JANUARY 2004
UTAH SPOTLIGHT
Clear Sailing
| T |
ime was, high-speed daredevils flocked to Utah because nothing got in the way. Today, food companies in particular – and California companies of all kinds – are siting facilities there for the same reason.
Entrepreneurs are calling the state home as well, leading Inc. magazine to call Utah the top state per capita for fast-growth companies in its October 2003 rankings. Spearheading the entrepreneurial charge was the city of Provo.
So risk-takers of all sizes can attest: in Utah, space is aplenty, obstacles are few and companies are enjoying the side effects of this particular West Coast remedy.
The latest to arrive is a two-building, 180,000-sq.-ft. (16,722-sq.-m.) expansion on the 32-acre (13-hectare) campus of Merit Medical Systems, a maker of disposable products used in radiology and cardiology procedures. Part of the project involves moving a wafer fabrication facility from California. The project will add 300 to 500 new jobs in the next few years.
October 2003 was the announcement of a DSL subscriber technical center for Qwest Communications, which will employ 155. The project got help from the Utah Industrial Assistance Fund. Qwest President for Utah Jerry Fenn cited the state's deep pool of high-tech workers. Qwest ought to know: it employs 3,000 Utah residents already.
SLC also saw in 2003 the final move of personnel by meatless food product company Gardenburger from its hometown of Portland, Ore., to Clearfield, Utah. Once all functions were moved in October 2003, approximately 167 people were employed at the Utah facilities.
The state Industrial Assistance Fund may help bring in more than 300 more new jobs with rural incentive packages it awarded to two unnamed companies in November 2003. One of the companies – also looking in Nevada and Arizona – is planning to build a $20-million distribution operation that would employ 300. The incentives offered include $250,000 upon project completion and $2,500 per employee whose salary meets or exceeds 125 percent of the unnamed county's median wage.
After a search led by PriceWaterhouseCoopers that evaluated 26 sites in 13 states, Wells' Dairy chose St. George for its US$55-million, 160,000-sq.-ft. (14,864-sq.-m.) dairy processing plant, which opened in July 2003. The plant is in Fort Pierce Industrial Park, which sits at 700 acres (283 hectares) now, but has the potential to reach 1,000 acres (405 hectares).
Seventy new jobs are just the tip of the double dip from the new Wells facility's two production lines, pumping out 18 million gallons (68.1 million liters) of ice cream annually. There is room inside for two more lines, and 50 acres (20 hectares) of room outside for even further expansion.
Doug Wells, the company's COO, sees the plant as the gateway to Western markets. But it might not have happened if the altitude hadn't been right.
"We found that St. George's elevation is ideal for manufacturing in that environment," says Dave Smetter, director of marketing communications for Wells, enabling subsequent transport up to 5,000 ft. above sea level or down to sea level itself with "minimal impact on the product."
Ray Rosenthal, associate broker with Colliers International, says the same factors played into another recent food company location, the Snack Alliance potato and corn chip facility opening up in the same park. He notes that the 6.5-hour drive to the Southern California marketplace is ideal for overnight round-trip.trucking.
Rosenthal also points to the cost of power for high-volume users as another salient criterion, with rates in the area as low as one-third of rates in California, and a worker's compensation rate between 25 percent and 30 percent of California's.
Entrepreneurs are calling the state home as well, leading Inc. magazine to call Utah the top state per capita for fast-growth companies in its October 2003 rankings. Spearheading the entrepreneurial charge was the city of Provo.
So risk-takers of all sizes can attest: in Utah, space is aplenty, obstacles are few and companies are enjoying the side effects of this particular West Coast remedy.
Healthy Choices
In Salt Lake City in 2003, big selloffs by Fleming Foods and Southwire Corp. brought 871,000 sq. ft. (80,916 sq. m.) of space to the market, but that was offset by 750,000 sq. ft. (69,675 sq. m.) of new space in 11 industrial facilities built during the first half of 2003, according to Colliers Commerce CRG.The latest to arrive is a two-building, 180,000-sq.-ft. (16,722-sq.-m.) expansion on the 32-acre (13-hectare) campus of Merit Medical Systems, a maker of disposable products used in radiology and cardiology procedures. Part of the project involves moving a wafer fabrication facility from California. The project will add 300 to 500 new jobs in the next few years.
October 2003 was the announcement of a DSL subscriber technical center for Qwest Communications, which will employ 155. The project got help from the Utah Industrial Assistance Fund. Qwest President for Utah Jerry Fenn cited the state's deep pool of high-tech workers. Qwest ought to know: it employs 3,000 Utah residents already.
SLC also saw in 2003 the final move of personnel by meatless food product company Gardenburger from its hometown of Portland, Ore., to Clearfield, Utah. Once all functions were moved in October 2003, approximately 167 people were employed at the Utah facilities.
The state Industrial Assistance Fund may help bring in more than 300 more new jobs with rural incentive packages it awarded to two unnamed companies in November 2003. One of the companies – also looking in Nevada and Arizona – is planning to build a $20-million distribution operation that would employ 300. The incentives offered include $250,000 upon project completion and $2,500 per employee whose salary meets or exceeds 125 percent of the unnamed county's median wage.
With a Cherry On Top
As far down in the Southwest corner of Utah as you can go, near the spectacular stone arches of Zion National Park, St. George is Utah's hottest spot for corporate facilities and their constitutents. The population of Washington County grew by 5.1 percent between 2001 and 2002, making it the fastest-growing in the state, after having doubled its population in the 1990s. Total trade area population now stands at around 206,000 people.
|
After a search led by PriceWaterhouseCoopers that evaluated 26 sites in 13 states, Wells' Dairy chose St. George for its US$55-million, 160,000-sq.-ft. (14,864-sq.-m.) dairy processing plant, which opened in July 2003. The plant is in Fort Pierce Industrial Park, which sits at 700 acres (283 hectares) now, but has the potential to reach 1,000 acres (405 hectares).
Seventy new jobs are just the tip of the double dip from the new Wells facility's two production lines, pumping out 18 million gallons (68.1 million liters) of ice cream annually. There is room inside for two more lines, and 50 acres (20 hectares) of room outside for even further expansion.
Doug Wells, the company's COO, sees the plant as the gateway to Western markets. But it might not have happened if the altitude hadn't been right.
"We found that St. George's elevation is ideal for manufacturing in that environment," says Dave Smetter, director of marketing communications for Wells, enabling subsequent transport up to 5,000 ft. above sea level or down to sea level itself with "minimal impact on the product."
Ray Rosenthal, associate broker with Colliers International, says the same factors played into another recent food company location, the Snack Alliance potato and corn chip facility opening up in the same park. He notes that the 6.5-hour drive to the Southern California marketplace is ideal for overnight round-trip.trucking.
Rosenthal also points to the cost of power for high-volume users as another salient criterion, with rates in the area as low as one-third of rates in California, and a worker's compensation rate between 25 percent and 30 percent of California's.