By Jessica Neal – Orem News
“To me, Orem felt like a safe and magical place. I couldn’t think of a better place to live and grow up,” Jeff Lambson, Orem city council member, described the Orem he knew as a child. “I grew up on a dead end street. Our house was the last house and we had acres and acres of orchards,” Lambson said.
He described what seemed like another life for him in the Sharon neighborhood, when he would ride his bike all over the city and work at the Baskin-Robbins on State Street.
Orem is also where he met and started dating his wife, Darla.
“It was game on from the minute we first started talking. It was like I had found my best friend that I didn’t know was my best friend,” Lambon said. “We connected on such an amazing, deep level from the word ‘go,’ and it’s just gotten better ever since.” He said his favorite way to wind down is catching up with Darla and watching romcoms with her.
The young couple built their life together in Orem, raising their six kids here. While he said raising that many kids was chaotic, Jeff and Darla both came from large families, and say they’re grateful they were able to have one of their own.
“It was divide and conquer; Darla and I would be going different directions,” said Lambson. Although busy, he called it a magical and wonderful time. “We would come home and our house would be so full of kids, some we knew, and some we didn’t, but it was all good.”
As his kids were growing up, Lambson was also busy cultivating his business, Granite Publishing and Distribution. His company published books, art and music relating to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and distributed items for national companies to church bookstores.
He enlisted the help of his family to fill orders for 500 stores. “It was a bear,” Lambson said. “We just kind of boot strapped it.”
Lambson wasn’t planning on becoming the CEO of a company, he said it “just kind of happened.” He’s always loved English and the creative process behind editing and publishing, and said he would enjoy getting involved in that process again someday. Lambson’s currently working on a couple of children’s books and said he plans to give them to his grandchildren.
His biggest takeaway from creating a work environment was the importance of building quality relationships. He said he tried to create a family culture in his business so people enjoyed work, and said he’s taken that with him to city council.
“I feel like that applies in every aspect of life,” Lambson said. “I feel like relationships matter, especially with people that you may or may not agree with … it’s so important to try and see things from their perspective and their point of view.”
When Lambson first ran for city council six years ago, he described it as “sitting in front of a circular firing squad” of questions and concerns. At first he was nervous, but said that as he continued talking with residents, he enjoyed the discourse and said that “a lot of times, they had some really good suggestions and ideas of ways to improve things.”
Serving the community is what has given Lambson the motivation to continue on city council. He got a taste for public service with the Miss Utah Pageant Night Parade, which became the Orem Family Summerfest. He later served on the CARE Commission and decided to run for city council.
“After a lot of talking and consideration with my sweetheart Darla, we decided that we would give it a shot. We didn’t know what that meant, we didn’t know what we were getting into, but that’s how we got there,” Lambson said.
As a lifelong resident of Orem, one of Lambson’s goals is to properly manage the population growth in the area while preserving the tight-knit community and friendly culture.
He said the biggest thing he misses from his childhood in Orem was the “quaint little small town feel,” but recognized that “we want our kids to live here and we want our grandkids to live here and appreciate all of our great neighbors that have moved here from other places.” Lambson said the increase in diversity has been a blessing for Orem.
Lambson said one of his favorite things to do in Orem is go to an outdoor concert on a summer evening. “The Scera Shell is my happy place,” he said.
Lambson said his retirement is not too far off, but that he has no interest in slowing down. He said that his time on city council has taught him that he can do hard things, which he plans to take with him to the future.
He plans to possibly serve with MyHometown in the future or start another business. He loves watching Shark Tank and seeing what ideas people have. Regardless of what he does, Lambson will continue calling Orem home.
“We have no intention of ever leaving, we will be buried in the Orem Cemetery,” Lambson said. “My roots are deep here and I love it.”