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FEATURE

Looking Forward, Looking Back

EDCUtah Celebrates 20th Anniversary

EDCUtah held its annual meeting Thursday, Aug. 16, at the Salt Lake City Marriot Hotel, where approximately 300 members and friends gathered to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary, hear a report of the robust 2006-2007 fiscal year, and see a glimpse of the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for the state.

Jeff Edwards, president and chief executive officer, said one key indicator of EDCUtah’s growing success as a premier economic development organization is the 113 site visits that were coordinated during the fiscal year (which ended in June) for companies considering relocations or expansions in Utah. In 1988, there were only 10 site visits and only about 20 as recently as 2001. "So it's a remarkable thing to think about, where we've come in those 20 years. It’s a far cry from the hardscrabble days of the late 1980s when we were created,” he said.

What’s more, Utah is more often on the "short list" for companies considering relocations when they begin talking to EDCUtah’s economic developers, according to Edwards, and key stats released Thursday portend a busy 2007-2008 fiscal year, with an active project list that totals 189, and 73 projects considered "hot" or "warm."

"I believe, looking back on the year, it's been a remarkable experience and we've got more remarkable things to happen," Edwards said. "I believe that we will continue to prosper as a state in this coming year. We are experiencing an unprecedented number of requests.” In the past fiscal year alone, EDCUtah filled more than 450 research inquiries, including operating cost models, retail analysis reports, economic impact reports, and supplier/vendor searches. Edwards foresees continued growth in the energy, manufacturing, financial services and distribution sectors, and new opportunities for rural Utah.

Despite Utah’s low unemployment rate, which is hovering around 2.5 percent, Edwards said Utah's growing work force is still its greatest asset. “We hear some naysayers say we may be, in fact, at our capacity. But as we're talking to companies that are coming into Utah, they report very high satisfaction with the people they've been able to hire. They're competent and they have the work ethic that we all know is here in the state," he said.

EDCUtah exceeded its prior-year record of total net jobs retained or added. Companies locating or expanding in the state have committed to add 5,570 jobs and retain 840, for a total of 6,410 — topping last year's 6,131 jobs. The number of corporate relocation, expansion or retention “wins” was 34, even with the prior year, and capital investment commitments in Utah totaled $884.9 million, Edwards said. Among the major companies EDCU aided last year are:

• Allegheny Technologies, Inc.
• West Liberty Foods
• Heritage Plastics
• Dannon
• Nucor Building Systems
• Amer Sports
• Fresenius Medical Care
• Charlotte Pipe and Foundry
• Smith Sport Optics
• Peregrine Outfitters
• Backcountry.com
• Syracuse Castings West

Phil Thompson, EDCUtah's chairman, said that the agency's work is "easy to explain. It's just hard to do." But the state is building upon it’s Olympics legacy and prime location for outdoor sports. Several sports organizations have made Utah home, and four leading manufacturers of skis have done the same. "Just think for a minute what that means in terms of our outdoor sport model we've put out the world," Thompson said. "And in my head, I can see the sign that says: 'Welcome to Utah, North America's home for winter sports."

Among the business conducted at the annual meeting, EDCUtah and its Board of Trustees thanked outgoing board members, and then nominated and approved new and existing board members. Board members whose terms ended include: Shawn Ferrin, Jeff Larsen, Peter McMahon, Shawn Gregrich, John West, and Fred Lampropoulos. New members representing the private sector include: Jill Taylor, Ron Moffitt, Kevin Head, Ron Dunn, George Hoffman, and Tom Jensen. New members representing the public sector include: Mayor Robert Gray, South Salt Lake City, Mayor Stephen Curtis, Layton City, Mayor Howard Johnson, Lehi City, and Mayor Matthew Godfrey, Ogden City. Gladys Gonzalez, of Mundo Hispano, will serve as a member of the community at large, while Miguel Rovira, from the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Margaret Hunt, of the Utah Arts Council, will serve as ex-officio members of the board.

EDCU is an investor-based, public/private partnership working to promote the state of Utah by facilitating recruitment of out-of-state companies and the expansion of local businesses. The organization’s 20 years of success is due to the support it receives from both its public and private partners, which now total more than 225.
 

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IN THE NEWS

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Economic Development Headlines from the Past Week

Funding For Research Up to $322.6 Million in 2007

- University of Utah research funding increased in the fiscal year that ended June 30 after a $22 million dip last year. (SL Tribune)

Conestoga Bucks Trend, Finds Plenty of Workers

- A lack of available workers has slowed some businesses in Tooele County, and that trend may continue for the near future as large companies such as Carlisle SynTec and Allegheny Technologies look to hire en masse over the next few months. (Tooele Transcript Bulletin)

XTERRA Lets Ogden Show Off With Triathlon

- The XTERRA Mountain Championship off-road triathlon gets under way here this weekend, giving Ogden - and Utah - a chance to showcase mountain, lake and city amenities. (SL Tribune)

Bishop Burton Extols Quality of City Creek Center

-  Though he revealed no new information about the City Creek Center while addressing lawmakers Thursday evening, Presiding Bishop H. David Burton did assure them of the quality of the massive downtown development. (Morning News)

EDCU Making a big Impact After 20 Years

- Some of the fiscal year 2007 operational statistics for the Economic Development Corp. of Utah were up from a year earlier and some were down, but its leader pointed out Thursday that all are "a far cry from the hardscrabble days of the late 1980s when we were created." (Morning News)  (Morning News)

Summit Offers Glimpse of Future

- To wrap up the 20th annual Utah Rural Summit, community leaders from around the state talked about what may be in store for Utah's rural areas. (The Spectrum) 

USSA Breaks Ground on $22.5M State-Of-The-Art Training Center

- The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association broke ground on a $22.5 million training and education center, a state-of-the-art facility certain to entice even more of the country's elite winter athletes to move to Utah permanently or part-time. (SL Tribune)

Salt Lake-to-Paris Direct Flights Up in Air

- Utah agency offering $250,000 grant to entice Delta to expand. A state agency has ponied up $250,000 to entice Delta Air Lines to start Salt Lake-to-Paris direct flights — a concept it finds tres bien for Utah's economy. (Morning News) (SL Tribune)

MacKenzie Follows Amer to Ogden

- A Canadian company that has designed, built and managed trade show exhibits for dozens of companies in the outdoor sports industry over the past 20 years is getting ready to open its first American office at Business Depot Ogden. (Standard Examiner)  (Utah Business Magazine)

UTA Sets Tentative 2012 Date for Provo-Salt Lake Commuter Rail

- The transit agency met Wednesday with a subcommittee of its board of trustees to give an update about the status of the rail projects and outline a tentative financial plan for construction. (Morning News)

Companies eye new racetrack industrial zone

- Tooele County is primed and ready to lure major companies to a newly created industrial zone near Miller Motorsports Park, according to county and state business leaders. (Tooele Transcript)

Cedar City Development May Stir Concern

- Mike Hake, the project coordinator for a conceptual development called McComic Ranch at Fiddler's Canyon, insists that his company's project isn't like anything Southern Utah has ever seen. (The Spectrum)

Commuter Rail Marks Final Weld

- Clearfield’s Mayor Don Wood believes that in a sense, Monday’s final weld on the major portion of the FrontRunner commuter rail line is like the driving of the Golden Spike back in 1869. (Clipper Today)

Utah Economy Booming Despite National Slump

- Economists say Utah stands alone as the nation's best performing economy, despite signs of slowing for the national economy. (KSL)

Davis Business Alliance’s Incubator Program Hatches Fledgling Companies

- Business experts and educational professionals are nurturing seeds for future economic success in northern Utah through the Davis Business Alliance’s (DBA) incubator program. (Utah Business Magazine)

The State of Small Business

- Utah’s small business sector is ripe with competition. Not necessarily for the money in customers’ wallets – there seems to be plenty to spread around – but for people who are willing and ready to work. (Utah Business Magazine) (Small Business Informer)

Ad Campaigns Get $2.25M for Marketing

- Advertising campaigns promoting Utah as a ski destination recently received more than half a million dollars in state support when the Utah Board of Tourism Development provided $2.25 million in matching grants to 43 applicants statewide. (SL Tribune) 

Provo District Will Join in Downtown Finance Effort

- The Provo School District decided Tuesday to join a public financing effort that would help the developers of a large project in downtown Provo. (Daily Herald) 

Demolition Clears Way for New Phase of City Creek Development

- The former Key Bank tower is now just a pile of rubble, but City Creek Center officials see something far more.
(KCPW) 

Marmalade Mixed-Use Project Gets Underway

- Construction is finally underway to revitalize the historic Marmalade neighborhood, which will be an approximately $60 million, 180,000 square foot mixed-use urban neighborhood development located on 300 West between 500 North and 600 North. (SL Enterprise)

Boyer Co. Ready to Begin Residential Development at The District in S. Jordan

- The Boyer Co., developers of the 105-acre retail complex The District in South Jordan, has purchased 91 acres to the north of the existing project, which will be developed into residential and office space called The North District.
(SL Enterprise)

New Grant Gets Utah 'WIRED' for Education and Life Sciences Training

- The state was awarded a $5 million federal grant through the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative, earmarked for education and training in the life sciences fields and intended to train people to be work-ready. (SL Enterprise)

SLC Company Among Group to Partner on Hill Development

- The Air Force will enter into negotiations with a partnership of three companies, including the Salt Lake City-based Woodbury Corp., to begin development of a 550-acre commercial and industrial business park on the west side of Hill Air Force Base, military officials announced on Friday. (SL Tribune) (Standard Examiner)

Sandy Council Clears Way to Hand Over $35 Million to Real

- The Sandy City Council approved Thursday the last agreement before $35 million in hotel tax dollars are handed over to Real Salt Lake. (Morning News)

New F-35 Fighter Jet Could Save Hill AFB From Pentagon Chopping Block

- A new generation of fighter jets destined for Hill Air Force Base could end up being the savior of Utah's largest military base when the next round of base closings comes around, according to Congressional researchers. (SL Tribune)

Utah Continues to Top U.S. for Employment Growth

- Utah's stellar rate of job creation, which should have slowed down by now, crept up again in July. (SL Tribune) (Daily Herald)