The “Utah’s Own” line of locally generated products are going to be a prominent feature at the 8th Annual Governor’s Economic Summit Conference opening Thursday in downtown Salt Lake City. The unique public/private effort to promote the Utah brand is run through the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. Jed Christenson is the director of marketing and economic development at Utah’s Own. He says their recent poll of 150 members shows an average increase of almost four jobs per company through the recession.
“…and they were projecting that they were going to create another roughly 260 jobs a year until 2015," says Christenson. "They were that positive about the economy and their future and how they’re growing.”
Christenson says aspiring high school age chefs are working with chefs at the Grand America Hotel during the summit as part of the ProStart program.
“That’s kind of an exciting side benefit that we’re seeing come out of this,” he says.
Christenson says the program is supported by the Utah Restaurant Association to mentor students who are considering a career in the food industry. He says the juniors and seniors will be helping prepare hundreds of meals for Thursday’s reception following the summit.
