Business Environment Committee

Doing business environment in a rapidly growing, changing environment can be challenging, especially when unexpected obstacles like a worldwide pandemic appear. The Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Business Environment Committee was formed to help local businesses meet those challenges through providing up-to-date information, assistance and support.

“We try to highlight issues that are of interest to the business community,” said Ray Chipman, Business Environment Committee chair and audit partner at Squire in Orem. “We have a goal to bring businesses together and to be proactive in making Utah Valley a great place to work — in general, making Utah Valley the place to be.”

Around the same time as the committee’s beginning, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and some of the committee members’s first actions were oriented toward being a resource for businesses trying to stay afloat.

“During the last year, we spent a lot of time gathering information for businesses regarding Paycheck Protection Program loans and how they would be taxed,” Chipman said. In Utah, the rules regarding whether these loans would be taxed changed multiple times, and the committee held conference calls and events where its members shared and explained the latest information with local businesses.

The committee also coordinated with the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce in promoting Stay Safe to Stay Open, a statewide initiative through which businesses committed to follow certain protocols to keep customers and employees safe during the pandemic.

In addition to COVID-19 regulations, the committee has focused on legislative and other state issues such as licensing requirements. Their intent is to inform local legislators about businesses’ interests and needs while helping business owners become aware of issues and proposals that may affect them.

“Utah’s always been known as a low-regulation state, a business-friendly state, and we want to keep it that way,” Chipman said. “We’re trying to make sure that city, county and state officials keep business in mind when they’re looking at laws or regulations and do what they can in order to streamline and make it as easy as possible for businesses to come here. That is one of our priorities.” “Our committee is the driving force in Utah County for a healthy business environment. We promote deregulation, a positive work atmosphere and good public policy. We continue to promote conservative principles that will allow current and new businesses to thrive.”

- Ray Chipman

Business Environment

Committee Chair and

Audit Partner at Squire

Overall, the committee’s focus is on assisting, strengthening and growing existing businesses rather than attracting new companies, Chipman said. The committee works with the Chamber’s other Valley Visioning committees as issues such as recreation and healthcare are a large part of attracting qualified workers to the area.

With the Education and Workforce Development Committee, Chipman’s committee has discussed possibilities such as helping with business and hiring fairs as well as what skill sets businesses are seeking.

Chipman believes the valley is in a good position to meet the future’s challenges and see businesses thrive.

“I think our valley’s strengths are that we are family friendly and we are business friendly, and we don’t want that to change,” he said. “We have to grow, we’re going to change, but as far as the feeling of family and community, we’re hoping we can do things to help keep that intact.”

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