There is something special about this time of year. The fresh snow, the new year, and new goals all seem to invigorate me. 2024 has all sorts of possibilities, and that’s exciting. Before I get to all the new things we’re working on, let’s celebrate some of the successes from 2023. Chamber membership and revenue hit a new high. Last year, we were able to fund all our activities and even save some funds for a rainy day. And we hosted several successful events. The Golf Tournament, Holiday Gala, Ice cream Social, and Main-to-Main Race were at capacity or saw record participation. Even the first-ever Red, White, and Blue Festival and Ask Heber Valley Community Expo were launched in 2023 with tremendous success. These are just a few of the many successes from last year. 

Looking forward to 2024, we are excited to lean into our Chamber mission to “Unite, Connect, and Promote” local businesses even more. If you were unable to attend the January luncheon, we went through several new initiatives for the upcoming year. See that presentation here. We want to create a more united business environment by connecting with our friends in the Latino community. We continue to work on creating opportunities to partner and support all business owners in the valley. Creating more resources for our businesses to make sound decisions based on current economic data. We are expanding our role as an advocate for all businesses by creating a new legislative and local policy agenda. This will help us represent the needs of our businesses to state and local elected officials. 

Some of the initiatives that I am most excited about in 2024 are our efforts in downtown revitalization and shop local research and planning. Heber City and Midway City are undergoing tremendous efforts to bring more retail, dining, and entertainment to their respective downtown areas. Throughout 2024 we’ll be working with consultants to bring business and activity to our downtowns. We’ll be surveying the community to understand further their thinking and patterns for shopping locally. Then, we’ll be creating a grant program with matching funds from the state to help our businesses implement these plans. 

It's invigorating to be at the forefront of the changes we want to see in Heber Valley. It’s wonderful working with all of you amazing business owners. And it’s powerful to be united in doing all these things together. Here’s to a great 2024!

Sincerely,

Dallin Koecher
Executive Director
Heber Valley Chamber, Tourism & Economic Development