This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It looks like it might take the University of Utah more than a single season to meet the Pac-12 standard for competition on the gridiron, but we are more than ready to rise to the challenge in the classroom and the research lab.
Raising our game will require thoughtful investment in our state's flagship university. The private sector has stepped up repeatedly over the past decade and made sacrifices to fund core infrastructure at the University of Utah and other institutions of higher learning. Recent news reports about how the operation and maintenance costs of these facilities place a strain on the state budget miss the mark. The real issue is how to make higher education and the benefits it brings to the state a higher economic priority in the Utah Legislature.
The campus of the University of Utah is being transformed with new buildings providing critical space for instruction and research, including the Skaggs Pharmacy Research Building, the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts and Education Complex, the Thatcher Building for Biological and Biophysical Chemistry and the Spencer Fox Eccles Business Building. With these projects and many others, private industry and individuals are rising up to meet a state need and lighten the burden on taxpayers. The University of Utah must proceed carefully and collaboratively in building facilities that require government-funded operations and maintenance. At the same time, the community needs to come together — university administrators and trustees, donors, the business community and the Legislature — to find the best way to support the university and its educational and economic mission. We're at a critical junction for our state's future.
We've been here before — and we've proven our ability to collaborate and make sacrifices that pay off for the state in the long run. Years ago, the state's aging and insufficient transportation infrastructure threatened our economic prospects. I joined a group of business leaders who worked with our elected leaders to build a road and transit system that would support economic development. Today we can take pride that the business community and the Legislature acted to establish an efficient transportation infrastructure that not only provided jobs during construction, but also helped ensure the state's economic competitiveness, for which we enjoy national recognition, including a ranking by Forbes as the top state for business.
Now we need to run that same play again to ensure that we have the educational infrastructure we need to compete in the innovation economy of the 21st century. Supporting our flagship university is about more than state pride — it's about our shared economic future. This year the U. edged out MIT for the top spot in spinning off companies from its research, and a new report by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research concludes that the economic impacts of those startup companies are "significant and impressive," accounting for 15,767 jobs, $754.5 million in personal income and $76.6 million in tax revenue in 2009.
But the true economic impact of the University of Utah on the state is much broader. In a recent Fortune magazine survey, Salt Lake City ranks among the "15 Best New Cities for Business" in the world, with the U. cited as a top factor.
The combination of a state government that understands business, a low cost of living, outstanding quality of life and a world-class research university that produces cutting-edge research and well-prepared graduates attracts businesses seeking to grow and innovate.
That's why companies like software maker Adobe are expanding operations here. In a video, "Trending Utah," from the Governor's Office of Economic Development, Brad Rencher, senior vice president and general manager of the company's Omniture business unit, says, "I see a lot of parallels between what's happening in the technology ecosystem in Utah today and what's happened in Silicon Valley in the past."
The state of Utah and its flagship university are ready to compete at a higher level. We must seize upon the many new opportunities that will come our way as we join the prestigious research universities of the Pac-12. I am excited to be involved in a better university, a better economy and a better Utah — in other words, a winning future. Together, we can do it.
Clark Ivory is president of Ivory Homes and the chairman of the University of Utah Board of Trustees.