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The Salt Lake Chamber and the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute hosted the Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit on January 10, 2025 at the Grand America Hotel.
As the state’s premier economic forecasting and public policy event, this summit brings together policy and academic thought leaders from across the state to share insights on the future of Utah’s economy and the business community’s policy priorities for the upcoming legislative session. This is an event that no one who is invested in Utah’s economic future should miss.
2025 Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit
January 10, 2025
7:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Grand America Hotel
555 S. Main Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Registration
Location: Grand Ballroom
*Breakfast will be provided.
Welcome
Location: Grand Ballroom
Economic Report
Location: Grand Ballroom
Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute will provide an overview of the 2025 Economic Report to the Governor, which has been a key resource for information on the Utah economy over the past 37 years. The report’s central objective is to enhance economic literacy among readers, enabling decision makers in the public and private sectors to make informed plans, budgets, and policy decisions.
Economic Report Presentation to the Governor
Location: Grand Ballroom
Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute will present the 2025 Economic Report to the Governor which has been a key resource for information on the Utah economy over the past 37 years. The report’s central objective is to enhance economic literacy among readers, enabling decision makers in the public and private sectors to make informed plans, budgets, and policy decisions.
Commentary from the Governor
Location: Grand Ballroom
The Governor will provide commentary on the Economic Report and addresses the business community.
Salt Lake Chamber Legislative Priorities
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presenter:
The Salt Lake Chamber will unveil the 2025 Public Policy Guide, outlining and framing the key policy priorities that will shape the Chamber’s policy positions entering the legislative session.
Legislative Panel Discussion
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panel:
Moderator:
This panel will discuss legislative priorities for the upcoming session.
Keynote: Leadership in a Complex World
Location: Grand Ballroom
Speaker:
In this engaging and thought-provoking fireside chat, General David Petraeus will share his vast experience and wisdom on leadership in a rapidly changing and complex global environment. Drawing from his distinguished military career and leadership roles in both government and the private sector, General Petraeus will provide insights into the qualities necessary to lead organizations in an era of constant change and uncertainty. General Patraeus will offer attendees a rare opportunity to gain insights from one of the world’s most respected leaders on how to excel in leadership amidst global complexities and rapid technological advancements.
Utah Rising: A Vision for Our Future
Location: Grand Ballroom
Panel:
This panel of business and community leaders will discuss Utah Rising, the collective private sector vision for our future and what we can expect moving into the next decade.
Speaker: General David Petraeus
General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.) is one of the leading battlefield commanders and strategists of our time. He served over 37 years in the US military culminating his career with six consecutive commands as a general officer, five of which were in combat, including command of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan. He subsequently served as Director of the CIA, following confirmation by the Senate by a vote of 94-0, during a period of significant achievements in the global war on terror.
General Petraeus is now a Partner with the global investment firm KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, which he established in 2013. He also serves on corporate boards, is a strategic advisor to multiple firms, is a member of the Simon and Shuster Advisory Board, and is a personal venture capitalist, invested in over 30 startups. Additionally, he is the Kissinger Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson School and is the co-author, with Andrew Roberts, of the award-winning, New York Times best-selling book, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.
General Petraeus graduated with distinction from the US Military Academy, earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University in international relations and economics, completed a fellowship at Georgetown, and has held academic appointments at 5 universities (USMA, USC, Harvard, CUNY’s Honors College, University of Birmingham (England)) in addition to his current position at Yale. He is the only person in Army history to be the top graduate of both the demanding US Army Ranger School and the year-long Command and General Staff College Course. He is also Co-Chairman of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Global Advisory Council, Senior Vice President of the Royal United Services Institute, and a member of the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, and Aspen Strategy Group.
His awards include four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, two NATO Meritorious Service Medals, the Combat Action Badge, the Ranger tab, and Air Assault and Master Parachutist wings. He has also been decorated by 14 foreign countries and is believed to be the only person in uniform to throw out the first pitch of a World Series game and do the coin toss for a Super Bowl. He was runner-up to Vladimir Putin for Time Person of the Year in 2007, the 2007 Daily Telegraph Man of the Year, twice a Time 100 selectee, three times a Foreign Policy top public intellectual, Prospect magazine’s Public Intellectual of the Year, one of US News and World Report’s Top 25 Leaders, Princeton University’s Madison Medalist, and sanctioned by Russia (in 2022).
More information to come.
Mike Schultz was born and raised in Weber County, and doesn’t want to live anywhere else. In 2015, he was elected to the Legislature to represent Utah’s 12th House District that includes Hooper, Roy, and West Haven. He has been Speaker of the House since November 2023.
Schultz learned the value of hard work at a young age by working on his grandfather’s cattle farm, selling worms to fishermen, milking cows at a neighbor’s dairy farm, hauling hay, and roofing homes. As a general contractor, Schultz owned and operated several small businesses, including his home building company, which he stepped away from in 2023. Schultz currently owns and operates a family ranch in Croydon, Utah.
Speaker Schultz has a passion for public service and has championed policies like increasing funding for Utah students, conserving Utah’s water supply, and investing in transportation infrastructure all while balancing the budget and cutting taxes. He’s known for building partnerships, creating wins through smart compromise, and he believes common sense and straight talk should guide the way.
Mike and his wife, Melissa, are the proud parents of six children and three grandchildren. When not busy with work, he can be found in the great outdoors hunting, fishing, snowmobiling or fixing something on the ranch.
Senator Kirk A. Cullimore Jr. has represented District 19 in the Utah State Senate since he was elected in 2018. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in music from Brigham Young University. He later earned his law degree at the University of Oklahoma. He began his law career in Oklahoma primarily in Federal Indian Law including tribal business transactions, gaming law, organization and development of tribal policies and procedures, and administrative law. His practice in Oklahoma also included areas of general business and contract law, property management, fair housing, homeowner association and collections. He returned to Utah to work for the practice established by his father which focuses on property management, fair housing, collections and real property. Senator Cullimore and his wife Heather live in Sandy, Utah with their 6 children.
More information to come.
Phil Dean is the chief economist and public finance senior research fellow at the Gardner Institute. His research focuses on the Utah and U.S. economies and on public finance issues such as state and local taxes and budget management over the business cycle. Phil also teaches economics, public policy, and public finance and budgeting as an adjunct instructor and serves as co-chair of the Utah Economic Council.
Prior to joining the institute in 2021, Dean served as former Governor Herbert’s Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) after having previously served in the Herbert administration as the State Budget Director and Chief Economist. In this capacity, he directed the work of GOMB in preparing the Governor’s budget recommendations and oversaw GOMB’s state revenue estimates and economic analysis. He served the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) on the Executive Committee and as Western Regional Director.
Prior to joining GOMB in 2013, Dean worked for the Utah Legislature for nearly a decade, specializing in the areas of tax and education. He began his professional career in Sacramento, working on the state budget at the California Department of Finance.
Dean holds master’s degrees in public administration from BYU and economics from the University of Utah, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from BYU.