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Thanks to the efforts of the 2003 Utah Legislature, Utah's ability to compete for relocation and expansion projects became stronger. The legislature approved four major economic development bills.

The most exciting bill is the Venture Capital Enhancement Act, which creates the $100 million “fund of funds” to stimulate high tech start-up businesses in Utah by issuing tax credits to investors. 

The Trust Law Amendments revise the fiduciary trust law and repeal tax on accrued interest in irrevocable trusts. The amendments are aimed at enhancing job creation in the financial services industry.

The Aerospace/Aviation Development Zones will provide a partial rebate of new incremental state revenues to aerospace/aviation companies. Eligible projects must be at or around airports that feature instrumental landing systems; manned air traffic control towers; land available for commercial developments.

“There are only three airports in the state that fit that criteria and the Ogden-Hinckley Airport is one them,” says Ron Kusina, president and CEO of the Ogden/Weber Chamber of Commerce and the Weber Economic Development Corporation.  “This legislation puts us on par with competition in the country for the aviation/aerospace industry. We have a strong cluster here and it fits what we can support with our supply chain.”

The final piece of economic development legislation is the Amendments Related to Information Technology Act, which will reform the IT Commission by creating the Utah Technology Commission. In addition, the Utah Technology Industry Council is a standing committee created by the legislature.

Utah is also continuing its 1,000-day economic initiative. Utah Governor Mike Leavitt announced the plan at his state of the state address in January 2002. Hundreds of milestones have been meet in the first 430 days, as of April 23 (visit http://www.utah.gov/governor/1000vision.html for a complete list of milestones).

 

Ecosystems

Utah refers to its clusters as ecosystems because the term better illustrates how various industries truly depend on and support each other in order to create a healthy economy. The four prominent ecosystems are biotech, medical devices, digital media and Web services.

In biotech, the University of Utah has identified more disease-related genes than any other university in the world. The university is home to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, which conducts ground-breaking cancer research.

Utah ranks in the top five nationally for its medical device ecosystem, which has produced the world's first functional prosthetic limb and the first artificial heart transplant. Fresenius Medical Care in Ogden creates about 60 percent of all dialysis filtration systems in the United States. The biotech and medical device ecosystems combined could produce breakthroughs in genomics and bioengineering.

In the digital media ecosystem, Utah companies are producing products that relate to virtual reality, video games, computer engineering, simulator systems and 3D graphics. Companies are also working to streamline video, and integrating digital media with Web strategies. Digital media will also assist in producing efficient medical technology.

An emerging ecosystem is health informatics. Seventeen Smart Sites feature high-speed bandwidth to support electronic outsourcing for services such as software testing, technical call centers, database management, data entry and Web site development.

Last summer, the Smart Site program partnered with Weber State University to begin offering Internet-based medical coding training to create rural jobs. In addition, medical informatics programs are currently operating at the University of Utah and Brigham Young University.

The health informatics ecosystem has attracted three companies to rural areas, which will create 600 jobs.

Another emerging ecosystem in Utah is nutraceuticals, where 70 Utah companies provide thousands of vitamins, supplements, diet aids, protein powders and more.

“Ogden has been strong in the packaging of nutritional supplements,” Kusina says. “So, if you are a biomed company manufacturing prescription drugs, the infrastructure needed for this work is in place.”

 

Workforce

Utah was the fourth-fastest growing state in the nation during the 1990s at a 29.6 percent rate, more than twice the national rate of 13.2 percent. Utah is also the 11th fastest growing state in the nation in terms of job creation.

Companies will find workforce training assistance with the Custom Fit program, which provides technical training, certifications, computer skills, management skills and more.

Advanced manufacturing training in Ogden benefits from Weber State University, “a top ranked university in the country for its applied technology program in the engineering field,” Kusina says. “Students have opportunities to apply what they are learning in their workplace and create an education that goes outside the borders of the classroom.”

Utah recently granted community college status to its vocational schools. “Now, the Ogden Weber Applied Technology Center at the technology college can offer Custom Fit training,” Kusina says.

“Salt Lake Community College has just put in a campus in the heart of downtown and it has a lot of programs that put students in internship partnerships with businesses,” says Alison McFarlane, economic development manager, Salt Lake City Community and Economic Development Department.

McFarlane also notes that the University of Utah's MBA program has created an extension on the west side of Salt Lake City to conduct development and partnerships with small businesses, and to grow neighborhood businesses.

In addition to the new Venture Capital Enhancement Act, Utah also features a $120 million venture fund launched by vSpring Capital to target software, communications and life sciences companies.

“There are quite a few venture capital resources in Salt Lake City, including a micro-enterprise loan fund, and the city has a small business revolving loan fund,” McFarlane says. “There are also several small business centers to help people from the bare bones of business plans all the way to financing.”

 

Business Climate

Before the new incentives passed earlier this year, Utah's major incentive program was the Industrial Assistance Fund, a $10 million post-performance disbursement, says Tracie Cayford, media relations director, Utah Department of Community and Economic Development.

Additional incentives include the Industrial Assistance Fund (IAF), which is a loan-to-grant conversion program to assist companies with expansion and relocation costs. In 2002, 14 companies qualified for IAF funding, including the 183,000-square-foot Ogden High Tech Center, which received $900,000 to develop a technology incubator.

“The focus of the facility is to create a synergy for high tech, not only in advanced degrees in computer sciences and engineering but also to tie in the spin off of new businesses created from that kind of effort,” Kusina says.

Kusina says that companies will find a business-friendly environment in Ogden. He says the mayor is focused on rebuilding the downtown, which has had more projects underway in the past few years than in the past 30 years.  He also notes that in order to develop a new 300-acre industrial park, which is currently in the planning stages, the Weber County commission will assist in financing the infrastructure projects.

As for access to markets, the Salt Lake International Airport is near Interstates 80 and 215, and within 10 to 15 minutes drive to the downtown business district. The Utah Transit Authority is looking to extend its TRAX services to the airport. TRAX is also planning an extension to the University of Utah's medical school.

As for electric infrastructure, Kusina says Utah Power spent in excess of $100 million in the last year to expand and improve its infrastructure along the Wasatch Front, which are four counties with 80 percent of the state's population.

In regards to the telecom infrastructure, the state features the latest state-of-the-art systems because it hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, which were broadcast across the globe to 3.5 billion people. Kusina says that by far and away the quality of life and outdoor recreational opportunities are vast in Utah. “It is a great place to live and work hard and we are keeping our business climate strong and supportive for industry.”

Adds McFarlane, “We see a lot of start-ups here because entrepreneurs tend to be a little less structured and this is a climate and geography that is a little less structured that fosters and builds those entrepreneurs.”

For complete information visit http://dced.utah.gov/index.html, www.slcigov.com and www.echamber.cc.