From Deseret News archives:

Panel urged to look for gaps, overlaps

Published: Friday, April 18, 2008 12:32 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
A state legislator wants an interim committee to look at whether there are overlaps or gaps among organizations and programs designed to help small and mid-size Utah companies.

Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, told the Business and Labor Interim Committee this week that it should review the Business Resource Centers program, Small Business Development Centers, Jobs Now, Custom Fit Training programs, manufacturing extension partnerships and other programs for "potential overlap in functions, performance measures and the use of state resources allocated" to each of them.

"In my career, we haven't compared one program to another and how much are they overlapping," she said. "I think it would be an appropriate thing for this committee to study."

The committee's co-chairman, Rep. Stephen Clark, R-Provo, backed Allen's proposal. "I've been battling this for a long time and I'm happy to have somebody on my team now," Clark told Allen.

Clark said Utah County has at least 50 economic development organizations, some of which are funded by state and federal government and some of which are private entities.

Story continues below
"They're trying to help business — small, large, emerging and so on — be successful," he said. "We're all doing the same thing, but nobody knows who has responsibility for whom as far as the various businesses in the area."

Clark noted that business resource centers could help with the effort, but recently legislation funded only one center as a pilot program.


E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

previousnext

Latest comments

Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh get the audience they deserve and vice versa. ...

I find the rule,very discriminitory. I am not gay, I don't understand what...

Celtics crush Jazz

I understand we were outmanned last night. However, this effort was awful....

Tavernari has matured

My advice to Jonathan is shoot it when they pass it to you as soon as you...

Maybe they should try drafting a shooting guard who can shoot from outside ....

The sad thing about it is that there are actually people out there that are...

12 Utes return to Texas

Thank you TCU and BYU. Your wanting to beat Utah so bad has to drive you...

Celtics crush Jazz

Play fes and koufos. Look to the future. It looks like we will have two...

Letters: Obama 'too busy'

Oh come on. Obama's a horrible president, but I couldn't care less which...

"We had the best soccer of any place in the state. There's no disputing...

Advertisements
Advertisement