Saying Goodbye to a Friend

Last month, we said ‘goodbye’ to a friend and colleague, John Mathews. He made the decision that many of us still plan and dream about; retirement.

John has worked for the State of Utah for 40 years, and with great trepidation decided to leave behind his job as regional economist of the Northern region - driving 34 miles to and from work, eating out and eating at his desk, presentations, meetings, projections, publications, analysis, and friends and colleagues.

We’ll miss his ability to calm down meetings, bring a different perspective to the conversation, and explain economics to those of us who are newer to the game. His physical presence may no longer be here, but John has left his mark.

So, we won’t really say goodbye, but ‘see you later’.

Please click here to read his farewell.

Workforce Services creating incentives for existing businesses

Kristen Floyd, director of the Utah Department of Workforce Service's Bear River Service area, said the department's new BEAR project, (Business Expansion and Retention) hopes to reverse the philosophy that says you don't get things if you are an existing customer...

Kristen says, "This program is really set up for us to go out and pay attention to our existing companies that we have here and find out what do they need, or what do they not need, how can we stay out of their way or how can we engage. Just really where are they in expanding or retaining their businesses?"

Floyd said there is a BEAR Community Council with all kinds of community partners, such as the Bear River Association of Governments, Economic Development and the Chamber of Commerce who meet together and decide what are the best ways to help local businesses. Cache Valley Daily

Funding may help draw, keep businesses

BRIGHAM CITY — With layoffs still heavily outweighing job openings, Box Elder County has been designated as an “area of economic distress” by the federal Economic Development Administration.
As the only such county within an eightstate region, Brigham City Economic Development director Paul Larsen said, Box Elder now has federal funds available to develop a strategic plan to help attract new businesses and retain existing businesses. Larsen made the announcement Friday at an economic summit convened to assess the county’s economic situation and discuss ways to improve it.
Larsen said the EDA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, officially placed this designation on the county after La-Z-Boy laid off more than 600 employees in 2009 and took those jobs to Mexico.
Additional layoffs at ATK and other businesses in the county this year have reinforced the hard times.
Brigham City, Tremonton, Box Elder County and the Bear River Association of Governments will work together to develop several projects throughout the next year. Additional funds will be available from the EDA to put them in place.
At Friday’s summit, Tom Lee, dean of the Utah State University Brigham City Regional Campus and Education Center, announced the addition of a business resource center to the Brigham City campus.
The center will be in what is presently the USU Extension office and will offer assistance to people to turn their business ideas into reality.

Pipeline injunction could cost Box Elder

In a move a county commissioner says could cost Box Elder millions of dollars, an Oregon environmental group filed a motion Thursday for an injunction to stop construction on the Ruby Pipeline, saying it is too destructive to endangered fish. An injunction could cost Box Elder County millions of dollars in tax revenues, said Commissioner Jay Hardy. The pipeline will bring in more than $6 million annually in centrally assessed property tax. If the project is delayed for a year or more, the county, school district and other taxing entities will miss out on a significant chunk of money.
Standard-Examiner, August 19, 2010

Officials to discuss future planning for Bear Lake

On September 7, elected officials from Bear Lake County and Rich County are coming together in a historic visioning workshop as part of the Bear Lake Valley Blueprint process. This is the third of nine scheduled workshops as part of the first round of public involvement. The Blueprint is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to explore growth-related issues and to think together about what residents want the region to be like in the future. Challenges associated with this task include thinking about growth locations and patterns, jobs and the economy, agriculture, transportation, water quality, housing, critical lands and recreation. It is anticipated that all nine municipalities in the two counties will have representatives. Invitations have been sent to all mayors, council members, planning commissioners and other municipal staff.
Standard-Examiner, August 20, 2010

Funding may help draw, keep businesses/Box Elder named an area of economic distress

With layoffs still heavily outweighing job openings, Box Elder County has been designated as an "area of economic distress" by the federal Economic Development Administration. As the only such county within an eight-state region, Brigham City Economic Development director Paul Larsen said, Box Elder now has federal funds available to develop a strategic plan to help attract new businesses and retain existing businesses. Brigham City, Tremonton, Box Elder County, and the Bear River Association of Governments will work together to develop several projects throughout the next year. Additional funds will be available from the EDA to put them in place. At an economic summit on Friday, Tom Lee, dean of the Utah State University Brigham City Regional Campus and Education Center, announced the addition of a business resource center to the Brigham City campus. The director of the center will be a small-business expert with support from retired business executives, the Governor's Office of Economic Development, and faculty and students from the Huntsman School of Business at USU.
Standard-Examiner, August 20, 2010

Stimulus at work: Wescor Inc. credits federal funds as key to success

Thanks to a recent $3.7 million loan backed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Wescor was able to purchase and remodel a 50,000 square-foot warehouse in southwest Logan, dramatically expanding from their previous 15,000 square-foot space on Main Street. The coming year will bring a new line of chemistry analyzer equipment and about 20 more job openings, many for highly paid professionals like engineers and marketing specialists. Wescor's success led USDA officials to name the business Utah's "ARRA Project of the Year" during a Tuesday luncheon at the Logan warehouse. The Herald Journal

Utah career college to hire 300 to meet demand

Stevens-Henager College is looking to add 300 jobs this year, positions it says are needed to service an influx of students using recession-driven downtime to increase their educations.

The private career college, founded in Salt Lake City in 1891 and now part of a group called CollegeAmerica Services Inc., is advertising for a variety of positions, from admissions representatives to instructors and managers.

Salary levels will range from $30,000 per year for some entry-level positions to a base salary of $175,000 for an upper-level manager, said Eric Juhlin, CEO of CollegeAmerica Services. The Salt Lake Tribune

Hotels see boost in May

Utah hotels saw a nice little bump in business last month, especially compared with May 2009. Typically a slow travel period, May of last year was even worse than usual, with hotel occupancies across Utah dropping to less than 55 percent each night.

But this May, hotels statewide were 59 percent full on a nightly basis. The average daily room rate did not increase commensurately, but pretty much held steady.

Although occupancy was up 4 percent, the statewide room rate could not keep pace. Still, it rose about $1.50, to $86.70 nightly last month, according to figures from the Denver-based Rocky Mountain Lodging Report. The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah Hotel Occupancy

Hotels statewide generally filled more rooms last month than in May 2009 (in parenthesis):

Salt Lake County » 66.3 percent (59.4)
Ogden » 68.5 (67.2)
Davis County » 68.3 (68.0)
St. George » 59.0 (54.4)
Utah County » 58.9 (55.0)
Logan » 52.3 (37.4)
Cedar City » 46.5 (51.9)
Mountain resorts » 24.9 (25.7)
Rest of Utah » 71.4 (68.3)
Total » 59 (54.9)

Source » Rocky Mountain Lodging Report

Approval of pipeline across N. Utah delayed

Construction of a $3 billion gas pipeline from Wyoming through northern Utah and Nevada to Oregon has been pushed back amid work to protect cultural sites and endangered species.
Houston-based El Paso Corp. initially hoped to begin work on the 42-inch Ruby Pipeline this spring. The federal Bureau of Land Management said it hopes to approve the project in early July, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission works out agreements with each state along the route to protect historic and cultural sites.

The pipeline will run 675 miles from Opal in western Wyoming to Malin, Ore., crossing parts of Rich, Box Elder and Cache counties as well as Nevada.

FERC has drafted agreements with the state historic preservation offices in Utah and Wyoming and should have agreements for the other two states soon, said Mark Mackiewicz, manager of the project for the BLM in Utah.

Some environmental groups oppose the pipeline. The route crosses too many undeveloped lands when the pipeline could be built along highways and other developed corridors, said Katie Fite, with Hailey, Idaho-based Western Wastern Watersheds Project. The Salt Lake Tribune

ATK lays off 247 more workers

ATK Space Systems has completed a fourth round of layoffs related to the phase-out of the space shuttle program.

The Clearfield-based company says last week's 247 layoffs also were due to the end of a Minuteman ballistic missile program.

Since April, ATK has laid off about 1,500 engineers, technicians, factory workers and others in Utah, leaving about 3,000 workers.

The company gave the workers a week's pay for every year of service, up to a maximum of 26 weeks of pay. The federal government is subsidizing the cost of their health insurance for 15 months. The Deseret News

Allstate looking to open 30 offices in Utah

With roots reaching back to the Great Depression, Allstate insurance company believes tough times like now are ripe for expansion, so it is looking to open 30 offices in Utah.

Allstate, which already has more than 14,000 exclusive agents and financial representatives in the United States and Canada, is recruiting "self-motivated entrepreneurs" to become agents in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Logan and Provo.

The company does not charge a franchise fee, its website noted, and gives selected agents the independence to run their own offices. Agents get commissions on their sales as well as several benefits affiliated with Allstate's stature as a Fortune 500 firm with $133 billion in total assets and 13 major lines of insurance.

Those benefits include access to an education curriculum with information about insurance product and sales skills, help with marketing, website development and signage, technical and customer service support from headquarters and bonuses and performance incentives. The Salt Lake Tribune

Cache County in Good Health

Cache County has been ranked the second highest in the state for overall good health, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The County Health Rankings report — compiled by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — gives Utahns the ability to see how the various counties in the state compare healthwise.
Morgan County was ranked the healthiest overall in the state, but Cache claimed the top spot in the “mortality” category.
“We know that Utah is always near the top when it comes to quality of life and longevity of life,” said Lloyd Berentzen, health officer for the Bear River Health Department . “Now we know that Cache County ranks No. 1 in mortality data for longevity of life or life expectancy when compared to all other counties in the state of Utah.”
The rankings were based on several factors, including quality of health care, individual behavior, education and environmental factors. The report also makes use of the Centers for Disease Control’s morbidity and mortality data, as well as individual vital records from counties.