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The Cows Are Coming Home

Utah's cooperative attitude and dedicated work force helps to lure Gateway 2000.

  [ 11/12/1997 ]  By: Kerrianne Monahan   Print This Article  Reprint/License This Article  E-mail This Article To A Friend  
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Gateway 2000 employees carry around a company vision and values mission statement, in addition to their ID badge," said Greg Lund, corporate spokesperson for South Dakota-based Gateway 2000. "There are seven values, and they matched up well with the values we found in the state of Utah."

One of those values, teamwork, was paramount to Gateway's decision to build a major manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City.

"We saw a great deal of teamwork between the state government entities in Utah during the whole process of attracting our company. Another great attribute was the work ethic of the people. We have a hard-working Midwestern work ethic here in South Dakota, and Salt Lake City offered the same kind of people who will put in an honest day's work for an honest day's wage," said Lund.

Gateway's new site will include a 260,000 square foot plant for the manufacture of computer hardware. It is expected to employ 500 workers initially, with plans to eventually grow to 1,300.

Portland, Ore.,-based Wholesome and Hearty Foods Inc. cites Utah's excellent transportation infrastructure as a reason for its most recent expansion into the state.

"We looked at a number of factors, and one of the most important was proximity to national distribution networks, especially rail and highway," said Jim Linford, the company's vice president. "With I-80 going east-west and I-15 leading to the southwest, it gave Utah a distinct advantage over Portland."

Wholesome and Hearty Foods is moving into an existing 120,000 square foot food processing facility in Clearfield, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. The plant will be used to produce Garden Burgers for both retail and the food service industry. The company expects to initially employ 125, but the number could grow since the facility has room available for two additional production lines.

"We also benefited from the assistance offered by the EDC of Utah," said Linford. "We took advantage of the database they have which offered a competitive analysis of the different states. In two weeks time, they presented an analysis of Utah versus Portland, and there were substantial savings involved."

UTAH FACTS AND CONTACTS


DEMOGRAPHY AND
ECONOMY

Population: 2,000,000
Capital: Salt Lake City
Three Largest Cities: Salt Lake City (MSA) 1.2 million; Provo (MSA) 316,000; St. George 39,000
Class A Office Vacancy Rates: Salt Lake City 5.5%
GSP: $38 billion.
Per Capita Income: $18,400
Size of Labor Force: 1,017,000
Percentage of Durable Goods Manufacturing Labor Force:
Organized: 4%
Right to Work State: yes
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%
Average Hourly Manufacturing Wage: $12.10
Population Over 25 With Bachelor's Degree or More: 22.2%
Corporate Income Tax Rate: 5%
Percentage Employment by Sector: Agriculture, 0.7% ; construction, 6.0%; manufacturing, 13.6%; mining, 0.9 %; oil and gas extraction, 0.2%; transportation/communi-cations, 6.6% ; wholesale/retail,24.2%
Primary Industries: Services (education, health, business) Retail Trade (tourism) Manufacturing (transportation equipment, medical instruments, primary metals
Targeted Industries: Biomedical, Information Technology, Natural Resources

BUSINESS ASSISTANCE
Major Financial Incentives: Industrial Assistance Fund Enterprise Zones, Manufacturing Equipment Sales Tax Exemption
Worker Training Programs: JTPA, Custom-Fit
Technology Transfer Programs: Technology Development - Centers of Excellence
Enterprise Zones: Carbon County, Garfield Co., San Juan Co., Wayne Co., Duchesne Co., Grand Co., San Pete Co., Emery Co., Piute Co., Uintah Co.
Foreign Trade Zones: Salt Lake City International Airport

QUALITY OF LIFE
EM's Education Quotient for the Largest School Districts: Salt Lake City, 104.3; Provo,99.4; Washington County, 101.0
Average Price for a Single-Family Home: $147,000 (all three cities)
Cost of Living Index: 101.1

FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT

Sharon Young, Director, National Business Dev., Utah Division of Business & Econ. Dev., 324 S. State St., Suite 500, Salt Lake City, UT 84111, (801) 538-8772, fax (801) 538-8889

 

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