USTAR has potential to create high-paying jobs

Frank Pignanelli is on vacation for two weeks, leaving LaVarr Webb to write this column alone.

Webb: Big ideas are somewhat rare in politics and government, especially ideas big enough to transform a state economy and keep it vibrant for years to come.

When I worked as policy deputy for former Gov. Mike Leavitt, he espoused the "big gear" theory of making improvements in society and public policy. The idea was that we can spend a lot of time and energy tinkering at the edges, turning "small gears" of incremental progress and improvement.

But every once in a while, an exceptional opportunity comes along when a lot of hard work produces a really big idea, a "big gear." Giving that big gear a sharp twist will cause all the little gears to spin much faster, resulting in a big leap forward.

Utah faces just such an opportunity with the Utah Science, Technology and Research (USTAR) Economic Development Initiative.

The initiative, which is being led by Utah business and economic development leaders, is designed to create a sort of perpetual business spin-off and jobs creation machine that will ultimately add billions of dollars and thousands of high-paying jobs to Utah's economy.

Utah faces a critical choice. We can continue down the path of being a retail and construction-driven economy and see our salaries sink even lower. (Utah average salaries as a percent of the U.S. average were at 96 percent in 1981 and have been declining ever since, to 82 percent in 2004.)

Or, we can work to jump-start a flagging high-tech sector and create companies that pay above-average wages that can support a family. It is an important choice. Utah will continue to grow and create jobs. Our booming population will demand retail, government, construction, service and small manufacturing jobs. But many of these jobs won't adequately support a family.

Meanwhile, opportunities in science and technology are advancing rapidly in an environment of global competition. The high-paying jobs of the future will be in a whole range of advanced technology industries. Out on the horizon are many businesses and even entire industries that will spin out of science and technology research. Not coincidentally, as Utah's wages have lagged, Utah's high-tech employment has lagged as well, from a high of 67,000 jobs in 2000 to only 51,000 in 2004.

So which path will Utah take?