The Alliance for Regional Stewardship (ARS) is pleased to announce that Envision Utah is the recipient of the 2011 Ten Award for their exceptional, sustained leadership of regional efforts in Greater Salt Lake and across the state of Utah.  Envision Utah was honored at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives’ (ACCE) annual convention on August 4, 2011, in Los Angeles.

Founded in 1997, Envision Utah launched an unprecedented public effort aimed to keep Utah beautiful, prosperous, and neighborly for future generations. As a neutral facilitator, Envision Utah brought together residents, elected officials, developers, conservationists, business leaders, and other interested parties to make informed decisions about how we should grow.  In 1999, after conducting  over 200 public workshops, and listening to more than 20,000 residents, they created the Quality Growth Strategy, which provides voluntary, locally-implemented, market-based solutions.  The strategy still informs growth in the region today, and since its inception, Envision Utah has partnered with more than 100 communities across the state.

The Ten Award for Distinguished Achievement in Sustained Regional Stewardship was established by ARS to recognize organizations that demonstrates ambitious and steadfast advancement of regional stewardship over a period of at least a decade.  The award is given to those rare organizations that have been early adopters and bold risk takers in the regionalism movement nationally.  The Ten Award celebrates a decade or more of strong organization management, effective public-private partnerships and valuable programs.  The recipient of the Ten Award for Distinguished Achievement in Sustained Stewardship is selected by the ARS advisory board.

“The Envision Utah approach to civic engagement has been replicated by dozens of regions around the country,” said Richard C. D. Fleming, ARS chairman and president and CEO of the St. Louis (MO) Regional Chamber and Growth Association.  “They are truly an organization held in the highest regard by their peers and the ARS Board is proud to recognize their commitment to regional strategies, social inclusion and collaborative governance by presenting them with the 2011 Ten Award.”

ARS is a national, peer-to-peer network of regional leaders working across boundaries to solve tough community problems.  Supported by ACCE, ARS members come from business, government, education, and the civic sectors and share a common commitment to collaborative action and achieving results.  ARS is committed to the idea that strong and vibrant regional communities are built on four principles of regional stewardship: an innovative economy, livable communities, social inclusion, and a collaborative style of governance.