Letter from Jeff Edwards, EDCUtah.

• Author: Edwards, Jeff

edcUTAH

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF UTAH

2014 was another outstanding year for economic development in Utah. Building on the previous years' record number of new jobs, the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) together with the state and local communities helped generate more than 9,000 new jobs, which represents 36 companies that announced to either relocate or expand in Utah. These companies will make capital investments totaling more than $675 million.

Why are so many companies making the decision to move here? Utah continues to be successful because its workforce is young and highly educated, the state and local governments are fiscally responsible and stable, the cost of doing business remains low, and Utah's transportation infrastructure is one of the best in the country.

Utah can also attribute its success to its diverse and durable economy, which does not rest on the success of just one industry. In the past year, we have seen growth in technology, finance, life science and outdoor products, just to name a few.

Take for example, three major corporations in three separate industries that announced they would bring new jobs to Utah after considering other locations. Goldman Sachs plans to add 350 new financial services jobs, Oracle announced 351 informational technology jobs, and Varian Medical Systems indicated they would add 1,000 new medical manufacturing jobs. The results speak for themselves.

When Goldman Sachs announced another major expansion in Salt Lake City it didn't come as a surprise. After all, Goldman Sachs' Salt Lake City office is now the company's second largest office in the Americas, employing over 1,700 people. The company first entered the state by opening a customer support center in 2000. Today, Goldman has replicated almost all of their major business functions in Salt Lake including Finance, Global Compliance, Global Investment Research, Human Capital Management, Investment Management, Operations, Services and Technology, making this office an essential asset to the firm's global business.

Hardware and software engineering innovator, Oracle, decided to develop its new customer software-support center in Utah's high-tech corridor that joins Salt Lake City and Provo. Other major tech companies like Adobe, eBay and EMC also make this area of Utah their home base.

Utah's tech...