Corporations Take Fresh View Of Utah

Businesses researching states that will give them competitive advantages coming out of the recession, may want to consider Utah. IHS Global Insight ranked Utah as the No. 9 state to lead the nation out of the recession. The recognition is just one of many Utah has received in the past couple of years in regard to its business climate advantages.

“As we come out of the recession, Utah will become a place people notice, seeing us in a different light,” says Jeff Edwards, president and CEO, Economic Development Corporation of Utah, a public and private partnership promoting the state as a place to do business.

Businesses are taking note of the advantages, announcing major expansions. These corporations find they are operating in a well-managed state. For the past three years, Utah has been recognized as a best managed state, ranking No. 1 in 2008 by the Pew Center, demonstrating the state's focus on business development, and its business friendly atmosphere, says Spencer Eccles, executive director, Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development.

Eccles' team is working to strengthen and grow the state's urban and rural areas by encouraging entrepreneurship and investment; attracting national and international investment; and focusing on education for the long-term viability of the state. The goals fit in with Gov. Gary Herbert's goals: economy, education and energy.

A major new initiative supporting the renewable energy sector is the Renewable Energy Development Incentive, where the state can provide up to a 100 percent tax credit for companies in the sector, for either generation activities or production of materials and components used in the industry. The program, which lasts up to 20 years, applies to any state revenue Utah would normally collect.

Industries And Innovation

This energy incentive supports companies such as First Wind, which has recently completed the first phase of the Milford Wind Corridor Project, a 200-megawatt wind generation project. The project will feature 97 wind turbines and create 35 high-paying jobs in Millard, located in rural southwestern Utah.

Another wind farm project will establish a dozen turbines outside of Provo.

In addition to wind farms, Utah offers advantages to those involved in geothermal and solar energy activities. The state also features a strong traditional energy sector. “Because of all the gas availability, we have the lowest retail price of natural gas in the United States,” Edwards says. “This has been a huge advantage for us.”

Another thriving industry sector in Utah is life sciences, in particular, medical devices and human genetics. Edwards Lifesciences, a heart-value manufacturer, announced in the fall that it will expand its operation in Draper City, adding 1,000 jobs during the next 15 years. Merit Medical Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of disposable medical devices used in interventional and diagnostic procedures, will expand its Utah operations (Salt Lake City and South Jordan). The company will invest more than $11 million in capital investment and employee training. The firm aims to add 392 new jobs in the state during the next 10 years. South Jordan is also home to Ultradent Products, Inc., a dental device manufacturer employing 700 people, notes Brian Preece, long-term planning and sustainability director, city of South Jordan.

In regard to human genetics research, the University of Utah is home to a unique resource, the Utah Population Database, which combines medical records with genealogy. The tools have led to gene discoveries; Myriad Technologies Inc. is the first company to have identified genes associated with breast caner, and has identified 100 different genes.

In a life-sciences related industry project, combining medical documentation and technology, MediConnect Global Inc., a provider of medical retrieval and digitization services, online document management and other services, plans to expand operations in Ephraim. The company, which has grown nearly 800 percent in the past four years, will add more than 300 new jobs during the next 10 years. “We are thrilled about the growth of MediConnect in rural Utah,” Eccles says. “This company brings together two of Utah's key economic clusters, information technology and life sciences.”

Moving to the state's technology cluster, in December, eBay Inc. officially accepted a nearly $2 million incentive (a refundable tax credit) offered by the state to expand its global customer support operations. The company currently employs 1,000 people in the state, and aims to add 250 jobs between its new data center and customer support operations. The data center is expected to be operational in April. The company is located on 60 acres, with a first phase 250,000-square-foot facility taking shape.

In other project activity, in December, Fairchild Semiconductor was offered a post-performance incentive to expand its West Jordan facility. The company, a provider of semiconductor technology, would potentially add 65 new jobs to its existing 473 positions, as well as conduct a $49.5 million upgrade to its facility, converting from 6-inch wafer processing to 8-inch wafer processing.

In Utah County, the Provo-Orem region, the National Security Agency has announced it will locate a data center on 200 acres on the National Guard base at Camp Williams. The agency will build a 100,000-square-foot facility. “The announcement has generated interest from companies who want to be near this facility for support services,” says Steve Densley, president and CEO, Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Also in Utah County, Microsoft has located to the Thanksgiving Point development in Lehi, located between the Salt Lake Valley and the Utah Valley, which allows the company to draw its talent from both areas. Utah County is a tech center in the state, where WordPerfect, Novell and the former Omniture were established. Omniture was purchased by Adobe in September for $1.8 billion.

Talent And Higher Education

Corporations will find Utah's talent pool is comprised of a young workforce, where the average age in the state is 27 years old. “If you are an employer, you care about where the workforce will come from next year, and 10 years and 20 years from now,” Edwards says. “We have a great pipeline of students coming out of a quality education system.”

Much of the talent is also bilingual or multilingual thanks to global missionary work carried out by students of the Mormon faith, where these students leave school for two years to conduct missions, learning languages and cultures, and bringing those assets back to the state.

To ensure the growing workforce has continued educational opportunities, Eccles says the state is in the process of finishing two new facilities, one at Utah State University and one at the University of Utah. In Utah County, Utah Valley University has recently become a four-year university, where it ranks as the state's second-largest university with more than 28,000 students. Brigham Young University is located in Provo, with more than 33,000 students.

South Jordan is home to the University of Southern Nevada, which has a pharmaceutical program in the city, and was to begin a nursing school in January. Neumont University, a computer college, is also located in the area.

Assets

Densley says most of Utah County's cities have set aside land which is pre-zoned to ensure companies can start building and operations in a timely manner. This includes an aerospace park at the Provo Airport, where Duncan Aviation will begin operating an MRO operation, eventually employing 650 people.

In South Jordan, the 4,200-acre mixed-use development, Daybreak, features the 250-acre Daybreak Commerce Park, where eBay's new data center is locating. The Daybreak Development is a New Urbanist Community, which is served by light rail, running to Salt Lake City.

Lifestyle

In addition to its numerous advantages for business, Utah is recognized for its quality of place factors. MSNBC ranked Utah as the country's No. 1 happiest state. And Forbes found the state was the No. 1 best state to live in, with residents reporting a high level of satisfaction in areas such as work environment, emotional health and local communities.

Written and compiled by Rachel Duran.

For complete details on conducting business in Utah, visit:

http://goed.utah.gov