Utah Business and Economic Development

State officials are trying to make sure that the high-paying jobs created by companies receiving economic development incentives are, indeed, high-paying.

The state has awarded $67 million in tax rebates over the past 1 1/2 years to entice 28 companies to relocate to Utah, creating 8,000 new jobs, officials in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development reported Friday.

The summit is expected to draw as many as 1,500 business people from across the state. The agenda of the daylong meeting includes sessions on business innovation, law, entrepreneurship, economic development, transportation, energy, real estate and other topics.

"We’re developing ‘industry clusters’ where we can compete with anyone in the world, and the outdoor industry is one of those areas," said Jason Perry, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

Utah has received a second financial boost for a program designed to pump new talent into the state’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing industries.

"The question is not can we and have we done a good job of recruiting businesses to Utah — because we certainly have — but have we done too much? Is the engine heating up too fast?"

Utah is offering nearly $4.9 million in incentives to help lure four companies into expanding operations in the state and creating as many as 1,033 new jobs.

Like movie budgets that grow during filming, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development wants to see an increase in the state’s Motion Picture Incentive Fund.

"I’m glad he has that kind of passion," he said. "If every company got that passionate and tried to promote the state like that, who knows what we could do. I certainly would like to see a day where we could partner with people in and out of the state."

To keep ski-rival Colorado from snatching away that sponsorship, the Utah Board of Tourism Development agreed Thursday to spend $350,000 to hold onto that marketing plum – and pledged to extend the sponsorship agreement to a third year, provided the Utah Legislature appropriates money next session for that purpose.