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Economic development director reports roughly 650 new jobs and multiple business openings in first quarter
Summary
Tooele’s economic development director summarized Q1 activity including ribbon-cuttings, vacancy rates, RFIs and job counts tied to recent new and expanding employers.
John Perez, Tooele’s economic development director, presented the city’s first-quarter economic-development update (July 1–Sept. 30) on Oct. 15, telling the council the city has seen strong growth in new businesses, site visits and job creation.
Perez highlighted recent grand openings and ribbon-cuttings including Chili’s, U-Haul, TJ Maxx, Sierra, Five Below, Hobby Lobby, Bath & Body Works, Summit Healthcare and Central States Manufacturing. He said the city’s hospitality-occupancy rate for the quarter was 76.3 percent — nearly 10 percentage points higher than the prior quarter — and noted that inclusion of the new Home2 Suites by Hilton contributed to that figure.
On employment, Perez summarized recent job gains in the business park and Peterson Industrial Depot at roughly 650 new jobs cumulatively: Central States Manufacturing (about 90 jobs), Leitner Poma (about 236 jobs, including related companies), Carvana (about 200 jobs), Ashgrove Cement (about 23 jobs) and Plastics Ingenuity (about 65 jobs). Perez said some positions pay $30–$34 per hour and described the jobs as varied across HR, finance, technicians and other roles.
Perez reviewed lead-generation metrics: the city received multiple requests for information (RFIs) in FY25 (32 RFIs), hosted 11 site visits in FY25, and reported both multi-stage RFI evaluations and a short-list win called "Project 7 Up" (10 high-wage jobs located in the PID) and a JB Hunt win announced through the governor’s office (95 jobs with an average remuneration above $85,000 annually). Perez noted some RFIs remain in multi-stage evaluation. He also described property and strategic-plan work including Broadway property remediation and a corridor preservation grant of about $635,000 for roadway maintenance in the PID area and 1000 North corridor.
Council members praised the activity and asked questions about partnerships with the technical college and job types. Perez and council members said they expect additional announcements in coming quarters; Smith’s grocery was announced to open Dec. 6.
