SALT LAKE CITY — No less an authority than Val Hale agrees that it’s pretty unbelievable where he’s been and what he’s done through the first 57 years of his life — and he’s the one who’s been there and done it.
In July, Gov. Gary Herbert appointed Hale executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED), replacing Spencer P. Eccles, who stepped down to join a private equity firm.
Before that, Hale was president and CEO of the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Before that, he was vice president at Utah Valley University.
Before that, he was athletic director at Brigham Young University, his alma mater, where he spent 24 years maneuvering through the ranks, first working as an intern in the sports information office, then in marketing, fundraising and public relations.
And before all that, he was a cub reporter for the Provo Herald.
“I talk to a lot of student groups and I tell them, the day I graduated from college, if anyone said to me, ‘This is going to be your career path,’ I’d have told them they were crazy,” says Hale. “In my wildest imagination I never could have even thought that up. I didn’t even know what most of those jobs were.”
On a recent afternoon, the newest director of GOED made time for a conversation with the Deseret News about where he’s been, where he’s going, and his views about Utah's economy and the latest adventure he’s embarking on.
DN: Thank you for taking the time today to talk. How did this latest job opportunity come about?
VH: (Laughs) Well, I made the mistake of asking the governor a question and the next thing I knew he asked me to do this.
DN: And the question?
VH: I asked him if he had found his new chief of staff after Derek Miller left and he said no. Then he paused and said there was another job coming open that might be suited to me and my skill set because Spencer Eccles was going to be stepping down as director of GOED. After that conversation he called me and I probably had five different interviews, three with him and two with others, and then he offered me the job. It wasn’t something I was seeking or expecting. It just came out of the blue when I asked him that question.
DN: How far back does your relationship go with the governor?
VH: We first met about 11 years ago when I was athletic director at BYU and he was a county commissioner in Utah County. His son-in-law (former BYU football player) Ben Cahoon was having a great year in the CFL (Canadian Football League) and he suggested we ought to honor Ben at halftime of one of our games. I thought that was a great idea, and we arranged to have Ben come in for a halftime presentation.
DN: Speaking of BYU, it’s been 10 years since you were let go as athletic director after several football players had troubles with the Honor Code. How difficult was that release for you and how hard was it to move on?
VH: The day I got let go at BYU, my wife and I decided look, we can take one of two paths. We can be bitter and angry or we can say it happened and move on. We decided to move on. I have seen enough coaches who got fired who went the bitter route. I didn’t want to do that because they became cantankerous and ornery and they were miserable all the time. So we just moved ahead. I have no ill feelings about BYU. I was let go the week after we beat Notre Dame. Some athletic directors joked that I was the first A.D. in history to get fired after beating Notre Dame. Unfortunately, somebody’s head had to roll after all the negative publicity, and it ended up being mine. We’ve stayed in touch with the university, we still go to the games, many of them, they send us tickets, we follow them. People come up to me and say they can’t believe the way I’ve responded, but I really believe if I’d lashed out and gotten angry and thrown a tantrum all these doors that have been opened to me would have been closed.
DN: It wasn’t long after leaving BYU that you went to work for UVU. How did that come about?
VH: That goes back to meeting Gary Herbert. After we first met we arranged to play tennis. He kicked me around the court — he’s pretty good, at one time he was one of the best amateurs in the state — and then later he set up a doubles match with Ed Pinegar and Bill Sederburg, who was the new president at UVU. That’s how I met Bill, and it was only a few days after I left BYU that I met with him and he offered me a job at UVU. Being there as it transitioned from UVSC (Utah Valley State College) to UVU (Utah Valley University), getting to be part of that small group of people who got to define what the university was going to be, was just a phenomenal experience. One I wouldn’t have had if I’d stayed at BYU.
DN: How was it going from athletics to academia?
VH: It gave me a whole different perspective when I got into university administration. One conclusion that I came to, and this will maybe surprise people, is that I think we put too much priority and emphasis on athletics. When I left BYU, the athletic department budget according to the federal report was about $33 million a year. When I got to UVU, the state was giving $48 million to run the entire university. So you’ve got $33 million for athletics at BYU and $48 million to educate 30,000 students. Now is there something wrong with that picture? Sometimes athletics really is the tail wagging the dog.
DN: What skill set do you see yourself bringing to GOED?
VH: There aren’t many people who have the background that I have, and I do feel that I’m pretty uniquely qualified. So much of what we do (at GOED) is about communication. We recruit, we market, we sell, we get the message out — a lot of the things I’ve done my whole career. We lobby the Legislature, and that’s something I learned to do at UVU. Before that I was as apolitical as you could be. But I went up and got to know the Legislature and how it operates and I got to love doing that.
DN: How would you describe your management style?
VH: I’m all about people and relationships and collaboration. I’m not an in-your-face guy. I like to get people together and solve problems. I’ve had some interesting jobs, but probably one of the most challenging was when I was president of Riverside Country Club. It was just after the recession. Those were probably two of the most difficult years in the club’s history. They’d just built a new clubhouse and a lot of members abandoned ship because they feared there would be a dues increase and other issues associated with the new building. The members are mostly Type A personalities, successful business executives, so there were a lot of strong opinions about how to solve the problems. I think I brought to the table a calm personality. I don’t get upset, and I don’t get flustered. I just try to keep calm around me. For two years, I think I helped keep things semi-calm around the club. It’s really doing great now, but there were times when I’d lie in bed and think I hope this club doesn’t go under when I’m in charge.
DN: Have you always been a peacemaker or is that something you’ve learned?
VH: A little of both, I suppose. I am always learning from people. One of the people I learned the most from was LaVell Edwards when I was his boss at BYU. How many people can say that they were LaVell’s boss? Honestly, no one could be LaVell’s boss. But I learned so much from him. Most people think LaVell’s success came as a result of his football genius. The reality is he was a great people person. I watched him and how he dealt with people and with situations and how he never got too high and he never got too low and always maintained a perspective when he’d get beat and everyone around him would panic and want to jump off the ship. LaVell was always just even-keeled. I watched that for years and I really admired him and wanted to be like that.
DN: What’s your assessment of Utah’s economic health?
VH: Utah has the best performing economy in America. We’re at the top or near the top of all the charts and lists. Taking over (at GOED) is like being handed the keys to the Boston Celtics in the early ’80s. I told the governor, who wouldn’t like to be in this job right now? But it’s a two-edged sword because as you know in athletics it’s a lot easier to become the champion than it is to stay the champion. We want to make sure the quality of life in Utah stays where it is — at the top.
DN: What about the Utah economy has surprised you the most?
VH: What’s amazed me is seeing how diversified we are. We have the fourth most diverse economy in the country. It used to be in Utah Valley when Geneva Steel coughed, the whole county caught a cold, because that was it. Now, in Utah Valley you’ve got IT all over the place, you’ve got manufacturing, you’ve got mining and agriculture. And that’s true all over the state. That’s why we’re doing so well. If we have one industry that struggles a bit we’re not going to be impacted as much because we have others that can keep up. You look at North Dakota. All oil all the time. If something happens to the energy industry, they will go from first to last like that.
DN: The biggest economic challenge in Utah right now?
VH: I think it’s workforce related. I’m finding that we have a lot of companies that want to expand and hire more employees but they can’t find the workers they need. Maybe it’s software coding, or maybe it’s a technical machinist, or something else that calls for a specific skill. I don’t know how many businesses I’ve talked to that say they have jobs to fill but can’t find qualified people to fill them.
DN: What advice do you have for today’s students?
VH: There are great jobs out there, especially in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). I would encourage young people to go into those areas of study if they have an interest in them. I’m one who believes a well-rounded education is important. I also believe that there’s more to life than being smart. Business people tell me they don’t want people who just know how to code, they want people who can sit in a meeting and communicate and work as a team. You can be smart behind a computer, but if you can’t work in a team and communicate and know how to get along with your co-workers, you won’t be very effective.
Email: benson@deseretnews.com