This story appears in the November 2025 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
It has been just over two months since the Salt Lake Chamber announced the creation of the Utah Chamber, a statewide organization that will unite the voice of Utah businesses, local chambers and industry associations to build a stronger business environment, increase healthy job creation and support prosperous communities across the state.
Such a historical development is naturally exciting and has come with many opportunities, alongside significant challenges and questions. The Utah Chamber’s creation provides a valuable chance to examine how these chambers are more than just arbitrary organizations; instead, they are proactive forces that reflect the business environment they represent while providing valuable insight into lessons that our business communities can incorporate as they face noteworthy growth and change.
Respond to growing pains
One lesson to be learned from the creation of the Utah Chamber is that when your organization experiences growing pains, it is vital that you recognize, understand and respond to them. In this case, Utah has grown and our capital city has evolved. As the Salt Lake Chamber worked to represent the best interests of both the Utah business community and the Salt Lake metropolitan area, it became clear in recent years that one entity is not the answer to serving both constituencies. Rather, we need a Salt Lake Chamber that supports business activity in the metropolitan area and a statewide chamber that unifies local chambers and industry associations for strong advocacy.
As businesses grow, the growing pains that arise will often be a natural indicator of what is needed for continued development. By seeing those pains as an opportunity to identify a more profound need, businesses can develop a resilient foundation that will strengthen and support their future.
Embrace and understand diverse needs
During development conversations for the Utah Chamber, one thing quickly became apparent: The Utah business community’s greatest need was for an entity that could fully comprehend and advocate for the complex needs of diverse regions and industries. Within businesses, understanding the varying needs of customers, audiences, stakeholders and employees is often the key to promoting success and progress.
Utah’s diverse communities and geographies present a broad range of needs that grow in complexity as the state itself grows. The creation of the Utah Chamber will allow for better understanding and perspectives of all businesses in Utah, from various walks of life. Growing businesses are also full of a wide variety of needs, which, when validated and addressed, lead to a stronger and more capable business environment.
Speak with a unified voice
With Utah’s diverse communities and needs at the forefront, the most vital part of success is that those communities will be empowered to speak with a unified voice.
The Utah Chamber isn’t meant to be a replacement for any local chamber or industry association; rather, it will elevate each chamber, increase their access to resources and expertise, and amplify the voice with which they advocate. By unifying voices across the state, the Utah Chamber will be better able to champion statewide initiatives like Utah Rising and to prepare for the Olympics, while tackling challenges associated with continued growth.
Just as the Utah Chamber will thrive as it unifies and amplifies the voices of those it represents, so too will our business community thrive as we stand together and advocate for the benefit of the people and communities we represent. Unity, both internal to companies and external to the business community as a whole, is a driving power that invites innovation, progress and change.
We need that unity now more than ever. As the business community continues to champion statewide initiatives, our ability to join forces and unify our diverse voices to address potential obstacles and identify opportunities for growth will lead to the prosperity of not only our business community, but also the quality of life for all Utahns.
