Summit makes case for Utah's 'Startup Capital' superlatives

Brice Wallace 

The backdrop of the ballroom stage at the One Utah Summit in Salt Lake City featured what appeared to be a large umbrella sporting the words “The Startup Capital of the World.” It was appropriate, because references to “The Startup State” and “The Startup Capital” were sprinkled throughout the event’s presentations.

Speakers at the twice-a-year summit spent time throughout the day trying to diagnose why Utah is worthy of the “startup” superlatives and determining how to enhance them.

“The economic success, the prosperity of a place, is determined by its small businesses and specifically — specifically — the ability to start new businesses,” said Gov. Spencer Cox. “That is the lifeblood of any economy and its prosperity.”

Utah already is home to 324,821 small businesses that employ 625,571 people. Small businesses account for 45.5 percent of all Utah employees, and 99.3 percent of Utah businesses are startups or small businesses.

Cox listed several accolades that Utah has received for having a strong economy, economic outlook and environment for starting a business.

“As much as I would love to take credit for it — and I’m running for re-election so I probably will try,” he joked, “I know it’s not me and it’s not our Legislature. It’s not government that is making it happen. It’s you. It’s the people in this room.”

While government can “absolutely destroy” a culture needed to become the Startup Capital of the World, Utah instead has benefited from people who care and support others during difficult times, he said. Other places “don’t know how to capture that,” he added.

Utah leads the nation in volunteerism and charitable giving. “It bleeds over into everything else. … You don’t quit your job and start a business if there’s no safety net around you. And, yes, the government safety net is part of it, but it’s so much more than that. I think the reason that so many entrepreneurs are willing to take chances and start businesses here, is because they have the support of the people around them.”

People get that support from neighbors, communities, churches and volunteer organizations, he said. “They know that if something goes wrong, there will be a whole bunch of people there to help them pick up the pieces,” Cox said.

In other places, people will tear down those who attain success. It’s common in a nation that Cox said is “addicted to destruction.” In contrast, in Utah “we’re so happy for them” when they reach success and are ready to help them if they fail, he said.

Utahns have developed a culture without backstabbing or climbing over others to reach success. “We can all win,” he said. “And we can lose it. We could become just like every other state, if we aren’t intentional about lifting and building and taking care of our neighbors, caring about the people in our community.”

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson noted that Utah is the nation’s happiest state and is instilled with a spirit of volunteerism. “I think that those two things go hand-in-hand, and they also dovetail in our economy and our business ecosystem, and our success as a state,” she said.

Brad Bonham, Utah’s first-ever entrepreneur-in-residence, noted that Utah “is blessed with deep innovative roots.”

“We have an inordinate number of pioneering founders who have revolutionized processes, products, technology and services,” he said. “They have disrupted entire industries.”

Bonham co-founded and served as CEO of Walker Edison. He described entrepreneurship as “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,” full of troubles along the way. “There is not much glamor in the journey,” he said. “Finding success in an ocean of uncertainty is not for the faint of heart, but it is worth it.”

Among other things, company founders need to have perseverance, passion and an unwavering vision to launch and scale a startup, he said.

“Those attributes sound like what we pride ourselves on here in Utah, right? And this makes Utah the place for entrepreneurs,” Bonham said. “Both locals and transplants alike are really tough, we have grit and perseverance, we don’t accept defeat and we sure don’t know when to stop. It’s almost as if we’re destined to be entrepreneurs here in Utah.”

Bonham challenged all Utahns to become innovators and entrepreneurs. As a way to “make the startup road a little easier,” the state has launched a website, startup.utah.gov, that consolidates resources to aid founders in establishing and growing their business ventures.

“Government can’t, nor should it, create entrepreneurs, but we can get out of their way and reduce roadblocks to launching and running a startup,” he said.

The information at the website would have been helpful when he was starting Walker Edison, he said. “I probably could have shaved a year or two off and saved a few million dollars, had I known this,” Bonham said.

Several speakers discussed the challenges that Utah faces from being an economic powerhouse state. Scott Cuthbertson, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, described a “tension” that exists between economic growth and maintaining a high quality of life.

Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, listed other challenges, including housing affordability, workforce shortages and transportation congestion. “But make no mistake,” he told the crowd, “even though those challenges are real, we would never trade the challenges that come with growth for the challenges that come with decline.”

The summit was presented by the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, the Utah Office of Energy Development, World Trade Center Utah and the Salt Lake Chamber. The autumn version of the One Utah Summit takes place in Southern Utah.