This week at our chamber luncheon, we held our “What’s up in Wasatch” event. We invited the planners from Wasatch County, Midway City, and Heber City to share with us some of the major projects coming to our community. It was amazing to hear about the growth that is coming to our valley and also the work that has been done to preserve open space. In Midway, projects around the town square will bring more retail and restaurant spaces, making the area very pedestrian friendly. Also, the Ameyalli Spa and Resort will feature the natural hot mineral water in the resort and looks to start construction soon. Heber City is anticipating large projects around the UVU Campus bringing in a mixture of commercial space and residential units and community assets. Additionally, Heber City is working on revitalizing Main Street. Wasatch County is seeing much of the growth around Jordanelle Reservoir. All combined there will be several thousand residential units added to the area over the next few decades.

Earlier this month at our “Donuts with the Director” meeting I wanted to get some feedback on a few projects I am aware of for our community. I asked about the notion of a bypass that would help relieve pressure off our Heber Main Street. Those in attendance felt like routing through traffic around the city would be important to growing the health of Main Street. Rerouting through traffic and truck traffic is one thing, but creating a downtown destination for residents and guests is a different thing. I also explained how Heber City is looking to create a “Community Reinvestment Area,” or CRA, around the business districts throughout the city. The CRA, simply put, would reinvest the growth in property tax values over a specific timeframe back into the downtown. It could help with projects to make downtown walkable, safe, and enjoyable thus generating more business opportunities and more sales tax revenue.

There is a lot more to a CRA and it takes the support of several different public groups to establish one, but it could create meaningful change. Through the luncheon and through the director’s meeting we want to provide our members with important information. But to what end? What is the purpose of this information? We hope this information will help give our members a glimpse into the future so to be ready for our growing community. We hope that you take this information and compare it to your business strategy. Are you ready for the growth in the community? What impact would it have on your business? Is your current location the best place to be? How do you attract the workforce you need? We hope the information shared here will give you the best opportunity to be in the know.