of those business owners. When they hire more people, it benefits everybody.”

As new jobs numbers rise, so will the number of people seeking jobs.

“We’re seeing lots of people leaving bigger cities,” Pike said. “We want to know: How can we participate in the potential growth that comes with that? How can we get people to come to places outside of the Wasatch Front?”

Many of those migrating from out of state will be remote workers, who bring various skills, as well as tax dollars, to Utah.

“It’s important that they give us a look,” Pike said. “It’s also important that we stop exporting our greatest resource. That is, young people.”

Though some states offer paid incentives to move there — like Vermont, Alaska and Maine — Pike doesn’t think Utah needs to go that far.

“People are coming anyway,” he said. “We’re going to invest on the business side.”

Pike said that Washington County is among the fastest growing metro areas in the country. Since Washington is what Pike calls a transitional county — meaning that it contains rural areas as well as suburbs within its boundaries — St. George may see some of the benefits.

“We may be able to use this opportunity to further develop the Lake Powell Pipeline, for instance,” Pike said. “This will be huge for growth and conservation, and it will benefit many areas.”

Pike said that he looked forward to working with LaVerkin resident Stephen Lisonbee. Lisonbee, who also attended the presentation, was tapped last week by Cox to join his cabinet as senior advisor on rural affairs.

“We hope that Mr. Lisonbee will use this report as a framework to serve the people of Utah,” Pike said.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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