By Justin Adams | [email protected]

Having a robust local economy is incredibly important for any city. Not only does it greatly benefit the city government’s financial situation, but it’s just nice for residents to have places to shop, eat and entertain themselves close to home.

As a younger, growing bedroom community, Herriman may not have all the kinds of businesses that some residents would like to have, a disappointment that’s often shared in Herriman social media groups. The problem is, those comments may be scaring away the very businesses which those residents would love to have.

“They definitely look at how the community engages with local businesses. They look at social media to see. It does have an impact,” said Herriman Assistant City Manager Tami Moody.

Lorin Palmer, the city’s new mayor, has seen it first-hand.

“I met with two business owners recently who told me the biggest fear they have about being in business in Herriman is that they’ll get blasted on social media and that it will tank their business. They’re not worried about anything else,” he said.

Since taking office in January, Palmer has made a concerted effort to visit every business in the city. He’s often accompanied by Sandra Llewellyn, an economic development coordinator for the city.

“We have a very local and passionate community,” Llewellyn said. “We just need to turn it around and use it for the positive instead of the negative.”

Much of the resident frustration often comes from a simple misunderstanding of the process by which certain businesses come to the city. Often, the city receives blame for decisions that are out of its control.

“Ultimately it comes down to the developer and the landowner,” Moody explained. “The city can play a part in suggesting potential businesses, however, ultimately the landowner and the developer get to decide who they sell the property to.”

The city also faces many challenges that other nearby cities do not, from its geographic location to its lack of office jobs.

“Sit-down restaurants need a day-time population,” Palmer explained. “They can’t get by on night-business alone. They just can’t. And that’s why we’re also focused on job centers, so we can get more of a day-time population, so those sit-down restaurants can be viable.”

Luckily, the city is starting to see some movement in that department. Last month, the city saw its first sit-down restaurant open with Garage Grill. According to Palmer, he’s already seen a great deal of community support for the new restaurant, and is confident that it will continue.

Palmer is also working on creating a committee of resident volunteers who will be tasked with trying to help change the culture within the city’s digital spaces.

The idea is that the committee members will be able to politely educate those angry Facebook posters about the unintended consequences that their rant may have for the community as a whole. They’ll point out that submitting a feedback form, which most businesses offer, is a more effective way of resolving a negative experience. They’ll also seek out opportunities to post about positive experiences with local businesses, and hopefully inspire others to do the same.

Another thing that residents can do to support the local business community, according to Llewellyn, is to follow the city’s Shop Local Facebook page. There, the city shares posts about new business openings, current businesses’ promotions and more.

Speaking of new business openings, there’s quite a few on the horizon in the city. Some of those include Lee’s Market grocery store, Java Express, Seven Brothers Burgers, Beans and Brews, La Fountain Mexican restaurant and Robintino’s Express.

With more and more options, it’s easier for residents to ‘shop local,’ something that Palmer said is crucial for the health of the local economy.

“I don’t think our residents realize how much of a difference it makes to shop local. If 1,000 residents made a change in that habit, it would make a huge difference,” he said.