A few weeks ago, former Utah Governor and Health & Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt spoke at a technology summit here in the state. He talked about where Utah’s tech sector was 25 years ago, where it is now and what needs to happen to keep the momentum going.
“Leadership is a generational relay,” Leavitt said. “Each generation builds on the generations before.” A quarter of a century ago, Leavitt’s administration laid the foundation for the state’s business growth with an objective to become a tech capital.At the time, the only notable tech employers in the state were Novell and WordPerfect, and according to Leavitt, there was one VC fund in the state. “It was a whopping $20 million,” he said.
“Look,” Warnock told Leavitt, “You want tech jobs in Utah, you’ve got to have more engineers. Utah isn’t investing a fraction of what it needs to. Tech companies need engineers. Companies like Adobe can’t come to Utah unless you fix that.” Months later, Governor Leavitt unveiled his Utah Engineering Initiative, a program with the goal of doubling the number of engineering slots in Utah colleges and universities. Thanks to those who followed Leavitt, and support from the state legislature, along with Warnock and other community and business leaders, the initiative has blossomed, with more than 40,000 students graduating with engineering or computer science degrees from Utah’s system of higher education.
Since 2016, Utah has added over 17,000 new small businesses, employing nearly 40,000 additional employees. The state ranks second only to California on Lendio’s fourth annual list of the
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