BOOM OR BOMB?

• Author: BEERS, HEATHER
• Position: Utah Silicon Valley Alliance

Utah's Silicon Valley Alliance

Last May, Gov. Mike Leavitt launched an initiative that, if successful, will significantly impact future jobs for Utah's children. But will its boom become a bomb for other facets of Utah life?

The Utah Silicon Valley Alliance (USVA), a joint effort of civic, private, educational and industrial leaders, is making inroads to paving out-roads for Silicon Valley companies to expand to Utah. The USVA also hopes to foster continued high-tech related entrepreneurial development and extend technology activity to Utah's rural areas.

"We are creating more than just jobs. We are creating 21st century careers so our children and grandchildren can flourish in the New Economy," said Leavitt in a press release.

It is clear why Silicon Valley's New Economy appeals to local leaders. In the past eight years, Northern California's Silicon Valley has created a net of 250,000 new jobs. Average pay for the software industry is $95,000 a year, according to a 1999 report by Silicon Valley Joint Venture (SVJV), a nonprofit civic incubator.

The e-industries also tend to raise the overall economic prosperity of a region. Chuck Klingenstein, president of the Utah chapter of the American Planning Association and senior project manager at Psomas, a Salt Lake City office engineering consulting firm, describes the "multiplier effect" that high-paying jobs have on an area. With people spending more money in the local economy, the community as a whole benefits, he says.

But just as Silicon Valley serves as an excellent model for high-tech growth, it also serves as an example of the fallout from the fast-paced growth connected with it. The northern California "techno-mecca" has faced workforce shortages, digital divide discrepancies, soaring house prices, snarled traffic and shrinking open spaces.

While underscoring high-tech's positives, Praveen Madan, principal consultant at A.T. Kearney, a Silicon Valley management consulting firm, warns of the drawbacks. A community "needs to sit back and decide what they're willing to sacrifice in return for jobs and economic prosperity."

Cross Pollination

In Silicon Valley, several non-tech industries have benefited from high-tech's multiplier effect. In 1999, for example, construction, transportation and public utilities added 9,200 jobs, and visitor and local services added 4,650, according to SVJV.

But there are drawbacks, as well. High-tech's generous salaries have boosted overall salary...