The Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee on Oct. 1 advanced three of Gov. Cox’s nominees to the full Senate by unanimous voice vote, moving Judd Cook to the Board of Economic Opportunity as a member at large, Brigham Tomko to the same board as a targeted-industry representative, and Ryan Paul to the Board of State History.

The nominations drew brief but substantive exchanges. Judd Cook, introduced as the governor’s appointee to replace Brigham Tomko in the member-at-large seat, described a 28-year career in the natural gas industry and his current roles as “the president of Questar Gas, vice president and general manager of Enbridge Gas, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.” He said Questar Gas “serve[s] 1,200,000 customers” across Utah and maintains “roughly 22,000 miles of pipe in the ground.” Cook said his long ties to the state — he said he is a native Utahan from Plain City — inform his interest in serving on the board.

Committee members asked Cook about Utah’s strengths and weaknesses for economic development. Cook praised the state’s low energy rates, workforce and higher-education pipeline and said Utah benefits from focusing recruitment on targeted industries. On permitting he said municipalities vary in how they regulate work in streets and charge fees, calling some fees “a tax without being a tax” and urging greater consistency across jurisdictions to streamline projects.

After that exchange, the committee moved to recommend Cook to the full Senate. The motion to advance the nominee passed on a unanimous voice vote.

Brigham Tomko, also nominated to the Board of Economic Opportunity but for a targeted-industry seat, told the committee he has long worked on economic and education issues in the state and described a history of entrepreneurship. Tomko said he has “started about a dozen businesses in Utah” and described prior service on boards including the state land trust and economic-development entities. He said he sold a language-assessment company called Immersion to Rosetta Stone, is majority owner of a market-research firm and co-founded Resilience Health, a company focused on long-term recovery services for people dealing with mental health and addiction.

Tomko described a particular interest in rural economic development, saying that while urban-area projects create many jobs, “the most impact and need often happens” in rural communities and local efforts to create jobs there are important. The committee then voted unanimously to recommend Tomko to the full Senate.

The committee’s third nominee, Ryan Paul, described his background as a history professor at Southern Utah University and as a public historian who has worked with Utah State Parks and the Utah Museums Association. Paul said he directs a campus speaker series and emphasized bringing historical stories to broad audiences through museums, markers, living-history programs and other public-history outlets. In response to questions, Paul distinguished academic classroom history from public history and said public-history work emphasizes storytelling that connects visitors to the human experiences behind dates and names.

Senator Kwan moved to advance Paul to the full Senate; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Earlier in the meeting the committee approved the minutes of Sept. 30, 2025, by voice vote. The committee concluded with a motion to adjourn that passed on a unanimous voice vote.

Actions recorded in the transcript are procedural recommendations and voice votes to advance the three nominees and to approve the prior minutes; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the committee transcript.