EDCUtah Economic Review


			Sept. 8, 2009 Newsletter Archive Subscribe Unsubscribe

Jeff Edwards, president & CEO of EDCUtah

President's Message
Don't Forget to Register for EDCUtah Annual Meeting

EDCUtah's Annual Meeting at the Grand America Hotel is on Wednesday, September 16, 2009. We still have a few sponsor tables available with 10 seats each. This is a perfect opportunity to invite clients, staff and interested investors. Please reserve your table or seat by this Thursday, September 10. Call Art Franks, EDCUtah membership director, (801) 323-4242 or e-mail him at afranks@edcutah.org. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, September 16, 2009.

I would also like to draw your attention to our feature story today regarding proactive recruitment. EDCUtah is very excited to be making such a significant advance in this area and I look forward to updating you on our successes in the weeks and months to come.

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

In the News

Microsoft commitment highlights Utah's culture of innovation
Another positive sign for the overall economy in Utah was announced today as Microsoft opened its newest office at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. (Utah Pulse.com) (Salt Lake Tribune) (Deseret News)

Utah poised for recovery of economy
The Beehive State could be well-positioned for a sustained economic recovery once the nationwide recession subsides, according to a national analyst. (Deseret News) (Salt Lake Tribune)

Questar Gas asks Utah PSC to cut natural gas rates by $6.7 million
Questar Gas is asking the Public Service Commission of Utah to reduce natural gas rates by $6.7 million. The rate cut requested Tuesday would lower the typical homeowner's bill by about $3.50 a year starting Oct. 1. (Salt Lake Tribune) (Deseret News>)

Southwest adding SLC flights despite cuts elsewhere
Southwest Airlines will add more flights on two Salt Lake City routes early next year, even as it temporarily halts flights on other routes nationally as it deals with a decline in air traffic and tries to bend its schedule to fit seasonal demand. (Salt Lake Tribune)

3 new USTAR teams garner $9M
Utah State University researchers are investigating ways to stop outbreaks of serious animal-related diseases like swine flu and brucellosis. The Veterinary Diagnostics and Infectious Disease (VDID) team is one of three new USU USTAR teams announced Monday. (Herald-Journal)

Utah execs optimistic about economic rebound
Utah business owners generally are optimistic about the direction of the state's economy -- but many still are anticipating that a recovery from the nationwide recession is going to take awhile. (Salt Lake Tribune) (Standard-Examiner)

Bouncing back from recession will take at least a year, predict Utah execs
Utah business owners anticipate recovery from the effects of the recession will be slow, according to Zions Bank's latest Utah Quarterly Economic Forecast. (Utah Pulse.com) (Deseret News) (Standard-Examiner)

Meet the new face of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera: Melia Tourangeau
The challenges facing Melia Tourangeau are formidable. There's the constant fundraising of any arts group, set against the current bleak backdrop of the largest economic downturn in more than a half-century. (Salt Lake Tribune) (Deseret News)

What Utah's health reform means to small business
Could health reform control costs for small businesses and expand choices for workers at the same time? Utah is about to find out. (Business Week)

Utah to offer $8M in housing grants to aid economy
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Friday he'll use $8 million in federal stimulus funds to help kick start the state's sluggish housing market. (Forbes)

Utah salt flats host alt-fuel vehicle tests
Since the 1920s and '30s when pro racer David Abbott "Ab" Jenkins shattered worldwide land speed records driving his "Mormon Meteor" on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats, the playa has become one of the world's most famous raceways, where backyard builders have always raced alongside the finest automotive engineers in the world. (Review Journal)

Calendar

September 9-11
ULCT (Sheraton, SLC)

September 10
Telesphere Grand Opening, Salt Lake City office, 4-7 p.m., 5296 South Commerce Drive, Suite 104, Murray

September 15
3rd Annual "what's IN OUT back!" Wasatch Economic Summit and golf tournament

September 16
EDCUtah Annual Meeting (Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City) (breakfast meeting)

September 20-22
CoreNet (Phoenix, AZ)

September 24
What's Going Down Up North (Logan, UT)

October 2-6
Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) (Hot Springs, VA)

October 4-7
IEDC (Reno, NV)

October 12-14
Solar Power International (Los Angeles, CA)

October 12-14
CoreNet (Las Vegas, NV)

October 15
Quarterly Investor Update (Jewish Community Center, Salt Lake City)

October 22
PTAC Symposium (Layton, UT)

October 27-29
Solar Power International (Anaheim, CA)

November 18
Board Meeting (Salt Lake Country Club)

December 16
Holiday Open House (EDCUtah)

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Current Investors
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Board of Trustees

The EDCUtah Economic Review is a weekly publication of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. It is distributed to EDCUtah partners and selected other government and civic organizations interested in Utah's economic development.

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Feature Story
EDCUtah Announces Plan to Expand Proactive Recruitment Effort

Over the course of its existence EDCUtah has been relentless in its work to build a strong economic development foundation. The process has involved planting seeds at numerous trade shows, building a strong marketing database, rolling out the successful SURE Sites Web database, and developing strong relationships with site selectors, corporate real estate agents, business leaders and many other individuals involved in business recruitment, relocation and expansion decisions. As a result, EDCUtah's project pipeline has grown.

"Our groundwork has led to larger, more sophisticated projects and the outlook has never been better, despite the difficult economy," says EDCUtah President & CEO Jeff Edwards. "Therefore, I am pleased to announce that we are taking our expansion and recruitment efforts to the next level with greater focus on targeted, proactive recruitment."

Edwards says he has felt a need to substantially increase EDCUtah's efforts in proactive corporate recruitment for some time now, by targeting companies that are a good fit for Utah and directly marketing to them.

"While we have worked in proactive niches on a limited basis over the past year, this effort has had to take a back seat to our reactive recruitment work, simply as a function of staff bandwidth and other resource-intensive projects," he says. "We are currently working projects that have developed as a result of proactive recruitment, including project Fusion, which involves a medical device company, project Sparkler, which involves an IT company, and several others, but our resources have been limited. Now, we are prepared to focus on proactive recruitment in a big way. Thanks in part to the great work of the Governor's Office of Economic Development in cluster industry development and strategic incentive program advancements, the time is ripe for EDCUtah to expand its proactive recruitment efforts. I am, therefore, pleased to announce that we will be dedicating a full-time staff member to identifying, contacting and recruiting targeted companies to Utah."

As a consequence, Edwards has asked EDCUtah Vice President of Public Development Michael Flynn to accept a new assignment as Director of Proactive Recruitment. Says Edwards: "Beginning immediately, Mike will be part of the Business Development team and will lead our expanded proactive recruitment effort from an office in Southern California. Mike brings with him nearly seven years of experience with EDCUtah and his success in corporate recruitment and project management will be great assets in his new role."

During his tenure at EDCUtah, Flynn has worked with companies such as Nucor Building Systems, US Foodservice, Silicon Valley Bank and others as they have moved operations to Utah. He adds a strong analytical and research background to his new position and can take advantage of his in-depth knowledge and enthusiasm for economic development in Utah. Edwards says by locating Flynn in California, he will be in a "target-rich environment," ideally positioned to take advantage of the economic climate there, and will thus focus part of his efforts on West Coast companies looking to move to a more business-friendly environment.

"I am very excited about this development and feel our organization will be better positioned in the future to drive more corporate recruitment activity," Edwards adds. "Mike's new location will also serve as an ideal base for national proactive recruiting efforts in a number of high value industries."

Flynn is equally excited about this new opportunity, saying: "My objective will be to find companies in targeted business clusters -- industries where Utah has already achieved significant strength, such as advanced composites, aerospace, life sciences, alternative energy, digital media, life sciences and IT -- that are currently located in less favorable business climates, and demonstrate the compelling reasons why they should relocate or expand to Utah. Our goal is to help targeted companies see the advantages of relocating, expanding or establishing new businesses in Utah."

With EDCUtah's sophisticated databases, contact lists and marketing tools at his fingertips, Flynn expects the aggressive approach to recruitment and expansion will generate quite a number of additional projects in the pipeline. "When we get in front of the right businesses, the state's reputation for having a pro-business environment, young, educated workforce, excellent quality of life, superb access to higher education and other great amenities, really makes the sale," he says. "Everyone on our team is excited to move in this new direction in a big way and I am thrilled to be a part of it."