David Johnson, Cedar City and Iron County economic-development director, briefed the council on a fiscal-year recap and current pipeline during the July 30 meeting, saying proactive outreach had generated multiple manufacturing prospects and retail recruitment efforts.
Johnson told the council the county has roughly 4,300 housing units in the permitting or approval queue and that building-department data showed 7,721 certificates of occupancy in 2024; using an average household size of 3.07, Johnson estimated roughly 2,200 new residents last year, about a 5% growth rate.
On business recruitment, Johnson said Iron County responded to a high volume of requests for information and that the city and county have about eight committed manufacturing projects — some publicly announced and others not yet disclosed. He cited examples: American Pacific’s announced expansion (up to $100 million investment), Hive Plastics (rotational molding, 71 new jobs, phase-1 space 23,000 sq. ft., potential expansion to 72,000 sq. ft., $11 million capital investment), and Nautilus 1 (a 64,000-sq.-ft. building in Phase 1 at the BZI Innovation Park).
Johnson described active retail recruitment for the city’s north end and listed announced or in-progress retail/commercial projects in the packet including WinCo Foods, Discount Tire, Wingstop, Jersey Mike’s, Starbucks and others. He said he had “spoken with every single major grocer in the state of Utah and at least two outside the state” in efforts to land a grocery on the north end; WinCo had been announced.
Johnson outlined the Iron County Economic Development Board’s roles and the state GOEO (Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity) funding channels; he noted that most county-level grant funding is directed at small-business assistance, façade grants and marketing support. He described a small-business grant program that awarded about five recipients from 45 applications over two years and a facade/tenant grant program with unspent funds the county can reallocate.
He emphasized higher education partnerships — particularly with Southern Utah University and Southwest Tech — and said customized workforce training, dual-enrollment and other pipelines are a frequent positive during site visits by prospective employers. Johnson told the council that site-selection teams are regularly impressed by the region’s workforce coordination.
Councilmembers asked for periodic updates; Johnson said he will provide midyear and end-of-year summaries and that the department is shifting from broad outreach to helping current prospects finish due-diligence and permitting steps.