DRAPER FIRST
September 2020
A Special Publication by City Journal, Draper City, and South Valley Chamber of Commerce
J.P. Lee Jewelry is ‘a hub of good feelings’ By Mimi Darley Dutton | m.dutton@mycityjournals.com
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eweler Jon Lee is in a feel-good business and is one of those rare people who actually loves what he does for a living. He said his business is, “almost always associated with romance, good feelings, expressions of love and gratitude. It’s people wanting to give something to someone they love and appreciate. To see that every day is what keeps me coming back, that coupled with the nuance of jewelry itself and God’s creation in gemstones and metals that we get to utilize our skills to craft into something beautiful.”
visit. It’s a little bit of a hub of good feelings, goodwill and friendship that’s evolved over 30 years. It’s much more than a business to us, it’s a big part of our life,” Lee said.
The Lees have been in the jewelry business for 30 years, the last 20 of those in Draper. Lee grew up about a block and a half from the store building he now owns. In his youth, it was the Draper Pharmacy, dentist and doctor’s office building all in one. “It was a full-service building with a breezeway so you could go from the doctor’s office Lee and his wife, Susan, can of- right into the pharmacy and get your ten be found working side-by-side in prescription,” he said. their store located at the T-intersection Lee graduated from Alta High of Fort Street and Pioneer Road. They get to witness people doing joyous and School and spent time at the University exciting things in their lives. Lee said of Utah and Brigham Young University. that seeing and appreciating people by “I went to work in a jewelry store for mingling with them is the best part of what I thought would be three months in college and I ended up liking it, so I the business. worked at different stores after that,” he “We’re not only selling people jew- said. He decided to make it his career, elry, we have a community that comes so he went to the Gemological Institute in and out and stops by to say hi and of America in San Diego. Lee is both
a graduate gemologist, meaning that he has education in jewelry and appraisal, as well as a goldsmith, or one who manufactures and repairs jewelry. He’s not just skilled with jewelry, but with names and faces as well. Lee said his clientele base is at least 30,000 people, 90% of whom he and Susan know by name. Lee sells and designs both traditional and contemporary styles. He estimates he’s made 10,000 pieces of jewelry. “We start with an idea that moves into a sketch that then moves into a hand-carved wax model or a computer-aided design (CAD) wax model. We cast the wax model in gold or platinum and then set the stones and finish the piece. It’s all in-house, we do it right there using old school methods and the latest technologies to do it. We do a lot with laser that we use to do intricate setting and repair work. Wax carving by hand is literally thousands of years old.
In Partnership WIth:
RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO DRAPER BUSINESSES
Provided by Draper City
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everal grants and resources are available for businesses to help recover losses due to COVID-19. Businesses should apply for the grants as soon as they open or re-open since many are on a firstcome, first-served basis. Also, keep checking back on the grants since some receive additional funding or change their eligibility requirements over time. Below is a rundown of grants available at the time of this publication.
Salt Lake County Small Business Impact Grant The Small Business Impact Grant is a COVID-19 relief program for small businesses in Salt Lake County. The program awards one-time payments of $500 to $35,000 to impacted businesses that apply. The eligibility requirements for the grant include businesses in any industry and is open to businesses that received less than $35,000 in CARES Act funds. Any small business in Salt Lake County that meet the requirements should apply. If a business was previously denied when the grant was first introduced, they are encouraged to re-apply. To be eligible, businesses must: Be based in Salt Lake County Employ fewer than 100 employees Provide documents verifying financial loss Be in any industry impacted by COVID-19 Have operated prior to Jan. 1, 2020 Received less than $35,000 financial aid through CARES Act programs (e.g. Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans or the state’s Commercial Rental Assistance program.) Completed applications from eligible businesses will be processed in the order they are received. The application will be open until funds are exhausted. For more information and to apply, visit slco.org/covid-19/economy/grants.
Governor’s Office of Economic Development’s Grants The Governor’s Office of Economic Development administers several grants to help businesses recover from loss of revenue due to COVID-19. One program includes the Utah COVID-19 Commercial Rental Assistance Program, which provides rental relief to businesses. Some of the eligibility requirements include having a current lease on commercial property in the state of Utah and be in operation with fewer than 100 full-time employees. Another program is the COVID-19 PPE Support Grant Program, also known as Safe in Utah. This program supports a business’s COVID-19 response for safely returning employees to work. This could include the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE), implementation of workplace redesigns, additional signage, new technology solutions for distance working and other items to comply with COVID-19 public health guidelines. To view the latest updates and apply for these grants, visit https://business.utah. gov/coronavirus/. Draper City’s Waived Fees for Businesses Draper City waived all renewal penalty fees for business licenses that are currently expired. The penalty waiver is retroactive to February 1, 2020 and is in effect until December 31, 2020. If a business license has expired, the owner will not be charged penalty fees to bring the business license current. A business that has paid penalty fees during this timeframe can email jennifer.larson@ draper.ut.us to request a refund. In addition, Draper City waived temporary signage fees for businesses who apply through September 19, 2020. Draper businesses may use the signage to promote their services or new deals to potential customers. This could include informing of dine-in / in-person services and sharing new open hours. The maximum signage size allowed is 32-square-feet in Draper.
To stay up-to-date on new grants and programs available, sign up for Draper City’s email updates by emailing info@draper.ut.us with your business name.
rings. We make on average two to three wedding rings every day,” Lee said. “When these young kids come in, I don’t sell them the most expensive thing. I sell them what works best for them so that it’s a positive experience and not a stressful one. But we One recent creation stands out. do try to make the guys heroes with “Last year, we found a 2-carat ruby at the rings that we make.” a gem show that was one of the most He said he sees about 25% of beautiful we’d ever seen. We made this vintage looking ring to put the what he calls “lone rangers” comruby in. It was in the case for one day ing in to choose an engagement ring and it sold. It was just exquisite. The and the majority or 75% are couples pieces we’ve made seem to sell ex- who come to choose a ring together. tremely quickly, probably because of “That’s a fun part of the business as the beauty as well as my enthusiasm well, to see the interaction of couples deciding together or a mysterious over that piece,” he said. thing that the guy does all by himJon and Susan have been mar- self,” he said. ried for what he calls “31 years of Lee has some advice for the pure bliss.” They have four children and have recently welcomed a grand- would-be grooms out there. “With daughter named Evanie. All those wedding rings, it works out best when years of marriage and their apparent they choose it together. She’s usually happiness likely translate into the much happier that way, and if she’s main focus of their work. “The big- happier, that translates into his happigest part of our business is wedding ness,” he said. We can be very artsy doing it by hand as opposed to technically precise doing it with CAD. It depends on the project what approach I take, probably half CAD and half hand-carved,” he said.
J.P. Lee Fine Jewelry 955 E 12400 S Draper, UT 84020 Modified Hours
Tuesday 10 am - 5 pm Wednesday 10 am - 2 pm Friday 10 am - 5pm
801.523.1128
DRAPER In a Draper suburb, a small farm sprouts
By Linnea Lundgren | linnea.l@mycityjournals.com
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wo years ago, when the house and land at 12820 S. Fort Street went on the market several buyers emerged, willing to pay above the asking price in order to tear down the home or subdivide the almost-an-acre lot. Joaquim Hailer and his wife Carolyn wanted the land to farm, so they wrote a letter to the seller detailing their dream. They got the house and the land. And local residents, in turn, got to reap the benefits from Draper’s new Fine Tilth Farm. Almost every Saturday during harvest season, the Hailers set up a canopy and table on Fort Street offering just-picked vegetable delights ranging from tomatoes—they have more than 210 heirloom and cherry plants—to baby root veggies, peppers and salad mixes. There are also items not often found at the grocery store such as anise hyssop, the cilantro-esque herb papalo and the pumpkin-like North Georgia candy roaster squash. They also sell their produce online (finetilth.farm) and plan to continue doing so into the winter. “It’s my first year and I’ve certainly exceeded my expectations,” Hailer said about his crops and the positive community response. The pandemic and resulting food shortages, he says, have shown people how fragile the food system is and more people have taken an interest in purchasing locally grown food. Fine Tilth Farm resides behind the Hailer’s home on about
a third of an acre, a plot of land that two years ago was overgrown with weeds, invasive Russian olives and had off-the-chart salt levels in the soil. With a lot of hard work and truckloads of compost it has become, what Hailer quips, “a glorified garden.” There’s row upon row of organically grown vegetables, herbs and flowers, a squash garden, a high tunnel (greenhouse) sheltering tomatoes and peppers (with plans for a second tunnel) and mammoth sunflowers that border the western and northern edges. “I like to eat, and I like to grow things, and I like a challenge,” said 44-year-old Hailer, a lifelong vegetarian. “And (farming is) always a huge challenge. No matter how good you get at this, there is always some new hurdle to overcome.” In the summer, he’s often in the field at 5 a.m. since the biggest challenge has been the heat. “Everything suffers,” he said. He regularly runs overhead sprinklers to cool the crops and to refresh himself takes a siesta. He’s had to contend with other challenges, too, including squash bugs and a springtime infestation of cutworms which had him picking these nocturnal pests off the vegetables by headlamp. But among the challenges, there are the many joys: growing beautiful vegetables and flowers, feeding his family what he’s cultivated, and enjoying the wildlife sightings, including a muskrat and garter snakes that live near the irrigation canal west of the farm. Hard work in the great outdoors is nothing new for Hailer, who after graduating from Cornell University, and “tired of sitting down” headed west to join wildland fire crews in Arizona and Yosemite National Park. He fought fires for four seasons—working with the ground, truck and helicopter crews—and in between worked at Snowbird. It’s there he met his wife, a longtime Snowbird employee, when she offered him a ride down the canyon. Later, he owned his own photography business and for 10 years concentrated on race photography ranging from marathons to mountain bike races. But, the travel became tiresome and after starting a family, he sold that business and turned his attention to being a stay-athome dad to son Atticus and a full-time urban farmer.
Hailer said he’s always had a garden, starting as a kid in rural West Virginia where farming was a way of life. On his family’s homestead, his dad raised bees and sold honey and both parents grew all their food. Hailer’s childhood job was weed control, which he didn’t enjoy. “I still don’t enjoy pulling weeds, but now I appreciate the concept (of farming) and the work,” he said.
For the most part, he’s been learning commercial farming on the go. “It’s not rocket science, it’s just putting in the work a lot of the time. I enjoy the work. I enjoy the learning,” he said and added that now is the perfect time to start something like this. “The knowledge is available. (With YouTube tutorials) any detail is at your fingertips. All it takes is a little space and an interest.” If all goes well, fall crops should include plenty of salad greens, arugula, spinach, carrots, scallions, onions and winter squash. He has “the eternal hope of a farmer” and next year can’t wait to start experimenting with tomato grafting, growing more exotic Asian greens, and adding edible flowers to his salad mixes. Being an urban farmer has given him a greater awareness of the many backyard gardens that people in Draper cultivate and he enjoys seeing them. But, for small commercial farming’s future, he’s concerned. “For new farmers or young farmers it is almost impossible to get land. That contributes to my concern about the food system. New people can’t start doing this.” “If every neighborhood had a couple of places like mine,” he said, “it would be awesome.”
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IF WE MISSED YOU LAST MONTH, WE’RE SORRY.
CHAMBER South Valley Chamber names new president and CEO By Stephanie DeGraw | s.degraw@mycityjournals.com
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he new leader for the South Valley Chamber of Commerce will carry on the tradition of relationship building. Jay Francis will be president and CEO, replacing Greg Summerhays, who led the Chamber for four years. Francis will begin his new position in early September. “I think it is important to provide opportunities to connect and share, not just business cards and contact information, but connect in a way where members can build relationships,” Francis said. “The team at the Chamber has been doing a great job with this, and we need to see what we can do to take it to the next level.” Summerhays will pursue a career in real estate with Chapman Richards & Associates. “It has been one of the greatest pleasures of my career to serve as the president and CEO of the South Valley Chamber. Our board of directors and Chamber team have created a strong regional chamber, providing great value and resources to our membership,” Summerhays said. “Jay Francis is a perfect leader to continue the work we have achieved over the past four years. He will take the Chamber to new heights and continue to strengthen the South Valley business community.” The organization’s mission is to connect with people, create and build sustainable programs that make a difference in the community. According to Francis, “It is also a great way to
help businesses have a voice in the community.” Francis plans to glean input from businesses and community leaders if they would like any new programs. “New programs and strategies need to come from working with the businesses and community leaders to know what is required,” Francis said. “This isn’t about the title…This is about building a service Jay Francis is the new incoming South Valley Chamber of Greg Summerhays, the outoging South Valley Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. organization that Commerce president and CEO. can help businesses, Chamber and the critical role it plays chamber, Jay is the right person to communities, and economic development focused on in the South Valley business commu- lead the Chamber into the immediate future.” the southern part of Salt Lake Coun- nity. Francis retired after 35 years South Valley Chamber Board ty. ‘Jay Francis’ can’t do that (alone), but working with a great board and Chairman Rob Brough and exec- with the Larry H. Miller Group in community leaders can make a real utive vice president of marketing May 2019. “Jay is widely respectdifference. With COVID- 19, what and communications at Zions Bank ed, admired, and trusted throughout we can provide and infuse is needed welcomed Francis. “Jay is a perfect the Salt Lake Valley and beyond,” more than ever. This is not a time for leader to continue the work we have Brough said. “We are in the midst of us as businesses to pull back but to achieved over the past four years. He a truly unprecedented time, and the will continue to strengthen the busi- challenges businesses face are unlike invest.” Francis was a member of the ness community in the South Valley. anything we’ve ever seen before. The Chamber’s board of directors for the Summerhays was the right leader for South Valley Chamber is committed past 12 years, including service as the the Chamber during his four years of to evolving our programs and serboard’s chair and on the executive service. As the Chamber moves into vices to meet our member businesses’ committee. He is familiar with the its next phase as a strong regional ever-changing needs.” l