State needs to promote self better

Utah, already armed with financial and other incentives to lure businesses, needs to do a better job at letting people know about those attributes, according to a couple of site selectors who are part of a group that helps companies figure out the best place to put operations.

George Tobjy, senior manager for strategic relocation and expansion services for KPMG LLP, and Terry L. Hansen, manager of public partnerships for IBM, told the Governor's Office of Economic Development Board on Friday that Utah needs to "refine its message" as it promotes itself and its incentives packages.

"You have to make sure that Utah is perceived as something special," Tobjy said.

Companies considering locations put an emphasis on labor availability and costs; overall costs, including operating costs and taxes; financial incentives; the business regulatory environment; and quality-of-life attributes, he said, adding that Utah fares well in all of those categories.

"A lot of states will create an incentive — and you have good incentives — but a lot of states get a lot of buzz because of how well they promote their incentives, so the site-selection community gravitates projects to those states," Tobjy said. "States that might not have these qualities get a lot of attention because they're doing a good promotion job, sometimes around incentives."

Among nations that do well in recruiting companies are Singapore, Ireland and Switzerland, he said. States doing well are Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida. He said, Utah is "right there" with Colorado and stronger than other Rocky Mountain states.

"Creating an image" of a state is important, he said. "You can't keep all the information about 50 states and regions in mind. You have to have something that really sticks up about a state or region — advances in technology, what's the new innovation or the new company that went to that state and why they went to that state."

Utah has a strong image as a state with skilled, educated workers and strengths in several key technology sectors, he said. But sometimes companies want to locate where other companies are going.

Hansen suggested Utah consider a "more effective training grant program."

But both men dismissed the idea of financial incentives being the main factor in corporate location decisions.

"We don't drive companies to locations for incentives," Tobjy said. "Those are the companies that shouldn't be going to that state, and those are companies you don't want to deal with."

"An incentive cannot make a bad deal good," Hansen said. "It can only make a good deal better. Incentives really never drive the business."

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com

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