Already, more than 180 Utah companies, some of Utah's biggest and best, have been founded on university research over the past 20 years, and more than 120 continue to flourish in Utah. Utah has the opportunity to hire teams of researchers to pursue these technologies and commercialize them. But, like an NBA free-agent superstar, these teams are expensive. A top-notch team may cost $3 million to $5 million, and that includes a principal investigator and a handful of Ph.D.s, along with a large group (up to 50 people) of researchers, graduate assistants, etc. Utah can get them because of our attractive quality of life, nurturing research climate at the U. and USU, and opportunities to commercialize research. These teams must also have up-to-date laboratories with the latest equipment. Adding 2,000 researchers over several years to our research campuses will require new facilities. All in all, the USTAR initiative will cost a lot of money. But even very conservative return-on-investment projections make this a no-brainer.

Utah's low wages have significant societal and cultural ramifications. Low wages contribute to our highest bankruptcy rate in the country. Low wages force both parents in a family to work (among the highest rate in the nation), even if a mother doesn't want to work.

USTAR is a "big gear" that needs to be turned by Utah's political leadership, including the Legislature. The heavyweights of Utah's business community are fully behind it, believing it is the most important initiative for Utah's economy in many decades.

---

Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. Webb has provided unpaid advice to a USTAR committee. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is a Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A former candidate for Salt Lake mayor, Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.