As some people suspected would happen, the Economic Development Corp. of Utah was the only company to bid on the state's national corporate and industrial recruitment contract.

And that has at least one member of the Utah Board of Business and Economic Development upset.

Recruitment of new businesses has traditionally been handled in-house by the state's Department of Community and Economic Development, although EDCU has assisted companies considering Utah for operations. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wanted the recruitment duties outsourced, and, following a housecleaning at the department in January, EDCU — a nonprofit partnership of private and public business interests — took over the job for free in the interim.

Martin Frey, the department's co-director, said during a board meeting Friday that requests for proposals were sent to six in-state entities, and board Chairman David Simmons said EDCU was the lone bidder for the contract.

The board took no action Friday, because the EDCU bid is being reviewed, but member Joel Bradford said he wondered if no other companies bid because of the belief that "this was wired in this direction from the very beginning."

"Is there only one entity that's capable of giving a proposal for that?" Bradford asked. "I find it unusual. Normally on something like this, if we were going to go out for a bid, I'd like to see two or three, at least, come in instead of just one."

Board member Richard Nelson said he believed that Chris Roybal, the former leader of EDCU and now Huntsman's senior economic adviser, "has actively stayed out of this process." But Bradford said Roybal and Huntsman "were very much in the process" when several board members were replaced when their terms expired "and everything was moving that direction."

"And personally, if there was a way, I'd like to see another proposal or two come in," he added. Huntsman told the Deseret Morning News editorial board in May that EDCU appeared to be the only company qualified for the new contract and that Roybal would not have a conflict of interest because he no longer had financial ties to EDCU.

Simmons said Friday "it would have been nice to see other proposals," but he added that it is "not all that unique to get one proposal."

He also said he is "overall very comfortable with the process being used." Several companies who received the request for proposals have expertise in certain areas expected to be included in the contract, he said, but they did not form a coalition to place a bid. "I'm not sure what further the state can do at this time."

Nelson said the outsourcing "is long overdue," but he emphasized that the contract should be performance-based and with a termination clause if results don't follow. He applauded Simmons' efforts to keep the process independent and said "there was a thorough outreach to any possible candidate that could ensure we get the best services."