Press Release
Utah State University Eastern hosted the 2022 Eastern Utah Economic Summit on Oct. 26-27 at the USU campus in Price. The summit was hosted by Congressman John Curtis, U.S. Representative from Utah’s 3rd Congressional District. The summit brought leaders, entrepreneurs and experts from across the state together for multiple discussions and breakout sessions.
“We had amazing breakout sessions, panel discussions and keynote speakers that came and talked about everything from energy development, the tech sector, talking about what is happening in rural Utah as far as business development,” said Greg Dart, senior associate vice president for USU Eastern. “But more than any of those, I think it brought together people in a meaningful way. We think it is a great opportunity to connect people in a way that we don’t get to any other way.”
Presenters from throughout the state and the region were on hand to speak on topics such as energy, technology, small business development and much more. The keynote speaker was Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. Congressman Curtis enjoyed the event and said it was exciting to see so many come together to work for the advancement of eastern Utah.
“Five years ago, when I first started representing this district, there was a huge need for economic development in the area,” Curtis said. “It has been really fun for me to watch the evolvement of economic development. This conference has served as a very important point to bring people together to have discussions of how we can move forward and do a better job. I have no doubt there are many great things ahead of us.”
During the conference’s second day, participants competed in a Business Pitch Competition, which included $20,000 in prize value. Marmeez Candles won the pitch competition and earned the $10,000 grand prize. Other awards that were handed out during the event included Peczuh Printing winning Large Business of the Year and Bookcliff Workwear winning Small Business of the Year.
Dart was pleased to host the summit once again on USU Eastern’s campus and see so many people come together to discuss important issues.
“We have so many people working to bring about the betterment of this part of the state and all of Eastern Utah,” Dart said. “We had those from within our communities and those who are partners outside of these communities. Bringing them together and watching the conversations that took place was great to see happen because of this event. That is a really exciting thing.”