Utah economy ranked No. 1 in two reports
Logan is just “riding the wave” of Utah’s economic success, said Kirk Jensen, economic development director for the city of Logan, referring to Utah’s No. 1 ranking by two economic competitiveness reports issued last month by the governor. The Becon Hill Institute’s State Competitiveness Report for 2007 and the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index base their economic ranking on fiscal policy, security, infrastructure, business incubation, state minimum wage, tax policy and education freedom.
“These top competitive rankings certainly recognize our work ethic, creativity and strong economic engine driven by entrepreneurs who are taking us is the right direction,” Gov. Jon Huntsman said.
Jensen said two reasons the economy is doing so well in Utah are because of the natural evolution of the economy and Huntsman’s pro-economic development policy.
Huntsman’s economic goals include lowering personal income and corporate income tax, obtaining a good workforce and a maintaining a good quality of life in Utah, Jensen said. Incentives are being offered to companies as part of this pro-economic development: For every dollar in incentives, they get 10-fold back, Jensen said.
“These two rankings validate the great things happening here in business and economic development,” said Jason P. Perry, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
The businesses are driven by the private sector, but the city promotes and facilitates, offering assistance when needed, Jensen said. Most efforts in Logan are focused on retaining businesses, although business growth is also very essential to the economy, he said.
“We are trying to bring in anything and everything,” Jensen said. “We want to create high-quality jobs that pay a good wage.”
Jensen said the state gave Thermal-Fisher $2 million when they came to Logan, and the state entered into an agreement to give them land as well. Thermal-Fisher in turn would invest and create new tax revenues for the city and bring new jobs that exceed wage thresholds, Jensen said.
Jensen said with Huntsman’s policy, people can see the value of bringing in new business. Logan has taken a proactive approach to the policy by encouraging businesses, investment and job creation, he said.
Bruce Godfrey, economics professor at USU, said he didn’t know if these economic reports were true and a more careful look at the different areas of competitiveness in the economy was necessary. Godfrey said the reports may prove true for some areas of the economy, but it may not be true for others. The problem is there is only a “broad brush” over the areas of economic competitiveness, he said.
“If people believe it’s true, it will impact them and they will move with it,” Godfrey said.
If the reports prove to be true, Godfrey said he predicts more people will come to Utah to enroll in college and search out job opportunities.
“With a healthy Utah economy, there will be more job opportunities after college students graduate,” Jensen said.
-monica.swapp@aggiemail.usu.edu