Utah Office of Rural Development

U.C.A. 63N-4-103

The Office of Rural Development (ORD) fosters and supports economic development programs and activities for the benefit of Utah’s rural counties and communities. It accomplishes this by administering the following business development grants and tax credits:

1. Business Expansion and Retention (BEAR) 2. Enterprise Zone Nonprofit Tax Credit (EZNP) 3. Enterprise Zone Tax Credit (EZ) 4. Recycling Market Development Zone Tax Credit (RZ) 5. Rural Coworking and Innovation Center (RCIC) 6. Rural Economic Development Incentive (REDI) 7. Rural Fast Track (RFT) 8. Rural Rapid Manufacturing (RRM) 9. Targeted Business Tax Credit (TBTC) 10. Utah Rural Jobs Act

The ORD assists rural communities as they develop healthy and diverse economies that honor their unique heritage and culture. It helps businesses and communities find the resources they need to grow and prosper.

Initiatives

The Office of Rural Development fosters and supports efforts to coordinate and focus the technical and other resources of institutions of higher education, local governments, private sector interests, associations, nonprofit organizations, federal agencies and others to address the economic development, planning, leadership challenges and priorities of rural Utah.

Connecting rural communities with relevant service providers is one of the ORD’s top priorities. This past year, the ORD continued working with the governor’s office to visit rural counties and review their economic development plans. Additionally, the ORD laid the groundwork to launch a new Main Street program to support business growth in key rural areas. This initiative is a partnership between GOED, the Utah Office of Tourism, Department of Heritage and Arts, the USDA, and select rural communities.

The Office of Rural Development also worked closely with the Governor’s Rural Partnership Board and legislative leadership to craft new policies and programs that will take effect in FY 2021. Several existing programs were eliminated in the 2020 legislative session, so the ORD wound down these programs in June 2020. Outcomes

The ORD team created the infrastructure for new grant programs to be administered in FY 2021. At the same time, the team communicated the end of several rural programs to economic development directors, county commissioners, and other rural stakeholders. This was accomplished through a series of newsletters, face-to-face presentations, emails, and webinars.

Twenty-seven of Utah’s 29 counties were able to meet with Gov. Herbert to share their economic development plans and strategies. Meetings with the last two counties were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The counties that met with and shared their economic development plans received support from the ORD staff to help accomplish their goals and priorities.

In total, the ORD team participated in over 150 visits, workshops, conferences, webinars, and training meetings during the 2020 fiscal year.

Challenges and Achievements

In 2020, the Legislature eliminated several of the programs administered by the Office of Rural Development in 2020. With the addition of two new programs, the ORD staff spent many hours building programs and educating rural partners and stakeholders about the changes.

Starting in FY 2021, the numbers of grants and tax credit programs administered by the ORD will go from 10 to seven, but the new programs will be more targeted and useful for rural counties and businesses. Each of these programs is being communicated to industry partners to ensure they are wellutilized and beneficial to all rural Utah residents.

Ryan Starks | Managing Director 801-538-8794 | ryanstarks@utah.gov