D. Scott Peterson.

• Position: Ernst and Young L.L.P. - Brief Article

In the mid-1980s Utah's economy was flat. There were a few large companies, but little outgrowth. This was the observation of researchers with Ernst & Young, one of the world's largest accounting firms. Things changed.

"Utah literally took off in the early '90s with opportunity," says D. Scott Peterson, Ernst & Young managing partner in Salt Lake City. "It was clear that Utah was creating a mini Silicon Valley."

The firm had a strong position working with 40 percent of the Silicon Valley 150, the leading high-tech firms in the nation. Indicators favored a stronger presence in Utah. "It was smart business for Ernst & Young to bet on Utah's technology future," says Peterson. "In 1995, we had 37 employees. Now we're the largest accounting firm in Utah with 140 employees and plans to triple in the near future."

Good research is a key factor in Ernst & Young decisions. The company looked closely at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, observing business deals struck in a place 15,000 miles "down under." "The Olympics seems to be a lightning rod for new opportunity. Our analysis is that some of that is going to happen in Utah. Other companies will see that Utah is not an insular state and is a great place to do business," says Peterson.

A number of factors impress him, "Government policies have clearly elevated the Utah economy, primarily in technology, life and medical sciences, IT, and software. Tremendous baseline companies like Novell, WordPerfect and Iomega all spun off second-generation companies, which are...