CEDAR CITY – An Economic Summit, sponsored by the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce, took place Aug. 5 in Festival Hall to address the current economy in Cedar City and Iron County.

The summit featured speeches from several business and community leaders including Brennan M. Wood, Iron County and Cedar City’s Economic Development director; Derek Miller, acting executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development; Dane O. Leavitt, CEO of the Leavitt Group; and SUU President Michael T. Benson.

Wood presented Cedar City and Iron County’s economic summary. He discussed employment, housing, population, income and Iron County’s rankings among other counties in the state.

The county’s unemployment rate is 6.6 percent. It has increased since the end of last year, which is “not out of the ordinary,” Wood said. Housing prices in the area have decreased, with homes averaging $190,595 compared to last year’s $218,606. Iron County’s population continues to grow steadily, regardless of the current economic state.

The county ranks 10th out of 29 counties for total personal income, which is $79.6 billion; however, it only ranks 26th for per capita income ($21,663) which means that a very small population is making a lot of money while the majority of the population is earning a smaller income.

He said the community needs to “overcome the fear” that has resulted from the tough economic climate so that Iron County may “survive and thrive.”

Wood said the community can help improve the local economy by shopping locally to help stimulate hometown businesses and boost spending within the county. He said the community needs to look at “where we are at” so that we can see “where we are going.”

Miller focused his speech on Utah’s economy, expressing a positive outlook about the future of the state. He spoke about the importance of business resource centers to both the local and state economy, one of which was recently opened in Cedar City.

These centers are a great help in providing business owners with information and resources from the state to help in keeping their businesses running well, he said.

Miller said the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index predicts positive economic growth in Utah in the next six to 12 months. He said he is seeing a “change in the mood” of Utah companies that will boost confidence in the economy and bring a new attitude to the state.

Leavitt’s speech was titled “Looking Back, Looking Forward.” He spoke about the need for the community to look upon this time of economic turmoil as a learning experience for times to come.

Leavitt said he understands the fear the economic crisis has caused, but urged business owners and the community to “learn from what we’ve seen” and make the changes that need to be made in order to get the economy back on its feet.

Education was the focus of Benson’s speech. He talked about the decline in enrollment and persistence toward a degree on a national level, though Southern Utah University leads the state in enrollment percentage increases.

The “investment in human capital” by encouraging young people to attend college and to attain a degree, is important.

“High educational attainment correlates with state economic strength and high income,” he said.

Benson said he hopes as more young people attain degrees, they can in turn help stimulate our local economy.

Two awards were presented at the summit. The Friend of the Chamber Award was given to Rep. Evan J. Vickers and was presented by Zurl Thornock, chamber president. The 2009 Economic Drive Award was awarded to Quantum Development Group, and presented by Brennan Wood.

Thornock said he thought the summit was an “extreme success” and had a “bigger response than anticipated.” He said that the chamber is “planning to make it an annual event.”