Program provides incentives to companies that hire rural workers
Sun Advocate Business Contributor
Government leaders recently established a larger presence in the ongoing discussion about rural Utah.
Rural Utah struggles to provide meaningful employment to residents and often one industry supports the entire economy.
Emery and Carbon County have the 5th and 6th highest unemployment in the state at 5.2 percent and 4.8 percent respectively.
The five least populated counties in Utah have an average 5.2 percent unemployment while the largest five counties are at 3.1 percent.
From 2005 to 2015, telecommuting employment increased 115 percent, according to Flexjobs, an online clearinghouse for connecting companies to telecommunting job candidates. During the 2018 Legislative Session, State Rep. Michael Noel from House District 73 authored and presented HB0327, the Rural Online Initiative.
In short, this bill is a three-year pilot program and provides more than $2 million dollars to assist in creating online and freelance jobs for people in rural Utah. This bill was signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert in March.
“One of our most valuable resources and exports in rural Utah are our high school kids. Once they graduate from high school, they leave to obtain education and find a career that fits their skills and interests,” said Rep. Noel. He continued, “We are using the internet to connect with larger markets and we wanted to find a way to allow those who want to live in a rural community to access the higher paying jobs in industries that our infrastructure currently won’t support.”
Utah State University Extension will be administering this program and are in the final stages of selecting a Senior Program Coordinator, three Program Coordinators, and potentially other administrative positions, all in rural communities, Price being one of them.
The Program Coordinator in Price will manage the program for Daggett, Uintah, Grand, San Juan, and Carbon counties. Emery County will be managed from the Sevier County Extension office.
This program begins July 1 and will provide funding to businesses that hire rural employees who can telecommute, or freelance for them.
It will also provide training and resources to individuals to enable them to find online or freelance opportunities. These jobs include regular W-2 positions as well as 1099 and entrepreneur opportunities.
“We want the public to be aware of the concept of this legislation and program as well as the benefits it brings to rural communities,” stated Jody Gale at the USU Extension Office in Sevier County.
Program Coordinators will travel to communities to speak with businesses, government agencies, and leaders to promote this initiative sharing the vision to bring income opportunities to rural residents from larger markets in and outside of Utah.