The key to jobs in Utah lies in life sciences

It became a monthly ritual of mine as governor to check the Utah jobs report. Like a physician taking a patient's vital signs, I knew if job growth was good, our overall economic health was strong. Though I am not currently in public service, my interest endures, and periodically I instinctively put my fingers on our state's pulse. This month's Utah jobs report affirmed that we, like other states, face a formidable challenge.

High unemployment persists in our country even as other economic indicators trend positive. Nearly 14 million Americans not only struggle to support their families, but to retain a sense of dignity and self worth. Closer to home, approximately 103,400 Utahns are unemployed — a number more than twice what is considered normal for an economy of our size. Creating jobs is our most urgent public policy challenge because it will cure lots of other public ills.

Every state needs an aggressive jobs agenda, and Utah's should start with policies that foster the state's rapidly growing life sciences sector. The life sciences in Utah include industries involved in medical devices and products, personalized and predictive medicine (genetics, neuroscience, and pharmaceutical research and clinical services), cellular systems and microbe biotechnology.

We should emphasize life sciences for two reasons. First, we have a running start. Many Utahns will know of Utah's niche in life sciences because of our national recognition for developing the first human artificial heart, the first functional prosthetic arm, the discovery of the first breast cancer-causing gene and the cloning of the world's first mule. In fact, the Salt Lake Valley earned the nickname "bio-valley" from Science Digest because of the number of successful biotech companies located between our northern mountain ranges. The life science industry employs approximately 30,000 Utahns, has revenues in excess of $15 billion and pays an annual wage nearly 50 percent higher than the average.

The second reason to focus on life science jobs is that each high-paying job created — whether it be an engineer, scientist or lab tech — generates additional economic activity. Analysts estimate that for every 100 jobs created in the life science industry, approximately 260 other jobs are created throughout the economy. So in a very real sense, when you employ a scientist, you also employ a plumber, a carpenter or a school teacher.