Economic Development Corp. says more companies delaying on Utah projects

SALT LAKE CITY — It's a trend that's both promising and discouraging: Companies are considering Utah for relocations or expansions, but they aren't pulling the trigger.

The Economic Development Corp. of Utah, contracted by the state to recruit companies to Utah and assist companies considering Utah for relocations or expansions of their operations, is as busy as ever. But it's still waiting for companies to commit to the state.

Jeff Edwards, the development corporation's president and chief executive officer, told the Governor's Office of Economic Development Board recently that his organization is handling 335 total projects, including 150 they consider serious, or "active." Thirteen were added to the list in April alone.

"This is the most we have ever had in our history," he said. "This is a new record this month, and it's just a really interesting trend that we are continuing to be contacted and our proactive efforts are actually generating some of that, as well.

"It's similar to what we've seen the past several months, that most of these projects are concentrated in the early stages. … We continue to see that same trend of companies that are doing their due diligence, coming out and spending significant time, money and effort to do their diligence. When they take their project back to their board of directors, wherever it might be, the boards are making decisions to hold on projects, and we've seen that repeated again. And frankly, the national economy is still a factor in all of that."

The job-creation potential is huge. Those 150 active projects involve 35,578 jobs, including 26,298 in the so-called industry "clusters" that state officials have identified as areas of strength in Utah.

April's new active projects include one that could mean 500 new information technology jobs and another with 200 life sciences jobs.

Any new jobs would pad the development corporation's statistics since the beginning of the fiscal year last July 1. Since then, its recruitment efforts have led to 3,422 new jobs created by companies adding operations into Utah and 897 retained as Utah companies have remained in the state or expanded rather than leave.

The development corporation during the year also has conducted 80 site visits with outside companies and 28 visits for Utah companies considering expansions.

e-mail: bwallace@desnews.com