By Richard R. Nelson

Those who live in Utah have new reasons to celebrate. While economists note that the U.S. is facing or even already in the midst of a recession, the outlook for the technology and life science industries in Utah remains strong.

The Congressional Quarterly (CQ) Press in Washington recently named Utah number two in state livability rankings, which is an increase of two places over its fourth-place finish last year. Utah also ranks as one of the top 10 states for supporting businesses, the CQ Press study says.

I believe that in the technology industries, we have good reasons to be optimistic. In its second year as a combined technology and life sciences council, the Utah Technology Council (UTC) has now grown to more than 500 corporate members. This is an annual growth rate of 28 percent, compounded over 5 years. We are particularly excited to note that the Life Science membership has increased by a tremendous 97 percent from the same period last year.

Governor Jon Huntsman notes that new companies are flocking to Utah right now. Proctor and Gamble, Barnes Aerospace, and Disney Interactive Studios are just a few of the companies bringing hundreds of new jobs, and new technology jobs in particular, to our state. Many other companies are inquiring about locating here.

At UTC, our data also shows that growth in Utah’s existing technology companies is strong. A recent UTC survey of 30 Utah CEOs notes that 86% of these companies plan to continue to grow their employee bases during 2008. Two of the companies anticipate level growth and only 2 of the 30 companies queried anticipates any kind of a loss. That additional headcount amounts to an average 39 percent growth in employee base for the companies we queried—a significantly stronger outlook than exists right now for the U.S. overall.

UTC experienced a successful outcome on all seven of its highest legislative priorities for 2008. We are particularly happy to note the successful increase of the Fund of Funds to $300M for additional high-growth industry investment and to help attract many times that amount in funding for Utah’s technology companies from outside the state!

On other fronts, CRITA (the national Council of Regional IT Associations – currently being renamed TECNA, Technology Councils of North America) recently conducted a Fly-In event during which five Utah CEOs joined a group of 70 CEOs and senior execs who traveled to Washington D.C. with me for in-depth meetings including meeting with four of the five members of our Congressional delegation. In these meetings with Senators Hatch and Bennett and Representatives Cannon and Matheson, we discussed the advancement of critical priorities such as the Rural America STEM Competitiveness Agenda, H1B Visa reform, Federal Research and Development Tax Credit and continuing efforts to advance Patent Reform.

Consistently, our greatest challenge continues to be our ability to attract and retain the additional executive talent we need. Although economic conditions are challenging for our nation right now, in the technology industries, Utah is continuing to set new milestones on the state and national level. To that end as we continue to consider the “state of our state,” UTC continues to fill an essential role. 2008 is shaping up to be a pivotal year.