HAVE A TALENT SHORTAGE? HIRE RURAL WORKERS.

AuthorAndra, Jacob

You can find someone with a master's degree in marketing working at a Subway in Price. Here's how to take advantage of the state's most underused (and surprisingly qualified) workers.

When my great-grandfather arrived in Utah from Germany, he was a mere child. A few years later, he was hard at work in the coal mines of Carbon County. In those days, rural Utah was a raw materials economy. Not anymore. Drive along the Wasatch Front and what do you see? Tech billboards and glittering new office buildings.

In 2018, Utah's economy is dominated by software companies like Qualtrics, BambooHR, Domo, Ivanti, Pluralsight, and scores of other small players. Then you have a decent smattering of-network marketing-type firms selling everything from essential oils to skincare products to travel. These, if we can group them as a sector, seem to perennially thrive in Utah's economic soil.

Sure, we've still got manufacturing, and mining is still alive and well. But those industries that used to be rural have gone urban, leaving many companies left in the dust.

EVERYONE'S MOVING TO THE CITIES

While Utah's economy contains a multitude of industries, growth is largely driven by our voracious tech sector. To the point that the 'big boys' (by Utah standards-nobody's comparing us to Silicon Valley) are unable to feed their appetite for qualified labor and are going afield. As far afield as India, even. Meanwhile, an entire demographic is having trouble finding work. It's ironic: we have both too few and too many workers. Because, as it turns out, it's all about where you live--and what skill set you possess.

So where does that leave the rural Utahn? Someone living, for example, near one of the dormant mines in which my great-grandfather toiled? Take the drive from Spanish Fork, through its eponymous canyon, following Highway 6 all the way to Price, and you won't see many glass-and-steel towers. In fact, you won't see much of anything, apart from our trademark landscapes. That's because everyone's left.

"14 of 29 [rural] counties are suffering from equal/declining population rates since the 2010 census," says Joel Smith, CEO of Accelerant. Meanwhile, projections from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah show dramatic differences in population growth from now through 2065. Unsurprisingly, the urban centers will continue to urbanize and density. Surrounding areas-spillover land-will also see dramatic changes. The rest of the state will grow...

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