Comeback kids

Utah's technology industry may be on the comeback trail, based on a look at this year's finalists for the annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

And the national — sometimes international — reach of the 25 local finalists is another cause for optimism about the state's economy, according to Jack Brittain, dean of the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah and one of the eight judges for this year's contest.

"This is my fifth year to be a judge, and this is probably the hardest selection process we've ever had," Brittain said.

"There's quite a bit of technology coming back, so there are some great technology companies in the group, with quite a few products, and then some very interesting companies that are service businesses based on technology that is owned by the company. . . . I hope that means that Utah is coming back in a really big way, and we're really roaring back."

A few of the finalists doing the roaring will receive Entrepreneur of the Year awards in various categories during the annual banquet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Salt Palace Convention Center Grand Ballroom. All of the finalists are profiled inside today's Deseret Morning News Money section.

Brittain said that as difficult as it was to choose 25 finalists from the 48 nominations received this year, choosing the actual award recipients was even harder.

"Before I looked at the competing companies this year, I was kind of apprehensive. You say, 'We've gotten all the good ones.' But this turned out to be a great crop of firms," he said. "It was also great to see a lot of biotech coming up. We had some finalists in that category, and they'd been kind of absent in recent years."

David Jolley, managing partner for Ernst & Young in Salt Lake City, agreed that this year's group of finalists is "outstanding."

"One of the concerns is that in a relatively small business community like Salt Lake City, as we continue the program, we're always concerned about, 'Will there be sufficient emerging entrepreneurial companies to support the program?' " Jolley said.

"It's amazing that each year we end up with some outstanding companies."

Jolley said he was impressed that many of this year's finalists run businesses that reach out nationally and internationally.

"I think that that kind of sets them apart a little bit, and you can see that the entrepreneurial view goes well beyond the borders of Utah," he said.