Letter: Howell has technology expertise for education, government and economic development

The Utah Partnership, created over 20 years ago, was a joint effort by education, government and industry to improve Utah's economic development results through more aggressive use of technology. IBM was one of the industry leaders in these efforts.

As an IBM manager at the time, Scott Howell was a key participate in this important collaboration. The smart use of technology has provided Utah with a highly competitive workforce and the technology industry itself is clearly a major pillar of Utah's job growth. As a result of his exposure to the overall needs of the public sector, Howell decided to run for office and subsequently served 10 years in the Utah state Senate, including a leadership role as the minority party leader.

Based on Howell's outstanding experiences serving as an elected public official, IBM recognized his invaluable experience and talents by promoting him to be one of IBM's leading executives working with public sector organizations at all levels throughout the country, and including international programs.

Howell's leadership role in developing and guiding many of IBM's public sector programs for more than a decade has given him a very unique and valuable set of skills. He clearly understands how technology can be used to achieve significant results in the following key areas: improvement of educational results in schools at all levels, more efficient government producing better services at lower costs and with fewer resources, driving economic growth in an increasingly sophisticated and competitive world.

Having worked with Scott during his Utah development years, I believe he fully acquired the skills to bring a new era of growth and prosperity to Utah as their representative in the United States Senate.

Lark Allen

Former IBM executive for Utah

Raleigh, N.C.