Articles
9 February 2012

A Workforce Worth Rewarding

by Alan S Horowitz

09 February 2012—

A Workforce Worth Rewarding 

“Unique” is a word that is often misused. When describing Utah’s workforce, however, it is perfect. One aspect that makes it particularly inimitable is its age. Utah boasts the youngest workforce in the country; no other state comes even close, making the state’s desert soil fertile ground for business growth and development.
            According to Census figures, the nation’s workforce is dominated by baby boomers, the oldest of whom are now in their 60s (8,000 baby boomers turn 60 every day). Utah’s workforce is dominated by much younger workers. Forty-eight percent of the state’s population is 35 years old or younger, and no other state even breaks the 40 percent barrier in this regard. Utah is also growing, with a 2.7 percent increase in population during 2006, three times the national average.
            The future is bright, says Mark Knold, chief economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, noting that the largest age group in Utah is those aged 0 to 10. “We’re into our third baby boom, while the nation had only one,” he says. “In 20 years, there will be another large grouping coming into the labor force.”
 
A Healthy and Wise Workforce
Peter Metcalf moved his business, Black Diamond, a manufacturer of climbing and skiing equipment, from Ventura, Calif. to Salt Lake City in 1991. His workforce, numbering about 300 in Utah, is diverse, (including Tibetans, Bosnians, Vietnamese, Hispanics and others) yet hard working and well educated. “It’s a motivated group of people,” Metcalf says. “There are good universities here. We’ve hired [engineering and design graduates] out of BYU, which is a great university, and also the University of Utah.”
As Metcalf found, there is more to the quality of Utah’s workforce than just its young age and high growth rate. The 2005 National Healthcare Quality Report (the most recent available), published by the federal Agency of Healthcare Quality and Research published, compared the quality of health care between the 50 states. Of the seven states that received the highest rating of “strong,” Utah was the only one among the Rocky Mountain and West Coast states.
            Utah ranks fourth highest in the country for the percentage of people 25 years and older who have completed high school—90.7 percent, and Utah’s high school seniors rank third in the nation by the College Board in earning college credits through advanced placement exams.
“We’ve gotten high level people from very large, global companies because of where we’re located and who we are,” Metcalf says. He also reports that the incidence of workers’ comp claims and questionable claims are lower in Utah than other areas of the country.
            When Viracon decided to open its first manufacturing facility in the West, company President Don Pyatt assumed it would go to Phoenix or Las Vegas. Instead, the firm established its western beachhead in St. George, in the economic hub of southwest Utah.
Electrical costs, location, availability of land and the workforce were all factors that convinced the Minnesota-based architectural glass fabricator to come to Utah, Pyatt says. The company recently opened its St. George plant with a workforce of 140, and plans to grow to 250 to 300 within a couple of years. “We have had plenty of people looking for jobs and lots of choices of whom to hire,” says Pyatt. “The education level is quite good.”
            More recently, Rossignol North America, a division of Quiksilver Inc., moved its headquarters to Park City, a ski resort town 40 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City. Executives at the company, which is one of world’s largest ski manufacturers, have been pleased with the workforce it has attracted in Utah. “We were overwhelmed when we posted jobs. We’re very satisfied with the people we’ve hired,” says Rossignol President Francois Goulet.
            As Metcalf acknowledged, part of the quality of Utah’s workforce can be attributed to the quality of the state’s educational institutions. The University of Utah, with its 27,000 students, boasts a renowned medical and biotechnology program, which is responsible for such developments as the artificial heart. The school also hosts well-developed computer and engineering programs, whose graduates have founded companies like Adobe, Pixar, and WordPerfect.
With its business and law schools regularly ranked among the top 50 nationally, Brigham Young University has about 30,000 students. This private institution in Utah County is also known for its “stone cold sober” student body, as ranked by Princeton Review.
Utah State University, the state’s third largest research institution, has roots in agricultural economics, but its Space Dynamics Laboratory, located on the north end of campus, claims more science projects sent to space than any other university in the country. Across the state, other higher education institutions are churning out graduates who are ready to hit the workforce head-on. Weber State University and Southern Utah University round out the four-year schools, and a number of two-year programs are located in smaller communities from St. George to Brigham City.
 
Quality is the Byword
“The quality of the workforce is the thing we hear most from new businesses coming here,” says Alison McFarlane, senior advisor for economic development for Salt Lake City. “It is a very accessible, capable, well-educated workforce.”
As an example, McFarlane highlights the United States Postal Service, which had 15 encoding centers around the country, including one in Utah that had 700 employees. The Postal Service decided to close all but two centers, with Salt Lake City’s among the survivors. The site is now the workplace of more than 1,500 employees.
“Ours was the most efficient,” reports McFarlane. “There were a broad range of employees to choose from, and the Postal Service was able to main its 24-hour-a-day operation. People are just amazed at how hard people here work. It seems to surprise a lot of employers.”
            “It’s a phenomenal workforce for several reasons,” agrees Deedee Corradini, senior vice president of corporate development for Prudential Utah Real Estate, and former Salt Lake City mayor. “It’s young, highly educated, it has a high work ethic and a hard work ethic.”
 
The Big Attraction
Part of the reason companies are so successful in attracting the right people is because of ambitious state programs geared help local businesses get the workforce they need. Among the most beneficial is the Talent Access Program (TAP) directed by Pat Vaughn of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). TAP helps employers gain access to otherwise untapped pools of talent. For example, TAP has an effort underway to connect with talented people who have left the state for greener pastures elsewhere, but would love to return home if good job opportunities are available.
The Custom Fit program, which is administered by community colleges and applied technology centers, provides training that is specifically tailored to the employer’s needs, says Jason Perry, executive director of the GOED. The state’s colleges provide a wide variety of courses and programs aimed at the needs of employers. Black Diamond, for example, has tapped into resources at Salt Lake Community College to train its workers on manufacturing processes, including machinists and other specific positions.
There are also tax credits and cash grant programs, both of which are tied to the wages offered by Utah companies, Perry says. Additionally, the state’s Department of Workforce Services has a sophisticated Web-based system that matches employees and employers.
            “I said I was relocating here because I wanted our location to reside on the asset side of our balance sheet, not the liability side,” says Black Diamond’s Metcalf. “The company has benefited magnificently by its decision to relocate here.”


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