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Consultant previews draft Rural Economic Blueprint for Morgan County; commissioners suggest edits
Summary
A Goio consultant shared a draft Rural Economic Blueprint that highlights Morgan Countystrengths, a SWOT, and 5- to 20-year goals including a Mountain Green town center and commercial land inventory; commissioners asked that inbound commuter patterns and local spending leakage be reflected in the weaknesses section.
August Grenath, who prepared the draft Rural Economic Blueprint with the county’s CEO steering committee, presented the document during a work session before the Morgan County Commission on Dec. 2. He said the draft combines quantitative data and stakeholder interviews into a SWOT analysis and a set of goals, strategies and projects intended to diversify the local economy and capture sales tax dollars now leaking from the county.
The blueprint notes Morgan Countyhas slowed population growth (from a historical ~4.1% annual rate in earlier decades to about 1.6% in the most recent five years), a high median household income and industry concentration in construction, health care, professional/technical services, education and public administration. August said those features create opportunities — including recruiting light manufacturing to targeted parcels, developing a designated Mountain Green town center, and leveraging Snowbasin and East Canyon State Park to grow overnight tourism tied to the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Commissioners focused several questions on the weaknesses and local commerce. One commissioner asked that the draft better acknowledge that while many county residents commute out to work, a substantial number of employees commute into Morgan County from adjacent jurisdictions, and county residents spend an estimated amount of tax dollars outside the county. August agreed to add language noting inbound commuting and local spending leakage and said staff and Sherry Stevens of the Governors Office of Economic Opportunity would coordinate edits.
The blueprint proposes immediate actions such as completing a commercial land inventory and outreach to site selectors through Goio (the state business portal), targeted zoning to create parcels suitable for industry, and projects to promote agritourism and activate the Weaver River corridor with public access and riverside amenities. August emphasized the document is a draft and recommended commissioners provide written feedback before staff returns with a final draft for possible approval at a future meeting.
August also described a set of implementation steps: appoint an implementation committee, assign specific staff responsibilities, and identify funding to support plan delivery. He told commissioners the blueprint would be circulated and that adoption would be considered at an upcoming meeting scheduled in roughly two weeks.
What happens next: staff will include the commissionersrequested edits (notably the commuting/spending language), circulate a revised draft by email, and place the blueprint on a future commission agenda for formal consideration.
