To build an industry or region, start with structure.
In Utah’s Southwest Corner bordering Nevada and Arizona, that structure is the Southern Utah Economic Alliance (So.Utah).
Less than a year old, So.Utah aligns five counties that once competed for projects.
“We had to check our guns at the door,” said Todd Brightwell, a veteran site selector who now leads the group.
So.Utah’s collaborative model leans on an operating committee of local economic development leaders, along with a board of directors, an executive committee, and professional staff.
This kind of structured collaboration ensures speed, coordination, and shared success, according to Jeff Edwards, former executive director of the Utah Advanced Materials Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI), which merged with 47G last May.
🧭 At Utah’s northern edge, Shawn Milne, director of community and economic development for the Bear River Association of Governments (BRAG), manages cooperation across three counties stretching from Nevada to Wyoming and up to the Idaho border.
It’s an impressive balancing act.
The Bear River, the region’s namesake, provides the largest share of freshwater flowing into the Great Salt Lake – a vital asset for both people and industry.
“That fresh water in the nation’s second-dry state – it’s a good thing for us,” Milne said. “But we also have to make sure we don’t go so heavy on certain water-centric industries that we diminish the Great Salt Lake’s importance ecologically as well as human health.”
The region balances aerospace and defense with food production and processing – “dairy, honey, beef, grains” – and must coordinate across jurisdictions to sustain both growth and natural resources.
Milne – a former city and county elected official – said collaboration only works when each community’s differences are recognized and aligned toward a shared goal.
“Different cities all have different needs – they don’t deserve a blanketed approach to economic development growth patterns. Not all of them have equal access to water or freeway,” he said.
“Just like a sports team – a quarterback isn’t going to be great on your O-line, and vice versa. But both are incredibly important to move the ball down the field.”
“If I look at the economy that way, everybody has their part.”
S&W’S TAKE
47G, So.Utah, and BRAG institutionalize collaboration – demonstrating how Utah is organizing its economic-development ecosystem – from state-level industry leadership to regional alliances that execute on the ground.
