World Trade Center Utah is looking for a new leader.
Miles Hansen, president and CEO since mid-2018, has accepted an offer to join the Stirling Foundation, a Utah-based global humanitarian organization, as president and board director.
The WTC Utah board of directors has organized a search committee that is accepting applications through May 19 for WTC Utah’s next president and CEO. Hansen will lead the organization until a successor is named and will continue to serve on the board thereafter.
“Everything we do at WTC Utah is by, with, and through our many partners,” Hansen said. “This includes our board, businesses across the state, state leaders, and the many organizations we work shoulder-to-shoulder with to make Utah’s economy more prosperous and resilient. Being a part of this team has been the honor of a lifetime, and I know the organization’s best days are in front of it.”
Hansen has been WTC Utah’s third leader. Lew Cramer was its founding president and CEO, serving from 2006 through 2013. He was succeeded by Derek B. Miller, now the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance.
“When we recruited Miles to lead WTC Utah, we had high hopes, given his deep international expertise and success at the highest levels of foreign policy and international business,” said Jon Huntsman, WTC Utah board chair. “Over the past five years, Miles has exceeded our greatest expectations, building on the success of his predecessors to make WTC Utah a global leader in facilitating international business.
“He built a phenomenal team, cultivated a collaborative culture, and strengthened a broad network of partners across the state and around the world who are committed to working tirelessly to fulfill our vision of making Utah the ‘Crossroads of the World.’”
A private, nonprofit organization, WTC Utah promotes international trade and has partnered closely with the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity to support the state’s international engagement — from facilitating the state’s trade missions and shows to hosting visiting diplomats — as well as the Utah Legislature to support the state’s trade promotion efforts. It became a member of the World Trade Center Association as one of the few centers designated to a state rather than a city.
“The commitment made on Day One remains as strong today as it did then,” Huntsman said. “From its humble origins and thanks to its impactful CEOs, WTC Utah is now a globally relevant organization with incredible momentum and impact. I am proud of where the organization is today, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
In 2022, WTC Utah delivered more than 1,300 services to nearly 400 companies, resulting in $152 million in new international business opportunities for the companies, the organization said. It also facilitated 147 matches between companies and global investment funds; took 86 companies on 15 international business trips; hosted 72 international business and diplomatic delegations from around the world; organized 94 events with more than 7,500 attendees; and awarded 156 trade promotion grants to small Utah businesses.
Hansen serves as chair of the Utah Inland Port Authority’s board of directors and as one of two business leaders appointed as a commissioner on the state of Utah’s Unified Economic Opportunity Commission, as well as serving on other public and private boards.
Before becoming WTC Utah’s president and CEO, Hansen was the director for Gulf affairs at the National Security Council in the White House. Prior to that, he served as a staff aide to the State Department’s assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs. As a diplomat, Hansen was the energy and economic officer at U.S. Consulate General Dhahran in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, where he served as a liaison with Saudi Aramco and advised U.S. government and private-sector leaders on the Saudi energy industry and economic reform agenda. He also served tours focused on Iran at U.S. Embassy Yerevan, Armenia, and the Iran Regional Presence Office at U.S. Consulate General Dubai.
Before joining the State Department as a Thomas R. Pickering Fellow, Hansen started his career in Utah as a special assistant in the office of the lieutenant governor. Hansen is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Brigham Young University.