William K. Martin.

• Position: Brief Article

With Utah's commercial construction and real estate industries still riding high on a wave of growth that has spanned the past decade, it's easy to forget the days when office buildings stood empty, retail stores were shuttered and foreclosure notices filled pages of classified advertising. Bill Martin, who with partner Bill D'Evelyn has built Colliers Commerce CRG into the state's largest commercial real estate brokerage, has seen the market bounce from bleak to balanced during the past 15 years, a period when new development changed Salt Lake Valley's landscape forever.

"1985 was lousy," Martin recalls. "It was the era of the Resolution Trust Corporation taking over mortgages. Most of the savings and loans went bankrupt. There were high vacancies and interest rates peaked at 24 percent. Unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcies were up and people were forced to leave Utah to find work."

Martin believes the technology revolution is the foundation of Utah's economic turnaround -- he sees evidence of this in his business everyday. High-tech companies and their growing ranks of employees have played a major role in the development of the high rises that now dominate Salt Lake Valley's skyline. Utah's strategic geographic position has also been a boon to its economy, leading to its dominance as a trucking and distribution center for the West, he says.

Although Utah businesses and their employees are now enjoying the bounty of economic expansion and...