KAYSVILLE — All businesses need to feel the Davis Chamber of Commerce represents them and has their interests at heart, says new CEO Jim Smith.

He especially wants to ensure that South Davis businesses and residents buy-in to what the 800-plus member group can offer.

“We will have roundtables with Bountiful” and other South Davis business people in the near future “to address issues of concern to South Davis,” he said.

That idea came, in part, after a meeting last week with Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson.

“We want to get more South Davis business people involved on the board, so the area is better represented,” Smith emphasized.

“We discontinued the (monthly) lunches in the last six months; those will be resumed,” he said.

However, “some people got the idea they didn’t want to drive from Farmington to Bountiful,” say, for the membership meetings. Attendance had fallen sharply, particularly at the meetings when they were held in Bountiful. Generally, one month they were held in Layton, the other month in Bountiful.

“We are getting to the point there are several issues we need to take advantage of; they are too important to ignore,” Smith emphasized.

Using transportation as an example, he recalled how the chamber helped lead the way on getting Legacy South started. “It used to take me an hour and 20 minutes to get from Farmington to work in Salt Lake City. Now I can go 65 mph all the way,” he said.

Now, preliminary work is under way on the Legacy North extension that would start in Farmington and eventually go into Weber County.

But beyond that, he pointed to a need to help South Davis commuters, who receive minimal help, in many cases, from FrontRunner. But Johnson and others are pushing for modern, high-tech streetcars, and possibly TRAX, or some version of it, Smith said.

“I also think there is a need to do an east-west corridor,” he continued. “We’re a really good county to be able to drive through, from Salt Lake to Ogden, but there is such growth on the west side, from Syracuse to West Bountiful.”

He noted the chamber’s transportation committee has been resurrected and is working on Legacy North, among other related issues.

“There are tremendous business opportunities in the county,” the 37-year career former banker said. “There are unique aspects to having a countywide chamber. When the chamber speaks, people tend to listen.

“The chamber can be a mediator on issues,” he said, citing a proposed revision to Layton’s sign ordinance as an example. Sign ordinances around the county can have dramatic impact on the business community, Smith added.

“We don’t endorse individual political races, but countywide issues,” Smith said, pointing to the legislative affairs committee as a way for direct involvement with local legislators.

“We need more South Davis representation on that committee,” he said.

The chamber is planning its annual awards/officer installation meeting next month – but with a twist.

“To make this a really big deal, we’ve opened nominations to the entire membership,” with a separate nomination and judging committee appointed.

Nominations will be narrowed to a list of top three, with awards given in categories of business of the year, innovator of the year, and small business of the year, as well as honoring a “green” business.

Plans are well under way, as well, on the annual Business to Business Expo in May. It will feature Larry Gelwix, the travel guru, and Greg Miller, who has taken the helm of the late Larry H. Miller business empire.

tbusselberg@davisclipper.com