A meeting was hosted Tuesday morning at the Carbon County Event Center to review the economic development plan for Carbon County.
At the meeting, multiple individuals spoke to those in attendance about what is being done to help Carbon County grow economically. Some of the individuals included Gina Gagon, Karen Dolan and Carbon County Commissioner Casey Hopes.
During the meeting, the county’s strengths, which could help with the economy’s growth, were discussed. Some of the strengths included the availability of developable and reasonably priced land, moderate to good level investment in transportation infrastructure (such as the air, railroad and highway), abundance of natural resources (specifically coal), Utah State University Eastern and Emery Telcom’s high-speed fiber infrastructure.
The county’s weaknesses were also an item for discussion. Some of the weaknesses mentioned included lack of a skilled work force, community stability/attitude, lack of strategic vision for a diverse economy and the lack of focus on existing business, such as business retention and expansion.
Numerous economic development action plans/items were bpresented during the meeting that could possibly help expand on Carbon County’s economic development. One of these items included U.S Highway 6. This highway is the primary entrance and exit point both into and out of Carbon County.
Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has planned several improvements to U.S. 6 both in and out of Carbon County’s boundaries. One of the planning efforts includes corridor improvements from mile post 221 to 230 through Price Canyon and road widening from miles post 230 to 232.5 for U.S Highway 191 to Helper.
Another plan that was mentioned includes trying to expand the Carbon County Regional Airport. The airport is the state’s third largest airport. Carbon County is currently in the process of contracting a fixed based operator as well as trying to consider additional uses for the airport.
