With just a month until this year’s annual Utah Business Forward conference, now is the time to register for the event to hear from inspirational speakers, network with Utah’s business community and grow individually in your career. The keynote lineup for the 3rd annual Utah Business Forward, Utah’s premier leadership and strategy conference, is set. This year, Forward will feature more founders, executives and community leaders than ever before. The event will take place on Monday, November 17, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City.
Forward will include a Breakfast With an Expert session from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., three mainstage keynotes, a VIP afterparty with special musical guest Ashley Hess and five breakout “tracks,” including Leadership, Strategy, People and Culture, Entrepreneurship and Rapid Exchange. New this year, the Rapid Exchange track offers attendees dynamic workshops and networking opportunities through one-on-one interactions with top business leaders and entrepreneurs.
This year’s keynote lineup features some of Utah’s most influential leaders:
- Gov. Spencer Cox will facilitate a rare conversation between C. Shane Reese, president of Brigham Young University, and Taylor R. Randall, president of the University of Utah. They’ll tackle what it means to compete hard without tearing each other down — and why that lesson matters for boardrooms, leadership teams and society. Drawing on President Randall’s and President Reese’s Rival Right initiative and the governor’s Disagree Better campaign, this isn’t about “playing nice.” It’s about using conflict as a tool for growth.
- Sheri Dew, EVP and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corporation, will sit down with Deseret News Executive Editor Doug Wilks to discuss the most significant things other leaders have taught her throughout her lifetime of leading companies, authoring books and working closely with some of the greatest church and business leaders of our time.
- Concluding the day, Catherine Raney Norman, a four-time Olympic speed skater and VP of development and athlete relations for the Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 Committee for the Games, will speak on “Utah’s Olympic Opportunity.” She will speak to the extraordinary chance for Utah to showcase itself on the world stage over the next decade while providing a gateway for communities in every corner of the state to engage with — and benefit from — the living legacy of the Games. She will inspire leaders to consider how they can actively engage now in the road to 2034. Her message will challenge all of us to recognize the collective impact we can create in helping Utah rise to new heights.
“Utah Business Forward is about bringing the state’s brightest minds together to share, collaborate and build on the momentum of the nation’s top economy,” says Burke Olsen, publisher of Utah Business. “This year’s keynotes capture that spirit — demonstrating the value of bold leadership and finding common ground.”
In total, 45 Utah leaders — C-suite executives, founders, politicians, industry experts, brand builders and more — will help attendees move their careers, businesses and lives forward in a meaningful way.
Event Details
- When: Monday, November 17, 2025 | 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Where: Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City
- What: Utah Business Forward, Utah’s premier leadership and business strategy conference
Utah Business Forward is where Utah’s top business achievers share the strategies and insights that fuel the No. 1 economy in the nation. The day-long event brings together leaders from across industries to exchange ideas, bridge divides and provide professionals from every corner of the state with business and life advice. With all the expertise Utah needs already here at home, the conference highlights the state’s unique strength: business knowledge built by Utahns, for Utahns.
For more information, to become a sponsor or to register, visit forward.utahbusiness.com.
Media Contact:
Catherine Bennett
Executive Editor
Utah Business
801.603.6016
news@utahbusiness.com