If someone asked you: What is the only state in the nation to have increased its international exports every year since 2007, would you likely guess a relatively small state in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, without a seaport?
Surprising to almost everyone, Utah is the nation's leader in its enviable record of steadily expanding its export performance annually, despite its seemingly isolated location in the inner mountain region of the western United States.
What explains this amazing global growth in Utah and its capital city, Salt Lake City?
First, some highlights:
In 2007, Utah exported $6.8 billion in goods overseas; in 2012, this export number nearly tripled to over $19.3 billion.
Salt Lake City is in the center of a state that currently has more bilingual speakers per capita than any other state.
For three years in a row, Forbes magazine has named Utah "the best state in the nation to do business."
Last year Utah hosted over 23 million visitors to its many stunning travel and tourism sites, and many of these visitors "came to play, and decide to stay."
As host to about 8,000 international students, Utah's dozen colleges and universities are increasingly becoming known as a highly attractive, welcoming and dynamic location for excellent higher education.
From the very top of Utah leadership, Utah Governor Gary Herbert has set an unwavering goal that “Utah will lead the nation as the best performing economy and be recognized as a premier global business destination."
The results of this laser-like focus on international growth continue to be stunning.
Last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission estimated that approximately 100,000 Utah jobs were directly tied to exports, with thousands more indirectly tied, as well as thousands more dependent on imports and foreign direct investment.
In addition to the $19 billion last year in exports of goods, Utah is increasingly expanding its booming exports of all kinds of services, especially in the IT, bio sciences, franchising, consulting, and logistics sectors as well as the long-established travel, tourism, and international student areas. Coupled with a robust import environment, it is easy to see the key role that international activities play in an overall state economy of about $125 billion.
As its capital and largest city, Salt Lake City has both led and reaped the benefits of this huge growth in international expansion over the past several years.
When Brigham Young and the Mormon pioneers left their comfortable homes in the east and founded Salt Lake City in 1847, legend has it that their hardy band of travelers entered a barren high desert valley that provided only a solitary tree for shade and comfort. From that inauspicious beginning has blossomed a gorgeous city renowned for its beauty, clean streets, remarkable vistas, and a friendly business environment.
Often overlooked as a key factor in Salt Lake City's nation and international success is its very helpful location as "the cross roads of the West." Whether by design, good fortune, or pure good luck, the particular decision to locate Salt Lake City in the ideal spot to become the hub for much of the transportation and logistics needs of the West has been very fortuitous. Today, Salt Lake City is a key link for three key interstate highways, three transcontinental railroads, as well as a major international airport (and Delta's second largest U.S. hub).
Given the challenges of the geography of the western United States (including the Sierra Nevada mountains on the California border and the Colorado river on the south), the most efficient shipments from north to south usually end up flowing through Salt Lake City one way or the other. As a result, most of the major logistics companies from around the nation and world have offices in Salt Lake City.
With containing congestion at busy West Coast ports, many shippers are finding it a profitable practice to truck their unopened containers from California to Salt Lake City and then "break bulk" in Utah to save both time and expense. A recent survey also revealed that because of Utah's geographic advantages, its highways currently carry twice the national average of truck traffic.
Utah's central geographic location has long made it a popular connecting spot. In 1869, a lonely spot just north of Salt Lake called Promissory was selected as the final meeting point between East and West for the completion of the transcontinental railway. In the intervening years, Salt Lake City repeatedly has played such a connecting role.
As a recent example, Governor Herbert hosted the National Governors Association annual summer meeting two years ago in Salt Lake. For the first time, four provincial (i.e. state level) Chinese governors were invited to also attend as guests of the U.S. governors. Just these four Chinese governors represented over 177 million Chinese citizens! Accompanying the four Chinese governors were about 400 Chinese business, government, educational and cultural officials interested in meeting their American counterparts.
In the midst of these very interesting connections between East and West on every level, another key Utah advantage became evident: bilingual language skills are exceptionally useful. Throughout the Chinese visitors' time in Utah, they were continuously greeted by many fellow speakers in Mandarin. From the waiters at their hotels to the citizens on the streets of Salt Lake, thousands of Utah residents are fluent in Mandarin or 130 other world languages.
Whether from church missionary experiences, dual immersion language training, immigration or overseas semester abroad, Utah residents continue to lead the nation in per capita bilateral language skills. As a result, the Chinese visitors were dazzled by the local expertise in their own language: at one banquet, the mayors of the three largest cities in Utah welcomed the Chinese leaders. Two of the three did so in fluent Mandarin, learned as young adults while serving a couple years as missionaries in Taiwan. The Chinese leaders were also entertained by a large choir of second graders, singing traditional Chinese folk songs in perfect Mandarin learned in the largest Mandarin dual immersion classroom program in the United States. (Currently, about one third of all Mandarin dual immersion programs in the U.S. are in Utah, along with similar programs in French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arabic).
At the conclusion of the National Governors Association meetings, one of the Chinese governors asked a Utah official: "Does EVERYONE in Utah speak Mandarin?"
On the world stage, one of the biggest "coming out parties" for Utah was the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. With thousands of participants and millions of viewers all over the world, the 2002 Olympics allowed the world to see and learn more about this new arrival as a "world city."
Enjoying the global spotlight on the city, state and region allowed the rest of the world to learn that not only is Salt Lake City in the middle of the "greatest snow on earth," but also is a welcoming and friendly host to the whole planet. In addition, Salt Lake City is widely credited with organizing and producing one of the most successful Olympics ever, which was especially challenging in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy.
An added benefit of hosting the Olympics has been the necessary development of an amazingly advanced infrastructure. Salt Lake today has a superb light rail system, complemented by commuter rail, enhanced interstate highways, and even expanded biking lanes—all of which have provided substantial boosts to both the business and international advantages of this growing World City.
With Salt Lake City's natural beauties, geographic location, diverse population, and well-educated citizens, there is still one additional "secret weapon" that Utah is using successfully to expand its growing global impact: partnerships.
Governor Herbert has relentlessly urged Utah to combine its unique skills and relationships to build its national and international opportunities. One of his favorite phrases is: "Unprecedented partnerships create unparalleled opportunities." As a direct result, the positive cooperation among all levels of Utah private and public entities has really been helpful in expanding Salt Lake and Utah's global presence. One example is the establishment of the World Trade Center Utah in 2006 with the unified support of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, the Salt Lake Chamber, the State Legislature, and the business community. As one of 320 world trade centers in 100 countries, World Trade Center Utah has helped coordinate international trade outreach between Utah and the world as one of the Governor's "unprecedented partnerships creating unparalleled opportunities."
With 95 percent of the world's customers outside of the United States, Utah and Salt Lake City are particularly excited about their future—a future increasingly focused on the rapidly expanding global marketplace where their talents and experience will prove highly relevant and competitive.
After a career in international business, Lew Cramer moved to Utah in 2006 to serve as the founding CEO of the World Trade Center Utah. During the first Bush administration, Lew served as the Director General of the U.S. Commercial Service, directing the activities of 1400 commercial officers at over 150 embassies worldwide, and in 65 offices throughout the United States. In the Reagan administration, he served as a White House Fellow, as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, and as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Trade. He is an honors graduate of the charter class of the Brigham Young University Law School.
Photo: Photo Dean (cc).
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Utah: A Future Focused on the Global Marketplace
November 20, 2013
If someone asked you: What is the only state in the nation to have increased its international exports every year since 2007, would you likely guess a relatively small state in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, without a seaport?
Surprising to almost everyone, Utah is the nation's leader in its enviable record of steadily expanding its export performance annually, despite its seemingly isolated location in the inner mountain region of the western United States.
What explains this amazing global growth in Utah and its capital city, Salt Lake City?
First, some highlights:
In 2007, Utah exported $6.8 billion in goods overseas; in 2012, this export number nearly tripled to over $19.3 billion.
Salt Lake City is in the center of a state that currently has more bilingual speakers per capita than any other state.
For three years in a row, Forbes magazine has named Utah "the best state in the nation to do business."
Last year Utah hosted over 23 million visitors to its many stunning travel and tourism sites, and many of these visitors "came to play, and decide to stay."
As host to about 8,000 international students, Utah's dozen colleges and universities are increasingly becoming known as a highly attractive, welcoming and dynamic location for excellent higher education.
From the very top of Utah leadership, Utah Governor Gary Herbert has set an unwavering goal that “Utah will lead the nation as the best performing economy and be recognized as a premier global business destination."
The results of this laser-like focus on international growth continue to be stunning.
Last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission estimated that approximately 100,000 Utah jobs were directly tied to exports, with thousands more indirectly tied, as well as thousands more dependent on imports and foreign direct investment.
In addition to the $19 billion last year in exports of goods, Utah is increasingly expanding its booming exports of all kinds of services, especially in the IT, bio sciences, franchising, consulting, and logistics sectors as well as the long-established travel, tourism, and international student areas. Coupled with a robust import environment, it is easy to see the key role that international activities play in an overall state economy of about $125 billion.
As its capital and largest city, Salt Lake City has both led and reaped the benefits of this huge growth in international expansion over the past several years.
When Brigham Young and the Mormon pioneers left their comfortable homes in the east and founded Salt Lake City in 1847, legend has it that their hardy band of travelers entered a barren high desert valley that provided only a solitary tree for shade and comfort. From that inauspicious beginning has blossomed a gorgeous city renowned for its beauty, clean streets, remarkable vistas, and a friendly business environment.
Often overlooked as a key factor in Salt Lake City's nation and international success is its very helpful location as "the cross roads of the West." Whether by design, good fortune, or pure good luck, the particular decision to locate Salt Lake City in the ideal spot to become the hub for much of the transportation and logistics needs of the West has been very fortuitous. Today, Salt Lake City is a key link for three key interstate highways, three transcontinental railroads, as well as a major international airport (and Delta's second largest U.S. hub).
Given the challenges of the geography of the western United States (including the Sierra Nevada mountains on the California border and the Colorado river on the south), the most efficient shipments from north to south usually end up flowing through Salt Lake City one way or the other. As a result, most of the major logistics companies from around the nation and world have offices in Salt Lake City.
With containing congestion at busy West Coast ports, many shippers are finding it a profitable practice to truck their unopened containers from California to Salt Lake City and then "break bulk" in Utah to save both time and expense. A recent survey also revealed that because of Utah's geographic advantages, its highways currently carry twice the national average of truck traffic.
Utah's central geographic location has long made it a popular connecting spot. In 1869, a lonely spot just north of Salt Lake called Promissory was selected as the final meeting point between East and West for the completion of the transcontinental railway. In the intervening years, Salt Lake City repeatedly has played such a connecting role.
As a recent example, Governor Herbert hosted the National Governors Association annual summer meeting two years ago in Salt Lake. For the first time, four provincial (i.e. state level) Chinese governors were invited to also attend as guests of the U.S. governors. Just these four Chinese governors represented over 177 million Chinese citizens! Accompanying the four Chinese governors were about 400 Chinese business, government, educational and cultural officials interested in meeting their American counterparts.
In the midst of these very interesting connections between East and West on every level, another key Utah advantage became evident: bilingual language skills are exceptionally useful. Throughout the Chinese visitors' time in Utah, they were continuously greeted by many fellow speakers in Mandarin. From the waiters at their hotels to the citizens on the streets of Salt Lake, thousands of Utah residents are fluent in Mandarin or 130 other world languages.
Whether from church missionary experiences, dual immersion language training, immigration or overseas semester abroad, Utah residents continue to lead the nation in per capita bilateral language skills. As a result, the Chinese visitors were dazzled by the local expertise in their own language: at one banquet, the mayors of the three largest cities in Utah welcomed the Chinese leaders. Two of the three did so in fluent Mandarin, learned as young adults while serving a couple years as missionaries in Taiwan. The Chinese leaders were also entertained by a large choir of second graders, singing traditional Chinese folk songs in perfect Mandarin learned in the largest Mandarin dual immersion classroom program in the United States. (Currently, about one third of all Mandarin dual immersion programs in the U.S. are in Utah, along with similar programs in French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arabic).
At the conclusion of the National Governors Association meetings, one of the Chinese governors asked a Utah official: "Does EVERYONE in Utah speak Mandarin?"
On the world stage, one of the biggest "coming out parties" for Utah was the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. With thousands of participants and millions of viewers all over the world, the 2002 Olympics allowed the world to see and learn more about this new arrival as a "world city."
Enjoying the global spotlight on the city, state and region allowed the rest of the world to learn that not only is Salt Lake City in the middle of the "greatest snow on earth," but also is a welcoming and friendly host to the whole planet. In addition, Salt Lake City is widely credited with organizing and producing one of the most successful Olympics ever, which was especially challenging in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy.
An added benefit of hosting the Olympics has been the necessary development of an amazingly advanced infrastructure. Salt Lake today has a superb light rail system, complemented by commuter rail, enhanced interstate highways, and even expanded biking lanes—all of which have provided substantial boosts to both the business and international advantages of this growing World City.
With Salt Lake City's natural beauties, geographic location, diverse population, and well-educated citizens, there is still one additional "secret weapon" that Utah is using successfully to expand its growing global impact: partnerships.
Governor Herbert has relentlessly urged Utah to combine its unique skills and relationships to build its national and international opportunities. One of his favorite phrases is: "Unprecedented partnerships create unparalleled opportunities." As a direct result, the positive cooperation among all levels of Utah private and public entities has really been helpful in expanding Salt Lake and Utah's global presence. One example is the establishment of the World Trade Center Utah in 2006 with the unified support of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, the Salt Lake Chamber, the State Legislature, and the business community. As one of 320 world trade centers in 100 countries, World Trade Center Utah has helped coordinate international trade outreach between Utah and the world as one of the Governor's "unprecedented partnerships creating unparalleled opportunities."
With 95 percent of the world's customers outside of the United States, Utah and Salt Lake City are particularly excited about their future—a future increasingly focused on the rapidly expanding global marketplace where their talents and experience will prove highly relevant and competitive.
After a career in international business, Lew Cramer moved to Utah in 2006 to serve as the founding CEO of the World Trade Center Utah. During the first Bush administration, Lew served as the Director General of the U.S. Commercial Service, directing the activities of 1400 commercial officers at over 150 embassies worldwide, and in 65 offices throughout the United States. In the Reagan administration, he served as a White House Fellow, as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, and as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Trade. He is an honors graduate of the charter class of the Brigham Young University Law School.
Photo: Photo Dean (cc).
