Utah- This is the Place

Here is some great information about Utah from the Deseret News. What an awesome place to live!

Utah has claimed the top spot in Forbes magazine's annual ranking of "The Best States for Business and Careers." Deseret News

The magazine's "Best States" ranking measures six categories for business, including costs, current economic climate, growth prospects, labor supply, quality of life and regulatory environment.  Forbes noted that while states across the nation have suffered as a result of the national economic downturn, some states, like Utah, have weathered the downturn better than others. 

Deseret News
Promised Land- How Utah became the new economic Zion. Newsweek Nov 8, 2010
While nearly every local economy succumbed to the frozen credit markets, failing to grow much during the last two years, Utah has flourished. It set its own records for new companies (more than 40) and capital investment (nearly $2 billion). That has helped sustain an average of 3.5 percent annual growth during the last five years, more than any state other than energy-rich North Dakota.

The 75-mile corridor stretching from Ogden in the north to Provo in the south, has absorbed massive new data centers for eBay, Twitter, and Oracle; splashy new offices for Disney Interactive, EA Sports and a commitment from Adobe—the makers of Flash and Acrobat—to build a thousand-person software-development campus, where the minimum average salary will be $60,000.

The University of Utah recently tied MIT for creating the most companies out of its patented research: more than 80 since 2005. Provo has the most high-growth companies per capita in the country, according to Inc. magazine.

Expressing a shared sentiment among many business people who go to Utah these days, Sequoia Capital venture capitalist Michael Goguen said “We’re noticing.” Compelling sales pitch. It includes facts like cheap energy, low taxes, and top billing from list makers like Forbes. But the close is almost bumper-sticker simple: cheaper than Washington, cooler than Texas, as outdoorsy as Colorado … and not California. Gov. Gary Herbert touts how he is “making the state business-friendly while California is doing the opposite.”

Utah's biggest potential liability—its conservative, religious populous becomes an indisputable strength. Utah's people are, indeed, an employer’s dream. They are healthy, hard workers (pouring in 48 hours a week on average), and exceedingly stable, with the highest birthrates in the nation. The large number of young Mormons who spend two years on a conversion mission also means a huge swath of the population earned its sales stripes in hostile terrain.

Utah Notables & National Rank:
Employment & Income:
*           #1 "Best State for Business and Careers" & "Most Fiscally Fit State" Forbes
*           #1 "Expected Economic Recovery" & "Economic Outlook" American Legislative Exchange Council
*           #1 "Number of Research Produced Business Start Ups" University of Utah
*           #1 "5% Annual Household Income Increase"
      
*           #2 "3.5% annual economy expansion"

*           #4 "1.5% employment increase"
          
*           #5 or Better "1950 to 2009 Percent of Change Non-Farm Employment"
        
*           #8 or Better "AAA Bond Rating"
*           "Decrease of corporate tax rate from 7 percent to 5 percent" Deseret News
         
*           "Energy Costs 35% below National Average" & "45% World Export Increase"
         
Who has Taken Notice:
*           7000 Jobs Construction
*           1000 Jobs Adobe
*           800 Jobs ATK Aerospace Systems
*           700 Jobs Goldman Sachs
*           300 Jobs National Security Agency
*           300 Jobs MediConnect Global
*           250 Jobs Royal Bank of Scotland
*           200 Jobs ebay
*           Oracle, Proctor & Gamble, Boeing, Janicki industries & Twitter

Population & Demographics:
*           #1 "Household Size","Households Defined as Families" & "Median Age"           
*           #1 "Population Growth" U.S. Census Bureau
*           #1 "Birth Rate" National Center for Health Statistics
*           #3 "Life Expectancy"
*           #7 "Healthiest Population"
*           "80% of Population Speaks a Second Language"
*           "16,000 Estimated New Households in 2010"   

Supply & Affordability:
*           "Unoccupied Home Inventory Dropped from 3000+ in 2007 to 1000+ in 2009"           
*           "Interest Rates have never been lower & home prices are lowest in a decade"
*           "Interest on a $200k mortgage at 4% -vs- Interest at 8% increases monthly payment over $500"
*           #9 or Better "Economic Confidence" Gallup   
*Information collected from the 2010 Ivory Institute.