Utah leaders urged to 'reinvent' rural economy, methods

CEDAR CITY — Doing business as usual means being left behind in today's global economy, Utah's rural leaders were told Thursday at the 17th Utah Rural Summit held on the campus of Southern Utah University.

"I grew up on a farm. I topped beats, hoed weeds, even helped brand cows," said Utah Gov. Olene Walker during her remarks before several hundred participants from throughout the state. "Even that's changing. As much as we would like to preserve rural Utah, we have to integrate with the world."

The arrival of the Internet helped blur the line between Utah's rural and urban areas, she said.

"The problems with rural Utah are no longer simple. They're very complex, and they're issues that are vital to the state; things like transportation and financing growth," she said. "The rural part of our state must come together and determine its agenda, and then the state will help. We've tried many things from the top down that haven't worked, and it's time for it to be from the grass up."

Several speakers urged the group of county commissioners, civic leaders, business owners and other public servants at the summit to "reinvent" their local economies. The summit concludes today following two days of panel discussions on such divisive issues as grazing allotments, RS2477 roads, water rights, economic development, tourism and corporate recruitment in rural Utah.

"You can't depend on Washington to solve your problems and you can't even depend on Salt Lake City to solve them," said economist Mark Drabenstott, director of the Center for the Study of Rural America, which advises the Federal Reserve Bank on rural and agricultural issues. "Your problems are unique and you've got to solve them."

Rural Americans will need to step outside their comfort zone and rethink the way they do business, he said.

"You have got to rethink using subsidies. It's a very high risk to be involved in industrial recruitment. The real issue isn't how many ribbons we cut, but how many opportunities our kids and grandkids will have in the future," Drabenstott said, who is also a vice president with the Federal Reserve Bank. "You can't go it alone anymore. You have to begin thinking regionally and define your region."

Once Utahns clearly identify their regions — which shouldn't stop at city or county borders, said Drabenstott — then the real work begins.

"You have to find your region's unique competitive niche and get past the commodity mindset of an agricultural America," he emphasized. "Create clusters around your core niche and demand partnering between business, higher education and government. You need to change the rural business culture."<