Utah Economic Outlook &
Public Policy Summit

Join the Salt Lake Chamber and the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute for the Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit on January 12, 2024 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.

2024 Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit
January 12, 2024 | 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Grand America Hotel
555 S. Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Click here to view Sponsorship Opportunities

2024 Agenda

Registration 
Location: Grand Ballroom

*Note: no breakfast will be provided.

Welcome
Location: Grand Ballroom

Economic Report Presentation to the Governor
Location: Grand Ballroom

Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute will present the 2024 Economic Report to the Governor which has been a key resource for information on the Utah economy over the past 36 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 Governor Spencer J. Cox
Location: Grand Ballroom

The Governor will provide his commentary on the Economic Report as he addresses the business community.

Economic Report
Location: Grand Ballroom

Speaker:

  • Phil Dean, Chief Economist and Public Finance Senior Research Fellow, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute

Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute will present the 2024 Economic Report to the Governor which has been a key resource for information on the Utah economy over the past 36 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.

Salt Lake Chamber Legislative Priorities
Location: Grand Ballroom

Presenter:

  • Ginger Chinn, Vice President of Public Policy & Government Relations, Salt Lake Chamber

The Salt Lake Chamber will unveil the 2024 Public Policy Guide, outlining and framing the key policy priorities that will shape the Chamber’s policy positions entering the legislative session.

Local, State and Federal Leadership Discussion
Location: Grand Ballroom

Panel:

  • Fmr. Congressman Chris Stewart
  • Speaker of the House Mike Schultz
  • Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall

Moderator:

  • Kaitlin Eskelson, President & CEO, Visit Salt Lake

This panel will discuss leadership at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Panelists will share their perspectives on crafting effective policies and successfully implementing them in their current and former capacities as leaders.

Keynote: Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Churchill: A Strategic Approach to Leading in Times of Crisis
Location: Grand Ballroom

Speaker:

  • Dr. Peter Cressy, Director of Executive Leadership Programs, George Washington Leadership Institute
    • Peter Cressy, Ed.D., RADM (Ret.), is the Director of Executive Leadership Programs at the George Washington Leadership Institute. He served 28 years in the United States Navy in command and senior staff positions, followed by 8 years in higher education as a college president and university chancellor, where he was also a tenured professor of management. He later served 16 years as the President and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council trade association.

Dr. Peter Cressy will address the business community about prominent leaders and their approach to leading in times of crisis. He will be presenting his keynote address “Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Churchill: A Strategic Approach to Leading in Times of Crisis.”

Disagree Better: An Interactive Discussion During Lunch
Location: Grand Ballroom

Speakers:

  • Preston Brightwell, Dignity Index Field Director, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
  • Tami Pyfer, Chief of Staff & Vice President of External Relations, Project UNITE – The Dignity Index

Tami Pyfer and Preston Brightwell of Project UNITE will lead an interactive activity that pertains to The Dignity Index.

The New Utah: Keepers of the Flame
Location: Grand Ballroom

Speaker:

  • Natalie Gochnour, Associate Dean, David Eccles School of Business and Director, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute

Natalie Gochnour will discuss the changing times of Utah and what we can expect moving into the next decade.

An Economic Sporting Vision
Location: Grand Ballroom

Panel:

  • Senator Mike McKell
  • Fraser Bullock, President & CEO, Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games
  • Jeff Robbins, President & CEO, Utah Sports Commission
  • Jim Olson, President, Utah Jazz
  • Steve Starks, CEO, The Larry H. Miller Company

Moderator:

  • Amanda Covington, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, The Larry H. Miller Company

This panel will discuss the next phases of bringing Major League Baseball to the state, Salt Lake City’s “Preferred Host” status for the host of the next Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the contributions that professional sports bring to our communities and economy.

Adjourn

Speaker Information

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Peter Cressy
Dr. Peter Cressy

Peter Cressy, Ed.D., RADM (Ret.), is the Director of Executive Leadership Programs at the George Washington Leadership Institute. He served 28 years in the United States Navy in command and senior staff positions, followed by 8 years in higher education as a college president and university chancellor, where he was also a tenured professor of management. He later served 16 years as the President and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council trade association.

Presenters

Preston Brightwell
Preston Brightwell

Preston Brightwell is a Field Director for UNITE and the Dignity Index team. His primary work is on the Students For Dignity National Campaign, which is tasked with bringing the Students for Dignity model to campuses across the country. Based in Salt Lake City, Preston attended the University of Utah where he was a co-founder of the Students for Dignity at the U. Prior to joining UNITE, Preston completed several internships with national and local organizations, including the Governor’s Office of Utah, Colliers International, Advisors Consulting Services, Vail Resorts Park City, and most recently as a student scorer with the Dignity Index Pilot Project. What excites him most about this work is the power it has to promote healthy disagreement and solve the most pertinent problems facing our nation.

Preston holds a Master of Public Administration and a B.S in Political science, both from the University of Utah. As a long time Utah resident, he enjoys skiing, local Utah sports and above all spending time with his family.

Fraser Bullock
Fraser Bullock

Fraser Bullock is President and CEO of Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which seeks to bring to Utah the hosting of the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mr. Bullock is also a Co-Founder and Partner of Sorenson Capital, a private equity firm, which has approximately $2 billion in assets under management.

Mr. Bullock began his career at Bain & Company, as Consultant and Manager. He then became a founding partner of Bain Capital, a highly successful investment firm based in Boston.

In 1999, Mr. Bullock became Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City. He played a key role in delivering one of the most successful Winter Games in history, including near-flawless operations, and generating a $100 million profit. For his Olympic service, Mr. Bullock received the Olympic Order in Gold from the International Olympic Committee.

Mr. Bullock continues to be active in the Olympic movement and has provided advisory services to the International Olympic Committee, the U.S.Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and several cities hosting the Olympic Games, including Torino, Vancouver, Sochi, and Rio.

Mr. Bullock has received numerous awards, including being inducted into the Utah Technology Council Hall of Fame, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from BusinessQ, and being named Director of the Year by Utah Business.

Mr. Bullock received a Bachelor’s degree in economics, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration, both degrees from BYU. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Alpine, and they are the parents of 5 children and 11 grandchildren.

Amanda Covington
Amanda Covington

Amanda Covington is chief corporate affairs officer for the Larry H. Miller Company. She previously served as senior vice president of communications and government relations for Vista Outdoor Inc. Amanda has more than 20 years of experience leading corporate communications and government relations strategies impacting financial communications, crisis communications, domestic and international media/public relations, corporate branding and advertising, digital media, employee relations, public policy and legislation, industry associations, and community relations.

Prior to Vista Outdoor, Amanda served as vice president of corporate communications for ATK, an aerospace, defense and commercial products company. Before joining ATK, she was the assistant commissioner for public affairs at the Utah System of Higher Education. While there, she led communications and legislative relations strategies for the State Board of Regents. She also served as the deputy for communications and spokesperson for Utah Governor Olene S. Walker and the director of communications for the Utah Department of Transportation. She has a background in broadcast journalism, working for Utah’s NBC and ABC affiliates. Amanda serves as Chair of the Utah Board of Higher Education, is an executive board member for the Utah Women’s Leadership Institute, is on the advisory board for First Lady Abby Cox’s ShowUp Utah! initiative and The Policy Project, and serves on the board of directors for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce. Amanda also served as a trustee for Weber State University and Davis Technical College.

She is a graduate of the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from the Honors College and a Master of Public Administration. Amanda enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.

Gov. Spencer Cox
Gov. Spencer Cox

Gov. Spencer J. Cox is a husband, father, farmer, recovering attorney, and Utah’s 18th governor. He’s also currently serving as 2023-2024 chairman of the National Governors Association. Gov.

Cox has a long track record of public service, serving as a city councilmember, mayor, county commissioner and state legislator before being appointed as Utah’s lieutenant governor in 2013. He was sworn in as governor on Jan. 4, 2021.

During his first term in office, Gov. Cox has cut $1.1 billion in taxes, implemented landmark changes in water law, water conservation and infrastructure planning, locked in record funding for education and teachers, enacted universal school choice, and secured funds for affordable housing. A long-time advocate for suicide prevention and mental health resources, he’s become a national voice on protecting youth from the harms of social media. He also signed early education and workforce program funding, launched the One Utah Health Collaborative, and expanded opportunities for women, diverse communities and those living in rural parts of the state.

With a focus on solutions, Gov. Cox promotes respect in politics and innovation in government, works across party lines to find common ground, and regularly participates in hands-on service projects. These elements are the foundation of his NGA Chair’s Initiative, “Disagree Better: Healthy Conflict for Better Policy.”

A sixth-generation Utahn, Gov. Cox was born and raised in Fairview, a town of 1,200 in the center of the state. He met First Lady Abby Palmer Cox at age 16 and they married after he returned from serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico. He attended Snow College, Utah State University, and the Washington and Lee University School of Law, then clerked for U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart and worked at a Salt Lake City law firm. Several years later, Gov. Cox and First Lady Cox moved back to Fairview to raise their four children – Gavin, Kaleb, Adam, and Emma Kate – on the family farm. The governor, first lady and Emma Kate currently reside in the Kearns Mansion, also known as the Governor’s Mansion, in Salt Lake City.

Phil Dean
Phil Dean

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.

Kaitlin Eskelson
Kaitlin Eskelson

An ardent champion of Utah’s visitor economy, Kaitlin Eskelson, President & CEO of Visit Salt Lake has a long and accomplished career in travel and tourism and continues to make profound contributions for the betterment of the industry. Kaitlin is a visionary leader and tireless project organizer, building the right teams to succeed by focusing on major projects to drive both growth of the organization and Salt Lake’s overall visitor economy.

From her most recent wins of bringing the Outdoor Retailer bi-annual shows back to Utah, the creation of the partnership for the Cottonwood Connect ski shuttle program, to her skillful navigation of the industry’s recovery from COVID-19, she has passionately created programs and strategies to secure a strong future for tourism in Utah.

As Visit Salt Lake’s youngest CEO to date, Kaitlin took the helm at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and has successfully navigated the recovery of Salt Lake’s meeting and convention business through a wide variety of robust strategic initiatives. In fact, Visit Salt Lake just recorded their best booking year ever and has big plans for the future.

Managing multi-million-dollar strategies with Utah tourism marketing promoters through the years, Kaitlin has worked hard to put Utah on the international map. Kaitlin served the state as Executive Director of the Utah Tourism Industry Association (UTIA), was the Director of Partner Relations and International Strategy for the Utah Office of Tourism Film & Global Branding and worked at Visit Salt Lake as Director of Sales and Marketing from 2006 to 2013.

Natalie Gochnour
Natalie Gochnour

Natalie Gochnour serves as an associate dean in the David Eccles School of Business and director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. She also serves as the chief economist for the Salt Lake Chamber. In these roles, she provides policy leadership that helps Utah prosper.

Gochnour’s experience includes a diverse mix of public service and business experience. During her public service, she advised Utah governors Norm Bangerter, Mike Leavitt, and Olene Walker. She also served as a political appointee in the George W. Bush administration, serving as an associate administrator at the EPA and counselor to the secretary at Health and Human Services. For seven years she led the public policy business priorities of the Salt Lake Chamber.

Gochnour has authored over 250 published columns in Utah Business magazine and the Deseret News and co-hosts the weekly public radio program Both Sides of the Aisle on KCPW.

She has been recognized by the Downtown Alliance, YWCA of Salt Lake City, South Valley Chamber, Friends for Sight, Girl Scouts of Utah, and other community-focused organizations for her service and example in the community. Gochnour also serves the community by serving on the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, Utah Transportation Commission, O.C. Tanner, Altabank, and Primary Children’s Hospital boards. She is also vice-chair of Envision Utah and World Trade Center Utah.

Gochnour has both an undergraduate and master’s degree in economics from the University of Utah and specializes in and teaches public finance.

Ally Isom
Ally Isom

Ally Isom is a leader passionate about bringing people together and tackling tough issues. She is a community leader and strategist where brand, policy, communication, and public engagement intersect. With an inclusive and affirming leadership style, she is uniquely skilled at fostering gender intelligent teams and building capacity in future leaders.

Ally is the chief strategy and marketing officer for Clyde Companies. She left an executive role in nanotech to run as a 2022 Republican candidate for the United States Senate. She previously headed up global branding and messaging for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; served as the Utah Governor’s deputy chief of staff, communication director, and spokesperson; and spent several years in state agency leadership, with extensive experience as a political, legislative, and campaign consultant.

Highlights from her civic involvement include service as a Kaysville City Councilmember, the Utah Clean Air Partnership Board, the Women’s Leadership Institute executive board chair, the Emerging Leaders Initiative advisory board, and the Utah Heritage Council. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University. Ally and her husband, Eric, have four children and five grandchildren. When she finds free time, she relishes historical fiction and biographies, preferably on a beach, and mole poblano, pretty much anywhere.

Sen. Mike McKell
Sen. Mike McKell

Sen. Mike McKell began his legislative service in the Utah House of Representatives from 2013-2021 before being elected to the Utah State Senate representing District 25. Sen. McKell is the chair of the Business, Economic Development, and Labor Appropriations Subcommittee and the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Coordination Committee. He earned a B.A. from Southern Utah University and a J.D. from the University of Idaho.

In his professional life, Mike works as an attorney primarily focused on insurance law, representing those who have been injured through no fault of their own. His passion for helping those who have been wrongly injured is matched by his enthusiasm for working for his constituents as a Utah State Senator.

Mike and his wife, Brandi, are parents of four children. Mike loves hunting, fishing, and the outdoors, with his latest interest being ultra-distance running.

Mayor Erin Mendenhall
Mayor Erin Mendenhall

Erin Mendenhall was sworn in as the 36th Mayor of Salt Lake City on January 6, 2020. Prior to being elected Mayor, Erin represented District 5 on the City Council for six years, including one year as its chair. She is the first mayor in Salt Lake City history to have been publicly elected from the City Council.

As Mayor, Erin is working hard to make Salt Lake City more environmentally and economically resilient, and to take advantage of the region’s historic period of economic opportunity. She is determined to ensure every Salt Laker — no matter their neighborhood, economic or housing status, faith, race, or sexual or gender identity — can access all the city has to offer. Erin’s love for the extraordinary people of Salt Lake City drives an unrelenting commitment to bringing people from different walks of life together in pursuit of results for the entire city.

Jim Olson
Jim Olson

Jim Olson serves as president of the Utah Jazz, an entity of Smith Entertainment Group (SEG). In this position, he provides strategic leadership for the organization’s assets – which include the Utah Jazz NBA franchise, Delta Center, the Salt Lake City Stars NBA G League team, and Jazz Gaming NBA 2K team – and also oversees all day-to-day business operations.

Olson joined the Utah Jazz in 1994 when it was under the ownership of Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment (LHMSE) and has held multiple positions during his tenure, including vice president of ticket sales (2003-06), senior vice president of sales and marketing (2006-2013), chief operating officer of LHMSE (2013-15), and president of Vivint Arena (2015-2019). Within one year of being named president of LHMSE in October 2019, he played a critical role in helping the organization achieve two major wins. First, he helped the Utah Jazz win the bid to host the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, and, in fall 2020, he supported the seamless transition of ownership when Ryan Smith purchased the company from LHMSE, a move that kicked off a new era for the Utah Jazz. Additionally, Olson has had key management responsibilities for other entities that have fallen within the organization’s portfolio including the Salt Lake Bees, The Zone Sports Network, and the Tour of Utah.

Currently, Olson serves on both the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation board and the Salt Lake City Police Foundation Board. He has also served on the University of Utah’s Alumni Association Board of Directors and Crimson Club Board, the Salt Lake Chamber Board of Governors, and the boards for the Downtown Alliance, Visit Salt Lake, and Camp Kostopulos.

A native and long-time resident of Salt Lake City, Olson graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in communications. He also achieved a master’s degree in sports and recreation management from Northeastern University in Boston.

He and his wife, Suzi, have four children and two grandchildren.

Tami Pyfer
Tami Pyfer

Tami Pyfer is the Chief of Staff and VP External for UNITE – a national nonprofit organization seeking to ease division across political and cultural differences. Tami is also the co-creator of the Dignity Index, an eight-point scale for measuring the dignity or contempt in the language we use with each other when we disagree.

Before her work with UNITE Tami served for 7 years as the Education Policy Advisor to Governor Gary Herbert, where she was involved in state level policy development, coalition building, and stakeholder engagement. She held local and state elected offices for 12 years: 8 years on the Logan City Council and 4 years on the Utah State Board of Education. Tami’s professional training is in Special Education and before her appointment to serve on the Governor’s executive team she taught at Utah State University, preparing teachers to work with students with disabilities.

Tami and her husband Aaron are the parents of 5 children, grandparents of 15. They live in South Jordan.

Jeff Robbins
Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins is one of the most respected sports commission leaders in America. As co-founder, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission, a public/private partnership, he has spearheaded efforts to bring over 1,000 national and international events to the state since 2000 — resulting in over US$3-billion in economic and US$2-billion in media impacts through Utah’s State of Sport brand. He also co-chaired Utah’s Olympic Exploratory Committee that resulted in Salt Lake City-Utah being selected as America’s Choice for a future Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Speaker of the House Mike Schultz
Speaker of the House Mike Schultz

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.

Steve Starks
Steve Starks

Steve Starks is the Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of the Larry H. Miller Company. In this capacity, Starks leads the family investment firm that oversees the Miller family’s portfolio of businesses and investments. During his time with the Larry H. Miller Company, he has helped shape the organization’s growth strategy, led mergers and acquisitions, and oversaw the organization’s transformation.

Prior to this role, Starks was the president of the Utah Jazz and Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment where he oversaw the award-winning renovation of Vivint Arena, securing the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the NBA franchise and related businesses.

Starks is active in the community. He currently serves as the governor’s Olympic and Paralympic Advisor and leads Big League Utah, the coalition aimed at bringing an MLB expansion team to Salt Lake City. Starks also serves on the Zions Bank Advisory Board. He is the past chair of the Salt Lake Chamber Board of Directors, the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, and served on the Weber State University Board of Trustees where he also received an honorary doctorate.

Starks has been recognized as Utah Business Magazine’s 2021 CEO of the Year and received the South Valley Chamber’s Titan Award. He was named a CEO to Watch by Family Business Magazine and was also named a Top Forty Under 40 Sports Executives by Sports Business Journal in 2018.

Starks is a graduate of Weber State University and resides in South Jordan, Utah with his wife and three daughters.

Rep. Chris Stewart
Rep. Chris Stewart

Chris Stewart served Utah in Congress for over a decade and became a senior member on both the exclusive House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Appropriations Committees, serving on the Defense, State and Foreign Ops, and Interior subcommittees. He also served on both the Budget and Weaponization Committees as well as the Select China Task Force. He has appeared hundreds of times on national television, published editorials widely, and is considered a nationally recognized expert on matters regarding intelligence and national security.

Chris graduated from Utah State University, where he earned his degree in economics. Upon graduation, Chris joined the United States Air Force where he was the Distinguished Graduate (top of his class) in both Officer Training School and Undergraduate Pilot Training. He served for fourteen years as a pilot in the Air Force, flying both rescue helicopters and the B-1B bomber. He holds three world speed records, including the world’s record for the fastest non-stop flight around the world. He is a multiple New York Times best-selling and national award-winning author, and the former owner and CEO of nationally recognized firm for consulting in energy and the environment.

He and his wife, Evie, are the parents of six children.