GOEO board debating best use of Industrial Assistance funds
Brice Wallace
Requests for funds from the state’s Industrial Assistance Account have been rolling in the past few months, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity board and staff have been raising issues about whether those are the best use of taxpayer money.
Several requests were discussed at length at both the January and February board meetings, and questions were broached by Brad Bonham, the state’s first entrepreneur-in-residence, who even suggested the account “could turn into a legislative slush fund to support pet projects.”
Some of the vote tallies in February were unusual. The board’s votes on the use the economic development tax credit incentives, for example, typically are unanimous. In February, two IAA votes were not unanimous and one was rejected.
The rejected request was from United We Pledge, a St. George-based nonpartisan, nondenominational nonprofit that is seeking $200,000 to help establish a “Liberty Village” in Hurricane that would become a family destination for live action role-playing, virtual reality and education.
Board member Heather Kahlert said she wanted more details about some of the IAA requests, specifically about United We Pledge.
Among the requests approved in February were:
- AES International, $1 million in additional funding to develop a model for subsurface drip irrigation in agriculture as a way to conserve water. The vote was 7-3.
- Dirty Dough, $750,000 to acquire advanced machinery that would allow it to expand its food offerings and grow its company outside Utah. The vote was 6-4.
- 47G, an aerospace and defense industry association, $750,000 to help establish an Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence for the developing of drones and air taxis. The vote was unanimous.
The board also adjusted the use of IAA funds for C&J Specialties, a snack manufacturer that was approved in October for $150,000 for talent development as part of 190-job expansion project approved for a tax credit incentive as well. The IAA funds now can be used for food manufacturing equipment.
The AES and Dirty Dough requests had been tabled at the board’s January meeting.
“There’s obviously a fair amount of concern around these from the board, right?” Bonham told Ryan Starks, GOEO’s executive director, about the requests. “You mentioned they’ve been on our plate for months and months, and that’s because nobody likes them, nobody wants to support these.”
Bonham also voiced concerns about helping certain companies with their capital expenditure needs.
“I think it’s uncomfortable for us picking winners and losers,” he said. “These are taxpayer dollars, by the way, right? So, I don’t know. I’m a little just, like, hesitant to be stroking checks. I mean, when I was building my business, I would have loved to have had an extra 750,000 bucks for capex, right? It’s just, I don’t know, I’m a little nervous, guys.”
He added that the IAA could “turn into a legislative slush fund to support pet projects.”
“I think that’s what it has been in the past,” Carine Clark, the board’s chair, said, “and I think that Ryan’s been trying to clean up some of the requests from the past but make it a more formal process moving forward.”
The IAA funding requests that were approved in January are:
- Utah Beef Producers, $2 million to purchase machinery to aid in the creation of a food manufacturing hub in rural Utah.
- ENLAW Black Desert PGA Tour, $2 million over multiple years for sponsorship and corporate recruitment opportunities during golf tour events.
- BioUtah, $200,000 to help fund the life science industry association’s annual Utah Life Sciences Summit and annual Entrepreneur & Investor Life Sciences Summit.
Starks said he expects the board to have one to two IAA funding requests per month in the future.