The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is no more. Say hello to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. It’s more than just a name change. It’s a change to a more service-oriented mission.
Director Tiffany Clason said the DABS wants to benefit all Utahns – whether they drink or not.
She said they serve Utahns “in the hundreds of millions of dollars that we help generate for the state and local governments, funding services and programs that every single one of us use.”
The funding goes to things like transportation, public health and education. Clason also noted that the DABS supports tourism because they work with restaurants, bars and entrepreneurs.
The DABS serves all Utahns, whether or not the drink alcohol. #utpol pic.twitter.com/zYsina5N5j
— UT Dept of Alcoholic Beverage Services (@UtahABS) June 1, 2022
Michele Corigliano, the executive director of the Salt Lake Area Restaurant Association, said they worked closely with the newly renamed agency for a year and a half to make major changes.
“Our suggestions and our desires and our needs have been met with immediate response which we’ve never seen before,” Corigliano remarked.
The DABS’ strategic plan says it will make its operations department more efficient by speaking with package agents. They will also provide newsletters, listening tours and quarterly meetings to keep good communication with stakeholders.
Further, it will continue to prioritize the prevention of underage drinking through its partnership with the Utah Substance Use and Mental Health Advisory Council. USAAV+ director Liz Klc said the agency’s attention to the Underage Drinking Prevention Media Campaign helped a lot. Since the campaign began, she said Utah’s 30-day youth alcohol use trends show a 63.8% overall decrease.
Klc said, “they are truly a standard of how a state agency can lead to improve the lives of our Utah families everywhere.”