Natalie Gochnour’s profile seems to be rising right alongside her pet Salt Lake Chamber project, Downtown Rising. The latest of her ascents is her appointment to COO for the chamber — up from her position of VP of policy and communications.

As COO, she’ll head up day-to-day operations of Utah’s largest business association, manage a 30-person staff, oversee a public policy agenda to improve the state’s business climate, and supervise events such as A Giant in Our City and the Business-to-Business Expo.

Business Connect: You’ve certainly had a long history of government service. Tell us about your educational background and how you ended up in this line of work.
Natalie Gochnour: I attended the U of U where I earned undergrad and grad degrees in economics. I loved public policy from a very young age. As my formal training, I worked as a state economist for 16 years.

Then at a crucial career moment, Gov. Leavitt asked me to serve as his spokesperson and I made the transition from numbers to words. As an economist I was often explaining things to the general public, taking sometimes boring, technical work and explaining it to non-economists, so really, that job transition to spokesperson wasn’t as unnatural as it seems.

BC: As the chamber’s COO, will your job be drastically different from your previous position as VP of policy and communications? And if so, how?
NG: The main difference is now I have responsibility for staff and budget, but the priorities of the chamber remain the same and I’m all about making those things happen. I’m committed to health reform, Downtown Rising, immigration reform and a balanced transportation investment. That’s what I was doing before and that’s what I’m doing now. I just have more levers to pull.

BC: Was the majority of your time in your prior position spent working on Downtown Rising? And how much will you be involved with it now?
NG: I spent about half my time on it. But I also spent a lot of time on health system reform.

BC: In a nutshell, what are you trying to do in the area of health reform?
NG: Contain costs. Consistently, our members and board mention skyrocketing health costs as their top concern. So we have invested a year of study in an effort to reform our state health system. If you look at all 50 states, you’ll see that the states that take health care into their own hands will be advantaged.

In Utah we have the lowest health care costs per person, but we also have a very young, healthy population. We’re a real leader in evidence-based medicine where you have quantifiable evidence of treatment options and outcomes. A bad thing is that 14 to 16 percent of our population is uninsured, which is really high. If you act at the state level you can custom fit reform that works for Utah — types of regulations, tax credits, and so forth. States can do a lot, and if we do, when the federal government decides to take that big step we’re all expecting, states that have already acted will be grandfathered. That’s our pitch. And we’re not alone in that assessment.

BC: What future outcome of the new downtown Salt Lake excites you most
NG: We proposed character districts — what we would call the personality of the city: a skyline district, gateway district, arts and culture district, the grand boulevards (500 South and 600 South). We want to make the grand boulevards more befitting of a city — better landscape and signage for a more monumental welcome to the city. It will take years but it’s worth doing.

BC: What city in the nation do you think Salt Lake will most closely resemble?
NG: I’m going to give you a real chamber of commerce statement: I think for a city of our size we’re without peer and mostly because of our setting. When you live here you forget the majesty of those mountains next door. To me, our destiny and future are uniquely ours. I really believe that.

BC: Looking back over your career thus far, what’s been your favorite job
NG: It would have been managing media at the EPA. (Her official title was associate administrator for public affairs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.) I had an extraordinary year in Washington. It was incredibly exciting and heady.

BC: Was it a tough decision to relocate to D.C? Did you have to talk your husband and children into it?
NG: It was very difficult for my daughter who was 13 at the time. I remember telling her about the move at Del Taco and the tears streaming down her cheeks. It was not hard to talk my husband into, but it did displace him, which is part of why we come back. But he was very supportive about going. He’s a furniture maker. He found work in D.C. at a fine furniture company. But we all loved D.C.

BC: What were the pros and cons of working and living there, and why did you decide to come back?
NG: It was very difficult to have a young family (ages 10 and 13) and be expected to put in 14-hour days. It was professionally rewarding but to have continued would have been overstretching. Everything in a family sense is easier here. I have shorter hours, it’s a more convenient city and commute, I can get my kids to baseball and soccer, help my husband sweep up his shop, and cook dinner. I can do all that here.

BC: Have you given any thought to the rest of your career?
NG: I’m taking it as it comes. I’ve really enjoyed working in the business community. It’s very new to me and I’ve learned something new everyday. I hope to do another stint in Washington when my family is more mature.

BC: How have you managed to balance work and family?
NG: Technology has been a huge help. At 3 p.m. I’m texting my daughter and son. In Washington I helped my daughter with her homework using a Web cam and a white board. I’ve made very deliberate use of technology. And I’ve had terrific support from my husband and my family, that’s the honest truth. My sisters, mother, and in-laws have always been there for us.