Development-ready communities are more likely to attract and grow competitive, high-value companies. Site selection—identifying sites for a relocation or expansion project—is an expensive and time-consuming process for companies. To make a site decision, companies first select a state based on factors like business climate, taxes, and quality of life. They then select a region, based on factors like operational costs and workforce characteristics; and finally, a specific community is chosen based on site availability, real estate, incentives, etc.
Communities who are “development ready,” or prepared with the right knowledge and assets, can help shorten and simplify this site selection process for companies—and are therefore more likely to compete and be chosen for quality economic development projects.
As of July 2022, the following cities and counties have "graduated" from the DRC program: Bluffdale City, Box Elder County, Brigham City, Cache County, Carbon County, Cedar City, Davis County, Delta City, Eagle Mountain City, Farmington City, Grand County, Green River City, Kane County, Layton City, Ogden City, Orem City, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, San Juan County, Sandy City, Saratoga Springs City, Sevier County, South Jordan City, Spanish Fork City, Syracuse City, Taylorsville City, Tooele City Tremonton, Wasatch County, Washington City, West Jordan City.
EDCUtah’s Development Ready Communities (DRC) program includes training on key components of Site Selection, RFI development, and Incentives training. During the 2002-21 fiscal year, we held 16 training sessions with 187 attendees. These sessions will continue to be offered for public sector professionals and elected officials who wish to certify as Development Ready Communities.
We have added a number of new training sessions to the DRC program. Though not required for DRC certification the six “elective courses” are beneficial in understanding many elements of the economic development process. The new training sessions are titled Real Estate Ready, Infrastructure and Developers’ Dialogue, Websites, Diversity & Inclusion, and Economic Development Partnerships. This calendar includes all training sessions, and is subject to change.
EDCUtah public sector investors may apply for match funding for professional development and special projects. Program Purpose - To provide funding in support of specific economic development efforts that will spur job growth and capital investment in Utah communities.
Visit our Match Grants page for more details.
The first step to becoming a Development Ready Community is to understand the site selection process. Broadly speaking, a company must first select Utah, then a specific region, and then a specific community. At each level there are factors that affects the site selection process.
Compares 60 factors across all 376 metro areas (MSAs) to identify regional strengths.
Research brief analyzes 50 factors across all 50 states to pinpoint Utah's strengths in the national market.
Available to public members of EDCUtah, the program provides a structured, comprehensive and efficient methodology. EDCUtah’s Community Strategy team assists members through the five stages of economic development preparedness:
EDCUtah’s community strategy team works with communities to evaluate local industry expertise, occupational concentration, real estate availability, and other site selection criteria. EDCUtah’s research department compares this data to nationwide, statewide, regional, and community-specific data.
Stage 2 of the DRC uses the information and analysis from Stage 1 to create a Development Ready Plan for a community. This plan is a customized approach to a community’s economic development goals, capitalizing on its strengths and planning to resolve its weaknesses.
Stage 3 equips communities with the needed marketing materials to effectively promote to companies and site selectors, both proactively – before an official request for information (RFI) is released – and reactively in response to an RFI. During Stage 3, communities work with EDCUtah to develop marketing materials and tools to use throughout the site selection process.
In Stage 4, communities receive training on key components of economic development including core courses in the site selection process, incentives process, and RFIs, as well as other elective courses.
* The Small Community Package is for communities < 5,000 residents and is a $1,000 flat fee. If you select a retail focus, you will receive products marked with R. If you select a corporate recruitment focus, you will receive products marked with B. Community population is determined using the most recent Census 5-year ACS estimate.
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