UEOC looks to experts to help bolster 'targeted' industries
Brice Wallace
Business Journal
A state commission is turning to experts — primarily industry associations — as it looks to fortify industries that state government believes are vital to the economy.
At the most recent meeting of the Utah Unified Economic Opportunity Commission, the commission learned about groups that will help it develop strategic plans for the state’s “targeted” industries.
“Our hope and our goal is to continue to foster the development of the ecosystems of each of these industries but to really do a deeper dive with this [commission],” said Ryan Starks, commission co-chairman and executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity.
The targeted industries and the groups that will help formulate strategic plans are:
- Aerospace and defense: 47G, formerly known as the Utah Aerospace and Defense Association.
- Software and information technology: Silicon Slopes.
- Life sciences and healthcare innovation: BioUtah.
- Financial services: the Utah Bankers Association. This includes a subset of financial technology (fintech): the Governor’s FinTech Advisory Council.
- Advanced manufacturing: Utah MEP (Manufacturing Extension Partnership).
While the groups will develop the plans, the commission ultimately will make decisions about them. The commission will meet in July, September, October and November as it develops possible legislation to be considered at the 2025 general session or funding items for possible inclusion in the governor’s budget.
As spelled out by Abby Hunsaker, the commission’s program manager, the strategic plans will include specific and measurable “stretch” goals, which could include growth in GDP, exports, job creation and more, and talent and workforce improvements; and action items for each goal. Initiatives could include changes to laws or administrative rules; new partnerships, marketing campaigns, talent support and more; and funding items.
The state reassesses industry plans every five years, and that will continue to be in place.
“We want to create a lot of flexibility,” Hunsaker said. “In initial conversations, I’ve learned very quickly each industry is looking at different items already. They’ve already got their heads spinning as to what we want to do, and we don’t want to get in the way of that. We want to just provide a little bit of structure.”
Starks said that in all five targeted industries, “Utah is punching above its weight,” with each paying higher-than-average wages, offering durable jobs, and spinning off economic benefits into other industries. The formulation of strategic plans, he said, addresses “how do we help each of these industries thrive?”
Starks highlighted some of each industry’s economic impacts. For aerospace and defense, nationwide salaries are 55 percent higher than those of other industries. Utah has operations of seven of the largest defense contractors in the world and has more than 1,000 aerospace and defense companies. Hill Air Force Base and related industries have a $9 billion economic impact.
Utah’s software and IT companies had a nearly $30 billion economic impact in 2018. Their median wages were 110 percent higher than Utah’s median, and those tech workers represented 7.2 percent of Utah’s overall workforce in 2022.
Life sciences in Utah has the third-largest job growth in the nation, with 5.1 percent growth per year on average each of the past 10 years. Wages in that industry are 48 percent higher than in other industries in the state, and life sciences companies directly contribute $8 billion to GDP, he said.
Financial services jobs totaled 100,000 in Utah in 2023. The industry accounts for 8.4 percent of GDP, and Utah-headquartered banks have over $1 trillion in assets. Financial technology has seen growth of 18 percent in Utah during the past five years.
Manufacturing overall accounts for more than 150,000 jobs in the state, paying a total of $10 billion in wages annually. The pay is 38.6 percent higher than the state average, and the industry is the state’s third-largest source of GDP.
“So,” Starks said, “we know that each of these sectors is very robust, that they’re ‘sticky,’ that they provide jobs that are sustainable to the next generation.”