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FEATURE

SEED Dixie: a Catalyst for Economic Diversification

Utah’s Dixie has long enjoyed a robust economy sustained by in-migration, but economic developers in Washington County know that the region won’t be one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country forever.

While the heavier than normal demographic of citizens age 65 or older has had a stabilizing effect on the Dixie economy, this Mecca for retirees and snow-birds is not a single-purpose community and economic diversification is imperative. “It’s hard to predict when the in-migration will slow down, but there has to be an end somewhere, and we are closer today than ever before,” says Scott Hirschi, director of the Washington County Economic Development Council (WCEDC).

Diversification

Indeed, Hirschi and his economic development peers know the region’s economy is not as diverse as it should be, and rather than waiting for the economy to take a nose dive they are proactively working to diversify now. The catalyst for such diversification is “SEED Dixie,” a regional pilot of the “SEED Utah” stimulus program being championed by Grow Utah Ventures, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUTAH), local governments, and business interest.

“We think it is only prudent to plan ahead and look for ways to diversify the economy, so that as the growth sector slows down we have other sectors to fill in,” Hirschi says. “We’re hoping SEED Dixie will help us grow locally based companies that will strengthen and diversify the economy for the long term. We don’t expect immediate results, but hope to start seeing significant positive results in three to five years.”

Funded by private donations and public sector grants, SEED Dixie is a public/private partnership that includes facilitators like the Small Business Development Center on the campus of Dixie State College, Mountain West Small Business Finance, and Wells Fargo Bank. T. Craig Bott, president and CEO of Grow Utah Ventures, is providing consulting services to help design the strategic plan. “Craig facilitated our initial strategic plan nine years ago, which we have used very successfully,” says Hirschi.

Stimulating the Expansion of Entrepreneurial Development

Fittingly, “SEED” is an acronym for “Stimulating the Expansion of Entrepreneurial Development,” a strategy Hirschi hopes will be completely developed by late spring or early summer and then incorporated into the WCEDC’s overall economic development plan. The strategy was envisioned about a year ago and formalized in October 2006. EDCUTAH President and CEO Jeff Edwards announced the strategy at the Washington County Economic Summit in January.

“We have always had a commitment to supporting the efforts of Utah’s entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial community continues to serve as the backbone of our economy, fostering economic growth throughout the state,” says Edwards. “SEED Utah is a tremendous resource for early-stage companies and we are pleased to be a part of this program.”

Hirschi expects that SEED Dixie will help the region stimulate entrepreneurial activities internally, rather than relying on in-migration or the recruitment of new businesses to sustain the economy. “We anticipate it will stimulate new jobs, new businesses, and new opportunities from within the county.” When complete, the SEED Dixie strategy will have several elements that Hirschi says will speak to the tools a start-up business would need in its design, creation, and growth to be successful, including active angel funding.

Technical Bias

The strategy’s bias is toward developing technical companies, but that’s not exclusive, according to Hirschi. “We want to be an entrepreneurially-friendly community.” As part of the SEED Dixie strategy, assistance will be available to eligible entrepreneurs as they look to start and expand their businesses in the area. “We’ll bring all of the tools together and make them accessible and affordable to eligible entrepreneurs,” he says.

Hirschi emphasizes that the county is not abandoning outward recruitment efforts, having actively recruited value-added businesses (manufacturing, distribution centers, and back office operations like call centers which market to customers nationally or internationally) to the area for the past 10 years. “We intend to continue to seek those businesses,” he says.

GOED Support

Regarding GOED’s participation in SEED Dixie, Executive Director Jason Perry says: "As an outgrowth of the SEED Utah Initiative, the Governor's Office of Economic Development is pleased to participate in SEED Dixie. GOED is always interested in helping to foster entrepreneurship throughout the state and SEED Dixie is the first of what we expect to be many joint efforts by communities, businesses, and local governments to grow new business and continue to foster economic development throughout the state."

Ultimately, the SEED Dixie strategy is expected to become a model that may be used in other regions of the state. In fact, Bott says Weber, Davis, and Cache Counties are considering SEED projects as well.

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CALENDAR

Mar. 14:

Quarterly Investor Update

Mar. 22:

Governor's Economic Summit, Grand America Hotel

April 5-6:

Utah League of Cities and Towns Conference (St. George)

April 11:

EDCUTAH Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House

April 29-May 2:

CoreNet (Denver)

May 6-9:

BIO 2007, Boston

June 6-8:

The New West Summit, in Big Sky, Montana will bring together business leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians, journalists, academicians, and engaged citizens to talk about the future of the Rocky Mountain West.

June 20:

EDCUTAH Golf Tournament