Feature

25 Match Grants Awarded
for Public Economic Development Projects

The generosity of EDCUtah's partners and investors has helped fund another cycle of matching grants for public economic development initiatives across the state. Thanks to $7,500 grants from both Mountain America Credit Union and Questar Gas and the $40,000 raised through EDCUtah's Golf for Grants Tournament this past summer, some 25 Utah organizations were selected Monday to receive matching grants totaling approximately $72,000.

Grant recipients were selected by EDCUtah's grant committee, under the direction of Committee Chair Steve Barrett, of Commerce CRG. Sherrie Martell, EDCUtah public development manager, says the committee received 30 grant applications in total. Of the grants awarded:

• Four were professional development grants, totaling $3,200
• Four were sponsorship grants, totaling $7,457
• 17 were marketing grants, totaling $61,008

To highlight some of the major grant awards made by the committee, Martell says the City of Logan received an $5,000 marketing grant to be used on an economic feasibility analysis involving planning land uses in the area surrounding the Logan airport (approx. 5,000 acres), which is compatible with the long term vitality of the airport and enhancing economic development in the greater Cache Valley.

The Southeast Utah Community Development Corporation received a $5,000 marketing grant that will be used to help fund its Business Expansion and Retention (BEAR) project, which includes initiating contacts with local businesses to review needs, activities; input the information into a database, and make appropriate referrals to BEAR partners to meet the needs of local businesses and provide outreach services.

The South Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce received a $5,000 marketing grant that will be used to create two promotional marketing pieces for the Utah Design District at South Salt Lake. The first marketing piece is a new brochure that will direct customers and citizens to the Utah Design District and help drive customers to a central Web site. Brochure distribution will occur in October and May. The second brochure is a mailer to be sent to design/build/furnish businesses in South Salt Lake City encouraging them to join the Utah Design District and become a self-sufficient group.

Spanish Fork City received a $5,000 marketing grant to create promotional materials for the city's branding campaign. Materials generated through the grant funds will be used in direct mailings, trade publication advertisements and play a role in everything the city will do relative to its economic development efforts.

The Wasatch Area Economic Development Agency also received a $5,000 marketing grant, which will be used to create a master plan for a new business park in Midway. The agency is planning the business park as a future SURE Site.

Since 1990 EDCUtah has awarded approximately $773,000 in match grant money to support local economic development efforts by communities, counties, and non-profit organizations around the state. The match grant program is a statewide initiative that allocates funding in support of specific economic development efforts for the public sector and other non-profit organizations.

The program offers match grants in three areas:

• Marketing Match Grants help Utah's communities market themselves as attractive sites for business and economic development. Projects include direct marketing materials, as well as planning process/research projects that are directly applicable to recruitment strategies and web site development and redesign. Funds may also be used for preparation of potential SURE Sites properties, i.e. completion of environmental and geo-technical studies, infrastructure assessments and other preparatory analysis. Maximum reimbursement is $5,000.
• Sponsorship Match Grants assist communities and regions of the state with economic development events. Projects include economic development events and selection is based on the quality of the event, how well the event addresses an economic need in the community and audience. Special consideration is given to projects that provide exposure for economic development and incorporation interface among economic development partners. Maximum reimbursement is $2,000.
• Professional Development Match Grants enhance the professionalism and expertise of economic developers in Utah. Eligible courses are sponsored by the International Economic Development Council. Other courses may be considered, which demonstrate a resource for the tools necessary to the economic development profession. Maximum reimbursement is $800.

Match grants are awarded annually in September and recipients have until Sept. 30 of the following year to complete their economic development projects. The match grant committee approves all eligible projects within the limits of the grant budget.

Utah's 2008 Dew Tour Stop One of Most Successful Stops Ever

Utah enthusiastically welcomed the return of the AST Dew Tour to Salt Lake City is September, netting millions of dollars in economic impact and many hours of national and international television exposure for Utah, according to data compiled by the Utah Sports Commission and the AST Dew Tour.

The tour's 2008 Toyota Challenge, held September 11-14, was the largest televised multi-sport and multi-venue event since the 2002 Olympics and was also the highest attended event in the history of the Dew Tour.

"We could not have been more pleased with the success of the Toyota Challenge and the way our citizens came out to support the event, which provided tremendous economic impact to our great state," said Governor Jon Huntsman.

Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission, said the growth and success of this year's event is another example that Utah continues to be a prominent location that is well positioned to host major action and adventure sports events.

Highlights from this year's event include:

• Approximately $13 million in economic impact to the State of Utah
• Approximately $6 million in TV media/broadcast and related image building exposure to Utah
• The largest crowd to ever attend the four day event in Dew Tour history--almost 64,000
• Largest crowd in the world to ever attend a skateboard park event (Ryan Sheckler's event)--approximately 14,000
• Highest single day attendance in Dew Tour history-- approximately 26,000 (Saturday)
• Largest Dew Tour crowd to attend an FMX event-- approximately 26,000 (Saturday)
• 350 of the top action sports athletes in the world participated in the four day event, which also included the Free Flow action sports competition
• First BMX Supercross competition held since the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
• Cable channel Mun2's (Moon-Dos), part of the NBC Universal owned Telemundo Network, program "Mun2 On the Road," which is a show that travels the country and highlights America's Greatest Cities, came to Salt Lake City and produced a special episode on Utah and the Toyota Challenge. Mun2 is available in 11 million homes across United States
• 6 1/2 hours of national programming of the Toyota Challenge from Salt Lake City on NBC and USA Network
• Two hours of national programming coming on MTV2 (September 24 and October 4) featuring BMX dirt and skate park competitions from Salt Lake City
• Footage from the event will be featured on "AST: Contenders," a four hour lifestyle program on MTV2
• NBC's Saturday and Sunday live broadcasts were simulcast in Europe via Eurosport2 and in Australia on Fox Sports Australia to 33 million homes
• Fuel TV and Mountain Dew produced a 30 minute program called "Dew Underground" that will air 23 times (11.5 hours total) on Fuel TV to a audience of 24 million homes. The "Dew Underground" Salt Lake City program will highlight the culture of the city including the music, art, and action sports scene
• Two feature articles in the USA Today on the Toyota Challenge Salt Lake City stop. First article ran September 3 about the BMX supercross race. The second article ran on September 10 about BMX park athlete Mike Spinner
• 60 second live interview by NBC with Governor Huntsman broadcast live on NBC nationally as well as live in primetime to Europe and live in Australia
• 15 percent more viewership nationally on Saturday than any other Dew Tour event in history
• Eight 30-second ad spots ran nationally on NBC to promote Utah

"Utah certainly understands how to take on big events and make them bigger," said AST president Wade Martin. "This year's Salt Lake City event was a tremendous success."

With Utah playing host to major sporting events that provide both significant economic impact and global exposure, it once again highlights the value and important role hosting these key sporting events play in building Utah's economy and promoting Utah world-wide, Robbins added.