To get a sense of what Gov. Mike Leavitt thinks Utah's economic future depends on, consider Joe's Spic and Span Lunch.
Joe's, a 16-stool cafe in the heart of downtown Provo, opened in 1951.Elvis WAS alive. The Golden Arches were just a glimmer in the eyes of Ray Kroc, who founded McDonald's in 1955 and launched fast food. Cutting-edge businesses computed on main-frame machines that filled a room.
Today Joe's still has just 16 stools. Its menu and service haven't changed much either. And at lunchtime, the place is always packed.
Leavitt said Joe's discovered - and kept through the years - what Utah's economy has and needs to maintain: a sustainable competitive advantage.
"It's something that is as simple as a good place to eat, good pie and a cup of coffee, and some people that you enjoy, but it is a sustainable competitive advantage and they have been able to do it for 42 years," Leavitt said at the eighth annual Governor's Conference on Economic Development held in Provo. "That is rare in today's environment."
Utah has its own sustainable competitive advantages, and mining those will enable the state to continue its economic vitality, he said.
But, Leavitt warned, the state needs to avoid complacency that leads to the kinds of mistakes that in recent years undermined several of the nation's biggest corporations.
Those mistakes are: failing to recognize and adapt to profound change; being constricted by culture and consumed by process; failing to recognize competition; and looking backward or inward rather than to the future.
Leavitt said the state and local communities need to define themselves in terms of Utah's sustainable competitive advantages to maintain its economic momentum. Those advantages are: a highly productive work force; a highly educated population; developing technological opportunities; excellent quality of life; and a healthy general business climate.
Work force
The state must teach, protect and sell its work ethic.
"We need to coordinate Utah's training systems and programs to produce maximum efficiency," he said. "We need to train more of our workers with next-decade skills."
Education
The state needs to produce workers prepared to compete in a high-tech, global marketplace, he said.
Utah's education system must measure student learning rather than progress, individualize curricula to meet each student's needs, invest in technology and create a spirit of entre-pre-neur-ship.
Leavitt said the mistakes made by some of the "bluest of the blue-chip companies" are evident in education.
The centennial school program is aimed at instilling entrepreneurship in state schools, he said.
Technology
Utah must lead in technological infrastructure, with citizens trained and willing to push its limits.
"The electronic highway - it's a term lots of people like to talk about, but in this state we're going to define it and it's going to be delivered into every home and every business in this state," Leavitt said.
The state also needs to build on its base of high-technology businesses and continue to support technology research and transfer.
Quality of life
Utah must concentrate on preserving long-term core values and quality living rather than seeking short-term gain.
Clean air and water, safe communities and recognition that rural Utah is a unique economic asset is part of that, Leavitt said. So are preserving well-managed state and local governments and finding a balance in protecting natural resources, the economic base and the environment.
Business climate
"We have to find ways in this state - and our primary economic development goal should be - to provide a business climate where business can operate profitably," Leavitt said.