Clearfield City is the only city government to be selected as one of Utah’s 100 Companies Championing Women. Governor Spencer Cox, the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and the Utah Women & Leadership Project presents the award to companies that create an equitable and inclusive workplace for women in the state. 

“I’m thrilled Clearfield City has been recognized with this award,” said Summer Palmer, Clearfield City assistant city manager. “We do our very best to create a place where women can be successful; professionally and personally. We still have a long way to go, but with incredible leaders who set the tone for equality, and family-friendly work policies and practices, Clearfield City has created a culture that elevates women. And elevating women not only lifts our company, but the community as a whole.”

Clearfield City was selected for the award for its approach to pay equality, women-specific professional development offerings, family-friendly schedules, flexible leave benefits and tuition reimbursement. 

Of the 350 city employees, more than 170 are women, with 16 in supervisory positions and eight in management. Five women are currently enrolled in the city’s leadership academy and the tuition reimbursement program helped two women with education costs during the last fiscal year.

Clearfield City Mayor Mark Shepherd said it all started with a compensation study to ensure equitable pay based on the position, not gender. From there, policies evolved that allowed women to create flexibility in their schedules to make things more family-friendly. 

“We wanted to make sure women in the workplace were taken care of and earning what they should,” Shepherd said. “Our council’s goal is to have a highly-trained and motivated workforce, and that means all of them. It means doing what we can do to ensure that happens.”

City employees are encouraged to attend trainings, which includes the city’s leadership academy. When applications went out for this year’s leadership training, only one woman applied. Shepherd said that was unacceptable. He asked supervisors to reach out to women in their departments and encourage them to apply. 

“We learned that women had responsibilities outside of work, family obligations. They didn’t think they could fit the leadership program into their schedule,” Shepherd said. “We had to make sure they could be available to attend. Now the class is half men and half women. A huge chunk of our leadership is women. To me, that’s awesome. Our assistant city manager is a woman and a total rockstar.

“If women don’t participate, they miss their potential and how qualified they really are to lead. This really is just a huge opportunity to say to those women, you’re equally qualified for any of these roles.”

With 32,000 residents, Clearfield City celebrated its centennial in 2022 and was recently listed 6th in Fortune Magazine’s 25 Best Places to Live for Families. For more information about Clearfield City, visit www.clearfield.city.

“The coolest part of this is that the government can be a cool place to work,” Shepherd said. “We don’t get, as a city, that recognition very often. To us, it was so cool. We want to give women every opportunity to move forward in leadership.”