The Utah Technology Council now has two industry sectors singing with one voice — and plenty of new background singers.

Leaders of the council, formed last month through the merger of the Utah Information Technology Association and the Utah Life Science Association, on Wednesday released statistics showing growth in council membership, as well as the number of technology companies and the number of tech workers in Utah.

Using data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Utah Department of Workforce Services, the council found that Utah has 3,786 tech companies — about 3,200 in the information technology sector and about 500 in life sciences. That's up from 3,528 a year ago, representing growth of 7.3 percent.

The state has nearly 60,000 technology and life sciences jobs, and the average technology salary is 66 percent higher than the statewide average annual wage for nonagricultural jobs. The IT and life science industries also generate $3.1 billion in annual Utah wages.

"That's the impressive piece," said Richard Nelson, UTC president and chief executive officer.

Among 37 job types, notable growth was seen in custom computer programming services, which had 781 companies in September 2004 but grew to 852 a year later. The number of software publishers climbed 15.6 percent to 200 during that time. And while the number of companies involved in research and development in physical, engineering and life sciences grew only 1.2 percent, it still accounted for 249 Utah companies last September.

"We have a spectacular technology economy, and we understand what we've got here," Nelson said. "The numbers show that there is real growth and it should continue."

What's more, federal government data indicated Utah's 8.54 percent growth in the number of tech industry establishments from 2003 to 2004 was tops among six Western states. Colorado was at 0.58 percent, while the other states' totals actually shrunk. Nationwide, the number was down more than 1 percent. As for tech employment, Utah's 2.69 percent growth also led the pack, far exceeding the nationwide pace, which actually fell 1.57 percent.

On a per capita basis, Utah trailed only Colorado in the tech establishments and tech employment categories among those states.

"The thing that we can't do is rest on our laurels," said Will West, UTC chairman and president and CEO of Control4. "The states around us — Colorado included but also New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada — they're all spending money to attract business and foster the same kind of growth that we're trying to do. We have to be aggressive," West said.

The state must continue to build a strong capital investment environment and improve infrastructure — in the form of attorneys and other professionals — who serve technology companies, he said.