"The governor has full discretion in that area," Hickman said.

Shifting to the private sector allows more latitude, said Jeffery Finkle, president and CEO of the International Economic Development Council, a group to which EDCU belongs. The big strength of a private organization, he said, is that it doesn't have to stand the test of public scrutiny.

"If you give your state economic development director a budget, and he spends $45,000 on travel, rental cars and high-end restaurants, how does that look to media?" he said. "But you're not spending money with no anticipation of return. It's just nice to have economic development in a place where there's not as much second-guessing."

Instead of seeing the wining and dining of clients, he said, with a private nonprofit group, the media and the public only judge results. And that, he said, is how it should be.

Still, Huntsman doesn't believe the process will be barred to the media and thus to the public.

"I don't think it means there would be any less transparency or disclosure than would otherwise be the case," the governor said.

In addition, going private is expected to save money — 15 to 20 percent less than the $600,000 the state previously paid its recruiters, said Tammy Kikuchi, the governor's spokeswoman.

That would partly follow the example of Utah County, which bucked its Utah Valley Economic Development Association last year in favor of EDCU, cutting its economic development budget from $276,694 to $129,000 annually.

But even as Utah County and the state generally are turning to EDCU to save money, Salt Lake City is considering canceling its contract as a way to save money. It currently pays around $100,000 per year in dues, according to Alison McFarlane, the city's senior adviser for economic development. But Mayor Rocky Anderson's proposed budget currently being debated proposes the city cancel its contract with the nonprofit group and do its own recruiting.

Roybal said the state hopes if it awards the contract to EDCU, more cities and counties will get on board, rather than seeing their own contract costs as redundant. The vision, he said, is of combining funds from around the state to make all of the money work more efficiently.

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

E-mail: dhinckley@desnews.com