UTAH

"You want to focus your communications to the West, particularly California and Nevada, and don’t forget the residents and day-trip markets," McWilliams told the group. "Focus on gaining back share of travel from (Los Angeles), Vegas, Denver and Idaho Falls."

"Technology infrastructure is one thing where if you build it they will come," McMahon said. "Just ask the people in Bangalore, India, which is now the largest software development center in the world. They put in all of that infrastructure before they had any of those jobs."

"And it’s more important to us now than it was then, and it should have been going up all along," he said.

"This is a big, big expansion in the state. . . . We’re talking over a thousand jobs here, so this is a big deal. They’re all good jobs,"

Only a few other states can claim higher job-growth numbers so far this year, leaving employers in several industries facing shortages of qualified workers.

"Less Weird Than You’ve Heard."

"I’m thinking, ‘Not only are these guys friendly, but they know how to sell. This is a good first impression,’ " Overstreet recalled.

"Utah aspires to develop a branding platform that captures the Utah experience and essence, including the sound, feel and color of the state. Who knows this better than our own tourism partners?"

The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development Board on Friday voted to boost the incentive to lure the operations to Utah — a surprising move to at least one board member.

Attracting new business to rural Utah really does depend on the ability to provide the right kind of infrastructure