Utah No. 1 in 'dynamism'

PROVO — Utah's economy is the hottest in the United States, and Utah County could be ground zero of a boom that will change the valley forever, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and 20 other experts told business leaders assembled Thursday at Sundance.

High job growth, low unemployment, a stable housing market and the nation's youngest work force are drawing national and international companies to Utah, speakers said during the annual Utah Valley Executive Summit sponsored by the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce.

Forbes and CNBC have said the state has the nation's hottest economy, but Huntsman is most excited that the Kauffman Report ranked Utah No. 1 in "dynamism," a measure of entrepreneurship and enthusiasm that the governor said positions the state to deal with what he said are major global economic shifts.

"I'd rather be No. 1 in dynamism than any other category," Huntsman said, because "now it's the individual who is the paramount player in economic development in the world."

That shift has made locally produced intellectual property a critical factor for growing local economies, he said. "It's the ideas that pop out of the heads of our entrepreneurs that is most important."

Speakers at Thursday's summit outlined Utah's business landscape for more than 200 business owners, bankers, developers, legislators, city councilors and administrators, health care administrators, transportation experts and journalists.

Huntsman said Utah's job growth rate is 4.7 percent and unemployment is 2.6 percent, second-best in the nation. The housing market has slowed but is stable, said Kevin Call, executive vice president of the Utah County Association of Realtors.

"We're selling homes at half the velocity we had a year ago and in 2005, but it's a stable market," he said. "We're not at the frantic, hectic pace of the last two years, but we're also not in a buyer's market."

Workforce Services chief economist Mark Knold said the bulk of Utah's labor force is between the ages of 20 and 40, while the national norm is between ages 40 and 50. The state still doesn't have enough replacement workers and Knold said Utah either must bring more labor in or shrink the economy.

Knold also said the young Utah labor force is the reason why Utah's average wages appear low. "We have an experience shortage," he said. "Thirty-year-olds don't make as much as 50-year-olds because they don't have the experience, the time on the job."

Older workers in Utah actually make more than in Pennsylvania or Florida because of the shortage of 55-year-old labor, Knold added.