Innovation, reform necessary to get economy growing again, experts say

OREM — Fixing the economy is nothing short of a daunting task, especially with continued spending by the federal government, but at least three elements can contribute to getting the economy growing again.

Leaders from Hollywood, business and government came together Thursday at Utah Valley University to lend their advice during the second annual Hatch Economic Forum.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, brought together three experts who know small business, innovation and the government to discuss ways the nation can pull itself out of its economic slump.

These were their messages:

The United States has too many financial obligations that make its current path unsustainable.

It's going to take a combination of reform and innovation to get the United States' economy growing again.

"I'm extremely concerned with the direction our country is headed," Hatch said.

So he brought with him Ed Catmull, president of Disney and Pixar Animation Studios; Dan Danner, president and chief executive officer of the National Federation of Independent Business; and David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general and president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which promotes federal financial responsibility and accountability.

Catmull, who grew up in Salt Lake City, said companies fail because they aren't introspective enough. They have to be willing to look at the long term and not only on immediate needs of making money, he said.

That's one of the things that has allowed Pixar to have a streak of successful animated films, because disasters happened with nearly every film, Catmull said. But those disasters became part of the company's knowledge and helped shape it.

Along the way, technology inspired art, which drove further technological advances. The company is continually innovating, and that kind of creativity is what businesses need, he said.

But when it comes to taking care of employees in those businesses, Danner said, some innovation is needed at the federal level.

One example is the health care reform law, which doesn't help the economy the way it could.

"It's all about cost," said Danner, whose organization represents about 350,000 small businesses around the nation, about 3,560 of which are in Utah.