BEAR Press Release
The speakers for the general Castle Country Business Expansion and Retention meeting on Aug. 2 will be Don Albrecht and Marion Bentley who have been working on a study over the past months concerning what businesses fit into Castle Country as well as what kinds of businesses local residents would like to see located in the area.
The process that they have been using is called ASAP (Area Sector Analysis Process). The BEAR Executive Board has been the steering committee on the project and it is being funded by the Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments (SEUALG).
Since early spring, the group doing the study has been surveying people in the area and using data to come up with the report. Researchers at the University of Nevada-Reno, along with researchers at Utah State University and University of Idaho, are assisting rural communities across the West by applying economic, environmental and social factors to community economic development planning in the study.
According to program officials, the process is similar to a dating service, but instead of pairing like-minded people together, the process is used to pair what communities want along with information about their asset inventory. In the process, the researchers interview potential businesses and discover which ones have similar goals and priorities to that of the rural region that is being studied.
The goal at the end of the day is to come up with industries that are desirable to the community and vice versa. The project is also set up to show rural communities what assets can be improved upon to make their long-term goals for growth and sustainability attainable.
The presentation will take place at the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center Alumni Room and it will start at 8 a.m. and last about one hour. The public is welcome to attend.
Light refreshments will be served.