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Payson pushes inland port membership, innovation center and corporate recruitment
Summary
City economic development leaders outlined outreach to an inland port (with a 75% tax increment returning to the city), an innovation center opening Feb. 12, and active recruitment of several large projects, including two named responses with projected hires and capital investments.
Payson city economic development officials told the council they are intensifying efforts to recruit industry and to support local business growth.
Brian (economic development board representative) said Payson is pursuing membership in the inland port to create incentives and capture tax increment for local infrastructure and services. "We're working on getting to be part of the inland port," he said, and explained the mechanism: "75% of that tax increment comes back to the city." He asked councilmembers and landowners to attend an open house scheduled for Jan. 8.
The board also previewed an innovation center with an open house and ribbon cutting scheduled for Feb. 12 that will offer equipment, office space and a podcast room for local entrepreneurs. Brian said the city has hired David Rowley and enlisted partners such as Emtek to staff the center.
Officials described active outreach to corporate prospects and responded to requests for information for two large projects. Brian summarized the two opportunities the city has responded to: a satellite production facility ("They hire a 100 plus engineers and technicians with over a 100,000 or 100,000 in salary") and "Project Bravo," described as a semiconductor-related light-source subsystem projected as a $200,000,000 capital investment with roughly 400 hires and a 150,000–250,000 square-foot building.
The presentation also included local metrics: 98 new business licenses in 2025 (50 commercial, 48 home occupations) and about 625 active businesses on the city's rolls. Officials framed the efforts as part of a multi-year strategic plan and sought council engagement on refinements to downtown ordinances and an updated website for economic development.
