Price city recognized with national award

By Sun Advocate

Price has been chosen as the best city in Utah with a population of less than 10,000 by the Pat Summerall Champions of Industry 300 program.
According to Mayor Joe Piccolo, Price was one of the 45 participating cities in Utah to be evaluated to receive the prestigious award.
The judging criteria ranged from location and nearby attractions to city planning, risk management and other facets of government organization.
“They dug into the way we do business,” pointed out Piccolo.
Price city will receive the award in 2005 at a Texas ceremony.
Only 25 cities in the United States will receive the award in the 10,000 or less population classification.
According to the Pat Summerall Productions web site, the Champions of Industry award recognizes excellence in business practices.
During the last eight years, hundreds of companies have attained the Champions of Industry status because of their integrity, ingenuity and proven leadership in their respective industries.
Reliable and trustworthy companies are named after being researched and meeting the selection criteria.
As a winner of the Summerall Champions of Industry award, Price will be eligible to participate in a national campaign to promote the city.
For a fee, winners of the award can purchase a promotional package which will be marketed on the national level.
“If we were to win the award and put it quietly on the shelf, it would be a crime,” commented Piccolo.
The award package includes a five-minute promotional video, which will publicize the strengths and appeal of the Price area.
The video will be narrated by a celebrity and can be reproduced at the discretion of the city.
Price will also be given a two minute television spot on Headline News and CNN, as well as a two page spread in Forbes magazine and possibly Fortune 500.
Piccolo said his hope is that businesses will see the promotional material and consider all of the advantages of setting up shop in Price.
Photographers will be arriving on July 8 and July 9 to begin producing the marketing material.
The hospital and college will be some of the key areas of focus in promoting the local area, Piccolo noted.
According to Price city community director Nick Tatton, the photographers were given the July 8 and July 9 dates so the Greek Festival can be featured in the national promotional package.
“We specifically pitched that weekend so that our diversity, community spirit and flavor will be in the media campaign,” stated Tatton.
Price officials made the decision to participate in the promotional part of the award after discussing the positives and negatives with Idaho and Colorado cities which had gone through the process.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the city felt that the cost was worth the outcome, indicated Price’s community director.
Price city is currently working on getting grant funding to offset the costs of the promotional element of the award, Tatton concluded.