INSIGHTS
Originally published in the Deseret News. As fall approaches, you can feel election season right around the corner. Mailboxes fill with political mailers, yard signs multiply, candidates knock on doors and news stories intensify. In the approximately 12 weeks until Election Day, I encourage voters to listen to and watch the behavior of candidates. Look…
Originally submitted to Utah Business. I watched with interest as President Donald Trump made his most recent Supreme Court selection. One of the finalists, federal appellate judge Amy Barrett, made the short list. In news stories covering Barrett, the media frequently cited her role as the mother of seven children. I don’t recall any of…
Originally published in the Deseret News. Several years ago, I heard a social scientist describe a new organizing framework for our world. Instead of an orientation built around national, state and local relationships, the commentator said our lives are increasingly being organized along global, regional and community lines. I find this reframing useful but worry…
Originally published in the Deseret News. This week, the CEO of a large company headquartered in downtown Salt Lake City described the need to offer services and invest in infrastructure in Utah County. As he made his point, he looked across the table at me and asked if there was a single measure that captured…
Originally submitted to Utah Business. Perhaps you’ve heard the stories. People are talking about Utah. Prominent magazine articles and news stories feature Utah’s nation-leading job growth, low unemployment and economic development success. When you travel, people inquire about Utah’s economic achievements. You fill up for gas at Costco and the guy in the car next…
Originally published in the Deseret News. The poet E. E. Cummings wrote, “More, and more, and still more … are we all morticians?” This quote reminds me of the seemingly limitless growth occurring in Utah right now. We have more people, more jobs and more opportunity. We also have more congestion, more pollution and more…
Originally published in the Deseret News. The Utah economy continues to impress. Utah job growth registers an impressive 3.5 percent, the fastest job growth in the country and nearly twice the national average of 1.6 percent. Utah’s job growth, combined with low unemployment, rising wages and net in-migration, makes for the hottest economy in the…
Originally submitted to Utah Business. The growth challenges along the Wasatch Front are well known. What receives less attention is the extraordinary growth pressures being felt in Utah’s Wasatch Back, an area defined as the east side of the Wasatch Range encompassing Morgan, Summit and Wasatch County. We need leadership and investment to guide this…
Originally published in the Deseret News. The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off next week in Russia. It is, by far, the grandest sporting event in the world. Teams from 204 countries competed across six continents, for three years, playing in 855 matches, to be one of 31 qualifying teams (plus the host country of…
Originally published in the Deseret News. After my mother passed away, a friend inquired about her death. Without meaning to jar me he asked, “Are you an orphan now?” I was taken aback by the question. I’d never thought of it that way. Since my father had died several years earlier, I responded, “I suppose…