During the next year Utah's life sciences industry is expected to grow by more than 20 percent. Now, a new Fundamental Laboratory Science (FLS) program at Salt Lake Community College will help students obtain the training they need to enter the workforce and meet the hiring demands of the life sciences industry. The FLS program could be the first step to a successful biomanufacturing, biomedical or biotechnology career with more than 200 "bio" industry companies along the Wasatch Front.

Students who complete the program are able to compete for entry level jobs and further their education towards the Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree, which is a key component of recruiting for biotechnology companies and a very exciting step for Salt Lake Community College.

Financial aid is available for students who apply for scholarships to cover tuition, books, and fees (available until October 31, 2010). For more information visit www.slcc.edu/fls or call Ashley Riggleman, FLS Coordinator at (801) 957-4826 or email ashley.riggleman@slcc.edu.

Also, remember that our EDCUtah Golf for Grants Tournament is next week--June 2--and our Quarterly Investor Update is on June 29. I hope to see you at both events!

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

What do SAMPE, JEC, and SME have to do with SLC?

SAMPE is an acronym representing the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering, an international technical society that includes the advanced composites industry (which happens to be a high-growth industry in Utah and part of the Governor's economic cluster initiative).

JEC, on the other hand, is an acronym for an international composites show held annually in April in Paris, France. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of ATK, EDCUtah was able to participate in the U.S. Pavilion at JEC. This year's show attracted a record 1,000 exhibiting companies and 27,500 visitors, observers and journalists.

Meanwhile, SAMPE just held its spring conference May 18-20 in Seattle, Wash., attracting some 5,000 scientists, engineers, designers and academicians to the event. Among them were business leaders and academicians from Utah's advanced composites industry, along with economic developers from EDCUtah and the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED).

Utah Pavilion
Industry leaders and educational organizations participating in the Utah Pavilion at SAMPE with EDCUtah, GOED and USTAR included:

• ATK
• IsoTruss
• Radius Engineering
• Contour Composites
• Salt Lake Community College
• Davis Applied Technology College
• Hill Air Force Base

EDCUtah President & CEO Jeff Edwards, who attended both JEC and SAMPE, says SAMPE largely focuses on advanced composites used in aerospace and some high performance recreational products, while JEC has a broader scope and includes composites used in the aerospace, automotive, construction, and recreation industries.

"Both events showcase the latest technology, applications and materials for the advanced composites marketplace," says Edwards. "Since Utah has one of the highest concentrations of advanced composites companies in the nation, both JEC and SAMPE are excellent venues to promote Utah's advanced composites businesses and educational programs, the state's rich history in composites, and to proactively recruit composites-related companies to the state."

During the SAMPE conference, members of the Utah delegation were able to tour the facilities of Janicki Industries, Inc. The company, which is headquartered in Sedro-Woolley, Wash., just announced that it will establish a new $19.5 million composites manufacturing facility in Utah to support its military and commercial aerospace customers.

World-Class Leadership
Edwards explains that the purpose in attending the JEC and SAMPE shows is to demonstrate Utah's world-class leadership in the advanced composite materials industry, which employs approximately 10,000 Utahns and generates approximately $650 million in annual wages. Two of Utah's top cluster industries–-aerospace and outdoor products–-are significant players in the advanced composites industry. Furthermore, six Utah colleges and universities offer training and specialized programs in the composites field; Brigham Young University, Salt Lake Community College, University of Utah, The Utah Colleges of Applied Technology, Utah State University, and Westminster College support the industry by annually graduating hundreds of qualified workers at all levels of education and experience.

Furthermore, Utah offers the ideal environment and infrastructure for composite-related businesses, because of its access to raw materials, engineering and manufacturing capability, highly educated workforce, sales expertise and broad supply chain. Utah's government, business and higher educational institutions are dedicated to the growth and development of the advanced composites industry. The fact that many local, national and international leaders in SAMPE are from Utah also helps (SAMPE International President Steven Rodgers is research director at ITT in Salt Lake City).

SAMPE and SME in SLC
For the first time in its history, SAMPE's Fall Technical Conference and Exhibition will co-locate with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Tooling for Composites Conference and Exhibition at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on October 12-13, 2010.

The SME Tooling for Composites Conference will be held October 12-13, while the SAMPE Fall Technical Conference will be held October 11-14.

Combining the two events should draw hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of attendees to Salt Lake City, and provide each event's traditional attendees with access to exhibitors and conference programs they may not otherwise have attended. In doing so, the co-location is paving the way for the possibility of current technologies being used in new ways.

"We are thrilled to have these two fine organizations co-locate their fall events in Salt Lake City. Hosting the events here will be great for the city, and also great for our efforts to promote the state's advanced composites industry," says Edwards.

Advanced Composites
Advanced composites are generally classified as metals, ceramics, or polymers in which the fibers of one material are bound together by a matrix of a second material to provide strength, stiffness and fracture toughness.

ATK uses advanced composites in the construction of its rocket motors and aerospace parts. Goode Ski Technologies, of Ogden, has developed award-winning water skis using advanced composites, while Delta 7 commercialized research from Brigham Young University to develop a composites-based bicycle frame that could revolutionize the bicycle industry.

Edwards says there is tremendous synergy within Utah's advanced composites community, which is fostered by the collaboration of business, academia and government.

Economic Clusters
The idea behind the Governor's economic cluster initiative is to take advantage of Utah's expertise in specific industries (such as advanced composites) and look for opportunities to add to those industries by recruiting companies already operating in the same space.

Edwards explains that economic clusters are groups of related businesses and organizations within industry sectors whose collective excellence and collaboration provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Strong economic clusters translate directly into tangible benefits for Utah's businesses, citizens and educational institutions. The advanced composites industry is part of the Aerospace economic cluster.