News for
May 6, 2026

 

By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent

Shaun Kjar, Central Utah Agri-Park Director, said that he appreciated the recent coverage in The Times-News of the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) Agri-Park zone from a Juab County Commission meeting.

“It’s an important effort for the region, and I’m grateful you’re helping tell that story,” said Kjar.

He said that he did, however, want to reach out with a quick clarification that may help avoid some confusion we’ve been seeing in the community. There are two related, but separate, things that are easy to mix together.

“The two are the Central Utah Agri-Park project that R6 Regional Council is developing (the 930-acre site northwest of Nephi focused on agriculture and eg-related businesses), and the broader UIPA project area/zones, which is an economic overlay that covers a much larger footprint and can include other types of development,” he said.

“Because our project and the UIPA economic zone share similar names, some readers have understandably connected the R6 Central Utah Agri-Park project with other potential developments in the UIPA project area, like data centers, which are not part of what we’re planning inside the R6 Central Utah Agri-Park itself,” Kjar said. “Our focus is strictly on agriculture and an-adjacent uses.”

The vision of the Agri-Park is to save Utah family farms, increase access to processing for Utah agricultural producers, improve Utah’s agricultural economic output, and improve Utah’s food security.

Industries encouraged to come to the Agri-Park will be varied. Some of these industries may include beef, pork and poultry processing facilities, slaughterhouses, feedlots, animal rendering plants, smoke houses, grain mills, feed creation plants, compressed hay operations, dairy processing, wool processing, fruit and vegetable processing, box plants, packing, staging, shipping, logistical hubs, and other support industries. It will be largely dependent on the private sector to determine which industries are interested and able to locate their facilities at the Agri-Park.

He said that he took some responsibility for confusion as well, and was actively working with UIPA to adjust the names so that the two could communicate this distinction more clearly.

“I appreciate you helping us get that message right,” he said.

He offered to sit down with this reporter and walk through the project in more detail.

“I did that recently with Suzanne Dean at the Sanpete Messenger, and it allowed us to go a bit deeper on the differences between the Agri-Park project and the broader UIPA areas, which seemed to help clarify things for readers,” he said.

The Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) is a special-purpose public entity created by the Utah Legislature in 2018 to plan, finance, and oversee “inland port” project areas across the state that support freight logistics and economic development. Located throughout the entire state of Utah, UIPA project areas are vibrant and strategically planned zones, created to be catalysts for economic growth and innovation.

They are places where businesses can tap into rich ecosystems of resources, infrastructure, and support, offered by the Utah Inland Port Authority and their surrounding communities.

A distinction, he said, was that the R6 Regional Council is creating an agricultural processing center in Central Utah, dedicated to supporting the region’s family farms and agricultural producers. Spearheaded by the R6 Regional Council, with a focus on boosting the economies of Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne counties, the initiative recognizes agriculture as a key economic foundation in the area with untapped potential.