Utah Community Builders is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a program of the Salt Lake Chamber Foundation. As an organization, we are leveraging the innovation and efficiency of the private sector to strive for solutions to community issues affecting our businesses, workforce, families and all Utahns.
Utah Community Builders is a response to the growing desire from the business community to create a social impact for good beyond traditional business issues. We aim to engage businesses, using our guiding principles.
“We hope to shine a brighter light on critical needs and issues facing our community and to partner with local businesses to make a lasting impact. It’s inspiring to see so many business leaders already stepping forward so we can support this effort together.”
Family-Friendly Workplaces
Utah is recognized for its strong and vibrant economy, unparalleled quality of life and community spirit. Yet, despite our many successes, Utah has challenges that require our best efforts. One that needs to be addressed is child care. We believe that the private sector can positively impact Utah’s workforce by addressing the intersectionality of child care, employee wellness, employee retention and upward mobility.
Family-Friendly Workplaces: A Guide for Utah Business Leaders is a resource guide for business, government and community leaders that spotlights valuable data, things to consider and actionable steps with best practices for businesses to elevate the culture and leadership around child care support. We encourage you to review the guide and consider what steps you can take in your organization to support the child care needs and overall well-being and success of your employees.
Research suggests that flexible work options and an adaptive mindset are essential elements for employee well-being and high-performing work culture. Workplace flexibility empowers employees and can foster an environment of trust, inclusivity and productivity. We acknowledge that one size does not fit all and that you’ll need to identify which offerings work best for your business model. The Workplace Flexibility Guide for Business Leaders is meant to highlight the possibilities and inspire action.
The Untapped Potential in Utah was created to help the business community understand the unique needs of working parents in Utah and examine the current child care landscape. For example: the report estimates how often parents with children under the age of six leave the workforce or educational opportunities because of insufficient child care. In addition, it highlights the value of access to child care and how any proposed solution must be developed to be responsive to the distinct challenges of Utah.
The Work/Life Balance Preferences: Utah Parents statewide survey suggest there are a number of supportive policies employers could enact to recruit, support and retain working parents in Utah’s competitive labor market. It shows that while most are satisfied with their current work and child care arrangement, many parents and guardians also think policies such as increased wage/salary, paid family leave, flexible/stable hours and schedule and remote/hybrid work options are important to achieving their ideal situation.
Workforce Mental Health
Mental health has long been one of Utah’s most pressing issues as clinical depression in Utah has been consistently higher than the national average since 2011, and the COVID-19 pandemic only made that clearer. Utah’s business community is leading the way by building a more resilient workforce through creating cultures that support mental wellness.
With the right information and tools, business leaders can help improve the mental fitness of their employees, and by extension all of Utah’s workforce. The Workforce Resilience Through Mental Fitness is a campaign that provides business leaders with the information and tools necessary to improve the “mental fitness” or mental wellness of their employees, thus elevating the mental and emotional resilience of Utah’s workforce.
The workplace is a critical area to address mental health and suicide prevention. The Suicide Prevention in the Workforce Employer Toolkit was created to help business leaders become more understanding of and response to the mental health needs of their employees, as well as learn the best strategies to prevent suicide among their employees. There are also three industry-specific guides for construction, legal and hospitality.
As the private sector is uniquely positioned to drive real progress on these issues affecting our businesses, workforce and families, we encourage you to get involved with Utah Community Builders. There are a wide variety of opportunities to engage, from volunteering on the advisory board to contributing philanthropic support. For more information, sign up for our newsletter or contact us at info@slchamber.com.