Friday's Northern Utah Business and Economic Summit is another success story for Davis County. It drew many of the "movers and shakers" in the county, both in terms of speakers/presenters and audience.

Speakers included everybody from a mayor to a school superintendent, various state economic development officials, to some of the top brass at Hill Air Force Base.

But more important than the "big names" who spoke was the wealth of information they shared.

Topics covered included an update on the growing Weber State University-Davis campus, hosts of the event; an address on identity theft, which appears to be growing daily locally and across the country; discussion about the county's transportation is-sues, to strategies for keeping Hill Air Force Base open.

Other topics centered on economic development within the county, results of the just-completed Legislative session, the current real estate market, update on the Davis Conference Center, Davis Applied Technology College entrepreneurial center, to status of new schools.

Still other topics were Cable Channel 17 and Conference & Visitors Bur-eau update, Wasatch Inte-grated Waste, military affairs' support of the troops, to economic development on a state level, and more.

As has become traditional with this Davis Chamber of Commerce event, participants receive a "grundleful" of material they can scan during the conference and later digest at their "leisure."

To hear such presenters, all in one room, in one day, would normally cost hundreds of dollars per person. The chamber is able to bring these experts together at a cost of $50 per person.

The annual summit is one of the strengths that the new, bigger chamber has been able to successfully pull off each year. Thanks to the clout and depth of the nearly 1,000-member chamber and its staff, a high-caliber event that one wouldn't expect here is possible.

It's a lot more than a time to network, which is one of the strengths of chamber of commerce membership. It's also a time to reflect on all that is happening in the county, on the many issues with which all of us deal in one way or another.

Topics are chosen to coincide with feedback received from many chamber members. This is meant to be a lot more than a time to relax from work.

Even the pace of much of it, quick break-out sessions of only a few minutes per topic, means no one should have a chance to get bored -- or if so, not for very long.

We applaud the chamber for continuing this annual event, for continuing to build it up into something that is worthwhile to the wide variety of people who make up the Davis Chamber.

As the state's second largest chamber of commerce, in terms of membership, the Davis Chamber has built up a powerful clout around the state. That's one way it can draw speakers to such an event as the Summit.

This same clout has helped, even legislatively, as the Legislative Affairs Com-mittee is able to make its voice heard. That's because by working as one, united voice in the county, instead of three, as previously was the case, more people will listen.

It's a case of the squeaky wheel being heard. That's getting to be the case more and more, thanks to such efforts of the chamber.

Channel 17 is another example of a unifying force, backed by the chamber, county and many cities. It's a way to see and know what's going on throughout the county.

The Clipper wishes to thank the Chamber and its small, but hard-working staff, for all they do to make the county a better place.

It's another prime example that Davis County has become a "first class" county, in terms beyond being a great place to live, work and play -- but also in terms of what it can offer that is on a par with other areas in the state.