What's Up Down South Economic Summit Jan. 15

The Independent

This year’s 18 year old Economic Summit, “What’s Up Down South,” has got some celebrities coming to speak and you are not going to want to miss it. Olympic medalist Noelle Pikus Pace, Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, and national community strategist Robert Grow head the list of speakers for the 2015 Washington County What’s Up Down South Economic Summit set for January 15, 2015 at the St. George Dixie Center.

The Economic Summit has a solid history of growth itself, annually attracting up to 1000 participants, many who come from outside the Washington County area. According to Scoot Hirschi, executive director of Site Select Plus who co-produces the Summit, along with the Business Resource Center at Dixie State University, this year’s event will be notable in several ways.
 
“The event is going high tech,” Hirschi explained. Participants can check in and print their name badges from their home computers. Summit materials will be accessible from smart phone and tablet devices and attendees will be scanned at every door.

Also new this year will be a video highlighting the most compelling companies and projects in the next 18 months. This presentation will begin with an update of the local workforce and demographics by Department of Workforce Services Economist Lecia Langston.

Due to the feedback from previous attendees that requested more networking opportunities, the Summit will feature a networking power hour right after lunch in the Garden Room, which will feature prize giveaways. In addition, an afternoon special session on the challenges and opportunities of growth will be led by Robert Grow who helped develop the original Envision Utah project.

Promoting the Summit 2015’s theme of “Inspiring Greatness” will be Noelle Pikus Pace who won the Olympics Silver Medal in the Skeleton competition. Pace, who staged a heroic comeback in her sport after suffering a broken leg in a freak accident  in 2005, is a sought after motivational speaker nationwide as well as being an MBA, business owner and a wife and mother of young children.

Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, a Fairview native and champion of rural Utah has become known as one of the state’s dynamic young leaders. An attorney and technology entrepreneur, Cox will also be presenting a breakout session describing the development and rise of his fiber company. 

New breakout sessions at the 2015 Summit will be: Attracting and Retaining Talented Employees, by the Dixie Applied Technology College; Maintaining High Impact Social Media by Aly Brooks; Effective Media Releases to Build your Company Brand, by executive producer and television personality Chad Booth, and Innovative Company Cultures by Fishbowl Inventory’s Mary Michelle Scott.

Breakout sessions back by popular demand will be: Commercial and Residential Real Estate Previews, the Soltis Financial Forecast, and Small Business Lessons Learned.

The 2015 What’s Up Down South Economic Summit will take place at the Dixie Center beginning at 8 a.m. on Thursday, January 15, 2015. Cost for the event includes two full meals and materials three premier ballroom sessions and breakout sessions is $95 per person from Dec. 1 until Jan. 12, noon; or $125 after Jan. 12, noon. At the door price will be $150 per person, if not sold out. Participants can register at www.whatsupdownsouth.com .
For more information, contact Jill Elliss, 435-619-1453, [email protected]