Best of Business.

• Author: Dickson, Spencer

Every 12 months, we at Utah Business like to take a look back on the year that was--the trends, the big news stories, the events that made us all laugh and cry. And, really, what better time to look back than September? It makes perfect sense. So without further ado, we proudly present the 2010 edition of our Best of Business.

Best example of closing the deal: The University of Utah

Attention aspiring inventors: Are you dreaming of solving the energy crisis by cloning and then harnessing the power of electric eels? Marketing your new software program that writes bestselling novels based on the answers to 10 easy questions? Realizing your idea for a device that can make any person sing like Christina Aguilera? Take your dreams to the University of Utah, where they could become reality.

According to the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), the U is ranked first in the country (tied with a little backwater outfit called MIT) in creating new startup companies from research-based inventions. The university started 20 new companies in fiscal year 2008, and that was with a comparatively small $273 million in research funding (MIT received $1.3 billion).

What to make of this? Well, when it comes to economic development, the U is king. Now, if they could just do something about that basketball program.

And here's something they definitely do better than MIT

Remember the guy holding up the sign that read, "Respect Us" (the "U" in the sign was a cleverly placed University of Utah logo) after Utah's big win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago? Of course you don't. Nevertheless, that pleading fan's wish seems to have come true.

In a move destined to reshape the college football landscape in our football-mad state, the Pac 10 conference invited Utah to go from BCS busters to BCS members last June by joining them. (The Utes accepted.) If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, we say. (Although it must be noted that the Utes have beaten 'em quite impressively in the last several years.)

Not to be left behind, Utah's nemesis down south, BYU, which wasn't invited to the BCS conference party (despite having, in the opinion of some, better credentials than the Utes), broke away from the Mountain West to go independent in football (and to join the West Coast Conference in all other sports). It's a bold move--beyond bold, really--and it raises many questions about scheduling and postseason play. But the Cougars now control their own destiny to a great extent.

After staging a magnanimous farewell tour through the conference they're suddenly too good for, the Mountain West, in the 2010 football season, Utah will join the newly renamed Pacl2, and BYU will begin its independence in the fall of 2011. Expect the remaining members of that conference and their fans to lavish both teams with some nice parting...