The Economic Development Corporation of Utah between July 1, 1995, and Jan. 31, 1996, received 423 inquiries from Utah companies that might want to relocate within the state and companies outside the state that might want to move to Utah.
According to information provided by EDCU, inquiries came from 45 of the 50 states, much higher than three years ago when the public-private organization received inquiries from only 15 states.California companies made the most inquiries, 89, followed by existing Utah companies with 65, Colorado with 28, Washington and Texas with 24 each and Florida with 22.
During the above time frame, Advanta Corp., Equifax Payment Services and Sprint Communications announced they were coming to Utah. Those companies have a combined 640 jobs with an average salary of $32,800, taking 77,000 square feet feet of space and resulting in a $20.2 million capital investment.
EDCU is awaiting announcements from seven companies about relocation but not necessarily to Utah, although Utah is a finalist. These companies have 1,300 jobs with an average wage of $26,500, will require 795,000 square feet and will have a $21.2 million capital investment.
In the seven months ending Jan. 31, EDCU had 103 clients, worked with 150 site consultants and conducted 26 sites visits. In addition, several articles on the Utah economy appeared in national publications that would have cost thousands of dollars had EDCU paid for the space. EDCU also led corporate recruitment visits to other states.