The agency has 256 total projects in its pipeline, including 123 considered to be "active." And despite the economic downturn, that latter figure has remained fairly steady since October, ranging from 107 in November to the current 123.

"If you look at the last two quarters, (it's) a pretty unbelievable trend," Edwards said. "You think about everything that's going on nationally and see the number of projects actually increasing. And these are not just the tire-kickers. These are the real, legit people who are really knocking on the doors.

"When I talk to people in other states and we tell them about this sort of a trend, they don't really want to believe us. I think Utah is in a very unique situation in this regard."

The 123 active projects include 59 involving manufacturing, 18 focused on information and information technologies and 13 involving distribution. Combined, they represent 28,087 jobs, Edwards said. Seventy of the 123 are in the state's economic "cluster" industries and represent 19,255 jobs.

The GOED board on Thursday also approved a motion picture incentive of up to $215,271 for Area 51 Productions for the independent feature film "Area 51." The company is expected to spend more than $1.4 million while shooting in Utah.

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com