Chamber holds 106th Annual Meeting Today

Long considered one of the best states for business-the longevity of the Salt Lake Chamber is testament to what can be accomplished when business leaders and elected officials work together to benefit our community.

Today the Salt Lake Chamber will hold its 106th Annual Meeting. We're celebrating a year in which Utah businesses were "Bucking the Trend" and "Reining in a Wild Economy."

And what a year this was.

During the past year, Utah received a host of accolades, even as or state and the nation slipped into recession. We secured enviable national rankings-named as one of the Best Cities for Jobs 2008 by Forbes magazine, as the Best Managed State by the Pew Center, and fielded and cheered on a college football team worthy of a national championship with the Utes finishing an undefeated season ranked second in the AP poll.

Despite these and other impressive accomplishments, the dire news on Wall Street quickly found its way to Main Street and businesses all around Utah confronted an immensely challenging year-for some their most challenging in decades.

Even amidst the downturn, Utah stood tall as it always does. We maintained our very low unemployment rate; we're the fourth lowest in the nation. Construction cranes, our mascots of progress, dot the skyline as $1.6 million are invested each day in Salt Lake City construction projects. Delta Air Lines completed a merger with Northwest Airlines and not only debuted a non-stop trans-Atlantic flight to Paris, but also announced a trans-Pacific flight to Tokyo. Further evidence of our emergence as a global city came in the form of a 38 percent increase in merchandise exports, reaching nearly $11 billion.

Through the ups and downs, we remain a dynamic, rapidly growing state. There is so much that is right with Utah. At the Annual Meeting this afternoon we'll take time to honor our Small Business Award winners. These organizations have persevered during challenging economic times and shown an ability to thrive not just in the face of current challenges, but over the long haul.

The Mandarin, located in Bountiful, has been named the Small Business of the Year. Founded by Gregory and Jeni Skedros over 30 years ago, the Mandarin is known for serving some of the best Chinese food in Utah with Gregory spending most nights personally greeting diners. The award is sponsored by Equitable Life and Casualty Insurance.
The Entrepreneurial Success Award will be presented to Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore. The growth of large bookstore chains and online superstores has proven challenging for independent booksellers but Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore has found success supplying Utah with new, used and rare reading materials for 79 years and is now the largest independent bookstore in the state. The award is sponsored by America First Credit Union.

A vital part of the economic and financial education in our schools since 1955, Junior Achievement of Utah will receive the Community Service Award. More than 60,000 students will participate in Junior Achievement of Utah this year to gain a fundamental understanding of America's free-enterprise system. The award is sponsored by Sprint.

Manuel's Fine Foods is the winner of the Minority Small Business Award. Manuel Torres opened Manuel's Fine Foods in 1938 and the operation is run today by three of his grandsons. As Hispanic foods have increased in popularity over the past decade, demand has increased for Manuel's chilies, spices and other foods. The award is sponsored by UPS.

During the Annual Meeting, the Chamber will also honor former Chair, Scott Hymas, President and CEO of RC Willey. In addition, the Chamber will honor five 2009 Chamber Champions: Kameron Emery of Mount Olympus Waters, Inc., Kent Gibson of Zions Securities Corp., Gretta Spendlove of Durham Jones & Pinegar, P.C., Mark Walker of EnergySolutions and Nathan Wickizer of Cache Valley Electric Company.

Through good times and not so good times, people in our community band together to make tough choices get us back on track. Great people with incredible skills make businesses large and small successful in our state. Fortunately, the best people from the business community come to the Chamber and try to make a difference in a way they wouldn't be able to in their own organization.

Working together, we make Utah a great place to live, work, play and do business.