Utah ranked the 11th most livable state in the nation, according to the annual survey done by Morgan Quitno Press. The survey looks at 44 categories including economic indexes, education levels, health factors and social welfare issues.
Morgan Quitno Press, 2006.
Utah has the fourth-highest job rate growth nationwide. Employment growth in Utah rose 4.4 percent during 2006. Utah's job growth is expected to exceed the national average at least through the end of 2007.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, January 2007
According to Ski Utah, 4.258 million skiers visited Utah's 13 ski resorts during the 2007-08 ski season. This year's ski season brought in over $1 billion to the Utah economy and a 4.3 percent increase in skier visits to the state.
Salt Lake County is home to four premier resorts including: Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude.
Lake Powell, located on the border of Utah and Arizona boasts an estimated 1,960 miles of shoreline, longer than the whole western coast of the continental United States.
IKEA opened their 30th North American store in Draper, May 2007. The Swedish-based retailer broke ground for their 310,000 sq. ft. Utah store in April 2006. For more information, go to www.ikea.com .
Utah added 52,000 new jobs for year ending February 28, 2007. According to the Utah Dept. of Workforce Services, Utah has a growth rate of 4.4 percent --the third highest in the U.S. The U.S. job growth rate in the same 12-month period was 1.5 percent.
The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City took 40 years to complete.
The granite stone was quarried from Little Cottonwood Canyon - home to Alta and Snowbird mountain resorts.
The Great Salt Lake, which is about 75 miles wide, covers more than a million acres.
The lake's average depth is just 13 feet.
The average snowfall in the mountains near Salt Lake City is 500 inches.
There have been over 700 film and television shows shot in Utah. High School Musical 3 is began shooting in Utah in May 2008.
Both High School Musical and High School Musical 2 were filmed primarily in Utah.
The name Utah comes from the Native American Ute tribe and means "people of the mountain."
Salt Lake City was originally named "Great Salt Lake City." Great was dropped from the name in 1868.
In 2005, Salt Lake City International airport was ranked #1 in the U.S. for on-time departures and 2nd for on-time landings.
Salt Lake City played host to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
It is estimated that 3.5 billion people worldwide saw the Opening Ceremonies through all media sources.
The 2002 Winter Olympic Games hosted by Salt Lake City, brought over 250,000 visitors to the state.
The resulting economic impact to the state was approx. $4.8 billion.
Salt Lake is home to the largest Family History Library in the World. The library, initially founded in 1894, houses:
- Over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed records
- 742,000 microfiche
- 310,000 books, serials and other formats
- 4,500 periodicals
The Family History Library, located in Salt Lake City, has genealogical records available from countries including:
- U.S.
- Canada
- Latin America
- New Zealand
- Asia
- Pacific Islands
- British Isles
- Africa
- Europe
- Australia
Utah high schools graduate 83.8 percent of their students, compared to the national average of 69.9 percent. According to the publication, Education Week, Utah has the highest high-school graduation rate in the country. Salt Lake County's Jordan School District ranks #1 with a graduation rate of 88.5 percent.
Education Week, article found in S.L. Tribune, 6/13/2007
Sandy, Utah was ranked 23rd of the top 100 cities by Money Magazine's "Best Places to Live 2006" survey.
The magazine looks at education, weather, health, leisure and culture when ranking the cities.
Permanent settlement of Salt Lake County, named for the nearby Great Salt Lake, began in 1847 when Mormon pioneers entered the Valley as Brigham Young proclaimed "This is the right place". The county was officially established in 1850. With self-sufficiency a major goal, the settlers diversified the economy early on by establishing basic industries to supply everything from pottery to printing paper.
Salt Lake County and the state capital, Salt Lake City, have always been the center of population, political power, and economic strength. The County is filled with activities ranging from tours at Temple Square, Hogle Zoo, the Bingham Copper Mine and museums; skiing or hiking four world-class mountain resorts; theater, symphony and major league sporting events.
The growth rate for self-employed Utahns is the fourth fastest rate in the U.S., according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The number of Utah companies without employees grew 6.1 percent, as compared to 4.7 percent nationally.
For the period ending September 30, 2007, the average sale price of a single-family house in Salt Lake County was $276,763. Last September, the average sale price was $263,530.
Salt Lake Board of Realtors & the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service.
Manufacturing companies comprise 9.2 percent of Salt Lake County's total employment.
Utah Department of Workforce Svs.
Manufacturing payroll in Utah is the largest of all sectors -- over $4.6 billion. This is four times the average of the other business sectors combined.
And the average wage in manufacturing is 21 percent higher than statewide average for other industries.
Utah Department of Workforce Services
Eighty-six percent of Utah's manufacturers are small businesses and have less than 50 employees.
The average number of employees per manufacturing firm in Salt Lake County is 33. In 2006, Utah's number of manufacturing employees increased to 27,000.
Utah Department of Workforce Services
Utah's median age is the youngest in the nation at 28.5 years. The national median age is 36.4.
2008 Economic Report to the Governor.
Utah ranks No. 3 in the U.S. for life span with an average of 78.7 years.
Harvard School of Public Health, 9/2006
Seventy-one Utah companies made the Inc. 5,000 list - newly expanded from the Magazine's Inc. 500. The Inc. 5,000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2003 through 2006.
Thirty-three of these companies are located in Salt Lake County.
Utah ranked 4th in the top ten list of digitally advanced state governments, according to the Center for Digital Government. The study examines best practices, policies and progress made by state governments in their use of digital technologies to better serve their citizens and streamline their operations.
Center for Digital Government, 2006 Digital States Survey
Intermountain Health Care has been ranked 45th nationally on the 2007 Information Week 500. Information Week has honored the nation's most innovative users of information technology for the past 18 years. Intermountain Health Care was the second highest ranked health care organization in the nation, behind only St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis. The new Regional IHC Medical Center opened its doors in November 2007.
The Red Rock Brewing Company, Salt Lake, was awarded the GOLD Medal at the North American Brewer's Association's 2008 North American Beer Awards for their Bamberg Rauch Bier, beer. Their German Pilsner took home a silver medal and their Bohemian Pilsner claimed a bronze medal. Red Rock Brewing also recently claimed a silver medal in the Brewers Association World Beer Cup 2008, a global beer competition. Red Rock was awarded the silver medal in the American Brown Ale beer style category for its Nut Brown Ale. Red Rock also swept last year's Great American Beer Festival in Denver, taking home five medals and being awarded Large Brew pub and Large Brew pub Brewer of the Year.
Source: The Enterprise, June 16, 2008 and May 5-11, 2008 edition
Six Utah companies were listed on the 2007 Technology Fast 500, a list of the fastest growing companies in North America as ranked by Deloitte. The companies are ranked on percentage fiscal year revenue growth over five years (2002-2006). NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (76) and Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. (405) are the two companies located in Salt Lake County on this year's list.
Doba topped the MountainWest Capital Networks' 2007 list of the fastest growing companies in Utah. The Orem-based technology company was also listed on the Inc. 5,000 2007 list.
The Huntsman Corporation ranked No. 1 in the top 15 revenue growth companies in Utah, according to the MountainWest Capital Networks' 2007 list.
According to the American Community Survey (ACS), the seven largest cities in Utah in 2005 were: Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Provo, West Jordan, Orem, Sandy, and Ogden.
Utah's population reached 2.6 million in 2006, according to the Utah Population Estimates Committee. This is a 2.7 percent increase from 2005. Utah continues to have the fastest birthrate in the nation, making it an ideal spot to locate a business. Utah will continue to have young, educated workers for decades to come.
Utah's Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort became the continent's first resort to incorporate a tunnel into its system for transporting skiers and snowboarders. The 600-foot tunnel opened on December 12, 2006. The tunnel connects the Peruvian Gulch on Snowbird's Little Cottonwood Canyon side to the Mineral Basin on its American Fork Canyon backside.
Self Magazine ranked the Salt Lake-Ogden area 37th of 100 metropolitan area as a healthy place to live. The area ranked #3 as the least smokey and fewest sunburns category.
Salt Lake County officially started on January 31, 1850, with just over 11,000 residents.
The first speeding law in Salt Lake came in 1848 and stated that no speed would exceed a "slow trot."
Unaccompanied Minors, Warner Brother's Pictures, was filmed entirely in Utah. In the film, a group of minors are snowed in at Chicago's fictional Hoover International Airport. In reality, the film actually featured The Salt Lake City International Airport, The Salt Palace Convention Center, the Salt Lake City Library, The Delta Center and other locations in Salt Lake County.
Three films made in Utah were featured in the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The three included a short documentary film called Mother Superior; and two full length films, Dark Matter and It is Fine. Everything is fine!
Utah ranks third in the country in the percentage of people online and the total number of domain names registered per company.
The 2007 State New Economy Index, The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, February 2007
The Utah State Legislature recently passed new tax reform legislation. According to the Utah Taxpayers Association, a Utah family of 4 making $60,000 will save just over $300 on their tax bills beginning 2008. The tax cuts came in sales tax on food and personal income tax.
Utah's residential electric power prices rank among the 10 lowest in the nation, according to a new report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2006, the average retail price of electricity in Utah as 7.61 cents per kilowatt-hour. The U.S. average in 2006 was 10.4 cents per kilowatt hour.
Deseret News 3/20/2007
The Pollina Corporation ranked Utah ninth in the category of pro-business for 2007-8.
The Pollina Corporate Top Ten Pro-Business States 2008: Keeping Jobs in America
Salt Lake Chamber launched a new plan for the revitalization of downtown Salt Lake City, called Downtown Rising. The 40-year plan for the downtown includes transportation, commerce, the arts, open space and education. For more details on the plan, visit:
http://www.downtownrising.com/vision/ .
Salt Lake County has been designated the nation's first "Community of Peace." The designation, recognized at a ceremony on March 10, 2007, sets the county apart as a leading model of safety, nonviolence and prosperity.
Deseret News, March 11, 2007
Small businesses make up 96.7 percent of all Utah employers.
Jim Henderson, Regional Advocate, U.S. Small Business Administration
Utah small businesses employ 49.9% of the non-farm private sector workers.
Jim Henderson, Regional Advocate, U.S. Small Business Administration
Home-based businesses account for 53 percent of all small businesses.
Jim Henderson, Regional Advocate, U.S. Small Business Administration
Cottonwood Heights City has made the CNN Money Magazine ranking for the "100 Best Places to Live" list. Cottonwood Heights, just two years old, is the only Utah city to make the list.
CNN Money Magazine, August 2007
Distinquished University of Utah Professor, Mario Capecchi has won the Nobel Prize for his work in molecular genetics. October 2007
Utah's Ed Smart, father of kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart, has been honored in November People's Magazine as a one of their "Heroes Among Us." Since his daughter's kidnap in 2002 and safe return in 2003, Ed Smart has become a leader in pressing for stricter laws against people who commit crimes against children.
Forbes Magazine has named Salt Lake City #1 in the nation for jobs. In its annual Best Cities for Jobs list, Salt Lake City topped the list for 2007. Forbes uses five data points to compile the rankings including: unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living. Salt Lake City was compared to 100 metropolitan areas in the country.
Utah was one of only two U.S. states to receive an A grade for governance in a major 2007 World magazine study.
According to the American Legislative Exchange Council, Utah ranks #1 in economic outlook. The report states: "The historical evidence is clear: States that keep spending and taxes low exhibit the best economic results."
State Economic Competitiveness Index, American Legislative Exchange Council, December 2007
Utah ranks #1 in economic competitiveness according to the Beacon Hill Institute. The Institute looks at data such as crime rates, a state's ability to foster business and it's infrastructure to determine a state's competitiveness.
Beacon Hill Institute, December 20, 2007
The Hershey Company plans to build a distribution hub in Ogden, Utah. The company will break ground in March 2008 for the $38 million project. It will eventually hire 123 workers in Utah.
According to the Salt Lake Convention & Visitor's Bureau, tourists and convention visitors spent over $1 billion in rooms, food & services during their stay in Utah. These figures are for the year ending 2007.
Source: Salt Lake Convention & Visitor's Bureau
Utah is the best-managed state in the country, based on a report card of state governnements. Utah received an overall A- for how the state government manages informatoin, people, money and infrastructure.
Source: The Pew Center on States Government Performance Project for 2008.
Kennecott Utah Copper, a Rio Tinto Business, has donated $15 million to the University of Utah Natural History Museum. When the new "Rio Tinto Center" opens in 2011, it will be adorned with 42,000 feet of copper on the building's exterior. To see renderings of the building:
www.umnh.utah.edu .
Delta Airlines now has a non-stop flight from Salt Lake City to Paris, France. The inaugural flight took place on June 2, 2008.
Salt Lake County residents were ranked in the top 25 of households adopting new technology quickly. This survey was based on the 3,141 counties survey by USA Today and Claritas, 2005.
According to a study by the Milken Institute, the cost of doing business in Utah is going down compared to other states. In 2005 there were only 13 states with a lower cost of doing business than Utah. The annual index compares wage costs, tax burden, electricity costs, industrial rent costs and office rent costs.
Milken Institute, 2005
Salt Lake City's business climate ranked 13th among large cities by Inc. Magazine - 2005
Utah ranks #1 in the U.S. in volunteerism. According to data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, 48 percent of Utah residents gave their time to volunteer projects, compared to a 28.8 percent rate nationally.
(Data for the 2002-05 time frame.)
Utah college students volunteer at the rate of 62.9 percent. This rate is over 20 percent higher than the second highest state.
Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau for 2002-05.