Utah faces a strong future but also several challenges to make that future a reality, Gov. Mike Leavitt said Thursday.

Speaking to a group of 160, the governor said several steps need to be taken to ensure that Utah's growth is "quality growth."

"There has never been a time in my life that the future of the state has been brighter," Leavitt said.

Still, the Beehive State faces obstacles in selling itself to the region and the world, primarily through perceptions, the governor said.

"There is no question people have seen us as a parochial culture or a kind of 'mono-culture,' " Leavitt said. But the 2002 Winter Games represent an opportunity to change that perception to 4 billion television viewers and visitors to Utah. "When you get people here, that all goes away."

Leavitt's comments came during the seventh annual Corporate Friends breakfast set up by the Coalition for Utah's Future, sponsors of Envision Utah.

With Utah growing in the past decade even faster than officials had anticipated, the state needs to work to preserve its quality of life, he said.

"It's very clear that beyond the Wasatch Front, what people like about Utah is that it's a great place to live," he said, noting that most of the state's growth in recent years has been in the periphery of Salt Lake County. The availability of golf tee times, reasonable commute lengths, available electricity and homes with open space nearby play roles in the attraction.

The state's people need to "invest in people," which includes funding for schools, training centers and business development, he said. Infrastructure improvements, such as with Interstate 15 and the Legacy Parkway, also are important, as are boosting the state's energy infrastructure.

Leavitt said work needs to be done to eliminate "economic friction" and make sure government does not inhibit economic development. He also said Utah needs to continue with plans to become a high-tech center.

"We're succeeding. By most measures, we're somewhere between the top of the second tier and the bottom of the first tier in the ranking of high-tech communities," Leavitt said, adding that the state still can improve in those listings.

Those rankings validate a belief that Utah could succeed in that area, he said. "That's been a barrier to us, let's face it. People have wondered if you could recruit and attract to Salt Lake City. You can, and the people who have come here love it," he said.

Leavitt said 30,000 jobs will be needed each year to support growing schools and provide employment for graduating students. The state will have 100,000 more schoolchildren in 2010 than it currently has, far in excess of the 30,000 it added in the past 13 years.

View Comments

"Growth very clearly will continue to be an issue in 2000 to 2010 as we move to the next census," he said.

Recently released census figures also show that the state is more diverse than a decade ago, and the governor stressed a need for minorities to play a role in the state's planning.

"This is an economic team, a cultural team we're talking about," Leavitt said. "If they are not part of the effort, it will not succeed overall."


E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.