Emery County economic board tables extra business grants, earmarks 2026 RCG funds and backs RCOG intent

At a meeting of the Emery County Economic Development Board, members tabled a proposal to allocate an additional $60,000 to the 2025 business improvement grant program, approved earmarks for the 2026 Rural County Grant (RCG) application and recommended that the county submit an intent to apply for the state Rural Communities Opportunity Grant (RCOG).

The board had discussed a staff recommendation to give $5,000 each to 11 previously unfunded applicants (a total of about $60,000). Board members debated whether to spend carryover and current-year RCG dollars now or reserve them pending completion of a county master plan for the Emery County Industrial Park. After discussion, Board member Lauren moved to table the proposal “and continue with the existing plan.” Brock seconded. The motion carried with an aye majority and one recorded opposed vote from Patsy; the board did not allocate the requested $60,000 at this meeting.

Board members and staff emphasized that using the RCG funds for business recruitment and marketing depends on having usable planning materials for prospective employers. Jordan (staff member) and others described a reissued request for proposals for engineering and a timeline of roughly a month before a contractor is selected to work on the industrial-park master plan; members said design milestones could be paid as the master plan progresses.

Natalie (staff member) told the board there is $20,000 carried over from previous years and $55,000 remaining from this year’s RCG allotment. Several board members urged caution about leaving funds unspent if program guidance changes, while others said the county should not spend money before the master plan and related marketing materials are ready.

On the 2026 RCG application, the board voted to earmark proposed allocations for the application that Natalie presented: $115,000 to the business improvement grant program, $10,000 to the junior entrepreneur program and $75,000 for business recruitment/marketing/economic-development activities. Lauren moved to adopt the amounts Natalie specified; another board member seconded the motion. The motion carried.

The board also voted to recommend that the county submit an intent to apply for the Rural Communities Opportunity Grant (RCOG), a competitive GOEO-administered grant that can fund economic development projects (applicants may request up to $600,000). A board member made the motion to recommend submitting an intent to apply; it was seconded with an amendment committing the board to file a full application by the Oct. 31 application deadline. The motion carried.

During discussion, several members and guests suggested next steps to increase the county’s chances of recruiting industry: developing an “asset package” or marketing brochure describing the industrial park, using state resources such as EDC Utah or the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO) for recruitment, and contracting marketing or recruitment firms rather than creating a full-time county economic development position funded by grant money. Deborah (staff participant) offered to arrange presentations by state recruitment partners and to share lists of shovel-ready municipal projects gathered through the county’s blueprint process.

Public comment included a resident, Pam Whitmire, who described small tourism and lodging projects she plans to pursue and urged the board to remember “the little grants for the little people.” Deborah offered to connect the resident with state tourism and astrotourism resources.

Next steps the board identified: keep the previously approved spending plan in place while the commission proceeds with the master plan and engineering selection; schedule a special September meeting to host presentations from state recruitment partners (tentatively Sept. 8); and follow through on the RCOG intent and the Oct. 31 application deadline if commissioners and staff move the projects forward.

The board’s decisions at this meeting were procedural and advisory: the master plan, county commission approvals and any contractor hiring will affect whether and how grant funds are spent.