People. Youthful, energetic, enthusiastic, loyal, hard-working, educated people.

They are Utah's greatest attribute when trying to attract companies to the state, according to panelists speaking at the Economic Development Corp. of Utah annual meeting Wednesday.

"The youth here and the energy you feel . . . is what sets us apart," said Mark Miller, chairman and chief executive officer of Allconnect, which has 200 workers at a St. George call center, part of the company's total of 500 employees.

Miller, along with Curtis Brunson, president of Communication Systems-West for L-3 Communications, and Chip Overstreet, chief executive officer of Encover, each hailed the state's residents as a corporate strength.

Each of the companies has moved operations to Utah or expanded in the state recently. Miller said his company wanted an operation in the Mountain time zone, St. George had the infrastructure to handle its needs and the work force was strong.

Overstreet's Silicon Valley company put a 40-person outbound sales center in Sandy because it wanted its expanded operations within 2 1/2 hours of San Jose and San Francisco. The company, with a total of 100 workers, considered several locations based on eight criteria, and Salt Lake and Utah were first or second in seven of the eight categories. He cited work force loyalty, work ethic, wage rates and the cost of living as Utah advantages.

As for the existing labor pool, panelists heaped praise on Utah employees' work ethic. "When you ask them to step up to the plate, they will do just about anything you ask them to do," Brunson said.

Despite those advantages, getting outside talent to work in Utah can be a struggle, panelists said.

"That can be very tough in recruiting, especially outside the state," Brunson said about misperceptions people have about Utah, although he did not specify those misperceptions.

However, if an outsider visits Utah, especially with his or her family, there is an 80 percent chance they will move here, he said. Miller pegged the turnaround figure at 80-plus percent if companies can get the outsiders to "kick the tires" in the community.

"You've got to get them here," said Brunson, whose company has added 880 jobs since 2002 and now has 2,200 workers in the state. "There's this perception that exists that, until you come out and really take a look at it, you don't understand it. There's a lot to Utah that, for some reason, is not really known outside the state.