U.S. Chamber of Commerce Ranks Utah as the Top Performer in the Nation

Pete CodellaAccolades

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in this year’s Enterprising States report has named Utah a “boom state.” The authors declared that Utah was the only state in the nation that had successfully ranked as a “Top 10” state in all six areas they assessed. Those categories are: economic performance, exports, business climate, talent pipeline, infrastructure and innovation & entrepreneurship.

“I am very pleased with the rankings given by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce report because they reflect our State’s determination to lead the nation in economic performance,” Governor Gary R. Herbert said. “As the Wall Street Journal noted, Utah truly is the ‘brightest shining star’ on the nation’s flag.”

A few of the major reasons cited by the U.S. Chamber report for Utah’s outstanding performance are the state’s focus on high-tech business, STEM education and exporting. In the last few months Utah has been recognized for having the lowest healthcare costs in the nation, 30 Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs, a strong and growing financial business sector, and the “Best State for Business and Careers.”

“Utah leads the charge as the nation comes back from the economic recession. We can say with confidence that Utah’s future as the emerging ‘Wall Street west’ looks brighter than ever,” Spencer Eccles, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development said. It is a pleasure to see that “Utah is leading the nation as the best performing economy and is being recognized as a premier global business destination.”

The report acknowledged that Utah is one of the nation’s top exporters in electronic memory circuits, aircraft engines and parts, vehicle airbag systems, and X-ray equipment. It also recognized Utah’s highly developed partnerships among government, higher education and the private sector when it cited the development of the Ogden Business Center, “Startup Ogden,” as only one example of the state’s support of small business development. Utah ranked 3rd in “Business Birthrate” and 7th in “Growth of Self Employed Workers.”

The Utah legislature is also recognized by the report for its many partnerships and support of the state’s economic development efforts. One program it recognized is the Utah Science, Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative which has built two cutting edge high-tech facilities at Utah State University and at the University of Utah.

The Enterprising States report underscores that, in Utah, whether a business is large or small or if the technology is new or mature a growing business can find a supportive environment in Utah.