The 2023 election cycle is around the corner, Cedar Valley Sentinel sent out an invitation to all of the Candidates running for office in Fairfield and Eagle Mountain with an invitation to answer a set of questions. Over the course of the next few weeks we will be publishing those questions and the answers provided from the candidates. If you have missed any, or would like to go back and review them, you can do so by visiting this link: Cedar Valley 2023 Election Center. #2023
Question: What is your stance on economic development and attracting businesses to our city? How do you plan to promote local entrepreneurship and job growth?
Jared R Gray
Eagle Mountain City Council
As a business owner myself, I encourage supporting businesses. The city has been working hard on economic development and there are already new businesses in city center as well as the proposed Walmart to be built. It is also very important that the priority for fiscal responsibility ensure that residents are not overtaxed to benefit corporations. We need greater public input to keep a positive balance between taxation, budgets and incentives for businesses.
Michael Weber
Fairfield Council Seat A
Still thinking about this one.
Melissa Clark
Eagle Mountain City Council
For many people economic development is almost an afterthought, that they will get to when a bunch of other items are addressed. This is the opposite of what we need to be doing because a healthy, thriving business community mitigates the other problems that often plague communities. For example, one of the best ways to address rush-hour gridlock is to have great jobs in the community so there are less people leaving the city and returning at the same time every day in a long commute. A vibrant business community also addresses some of the biggest needs in a community. In times of crisis, local small businesses are often the first to step up and support their communities. They are the ones sponsoring local events, participating in fundraisers, and giving back whenever there is a need. They are invested in the well-being of the community because they are part of it. Supporting them means ensuring that we have a safety net of support during challenging times and a foundation for growth and prosperity in the future. Eagle Mountain has been on the forefront of creative solutions and attracting businesses to our city. One such way has been the RTI, Regional Technology and Industry, Overlay Zone. This has helped the city prioritize specific business types, that are either needed in our community or are big contributors without as many negative impacts. It opens up a special approval process for qualifying businesses. The RTI makes specific areas of the city designated for this purpose and then pre-qualifies certain uses and streamlines the approval process and provides development-friendly standards. Eagle Mountain fostered the creation of our own Chamber of Commerce to be a support to local business and entrepreneurs. As the President of the Eagle Mountain Chamber of Commerce, I have worked over the last year, to listen to the individual needs of local business owners and entrepreneurs, provide resources, training, and workshops, and create more networking opportunities so new business owners can find mentors and colleagues to improve their business. All of this has been done almost entirely without taxpayer dollars and yet both examples have been a tremendous help to local business and a huge draw to new businesses. As a Councilmember, I would continue to listen to the business owners to hear about what they really need, I will advocate for our community on a regional and state level, and I will lead out with innovative ways to support and foster our businesses.
Angelina Washburn
Eagle Mountain City Council
I would love to make Eagle Mountain a place where small and larger businesses can flourish!! I would love more opportunities for businesses to get their name out and recognized, and more opportunities to highlight and promote our own businesses in Eagle Mountain, all of this means more help from the city to our business owners and collaboration on various media platforms.
Rich Wood
Eagle Mountain City Council
1- We have been pretty substandard in our economic development efforts in Eagle Mountain. Most of what we have now was either already entitled a decade or more ago or were a result our location and low land costs for data centers to come to. Part of that problem has been the administration employment policy of learning on the go, promoting from within, or next person up rather than hiring experts in the profession to utilize their experience, skill and existing relationships to our benefit. Our current leadership disbanded our economic development board and has tried to farm that responsibility out to the Chamber of Commerce(not their role). We have some of the brightest minds in their industries, living right here in Eagle Mountain. I am pretty confident that the majority of the city council after the election will vote to reestablish the citizen Economic Development board and empower them to help us find and secure the best commercial and industrial partners for our city.
2- As a city we can be a great partner with the Chamber of Commerce in small business and entrepreneur development. We have very successful models to learn from in Orem City. We just need to quit talking about it and do it.
Craig Morris
Eagle Mountain City Council
No responses to questions returned.
Hollie McKinney
Fairfield Mayor
Fairfield is very unique in this area. I would estimate that almost 1/3 or more of Fairfield residents are self employed with successful businesses, 1/3 retired and 1/3 travel to work. One thing we all have in common is we choose to drive out here for a reason- peace and quiet. I support local Entrepreneurship while understanding the value of peace and quiet. I will not actively seek businesses to come to town. If there is a business a resident or landowner wants to develop and it aligns with the desires of our community we would be willing to work with them and look at their unique situation. I will do everything I can to preserve the town’s unique character.
Craig Whiting
Eagle Mountain City Council
If you want to bring local entrepreneurship to the city, focus on creating neighborhoods that attract entrepreneurs. History has proven this: decades ago when the Old Mill office subdivision (in Cottonwood Heights on the border of Holladay) was made, critics scoffed at it because of its distance from the CBD (Central Business District, meaning downtown SLC), thinking its distance would dampen lease rates. It turns out this office subdivision is VERY successful. Why? Because many entrepreneurs & business owners lived in nearby Holladay. Business owners like short commute times, just like employees enjoy short commute times, and the business owners decided to setup shop in Old Mill. The critical key is this: the entrepreneurs lived nearby BEFORE the Old Mill office subdivision was created. It’s not like the office subdivision popped up and then entrepreneurs moved nearby. So we need to attract entrepreneurs. We do that by creating enough distinct quality subdivisions that will attract business owners who will subsequently feel enticed to move their businesses to Eagle Mountain. Also, since we have thousands of acres of undeveloped land, we can use that asset to attract businesses that need lots of land to operate. We need to use our competitive advantage to its greatest measure.
Scott Ferre
Eagle Mountain City Council
I have worked with small businesses my entire career and have seen how cities have made life difficult and sometimes detrimental to small businesses. The best way we can attract business is to foster a positive and easy working environment for businesses seeking to establish locations in our city. Our interest as a city council should be in the success of those businesses and we do our best to accommodate what they need for success in terms of how they build and equip their operations. If the city government is easy to work with, communicates well with entrepreneurs and proposed projects are rapidly processed with approvals, reviews, comments, permitting and inspections during construction, then we will be a magnet for successful and valuable business ventures.
Alina Pringle
Fairfield Council Seat A
It is vital that we create an economic development plan for the future. By supporting and building infrastructure to attract the types of businesses into Fairfield that the residents desire, we can create, from the very beginning, the future city we want our great-great grandchildren to enjoy.
Mike Kieffer is an IT geek by hobby and trade, with a BS in Information Systems & Technology. He is a proud father of 10, a grandpa, an author, a journalist, and internet publisher. His motto is to “Elevate, Inspire and Inform”, and he is politically conservative and a Christian. Mike has a passion for technology, writing, and helping others. With a wealth of experience, he is committed to sharing his knowledge with others to help them reach their full potential. He is known for his jackassery or his form of self-expression that encourages boldness, creativity, and risk-taking. It can be a way to push the boundaries and challenge traditional norms, leading to creative solutions and positive change.