Five County News
2024-11-06 what the Five County AOG is about. | |||||||||
The Steering Committee is the governing body of the Five County Association of Governments. The next Steering Committee meeting will be held at 12:30 P.M. on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. The meeting will be held in-person at the Festival Hall building, Combined Rooms 5 and 6, located at 96 N. Main St.; Cedar City, Utah. Link to a Google map of the meeting location: https://goo.gl/maps/wbda98LYbKhSVBnx7 . You can park on the second floor of the parking garage and enter from there.
The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) was prepared by FCAOG staff in conjunction with the CEDS Strategy Committee and Steering Committee, through a capacity building grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The goal for this strategic plan is to provide guidance for regional growth while promoting a coordinated approach towards region-wide economic development objectives in Southwest Utah. The CEDS employs long-range planning processes in their development. This planning method allowed staff to consolidate information from a wide range of stakeholders and synthesize the findings into a comprehensive regional growth strategy. This consolidation also provides consistent and unified policy direction for regional economic development efforts. The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy adheres to and satisfies all guidelines provided by both the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Steering Committee, the governing board of the Five County Association of Governments, approved the CEDS document at it's October 11, 2023 meeting. CLICK HERE to view and/or download the CEDS document.
Passenger rail service between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, with the possibility of extending that service into Cedar City and Washington County, is being studied. There was a presentation made to the Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization's governing board, the Dixie Transportation Executive Council, made by Mr. Bryan Thiot, Executive Director of the Five County Association of Governments. Please click on THIS LINK to view/print that presentation (which was originally done as a PowerPoint presentation). This is a PDF version of the presentation.
In 2022, the State of Utah embarked on a strategic planning process to create a Coordinated Action Plan for Economic Vision 2030 document. The purpose of this Statewide Plan is to unify the goals and direction of State government with those of seven regions in the State of Utah. This involves, among other things, aligning each region’s existing Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS) developed by each of the state’s Association of Governments (AOGs). The overarching objectives are to optimize growth and expand prosperity throughout all counties. The unified approach to economic development requires the State and regional interests to work together in harmony to advance mutual goals. The document can be viewed/downloaded
by clicking on this LINK.
The Five County Association of Governments (FCAOG) is a regional organization serving the Utah counties of Beaver, Garfield, Kane, Iron and Washington. The FCAOG also serves as the regional economic development district as a planning partner with the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). Working regionally the AOG develops and maintains a regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The goals, objectives, and strategies identified in the comprehensive strategic plan, support the economic development goals of the region, as well as those of the counties and communities that comprise the region. To further its strategic goals the AOG developed an agreement and partnered with the Western Rural Development Center (WRDC) to implement an Area Sector Analysis Process (ASAP) for its five member counties and produce a final summary regional report. The May 2023 Area Sector Analysis Process (ASAP) is an economic development tool that identifies the most desirable and compatible industries for a single community. To view/print the ASAP Report
please click on this LINK
Each year the Five County Association of Governments has an independent audit of our organization conducted by a qualified public auditing firm. The FY2023 Audit was completed by the Certified Public Accounting firm of Hafen|Buckner of St. George City, Utah and the report was presented to our governing body, the Steering Committee, for acceptance, which they did at their meeting on November 8, 2023.
The Utah Counties Indemnity Pool (UCIP) is our Association's "insurer". A Fraud Tip Hotline has been established by UCIP, in cooperation with Lighthouse Services, LLC. This service has been set up for UCIP members, such as the Five County Association of Governments, in order to provide their staff and citizens with easy access to report fraud, and keep government open and honest. Fraud tips can be submitted four ways: Website: www.lighthouse-services.com/uciputah (available in English or Spanish) Toll-Free Telephone: • English – (877) 410-0007 • Spanish – (800) 216-1288 E-mail: reports@lighthouse-services.com (must include our Association's name with report) Fax: (215) 689-3885 (must include our Association's name with report.
An updated regional Multi-jurisdictional Natural Hazard Pre-disaster Mitigation Plan was developed by the Five County Association of Governments' staff in collaboration with all of the cities and towns, the five counties in this region, as well as the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. The Plan update includes information regarding the type, location and extent potential and regularly occurring hazards in the Five County area and also includes information on previous occurrences of hazard events and the likelihood of a future natural hazard events. This update was done through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Once adopted as a "guidance document" by each entity, the 5-year plan will be valid for that entity until 2027. If there are any questions on the Plan update, please contact Mr. Nate Wiberg, Senior Planner, at (435) 673-3548 ext. 105, or via e-mail to nwiberg@fivecounty.utah.gov
The Five County Association of Governments has a microloan fund. The purpose of this fund is to create permanent, long-term jobs within the southwestern region of Utah by providing needed financing to qualified businesses for eligible activities. Loans made through the fund are intended to help when commercial financing proves unreachable. Funds loaned at interest are repaid into the program and recycled to other businesses, thus allowing an on-going job creation program. Funds are available in Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington County, Utah. The Southwest Utah Microloan Program, established by the Five County Association of Governments, focuses on loans of $50,000 or less with most being $25,000 or less. The importance of these loans lies in their ability to offset the difficulty that businesses experience in receiving traditional bank financing. To
find out more about
the loan fund, please contact
Gary Zabriskie, Director of Community
and Economic Development at: gzabriskie@fivecounty.utah.gov , or
phone (435) 673-3548 ext. 126
As required by
Utah Code the Five County Association
of Governments publishes all
of its public meetings on the "Utah Public Meeting Notice"
(UPMN)
web site.
You can search for
our meetings
by date or subject keyword.
To locate all of the meeting announcement
postings published on the UPMN site
by the Five County Association of Governments
you can use this link and use the "Advanced Search"
tab. You will need to
type in the word
five into
the "Entity"
box, highlight the "Five County Association of Governments"
link that comes up, select a date range you want to view
and then click on the "Submit"
button. It will
then show all upcoming meetings scheduled
by the Five County AOG in the date
range you selected.
Alternatively, you
can use
this LINK, choose to Find a Notice, and
select "Associations
of Governments"
for Government type, choose
"Five County
Association of
Governments" for the Entity,
and you will see the Public Body
list with links to each of them.
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Click Here for more Info on what the Five County AOG is about. |