Last week United Way of Salt Lake honored Utah businesses and individuals who give extraordinarily to our community. It is incredible to see how many EDCUtah investors are also loyal advocates and contributors to United Way campaigns and the programs it enables. This year United Way honored Pamela Atkinson, Questar Gas; Gwen Robinson, Goldman Sachs; George B. Hoffman III, Zions Bank; Olga de la Cruz, de la Cruz and Associates; Mike Zody, Parsons, Behle and Latimer; the Community Action Partnership of Utah; and Tesoro. We extend our congratulations to the businesses and individuals honored and to all the EDCUtah investors and member that help make Utah such a great place to live, work and do corporate recruitment.

On another subject, as a precursor to our Golf for Grants golf tournament in June, EDCUtah is holding a new golf event for female EDCUtah investors and women in business. The event will be held May 18 from 5-7 p.m. on the patio at the Salt Lake Country Club. This is an opportunity for about 30 executive women to get to know each other better and also learn the basics of golf and golf etiquette. Work attire is fine for the event -- no cleats necessary. Attendees will be EDCUtah board members, general members, and prospective members. Sponsors include Industrial Supply, Layton Construction Company, and Argenta. Contact Stephanie Frohman at sfrohman@edcutah.org or call (801) 550-4718 to register while spaces are available.

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

The world's largest gathering of the biotechnology industry -- the BIO International Convention -- wrapped up last week in Chicago, and a team of exhibitors lead by EDCUtah and the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) was there to promote Utah's vibrant biotechnology industry.

BIO (the Biotechnology Industry Organization) represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in more than 30 nations. This year's convention drew 15,322 industry leaders from 49 states and 65 countries.

"In addition to showcasing our biotech industry, BIO is an important venue for our recruitment efforts," says EDCUtah President & CEO Jeff Edwards. "BIO brings together the world's largest gathering of executives, researchers, scientists, heads of state, congressional leaders, venture capitalists, investors, academia and key decision makers representing every aspect of the industry. The convention is a big deal, not just for Utah but for all 50 states and many foreign countries."

Three Objectives
EDCUtah Vice President of Marketing Kim Lofgreen says EDCUtah approaches the annual BIO conventions with three main objectives: "First, we want to develop leads that turn into recruitment projects. Second, we want to promote Utah as a credible player in the biotechnology industry. Third, we want to help Utah biotechnology companies and related organizations promote themselves, build relationships in the industry, and create business opportunities."

EDCUtah's pre-convention preparations included exhaustive research led by Director of Proactive Recruiting, Michael Flynn. His team did a pre-convention analysis of exhibitors and targeted some 60 biotech companies to visit during the convention. With help from EDCUtah staff and people from within the Utah life science community, Flynn was able to obtain background information about each of the companies and set up one to one meetings with many of them.

Life Elevated
Playing off the state's "Life Elevated" brand, the Utah Pavilion provided exhibit space and networking opportunities for Utah biotech companies and organizations that included Quansys Biosciences, UNIConnect, ARUP Laboratories, USTAR, Salt Lake Community College Biotechnology Department, GOED and EDCUtah. GOED and EDCUtah were the organizing sponsors for the Utah Pavilion. Other sponsors included Cephalon, which sponsored the t-shirts given away at the pavilion; USTAR was a Gold Sponsor; Ballard Spahr sponsored the Utah industry profile; and Utah State University was a Bronze Sponsor.

Among the Utah exhibitors, ARUP Laboratories is a national clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratory and an enterprise of the University of Utah and its Department of Pathology. Ballard Spahr is a national law firm with over 460 lawyers in seven offices in the mid-Atlantic region and western United States. Meanwhile, Salt Lake Community College Biotechnology Department serves the needs of the local biotechnology industry through focused technical training programs. Students completing a program of study are trained to use cutting edge life science technologies, scientific communication, effective problem solving strategies, and to understand quality systems in research and manufacturing environments.

Quansys Biosciences, Inc., a Spendlove Research company, is dedicated to the development of protein arrays to aide researchers and clinicians in better understanding, diagnosing, and treating disease for the betterment of people's lives, while UNIConnect supports the science and business of biotechnology with game changing laboratory software solutions for health, food and fuel.

"Each of these organizations and our major sponsors is to be commended for their support of the pavilion and Utah's biotech industry," says Edwards.

Road Bike Giveaway
Lofgreen reports that the Utah Pavilion drew strong foot traffic throughout the convention, and all of the Utah organizations generated leads or picked up customers. "Some of our participants said BIO is the best show they do every year," he notes.

Foot traffic was especially heavy during one of the most popular events of the convention -- the prize drawing for a $7,000 Ascend road bike manufactured by Utah-based Delta 7. The Ascend is made from carbon fiber and Kevlar. Lofgreen says the drawing was a huge hit, attracting hundreds of convention attendees to the Utah Pavilion to await the announcement of the winner.

Thomas J. Voss (left), winner of the Ascend road bike, stands for a photo with EDCUtah President & CEO Jeff Edwards.

A Subset
Utah's biotechnology industry, which has a long history of success in the state, is a subset of the larger life sciences industry that employs some 25,000 Utahns in high-paying jobs. The Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWFS) reports that over the past nine years, Utah life science industry employment has grown by more than 27 percent, 17 percentage points more than total employment growth for the state over the same period. "Like healthcare, the life science industries have done well during the recession. While total employment in Utah contracted by roughly 5.5 percent from September 2007 to September 2009, employment in the life sciences expanded by 6.8 percent during this same period," the DWFS says.

What's more, Utah's life sciences industry leads among the western states for life science businesses per capita and is second for overall industry growth. Industry strengths in Utah include a world-class effort in arterial and vascular access devices, producing 70 percent of all devices used worldwide, the development of the first human artificial heart. Additionally, the Utah Population Database, coupled with the state's genealogy records, is the world's most comprehensive of its type and has led to the discovery of more human genes than anywhere else in the world. In time, the database is expected to translate into major technology being applied to the emerging field of personalized medicine.