Enhancing Rural Utah’s Workforce and Local Economies
Mt. Pleasant, Utah
Driving an hour outside the Wasatch Front in Utah, people will pass several mining quarries, vast expanses of farmland, and towns with populations of <10,000 residents. Small businesses, cafes, and town halls line the main streets of these towns, with aged homes sprawling towards the outskirts. After observing the towns’ remoteness, scanning local small businesses, and engaging in conversations with residents, it’s apparent rural Utahns balance their love for rural life against the challenges of maintaining diverse economies with young, skilled workers who remain in these communities. A shortage of many amenities and infrastructure, and a need for greater economic and workforce diversification year-round, are hampering economic activity in rural Utah.
Rural towns which lack access to transportation, high-speed broadband, and infrastructure will usually lose to their urban counterparts in attracting workers and new corporations. Economies then become dependent on a single industry or employer, which in turn increases the risk of job loss if an employer were to leave, and creates an employer-run monopsony which erodes wage growth and diverse skills development. Rural Utahns may currently sustain themselves on industries such as mining, oil & gas extraction, or agriculture, however many are concerned that industry consolidation and changing energy policy priorities will impact their main sources of income. If people desire to diversify their skills and enhance employability, they may lack awareness of training and certification programs in new industries requiring specialized skillsets.
Rural economies in Utah centered around tourism & outdoor recreation also suffer from seasonality, which impacts visitation patterns and the local workforce. Residents employed directly in outdoor recreation businesses (e.g. tour guides, rangers, lift operators) receive the bulk of their income during a handful of months during peak visit season, yet this income can’t sustain residents the entirety of the year. Local workers experience an affordable housing and cost of living crunch during peak tourist seasons – in the off season, tourism erodes to the point where workers need to resort to new income sources. Though towns such as Park City, Price, and Moab lie within minutes of world-renowned national parks and winter sport destinations, residents are increasingly wary of the influx of tourists and their detrimental impacts on quality of life. The recent phenomenon of “Zoom-towns” also affected rural Utah, as remote workers flooded towns during the pandemic, and further crowded out local residents by virtue of increased property costs. The local workforces in turn moved further away, causing an increase in commutes to jobs, or abandonment of these jobs entirely.
The purpose of The Next Tide is to highlight unique challenges experienced across the country, and more importantly, inspire readers by the innovative solutions put forth to address these challenges. Utah is addressing workforce and resource challenges in rural areas through a number of initiatives, including:
Gateway & National Amenity Region Initiative: A program offering technical assistance via community planning, economic needs assessments, and coaching services for community leaders in rural Utah which are on the cusp of a tourism boom. The initiative aims to prevent the workforce, economic development, affordable housing, and other challenges prevalent in other larger rural towns in Utah.
Rural Coworking and Innovation Center Grant Program: A $500K grant program to develop coworking commercial spaces across Utah. An innovation center in Panguitch, UT (a town within multiple national and state parks) includes a commercial kitchen, semi-private office spaces, areas for community groups and classes, and provides infrastructure needs for entrepreneurs to develop their businesses in rural Utah, and further diversify the local economy.
Talent Ready Utah Pathways: A hybrid high school classroom & technical education program enabling students to earn credentials and certifications for employment. Employers work with schools to design curricula, externships, and job-shadowing programs for students – assuming successful completion of the program, students are guaranteed a job interview with the employer. Talent Ready Utah created programs in aerospace, aviation, construction, diesel mechanics, and life sciences; some employer partners include Boeing, and Northrup Grumman. The pathways placed an estimated 4,500 students in jobs over 5 years!
TRAC Apprenticeship: An apprenticeship program for students to work part-time with an employer while earning an undergraduate degree. The inaugural program with Stadler US has earned early success, and has led additional companies to explore designing apprenticeships in the state.
Future blog posts will dive deeper into the “infrastructure desert” prevalent in many rural communities, and the growing social rift between rural & urban residents due to the disparate economic opportunity across both groups.
Special thanks to interviewees in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (Office of Outdoor Recreation, and Talent Ready Utah), and the Duchesne County Commissioner for providing the above insights and supporting The Next Tide’s research!
Please comment below with any reactions, ideas to address these challenges, or recommendations for The Next Tide to improve in the future. This initiative will improve as community members share more ideas and constructively challenge each other’s opinions.
Thanks for reading!
Blogs will be posted on a biweekly schedule on Mondays, at 11:00 AM EST. The next blog will be posted on Monday, 3/29/2021.
