APA Utah News & Events

Cache Summit 2021

November 10, 2021 by Judi Pickell
Policy/Legislative

The Cache Summit was started in 2015 when local representatives from the private and public sectors recognized a need for ongoing coordination between local governments and home builders/developers on growth and development issues in Cache Valley. The summit provides a forum for discussing critical growth issues, provides education which addresses local planning needs, and brings people together to tackle tough planning and development-related issues. Developers, builders, planners, lenders, consultants, educators, realtors, elected officials and many others have all attended the summit since its inception. The summit is planned and organized each year with a planning committee of around 10-15 people from both the private and public sectors. A core planning team staffs the summit, including representatives from the local consulting firm Civil Solutions Group, Cache County, and Bear River Association of Governments (BRAG).

Now in its 7^th year, the summit has gained surprising support from members of the private sector. Likewise, many local elected officials, planning and zoning commissioners, city/county planners, and other public sector representatives attend each year. Each summit includes interactive group sessions or activities to help encourage networking and dialogue between people of various interests and backgrounds. These networking activities are usually in the form of group games, exercises, or interactive breakout sessions.

In order to keep local communities engaged and to foster involvement from state leadership, local legislators are invited each year to attend and/or give presentations on regional and statewide issues. Likewise, the summit planning committee chooses a representative from local or state leadership each year to act as Master of Ceremonies (MC) for the summit. Past MC’s include Representative Jack Draxler, Representative Val Potter, and, most recently, Cache County Executive David Zook who is serving as the MC for the 2021 summit.

Where the summit is planned, produced and facilitated by local staff, planning committee members, and volunteers, cost to attend has been kept fairly low, at just $30 per person in 2021. There is also a group rate available for $20 per person for up to 10 people. While these low-cost options help tremendously with getting elected and appointed officials from rural communities to attend, it presents a challenge when trying to cover costs for food and catering, videography, materials and supplies, and facility costs. In order to have enough funding for the summit each year, the planning committee offers a variety of sponsorship opportunities, including a group sponsorship option. Often, the use of a facility is covered by an entity as part of their sponsorship. Sponsorships have helped tremendously with covering all of the costs for the event.

In 2020, there was a substantial interest in talking more about housing and housing affordability issues in the valley. In response to this need, the planning team formed a committee and planned a mid-year housing affordability seminar in June, which was well attended and provided some great resources for tackling relevant issues. Similar events may be held in the future based on local needs and interests.

If you would like to learn more about the Cache Summit, or how to start something similar in your own community, contact Zac Covington with Bear River Association of Governments (BRAG) at zacc@brag.utah.gov, or Michael Taylor with Civil Solutions Group at mtaylor@civilsolutionsgroup.net.

Visit www.cachesummit.com for more information and to view recordings of all past summit presentations.