Economic Review - March 2010


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President's Message
Register now for EDCUtah's Quarterly Investor Update

EDCUtah's Spring Quarterly Investor Update is next week and we hope you will attend. It is the best way to stay up to date on economic development activity. You'll hear our project status report and also have the opportunity to network with the other public and private partners of EDCUtah.

The Quarterly Investor Update will be held on Thursday, March 18 from 4-6 p.m. at the Davis Conference Center in Layton. Register by calling or emailing Eileen Burt: (801) 323-4249; eburt@edcutah.org. Click here for more information.

Today's Economic Review also includes links to many of the ED-related news stories from the past week. As always, if you have comments, suggestions or topics you'd like to see in the Economic Review, please contact us by clicking the "Comments" link on the bottom of this page. Enjoy!

Jeff Edwards
President and CEO

Platinum Sponsor

Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Please contact Arthur Franks, EDCUtah's membership director, for sponsorship and participation information: (801) 323-4242.

In the News

Money, talent keep Hollywood coming back to Utah
What do the director of Slumdog Millionaire and the producer of Disney's High School Musical series have in common? Not only have their films been major blockbusters, but both are now shooting films in Utah.
(ABC 4)

California businesses this is the right place; GOED gears up to recruit West Coast companies to Utah
If California were its own country, most estimates would put its economy among the world's top 10. Its government is also in a financial crisis and many large companies have been threatening to move to more "business-friendly" states. With all of that growth and talk of jumping ship, the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) would like California businesses to keep Utah in mind.
(Park Record)

Bill would allow UTA to develop transit-oriented communities
A bill on Capitol Hill is aiming to make it easier for Utah Transit Authority to develop transit-oriented communities near its rail stations.
(Standard-Examiner)

Cedar business outlook promising
The economic problems of the last two years has impacted businesses of all types and sizes in Cedar City and the surrounding area.... Despite appearances, the outlook for 2010 is promising, said Brennan Wood, Iron County/Cedar City economic development director.
(Spectrum)

St. George hopes future soars with new airport
The new St. George airport under construction is taking shape and officials hope the city's future will soar with it when it opens in January.
(Salt Lake Tribune)

Utah ski season started slow, finishing strong
On a morning when the Wasatch Mountains were carpeted with fresh snow, Coleen Reardon was feeling good about the remaining weeks of the ski season.
(Salt Lake Tribune)

Salt Lake selected to host leadership expo
The city has been selected to host the 2016 annual meeting and exposition of the Center for Association Leadership.
(Deseret News)

Entrepreneurial contest returning
Sunday is the deadline for applying for Grow Utah Ventures' second Southern Utah "Concept to Company" contest.
(Deseret News)

Mormon leaders and Salt Lake City work together to transform land
When the Mormon Church recently purchased 13 acres near 400 South and Main Street in Salt Lake City, some wondered if the church was "expanding" its traditional buffer around Temple Square.
(Deseret News) (KSL)

At Westminster, world unlocked by 'integration'
Once upon a time, students taking college-level business courses typically focused solely on such fields as marketing, finance or accounting. An accounting major really didn't worry about what went on in marketing -- and vise versa.
(Salt Lake Tribune)

HUD gives Farmington project funding green light
A $36 million transit-oriented development adjacent to Station Park has been approved for funding through a Housing and Urban Development program, says one of the project's planners.
(Standard-Examiner)

FilmUtah Magazine creates a buzz about film-friendly Utah
International producer John Corser launched the premier issue of FilmUtah Magazine during Sundance Film Festival as one component of a master plan to bring more full length feature films to Utah.
(Utah Pulse)

NASA might be rethinking Constellation program, could spare Utah jobs
Amid anger in Congress, NASA may be rethinking plans to cancel its Constellation program.
(Deseret News) (Standard-Examiner)

Toxicology society to meet in Salt Lake City [with $5M economic impact]
The Society of Toxicology's annual meeting will take place next week, and the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic Research is pegging the direct economic impact of the event at more than $5 million.
(Deseret News)

'Ghost trains' coming back to life in improving economy
There's a strange sight in the desert 60 miles west of Salt Lake City. It's a train, worth tens of millions of dollars, that appears to have been abandoned.
(KSL)

Job market shows signs of recovery
Statewide employment losses are showing signs of moderation, and experts are anticipating job growth by the end of the year.
(Spectrum)

Calendar

March 18
EDCUtah Quarterly Investor Update (Layton, Utah)

March 29
Utah Governor's Economic Summit (Salt Lake City)

April 7-9
ULCT (St. George, UT)

April 13-15
JEC Composites (Paris, France)

April 18-20
CoreNet Global Summit (New Orleans, LA)

April 22
Utah Fund of Funds Medical Device Symposium (Salt Lake City)

April 24-28
IAMC (Colorado Springs, CO)

May 3-6
BIO (Chicago, IL)

May 17-20
SAMPE 2010 (Seattle, WA)

May 23-26
ICSC RECON (Las Vegas, NV)

May 23-26
Windpower 2010 (Dallas, TX)

June 2
Save the Date! EDCUtah Match Grants Golf Tournament, 7:30 a.m. start (Eaglewood Golf Course) Title Sponsor: CB Richard Ellis

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Feature Story
Churning Out Startups: Utah Universities Excel in Technology Commercialization

It is no surprise that research universities have become unparalleled engines of economic development -- they crank out technology and commercialize it -- creating business and investment opportunities as well as jobs in the process.

What may come as a surprise is the fact that Utah's leading universities are among the best of the best in terms of creating new startup companies, licensing technology, and patents applications.

Top Honors
Recently, the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) ranked the University of Utah (UofU) #1 -- in a tie with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) -- for creating new startup companies from research-based inventions during 2008.

The UofU has consistently ranked second to MIT, but equaled the latter research university for top honors in the latest survey by AUTM. What is perhaps more significant about tying MIT for the #1 spot is the fact that MIT received almost five times more research funding ($1.3 billion) for the survey period, compared with the UofU's approximately $273 million, yet both institutions achieved the same output: 20 new companies from technology-based research.

Under the Radar
Flying under the radar is Brigham Young University (BYU), a school with a meager budget for technology research, yet it now ranks first in the country in the number of startups, licenses, and patent applications per research dollar spent, according to AUTM. In 2008, BYU-licensed technology led to nine new startup companies on a research budget of approximately $30 million. Stanford, with a research budget of approximately $1.1 billion, created the same number of startups that year.

"We've really stepped up our game," says Dee Anderson, associate director of the Technology Transfer Office at BYU. Indeed. For 2010 the school is on pace to spawn more than 100 disclosures, 35 licenses, 15 startup companies, and 60 utility patent applications.

"There are only two and a half licensing agents in our office, but we are having a lot of fun," Anderson says.

USU Sets a Record
Utah State University (USU) is also actively engaged in technology commercialization. Jacoba Poppleton, public relations specialist for strategic ventures and economic development at USU, says the university set a record in 2009 for its licenses (11) and startup companies (5) spawned, and is on pace to build on that record for 2010. Already known for its Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), the university created the Energy Dynamics Laboratory (EDL) in late 2009 as a natural outgrowth of research and development in the areas of biofuels and advanced sensing and imaging. In 2008 the SDL spun out its first for-profit company and the university has high expectations that both the SDL and EDL will provide additional opportunities for technology commercialization.

Sources of Success
Brian Cummings, director of the University of Utah's Technology Commercialization Office (TCO), attributes much of the UofU's success in creating startups to the support of the governor's office, the state's pro-business posture, to the USTAR initiative, and to the support of the local business community. He also notes that the university has started more than 20 programs to engage faculty members and help nurture companies so they can get faster product development and faster market entry.

"Although the path to success can be long and challenging, we try to shorten the time frame to success by supporting these young companies," he says.

Interestingly, the success of UofU's technology commercialization office has drawn the attention of other universities. "Other universities visit us all the time—they want to see our model and understand what we are doing," Cummings adds.

Collaboration
While they may be rivals in sports, the UofU, BYU, and USU actually collaborate regularly regarding technology commercialization activities. For example, in 2009 BYU and the UofU collaborated to spin out Sera Prognostics, commercializing a joint invention to establish a diagnostic platform for preeclampsia and pre-term birth.

"We try to partner and license with them, working jointly on some projects. It's quite a collaborative relationship," Cummings says.

According to the AUTM, U.S. university technology transfer offices that started 10 or more companies during FY2008 included Boston University/Boston Medical Center, California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Purdue, SUNY, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of California system, University of Colorado, University of Florida, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Utah.

The AUTM annually ranks over 150 public and private research institutions throughout the country. On average, universities ranked by the AUTM survey receive approximately $288 million in research funding.