For Utah, 2024 has been a year full of development and promises of great things to come. At the end of each year, I reflect on what we accomplished and how the Salt Lake Chamber has fulfilled its mission and vision. Whenever describing the Chamber’s work, I like to use our ABCs: Advocate Policy, Build Business and Connect Community.
The Salt Lake Chamber is, at its core, an advocacy organization. We strive to advance policies at the local, state and national levels that will benefit our business community. In September, the Chamber and business executives traveled to Washington D.C. to do just that; during that time, we connected face-to-face with lawmakers to discuss critical federal priorities, including correcting regulatory overreach, ensuring fair trade policies, the need for housing affordability, and fixing a broken immigration system. Earlier in the year, the power of the Chamber’s advocative efforts was also shown during the 2024 Legislative Session, where there was a 90% success rate for the Chamber’s prioritized legislation. This shows just how much of an impact the Chamber can have on promoting a business-friendly environment.
The next area is building business. This part of the Chamber’s work includes providing programs and tools that help businesses grow through trainings, town halls, webinars and professional development. One example is the Roadmap to Prosperity Economic Dashboard, which has kept Utah’s business community informed about the trends, challenges, and opportunities we face, and allowed the Chamber to adjust our work in the future. By providing these and many other resources, the Chamber is building the business community in Utah.
Lastly, the Chamber seeks to connect the community. To help Utah’s business community thrive, we build bridges that encourage collaboration and innovation for a vibrant business community. Often these efforts include networking opportunities, like the Women & Business Conference and ATHENA Awards Luncheon held in November. That conference connected business leaders from around the state and honored the advancements that trailblazers in Utah’s community have made. We help Utahns collaborate and find ways to support each other as we grow Utah to new heights.
These examples are just a few of the incredible things the Chamber has been involved in this year. Leaders in our community have banded together to bring exciting developments to our great state that only increase my optimism for our future. Thanks to their efforts, Utah has its first NHL team and the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will return to Utah in 2034. Downtown Salt Lake is undergoing a transformation that will bring even more prosperity to the region. One of the most promising developments of the year was the launch of Utah Rising, which will guide the Chamber in advocating policy, introducing opportunities to build business, and further connecting the community throughout our state.
As always, we are grateful for the success that we enjoy, but there is still more to be done. Making Utah an even greater place to live, work and play takes all of us. If you haven’t gotten involved yet, I encourage you to learn more about the resources and opportunities that the Salt Lake Chamber offers and find a way to be a part of the incredible things to come. In 2024, we overcame challenges and seized opportunities; may we continue to do so as a unified and powerful force. After reflecting on Utah’s achievements this year and the progress we’ve seen, I can’t help but look forward to the things that 2025 is sure to bring to our great state.
