< Previous58 BUS I N E SS I N U T A Hknow-how to ensure a safe, secure, and effective deterrent,” added Ian Rankin, vice president and general manager of BAE’s Warfare Systems business.BAE’s Air Force Strategic Programs business now has more than employees in Northern Utah. Almost percent of the program’s employees are veterans. The team is also made up of scientists and engineers, many of whom were hired right out of college in the Utah area.The aerospace industry employs more than , at nearly establishments around Utah that develop, manufacture and test rocket, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle and missile systems. Orbital ATK, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and L- Communications are just a few of the aerospace companies active in Utah.In January , Parker Hannifi n Corporation announced it will relocate more operations to Utah, adding up to jobs, $ . million in new state revenue and $ . million in capital investment. Parker Hannifi n is a leading worldwide manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precision engineered solutions for a variety of mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. It currently has an engineered polymer systems facility in Utah, as well as an engineering and manufacturing operation supporting its Control Systems Division in Ogden. The division is the world leader in the design and manufacture of fl ight control actuation equipment. Parker Hannifi n selected the Ogden facility as the new location for its repair and overhaul operation for its Parker Aerospace division. It will be moving the work, including equipment and jobs, to Utah from California.“We appreciate the engagement and support of the governor’s offi ce,” said Doug Dilley, commercial business unit manager for the Control Systems Division operation in Ogden. “The economic climate in Utah is quite favorable for business development, and the area is an excellent place for our team members to live and work. It has been a great experience to partner with the Utah economic development offi ce in this project, and we look forward to working together in the future.”The Silicon SlopesSoftware and other IT companies’ relocations to Utah from less business-friendly locations are well documented, as are Utah’s strong if not fi rst-place fi nishes in various measures of state business climates. That’s not a coincidence. Utah is home to major operations of Qualtrics, IBM, EMC Corporation, Adobe and many others. The Silicon Slopes along Interstate is the region fast becoming the go-to and engineers, many of whom were hired right out of college in the Utah area.The aerospace industry employs more than , at nearly for its Parker Aerospace division. It will be moving the work, including equipment and jobs, to Utah from California.“We appreciate the engagement and support of the governor’s offi ce,” said Doug Dilley, commercial business unit manager for the Control Systems Division operation in Ogden. “The economic climate in Utah is quite favorable for business development, and the area is location for software development and other IT talent outside the Bay Area. According to Cyberstates , an analysis of the U.S. tech industry and tech workforce produced by The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), Utah’s leading tech industry sectors in by employment were IT Services and Custom Software Services, with , employed; R&D, Testing and Engineering Services ( ,); Telecommunications and Internet services ( ,); Tech Manufacturing ( ,); and Packaged Software ( ,). The leading technology occupation categories, according to the report, are Software and Web Development, with , employed, Computer Support Specialists ( ,); and Network Architects and Support Specialists ( ,). Centrify, a network security systems producer, announced in March that it will expand its presence in Utah and grow its engineering team, adding up to jobs, $ . million in new state revenue and an estimated $ . million in capital investment. The company has had a presence in Utah since with customer support and sales development teams. The addition of engineering teams is a result of Utah’s highly educated and skilled workforce.“Creating jobs is the cornerstone for strengthening our national economy,” said Tom Kemp, chief executive offi cer at Centrify. “But make no mistake, we’re in a cybersecurity war, and identity is the primary attack vector, showing no signs of slowing down — and creating market demand. As we grow, we need to attract the best talent available, and Utah has very skilled candidates to enhance our product innovation and leadership for Zero Trust Security.” 60 BUS I N E SS I N U T A Hhe wide-open salt flats of Utah for decades have been the location of choice for land-speed records. Drivers aboard land-bound rockets reached for the stars, etching their names in history or leaving a mark where they tried.Today, in a corner of the state long known for its high-tech heritage, the speed of innovation is making its mark, in environments where humans are surrendering control to the g-force of automation.In June 2017, when Vivint Smart Home cut the ribbon at its new campus on the Utah State University Innovation Campus in Logan, Alex Dunn, the company’s president, said he looked forward to “tapping into the strong business and engineering talent of the Utah State University community and contributing to Utah’s growth as a tech hub.”The 43,000-sq.-ft. building will house up to 400 employees and includes a demo home equipped with a Vivint smart home system.“The center will afford employment opportunities for people in Cache Valley, including USU students,” said Noelle Cockett, Utah State University president. “Also, we anticipate USU research and outreach faculty engaging with Vivint R&D personnel in areas of common interest,” via USU arms such as its world-renowned Jon M. Huntsman School of Utah’s penchant for smart-tech innovation stretches from homes to vehicles to the roads themselves.TAUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLEA UT O MA T I O N AN D P O W E Rby AD AM B R U N SB U S I N E S S I N U T A H 61Business, as well as potential research in home environments with the school’s Center for Persons with Disabilities and Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education program.The Provo-based company and the university have something else in common: a penchant for patents. Vivint announced in April 2018 it ranked No. 3 on a list of Utah firms with patents issued in 2017, with 55 corporate patents issued by the U.S. Patent & Trade Office across security, home automation, voice control, cloud storage and IT. That’s 2.5 percent of the 2,207 patents issued in all of Utah in 2017.According to The Lens, a global open-source platform documenting all patents worldwide, USU holds 682 patents in its portfolio, including recent patents co-held with companies such as Raytheon, on technologies involving power conversion, battery charging and autonomous battery control and optimization.Full CircleThe region around USU and in Utah overall is beginning to meld with similar clusters in California and Nevada to form one big virtuous ecosystem of renewable energy, power conversion and autonomous vehicles, including a test track at USU that charges your EV as you drive over it and an attractive legal infrastructure for innovation.The Utah State Legislature and Utah Department of Transportation have taken a leadership role in allowing testing and demonstration of new connected vehicle technologies like truck platooning to help increase road safety and efficiency in the Beehive State. A key step in bringing truck platooning to Utah was passing H.B. 373, a connected vehicle testing bill sponsored by Rep. John Knotwell and Sen. Aaron Osmond that was signed into law by Governor Herbert in 2015.Taking advantage of that law right away were Automation Solutions Inc. (ASI) — led by CEO, USU graduate and former NASA Space Shuttle Payload Manager Mel Torrie — and California-based Peloton. ASI, which just won a 2018 Edison Gold Award for its work in the development of an Autonomous Tractor Concept with CNH Industrial, maintains a 100-acre headquarters and proving ground in Petersboro in northern Utah. In addition to agriculture, ASI serves clients in automotive, mining and other sectors, counting among its clients Rio Tinto and Ford.The tractor work goes back to the 1990s, at the USU Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems (CSOIS), from which seven members eventually broke off to form ASI. Since 1992, CSOIS researchers have carried out around 30 projects in automation and control, robotics and autonomous vehicles, including an internet tele-presence concept that eventually resulted in the formation of Visionary Products, Inc. (VPI), developer of a robotic kit called Red Rover in partnership with The Planetary Society and Lego Company.ASI previously won an Edison Award in 2013 for its patented Guideline® Robotic Convoy System that tethers unmanned follower vehicles to a manned or unmanned lead vehicle. That sort of work is strikingly similar to the products from Peloton Technology, which in late 2015 partnered with the Utah Department of Transportation to hold a debut demonstration of its two-truck platooning system on I-80 in Tooele County outside of Salt Lake City.“The system allows two semi-trucks to platoon together, similar to drafting off a bicycle,” explained UDOT spokesperson “We are essentially doing tomorrow’s work today.”— Jagath Kaluarachchi, Dean, Utah State University College of EngineeringJohn Gleason. “The two trucks connect within about 40 feet of each other and simultaneously brake, accelerate and react to road hazards up to 800 feet away.” The result is significant fuel savings for both trucks. Innovation enabled by the Utah testing led to the Silicon Valley–based company closing on $60 million in Series B funding in April 2017, involving a host of investing companies that included Omnitracs, Intel Capital, Mitsui USA, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, DENSO International America and Lockheed Martin. Boosted by the new investment, Peloton is accelerating vehicle integration projects with several truck OEMs (including Volvo Trucks North America), as well as Tier 1 brake system and connected-vehicle suppliers. The Peloton investor mix includes a variety of leading global companies, enabling Peloton to collaborate extensively to bring its solutions to international markets. Intel, a co-leader on Peloton’s 2015 Series A round, announced in November 2016 that it will invest $250 million in automated driving solutions.School’s InIn April, officials from the University of Utah, Rice University, the National Science Foundation and companies such as National Instruments unveiled the Platform for Open Wireless Data-driven Experimental Research (POWDER). Essentially a test bed for a smart city, the 26-node network will include parts of Salt Lake City as well as the University of Utah campus, and require $27.5 million in infrastructure and equipment.On May 14, 2018, The College of Engineering at USU hosted a ribbon-cutting at the USU Electric Vehicle & Roadway (EVR) Research Facility & Test Track, marking the first-phase completion of a newly-installed solar array and new electric vehicle charging stations at the EVR. The solar panel system was made possible through Rocky Mountain Power incentives and a large Blue Sky grant from the utility. The ChargePoint EV charging stations were provided through funding from the Utah Sustainable Transportation & Energy Plan initiative administered by Rocky Mountain Power. These two installations plus three current research projects have resulted in more than $1.2 million in funding from Rocky Mountain Power to USU over the past year.David Christensen, executive director of the Sustainable Electrified Transportation research center at USU, said the purpose of the event was to recognize the expanding partnerships that USU is developing with companies including Rocky Mountain Power and others in support of the EVR complex, where engineers and researchers from universities, industry and government are working to develop the technology that will enable sustainable electrified transportation.On that same day in May, USU named longtime Utah State University professor and administrator Jagath Kaluarachchi as the new dean of USU’s College of Engineering. He lauded the school’s more than 3,000 students and 100 faculty members across six departments but called special attention to the school’s facilities.“When it comes to teaching and high-end research in engineering, you’ve got to have exceptional facilities, and we have been blessed with that,” he said noting, “We are essentially doing tomorrow’s work today.” 64 BUS I N E SS I N U T A HAD V ANC E D M ANUF A C T UR I NGhere’s a saying in Utah: “What Utah makes, makes Utah.” This is a state whose offi cial motto is the single word, “Industry.”According to the National Association of Manufacturers, manufacturing makes up percent of Utah’s economic output, totaling $ billion dollars annually. Some , manufacturing companies employ more than , Utahns with an average annual compensation of more than $ , per worker.“We’re extremely diversifi ed in manufacturing,” says Todd Bingham, president of the Utah Manufacturers Association. “The supply chain for manufacturing is very well-connected, and many of our manufacturing companies do business in multiple sectors. There’s a very good mixture,” says Bingham, “of high-tech manufacturing and then traditional manufacturing.”Computer and electronics products make up Utah’s leading manufactured goods, followed by primary metals and processed foods. AN AEROSPACE LEADERNotably, Utah also has one of the highest concentrations of aerospace manufacturers in the country, including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, Orbital ATK, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Lockheed Martin. Northrop Grumman, which has enjoyed a presence in Utah since , recently purchased Orbital ATK for a reported $ . billion. Orbital ATK makes launch vehicles and their propulsion systems, with rocket motors produced by Orbital ATK used in the Trident II D- and Minuteman III strategic missiles. Boeing is producing the back wings of its next generation Dreamliner in Utah and employs more than workers in the state. The aerospace giant has facilities in Salt Lake City, Northport, and West Jordan.Utah also is a leading medical equipment manufacturer. Stryker, a global leader in medical technology, makes neurovascular products at its facility in Salt Lake City, where a $-million expansion is underway that will allow the company to enter orthopedic, spinal and endoscopy product manufacturing. Stryker’s investment is expected to create new jobs.“Stryker has been operating in the Salt Lake City area since ,” says Mark Paul, president of Stryker’s neurovascular division. “During that time,” says Paul, “we’ve benefi ted from the talented workforce and fi rst-rate education, research, and healthcare facilities in the area.”UNIQUELY UTAHEnve Composites is uniquely Utah. Founded in Ogden in , by G A R Y D A U GHTE R SImage: Getty ImagesB U S I N E S S I N U T A H 65T66 BUS I N E SS I N U T A HEnve manufactures bicycle rims for the serious cyclist; a set of Enve rims costs about $3,000, says Jake Pantone, Enve’s director of marketing.“At the beginning,” says Pantone, “it was like any crazy little startup. We were crammed into some very small office space with three of us in one 12-by-12 office. We did a bunch of small things just to keep the lights on and fund the real development.”Enve rims are made not of aluminum, but of lighter-weight carbon. The trick, says Pantone, is to design and produce rims that are as light as possible without sacrificing strength.“We’re consistently refining the construction of the product until we hit a desired combination of ride quality,” he says. “Carbon products are only as good as the molds they come out of, and we control the whole process from start to finish. We invest a lot of time and money in the molds we produce. We spend a lot of time and resources to really refine the ride quality of the product.”Enve’s success allowed it to build a new 80,000 sq.-ft. headquarters in 2017, where its workforce of 200 now can produce 40,000 rims per year, Pantone says. “We strive to be an authentic company,” says Pantone. “We make the products that we want to ride because we are cyclists ourselves. We’re making a high-end product and we make no excuses for that. Our buyers keep coming back for more.” Enve Composites was founded in Ogden, Utah, in 2007.Photo courtesy of Enve Composites“… we’ve benefited from [Salt Lake City’s] talented workforce and the first-rate education, research and healthcare facilities in the area.”— Mark Paul, StrykerUtah’s outdoor amenities are numerous & world famous.LandFrom the fi ve-star ski resorts of Park City to the other-worldly grandeur of Zion National Forest and Bryce Canyon, from the burgeoning outdoor wilderness scene in and around Ogden to the thrilling bike trails in the hills above Moab, Utah sets the pace for spine-tingling adventure.The great outdoors is central to life in Utah. And it’s a boon to the state’s robust economy. ThePromisedOU T DOOR R E C R E A T I ONby G A R Y D A U GHTE R SB U S I N E S S I N U T A H 67Photo courtesy of Visit UtahNext >