Valley official says new jobs are on the way

PROVO — New jobs are on the way in Utah County and around the state.

That's what Russ Fotheringham, director of the Utah Valley Economic Development Association, told the Women's Legislative Council of Utah County this week.

"We're going to see a number of new jobs announced before too long," Fotheringham said. He draws that conclusion from the number of requests for information about local sites from out-of-state businesses that are examining the possibility of relocating.

"Those requests are my way of telling whether the economy is going up or down."

Fotheringham was hired in October 2002. At that time, there were very few companies looking at setting up shop here, he said.

"Last January, we had zero requests. We had no requests from anyone," he said. "Today, a year later, we have 14 requests for information. All of a sudden, they started to trickle in. Now, there's a full stream of requests for information coming in. Tuesday of this week, I received three."

"(Companies) look for a site, then they'll choose a site, they'll get everything lined up, then they start building and we have a new business somewhere in the valley. That's the general economic overview. Things are heating up greatly."