DAVIS COUNTY ó Davis County may be the smallest county in Utah geographically, but it has 300,000 people, 6,800 businesses, 15 citiesÖand an enormous variety of complex issues and needs to go along with them. The 50 business and government representatives who serve on the Davis Chamberís Legislative Affairs Committee are well aware of these issues. They have studied them carefully and prioritized them into the following six areas of focus for the Davis Chamber and its full membership. Economic Development. In addition to its traditional business advocacy events and activities, the Davis Chamber has formed a vital partnership with the recently created Davis Economic Advisory Council (DEAC). ##M:MORE##

The Chamberís Chair-elect Brad Wilson is Chair of DEAC. Chamber member Mike Ostermiller of the Weber/North Davis Association of Realtors is Vice-Chair. Chamber members serve on each of the Councilís six sub-committees. While the work of the Council sub-committees is just getting underway, the Chamber has already been identified as a key organization to carry out the recommendations and solutions that the Council will put into place. Naturally an organization dedicated to building a strong business environment would make economic development its first priority, but there is more to this partnership than increasing profits. Economic development is the funding force that will provide many of the solutions to all other issues.

Health Care Reform. Ev-ery facet of society is impacted by increasing health care costs. The Davis Chamber is working closely with its local legislative delegation to find and implement reforms that will fairly represent the needs of families, local business, and the insurance and health care industries. Clearly, that is a tremendous undertaking that will require creativity, determination, compromise, and patience.

The Davis Chamber is pleased that Rep. Roger Barrus, Sen. Greg Bell, and Sen. Sheldon Killpack have been appointed as legislative representatives to the Health Systems Reform Taskforce. They reported to the Legislative Affairs committee at its May 1 meeting and will continue to meet with the Chamber to hear their recommendations and report the results of the Taskforce. In addition, the CEOs of Davis, Lakeview, and Intermountain McKay-Dee hospitals will address the Chamberís Monthly Luncheon on June 19 to present their take on the health care situation in Northern Utah.

Education. Without question, Davis Countyís most precious (and perhaps most plentiful) resource is our children. The Davis Chamber continues to build strong relationships with the Davis School District on multiple fronts. The Chamber welcomes representation of the Davis School District on its Board of Directors by Community Relations Director Chris Williams. Likewise, the Chamber is represented on the Districtís Foundation Board and several committees. This allows the two organizations to work in full cooperation for the benefit of Davis County today and for the good of our future business leaders. And donít miss coverage of the Davis Reads program which runs frequently on Davis Cable 17.

Watch this spot next month for information about what the Davis Chamber is doing with regard to our next three areas of focus: Transportation, Military Relations (Hill AFB), and Natural Resource Management.

The Davis Chamber ñ Get Involved ñ Get Results.