Utah Center for Global Talent

The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity’s Utah Center for Global Talent, created by the Utah Legislature in 2021, helps businesses navigate pathways to recruit and retain global talent. The center advocates for strategies that promote economic opportunity for new Americans and foreign-born individuals who follow legal immigration pathways, bringing them to Utah.

The center’s work supports Utah’s economy by helping businesses address workforce shortages and providing economic support for Utahns, their families, and communities.

Upcoming Events
The center’s work includes:

Global Talent

The team helps Utah businesses recruit and keep international workers and helps Utahns identify and navigate legal foreign labor opportunities.
Survey on Internationally Trained Professionals

Utah Citizenship Initiative

The Utah Citizenship Initiative helps communities around the state learn about and utilize resources to become U.S. citizens through strategic partners and local expertise.
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Coordination

The center works with federal, state, and local organizations to help inform policies that promote economic opportunity for Utahns.

Strategy

In partnership with The Center for Economic Opportunity and Belonging, Utah’s Global Talent Center promotes economic opportunities for New Americans and legal immigrant communities throughout the state.

Convening

The center runs a task force that reviews and recommends state immigration policies and builds relationships with officials, businesses, and community leaders.

Advising

The team provides recommendations to Utah’s elected leaders and officials regarding foreign labor challenges and opportunities.

2023 National Welcoming Week Video

Watch Gov. Cox invite Utahns to build a stronger state one home and community at a time.

New Americans in Utah

As foreign-born individuals, new Americans are a vital workforce component of Utah’s fast-growing and robust economy. They arrive in Utah for various reasons, including refugees fleeing conflict, families reuniting after years of separation, parents seeking a better life for their children, students pursuing education, or workers filling critical workforce needs.

New Americans in Utah include:

  • 304,918 immigrants (almost 9% of the population)
  • Top five countries of origin include Mexico, Peru, India, Venezuela, and China
  • Immigrants contribute $1.2 billion in state and local taxes and $1.9 billion in federal taxes
  • Over 13% of immigrants are entrepreneurs
  • 9% of immigrants are homeowners

Source: American Immigration Council, Immigrants in Utah, Data Year: 2023

The center coordinates with key stakeholders to educate and inform them on the challenges and opportunities facing Utah’s immigrant communities while celebrating each immigrant’s contributions to the state.

Resources

New Americans in Utah
New Americans in Northern Utah
New Americans in Southern Utah
New Americans in Salt Lake County

Utah’s New Americans Task Force

The Utah Center for Global Talent and The Center for Economic Opportunity and Belonging established the New Americans Taskforce — an initiative that maximizes economic opportunities, social inclusion, and civic potential for New Americans while reinforcing an environment of belonging in Utah.

The taskforce convenes over 200 stakeholders statewide, representing nonprofits, businesses, industry associations, state and local government, faith-based communities, and individuals. Its purpose is to inform on opportunities related to immigration in the state and for task force members to make recommendations on issues related to integration, emphasizing workforce and economic opportunity for all Utahns.

The New Americans Task Force hosts frequent meetings throughout the state. For more information on the New Americans Task Force, read the group’s 2022 report and recommendations.

New Americans Task Force Progress Report & Recommendations
Watch Previous Webinars
Join the New Americans Task Force
New American Task Force Partners
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Global Talent

The Utah Center for Global Talent addresses barriers and challenges faced by an immigrant workforce. It works with international, national, state, and local partners to bridge opportunities for talent pathways to Utah’s most in-demand sectors and industries, so new Americans can put their skills and talents to work in Utah.
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Immigrants make up a growing part of Utah’s changing population and are more likely than U.S.-born residents to be of prime working age and active in the labor force

In Utah, immigrants comprise:

  • Physicians: 12.8%
  • Manufacturing workers: 19.4%
  • STEM industry workers: 13.8%
  • Other essential industries like service, food, warehousing, and travel: 20%

The New Americans Task Force surveyed over 6,500 internationally trained professionals and Utah newcomers to help identify ways these workers can contribute to Utah’s workforce. Over 80% of respondents held a bachelor's degree from their home country and averaged more than 11 years of experience.

The center is a Utah cohort for the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program in partnership with World Education Services.

Immigration Resources

The center provides resources and organizes webinars for Utah businesses to support their workforce needs. Topics include:

  • Guidance for employers on working with the existing immigrant workforce
  • Navigating employment-based visa pathways
  • Work authorization
  • Naturalization
  • And more

Citizenship & Economic Opportunity

Over 67,000 individuals are eligible to become naturalized citizens in Utah. When new Americans naturalize, they earn higher wages, can access better jobs, and vote. They establish roots where they naturalize and become active community members through home ownership and civic engagement.

In 2023, the center received a grant from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to develop innovative strategies for delivering citizenship resources around the state.

Utah Citizenship Initiative
USCIS Citizenship Resources

Immigration Legal Services

Immigration legal services and assistance are critical for businesses seeking to recruit and retain international talent. They also ensure that existing immigrants can access resources to maintain work authorization, lawful permanent residency, and naturalization.

Below are some available resources:

To support businesses and individuals seeking legal assistance, the center aims to establish a broader referral network with immigration legal assistance providers and to produce a legal services guide for companies and individuals in Utah seeking immigration legal assistance.

Please complete this form to have your information included as a referral source for businesses and individuals seeking immigration legal services.

Tell Us More

Are you a Utah business owner who has developed a talent pathway to recruit and retain New Americans or an immigrant building a new life to pursue their American Dream? If so, we want to hear from you.

Telling your story helps to highlight best practices in our state and demonstrate our common ground.

Learn More

Please contact us at globaltalent@utah.gov if you'd like to learn more about our services.

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