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FEATURE STORY

Keep Utah Commerce Rolling

Utah's economic competitors, notably Phoenix and Denver, understand the importance of mobility and excellent transportation infrastructure. They are embarking on massive mass transit and highway programs, including Denver's $4.5 billion FasTracks initiative (approved by voters in 2004, boosting the transit sales tax to a full penny per dollar) and a whopping $16 billion combined highway and transit funding program in the Phoenix area, also approved by voters in 2004.

Will Utah be able to compete with its neighbors and keep its commerce rolling? An independent study funded by the 2015 Transportation Alliance, a coalition of business and community leaders, says gridlock and congestion will be an everyday part of life across the Wasatch Front unless steps are taken today to jumpstart the state's transportation funding needs. The Alliance seeks to fast track construction of crucial highway and mass transit projects so they are completed by the year 2015, rather than 2030 as is scheduled in current long-range transportation plans.



"We recognize that the current plan is under-funded and too slow," says David Hardman, Alliance member and CEO of the Ogden/Weber Chamber of Commerce. Many of Utah's leading businesses have joined the Alliance and are working to champion transportation funding issues, even if tax increases are necessary. Why? "Because transportation is imperative to economic development," says Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, Utah's largest business organization.

"If you gridlock I-15 you stop economic development in Moab-it affects the entire state and will impact our economy for generations," Beattie says. Facts from the Alliance's transportation study provide compelling reasons to take its transportation-funding proposal seriously:

1. At current funding levels, Utahns face a $21.3 billion transportation-funding gap-the difference between current revenue and anticipated need. In fact, the needs are so large that neither existing, nor a single funding source will solve the problem.
2. The Wasatch Front's population is more than doubling the national rate. Within the next 25 years an additional one-and-a-half million people will live in Utah.
3. Travel demand growth rates are doubling that of the population.
4. By 2030 the amount of congestion (annual delay per person) will triple.
5. Significant federal funding isn't likely and should not be counted upon to help resolve the funding dilemma.

Hardman says current law allows counties to collect up to one half of a percent sales tax for transportation, and Weber, Davis, and Salt Lake Counties have done that. The Alliance would like the Legislature to increase the amount to a full one percent for transportation. "Each county would still have the choice whether or not to implement the increase," according to Hardman, but the mechanism would be in place for counties to do so if they choose.

While Weber, Davis, and Salt Lake Counties increased their transit tax and made significant strides toward improved transportation, Utah County chose not to implement the extra one-quarter of a percent sales tax for transportation needs, and is now facing enormous costs to avoid becoming a parking lot. It is estimated that rebuilding I-15 in part of Utah County will cost $2.5 billion, while building commuter rail south through Salt Lake Valley and into Utah County will cost another $600 million. Other needed transportation projects along the Wasatch Front include building the Mountain View Corridor in western Salt Lake County-cost $2.2 billion, and adding four new TRAX light rail lines and extensions-cost $890 million in new tax dollars.

All of the costs mentioned assume the projects are built by around 2015. What are the costs of waiting until 2030 to have those projects completed? One cost that can be reasonably estimated is the increased construction costs. The price of the four Salt Lake County light rail spurs, for example, goes up by $640 million, or 2/3 more, if they are built by 2030 instead of 2015. Hardman says funding the state's transit needs at today's prices will be significantly less expensive than if we wait 10 or 15 years. Escalating costs of cement, steel, labor, engineering and planning services, could add billions of dollars in additional expenses.

What are the costs of congestion, lost economic competitiveness and opportunity, lost productivity, increased traffic delays and accidents, additional vehicle operating costs, longer delivery times, and increased air pollution? With no new funding sources, the annual delay hours per person by 2030 will be 47 hours, according to the Alliance study.

Alliance members have concluded that when the costs of waiting are tallied, funding our transportation needs now is significantly more cost effective. We either pay now and position Utah for the future, or we pay a whole lot more in lost opportunity, lost productivity, lost business activity, higher construction costs, reduced quality of life, reduced economic competitiveness, and slower economic growth.

Beattie says there are no other issues as important to the long-term vitality of Utah economic development as the issue of transportation funding today. "If we do not respond in a positive way today, we will cripple the economic advantages of the future and severely limit the opportunities for education and services we have come to expect," he says.

Businesses and individuals are invited to join the Alliance and take an active role in addressing Utah's dire transportation needs. For more information visit the 2015 Transportation Alliance site, or click here to join.

Click here to see the growing list of 2015 Transportation Alliance members.

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IN THE NEWS

Economic Development Headlines

Economic Growth Initiative Under Way

- Leaders of a $200 million economic development initiative officially took their first step Wednesday and hope to get the effort in full swing by the end of the summer. The nine-member advisory board of the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative met with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to hash out details of how the group plans to use academic research to fuel job growth in Utah. (Morning News) (Herald) (SL Tribune) (KCPW)

Embassy Suites Unveils Plans for Pleasant Grove Hotel

- Officials from Pleasant Grove and a major hotel-industry company on Wednesday heralded plans to build a 10-story hotel and conference center in the Utah County city. (Morning News) (SL Tribune) (Herald Extra) (KCPW) (KSL) (Utah Business Magazine)

Ute Leader 'In Dark' on Finances

- While the Ute Indian Tribe is enjoying enormous revenues generated through its oil and gas leases, tribe members say they have difficulty getting complete information on their financial holdings. (Morning News)

'Whole Foods' May Pick SLC

- After years of searching for a site in Utah, well-known organic grocer Whole Foods apparently is close to finalizing a site near downtown Salt Lake City. (SL Tribune)

UVSC Hires State Lawmaker to Bolster its Business Image

- With gaining university status as the goal, Utah Valley State College has hired a state lawmaker and a businessman to help the school position itself as a contributor to business and economic growth in Utah County. (SL Tribune)

Local Business Week Kicks Off in Salt Lake

- The premise of "Local First" is simple, according to local bookseller Betsy Burton. Local shop owners spend their money on local services and products, thus keeping Utah dollars in the Utah economy. The challenge, says Burton, is to convince pennywise shoppers to think twice before heading straight for the chain store at the strip mall. (KCPW)

Business Real Estate Market Bright

- Interest rates may be on the rise, but the business real estate market in Davis County is still moving forward, and at a rapid pace. (Clipper Today)

West Point Awaits Major Home Improvement Store

- A major home improvement store is negotiating to open shop in this fast-growing northwest Davis County community. City Manager Rick Davis is hopeful problems being en-countered with the site can be overcome.

(Clipper Today)

Utah, Davis Job Growth Among the Best

- According to the Summer 2006 issue of Zions Bank's "Insight- Economic News of Utah and the Nation" released today, Utah's economic performance continues to rank with the best in the nation. Recent growth also approaches the most impressive ever recorded.

(Clipper Today)

Luring Retail to Salt Lake's West Side

- West Side residents and Salt Lake City economic officials see eye to eye on one thing: they need more retail. From ice cream shops to copy centers, the stretch of city west of I-15 is lacking, and city economic advisor Alison McFarlane says something needs to be done. (KCPW)

Utah Economy Looking Bullish

- Several economic factors are moving in a positive direction in Utah, spelling good news for the state, according to a report released Thursday. (Morning News)

WTC Utah CEO Named

- Connections. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has them, and the man he tapped Friday to head the fledgling World Trade Center Utah is charged with helping local businesses broaden theirs. (Morning News) (Standard Examiner) (SL Tribune) (Herald Extra) (Utah Business Magazine)

Venture Capitalists Plug Utah Industry

- Utah's venture capital community is light years ahead of states such as Florida and Tennessee but could improve in commercializing more ideas from its universities, according to Mark Heesen, president of the Virginia-based National Venture Capital Association. (Morning News) (SL Tribune)

Governor, 15 Utah Companies Hope to Build Trade Ties With China

- Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will lead a trade mission to China in October. Huntsman, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and a trade ambassador in the region, will take 15 Utah companies to Beijing and Shanghai to try to build economic ties. "The objective is to create meaningful relationship-building and potential matchmaking opportunities between Utah companies and relevant Chinese counterparts," according to a news release from the Governor's Office of Economic Development released Friday. (SL Tribune) (Morning News)

Program Gives Budding Scientists a Boost

- Getting teenagers interested in science is important to their futures, and to Utah's. That's the hypothesis behind a series of science camps sponsored by the Governor's Office of Economic Development. (SL Tribune) (Utah Business Magazine)

USU Innovation Campus Gets Connected

- A second fiber optic path expected to bring redundant high-speed Internet connectivity to Utah State University and the school's Innovation Campus will be officially introduced today. (Herald Journal)

New USU VP to Stress Commercialization Innovation Technology

- The director of the Life Sciences Cluster in the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) has been appointed to a restructured position as vice president for Strategic Ventures and Economic Development at Utah State University. (Utah Business Magazine)

Utah's Graduation Rates Among Best in U.S.

- Utah high schools are churning out some of the highest percentages of graduates in the United States, outpacing national trends overall, but falling behind for some minorities. (Morning News)

State Money Sought To Aid Rural Firms

- A program to help low-income residents of rural Utah start their own businesses has provided some economic benefit to the communities it served, according to a report released Tuesday. (Morning News)

Chamber Proposes Tax Hike For TRAX

- The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce wants voters to approve a sales-tax hike this fall that would raise the tax amount dedicated to transportation to a total of 1 percent in Salt Lake Davis, Weber and Utah counties. (Morning News)

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CALENDAR

July 21:  GOED Board Meeting

August:  EDCUTAH Annual Meeting

Aug. 10-13:  Outdoor Retailer Summer Market

Sept.: 13-15: Utah League of Cities and Towns (St. George)

Nov. 12-15: CoreNet Global Summit, (Orlando, FL.)

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