Originally published in Utah Business.
Just as a coach reviews game film to assess his or her team, I like to read economic game film to understand Utah’s economy. While sports analogies are often overused and frequently incomprehensible to those who lack specific sports expertise, I find the ‘game film’ analogy to be quite useful in thinking about Utah’s economy.
What is economic game film? It’s not unlike the game film Kyle Whittingham and Bronco Mendenhall review after each Ute or Cougar football game. The footage shows every play call, every pass, every tackle, every block, every punt and every turnover. The term “reading game film” is used because coaches study and evaluate every play they see in order to make changes. Did the quarterback make the right throw based on the coverage? Did the offensive line make the assigned blocks? What caused the fumble? How did the field goal kicker perform in a game time situation? Did the game plan work and what needs to change?
When you apply the same process to the Utah economy, you gain a better understanding of what’s working, what’s not and what needs to change. Here’s my take.
The game plan is working
Utah’s year-over job growth stands at an impressive 4.5 percent. That’s more than twice the national rate and well over our historical average of around 3.2 percent. Utah leap-frogged other states in recovering from the Great Recession and has not looked back. Job growth from June 2014 to June 2015 registered 56,900 new private sector jobs, more than any other month since the most recent downturn. Gov. Gary Herbert set the vision for Utah to lead the nation as the best performing economy. That’s a high bar, but our game plan is working.
Goldman Sachs is an economic star
Downtown Salt Lake City is on the rise and Goldman Sachs is making a major economic contribution. Just like a receiver who makes game-winning plays, Goldman Sachs has grown from 35 employees in Utah to approximately 2,200 jobs today. Salt Lake City now ranks fourth behind New York City, London and Bangalore as the largest employment centers for Goldman Sachs in the world. That’s a big accomplishment for a city located in the interior Western United States.
Senior officials at Goldman Sachs tell me Salt Lake City’s growth has been earned. The company likes the quality of the workforce and the quality of life. They say Salt Lake City is the most requested office in the company, which makes me think their employees like to ski, mountain bike and have an airport 15 minutes from downtown. Whatever the reason, Goldman Sachs is making a gigantic contribution to the Utah economy and securing Utah’s position as the Wall Street of the West.
Our missed tackle is homeless services
Salt Lake City misses the tackle when it comes to providing homeless services in a way that provides maximum support for our homeless brothers and sisters and enables Salt Lake City to realize its economic potential. The state’s most vulnerable population deserves proper care and attention, but we have allowed the nucleus for homeless services to be a nucleus for drug dealing and crime. Salt Lake City businesses also deserve to operate in an environment free of crime, public indecencies and fear. Our capital city will not meet its economic potential without fixing this problem.
I’m grateful for Mayors Ben McAdams and Ralph Becker’s leadership in creating a homeless services site evaluation committee chaired by Palmer DePaulis and Gail Miller. I’m optimistic we are making progress, but until things change homeless services are an economic liability for our state.
Prison relocation could be an economic handoff or a fumble
Utah must rebuild the Utah State Prison. The Draper facility is old, unsafe and adjacent to the most rapidly growing tech center in the state. As a community we simply must invest in a new prison and enact needed criminal justice reforms.
The next several months will be telling as the state and Salt Lake City wrestle with options. If done right, the state and city can achieve the trifecta of a needed corrections facility, penal reform and economic development. If they fumble, we could be in for high expenses, lawsuits and subpar economic outcomes. I take comfort in the tremendous leadership of Rep. Brad Wilson and Sen. Jerry Stephenson, who chair the relocation commission. The key will be to make smart, long-term decisions that modernize our criminal justice system and create an environment for economic growth at both the Draper and Salt Lake City sites. Utah can do this and avoid a costly turnover.
My read of Utah’s economic game film reveals a state moving in the right direction with a winning record. We have plenty of things to work on, but we have great coaches, great players and a game plan that works. Let’s hope our college football teams achieve a winning record this fall as well.