Utah Blue Industry Summit
A convening of thought leaders shaping and investing in innovative solutions to Utah's water challenges and the Great Salt Lake.
Hosted by the Sorenson Impact Institute, the Great Salt Lake Alliance, and the Sorenson Impact Foundation, this invite-only event is free to attend.
We believe a healthy Utah requires a healthy Great Salt Lake and a healthy water ecosystem. The lake's rapid decline, in particular, poses a serious risk to Utah’s economic growth, quality of life, and natural systems, while presenting unique opportunities for Utah to lead and innovate. Momentum is building across sectors, with hundreds of millions of private, public, and philanthropic capital being directed to not only the restoration of the lake but also to protecting and sustaining Utah's entire ecosystem.
The inaugural Utah Blue Industry Summit brings together capital providers, corporate and industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and scientists to coalesce around the urgent mobilization of capital toward innovative solutions for the lake. Attendees will engage in laying the foundational groundwork for partnerships, pipeline, and investments required to build a thriving water innovation ecosystem in Utah.
Schedule
The event begins at 8 a.m. and concludes with a closing reception at 5 p.m. hosted by Jim Sorenson and David Cumming and presented by Wilson Sonsoni. Breakfast and lunch will be provided for all attendees.
Featured Speakers
David Cumming, Founder, Great Salt Lake Alliance
Hannah Freeze, Great Salt Lake Commissioner
Natalie Gochnour, Director and Associate Dean, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, University of Utah
Katie Macc, CEO, Sorenson Impact Institute
Woodley Preucil, 13D Research & Strategy
Lindsie Smith, Executive Director, Great Salt Lake Alliance
Jim Sorenson, Founder and Chairman, Sorenson Impact Group
Brad Wilson, President & CEO, Salt Lake City 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee
Featured Sessions
Funding Water Innovation: Capital is moving into water, but the flow of capital needs to increase. This session maps the current investment landscape for water innovation: what is fundable today, where the gaps remain, and how deals are actually getting structured, grounded in specific transactions, real check sizes, and the candid perspective of investors writing them.
Innovative Financial Structures: This session explores the financing structures expanding how capital reaches water: blended finance, conservation finance, pay-for-success models, water quality trading, and environmental credit markets, with particular attention to how philanthropic first-loss capital can de-risk deals and crowd private investment into water.
University to Market, Research Pathways: This panel examines how university research moves to market: IP and licensing, spinout formation, early funding gaps, and how universities can support building ventures that address Utah's water challenges and the future of the Great Salt Lake.
Water-Wise Mining: Innovation and Partnership: As demand for the minerals powering the energy transition grows, Utahns are finding new ways to steward the water resources that mining operations and communities share. This panel brings four of those perspectives to one table: investment, industry, regulation, and community, for a conversation about the challenges, innovations, and collaborations that could make Utah a model for mining and water stewardship.
Corporations and Water: Utah's corporations depend on a healthy water future, and a growing number are beginning to account for it. This session examines how companies are measuring water risk, how forward-looking firms are pricing Great Salt Lake decline into their strategies, and what it will take to turn corporate concern into corporate contribution toward restoration.
Policy and the Capital Stack: Policy and regulation set the foundation for a healthy and thriving investment landscape for water. This session explores how policymakers, regulators, and investors can work together to strengthen the legal and regulatory pathways for innovative financial structures and which steps would do the most to welcome private capital into water solutions at scale.
Agriculture & Water Innovation: Agriculture is Utah's largest water user, which makes it the largest opportunity for water innovation. This session brings together researchers, entrepreneurs, and prize designers working at the frontier of agricultural water solutions, from on-farm technologies and precision grazing to new approaches to waste, exploring what's working in the field and what it means for farm economics.
Who Is Attending
Investors and family offices committed to Utah’s future and our resilient and growing innovation landscape
Institutional investors integrating water scarcity solutions, conservation, and ecosystem restoration into their strategies
University students from across the region
Academic researchers translating science into action
Corporate leaders working to protect a healthy lake ecosystem
Public sector and legal partners navigating policy and infrastructure
Community leaders
The Summit is also proudly co-hosted by the Cumming Foundation, Grow the Flow, Imagine H2O, The Nature Conservancy, and Wilson Sonsini.