Salt Lake:Official development news thread - Part 2 - Page 49

Cottonwood · #**961** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 2:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WeST

I did a little quick and dirty investigation of the fortune 500 issue. On the surface this sounds very damning of Delts argument, but a closer look changes it. According to Fortune, Denver has 11 companies in the top 500. If my analysis is right only five of those are relocations from other states. Meaning the other 6 are homegrown out of Denver. From those 5 you get two that had their founding in Omaha, which would have given Colorado a advantage because of proximity. So Utah was only passed up 5X as often as Colorado or, depending how you view it, 3X as often. This is not to denigrate Colorado; home growing businesses is just as good, but this should not be used as evidence that companies are largely avoiding Utah. Lastly, I think only one company moved to Colorado in the 90's and none in this decade.

As for Idaho, the one Fortune 500 company they have, Micron, is also a homegrown enterprise. Utah wasn't passed up for Boise.

Utah needs to keep companies here as they grow and develop into large corporations. I think this is the real issue. Utah also appears to be gaining momentum, which will make it increasingly likely that a company like that would relocate or develop here.

Idaho and Boise, also has another Fortune 500 company called Boise Cascade Holdings which has their headquarters downtown Boise. As recently as 3 years ago we had three Fortune 500, the Albertsons Headquarters but now the main headquarters is in Eden Prarie, MN because of the buy out, but Boise still has the Western corporate headquarters for the "Albertsons" brand name just not the main headquarters for Super Valu.
Go back a decade ago and there were even more Fortune 500 companies, 3 more, with headquarters in Boise but buy outs and mergers have changed that.
At one time Boise had the most Fortune 500 headquarters per capita than any other city in the nation and the best thing is all of the historical Fortune 500 that were headquarted here and the current Fortune 500 headquartered in Boise are homegrown which really speaks of the entrepreneurial creative spirit of Boise. In current times though we are competing just like any other city for expansions and relocated headquarters and currently there are at least a dozen mid sized and large companies considering expanding, relocating or moving headquarters to Boise. I know of a few recent smaller expansions into Boise from California and Washington high tech companies that also considered Utah but then there are companies that looked at both Boise and Salt Lake and chose Salt Lake...It depends on who has the best tax package or wooing package. It just sucks that times change and homegrown companies get bought out by other corporations.
Microsoft is considering Boise for a major regional headquarters expansion and Micron is teaming up with Solar companies to turn Boise into the green/solar product assembly capitol of the West. That would be sweet.

delts145 · #**962** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 3:34 PM**

You're right Cottonwood, and I think that there will be many corporations which will choose Boise in the future as a Mountain or Western hub over a Phoenix, Salt Lake, or Denver.

I think that for the most part the future is going to prove bright for all of the Mountain Capitals.

WeST · #**963** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 3:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cottonwood

Idaho and Boise, also has another Fortune 500 company called Boise Cascade Holdings which has their headquarters downtown Boise. As recently as 3 years ago we had three Fortune 500, the Albertsons Headquarters but now the main headquarters is in Eden Prarie, MN because of the buy out, but Boise still has the Western corporate headquarters for the "Albertsons" brand name just not the main headquarters for Super Valu.
Go back a decade ago and there were even more Fortune 500 companies, 3 more, with headquarters in Boise but buy outs and mergers have changed that.
At one time Boise had the most Fortune 500 headquarters per capita than any other city in the nation and the best thing is all of the historical Fortune 500 that were headquarted here and the current Fortune 500 headquartered in Boise are homegrown which really speaks of the entrepreneurial creative spirit of Boise. In current times though we are competing just like any other city for expansions and relocated headquarters and currently there are at least a dozen mid sized and large companies considering expanding, relocating or moving headquarters to Boise. I know of a few recent smaller expansions into Boise from California and Washington high tech companies that also considered Utah but then there are companies that looked at both Boise and Salt Lake and chose Salt Lake...It depends on who has the best tax package or wooing package. It just sucks that times change and homegrown companies get bought out by other corporations.
Microsoft is considering Boise for a major regional headquarters expansion and Micron is teaming up with Solar companies to turn Boise into the green/solar product assembly capitol of the West. That would be sweet.

Thanks for correcting me, your right about Boise Cascade.

Justnslcsugarhood. · #**964** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 4:27 PM**

I think Boise and Denver are also FAR more likely to have "green" corporations choose them as a place for business then SLC but with Ralph Becker in office I could be wrong.

urbanboy · #**965** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 5:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WeST

While I have heard people say that Utah sometimes struggles to land major corporations because of its policy on gay marriage and other social issues, I doubt this is a large consideration. Taxes, general business climate, workforce, energy prices, transportation and incentives are far bigger a consideration. Further when you say "diverse crowd" are you referring to anyone other than the GLBT community? Other than the corporations in the bay area and NYC I don't think most others are overly worried about what communities have so called "gay rights" laws. By the size of the gay community here things must not be too terrible for them.

Of course I don't only mean the LGBT "community," lets be welcoming to everyone.

urbanboy · #**966** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 6:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by delts145

When companies want to expand their operations, set up a western distribution and warehousing headquarters, relocate, set up a new manufacturing facility, etc., etc., "Salt Lake City, and it's surrounding metro is at the top of many lists." To suggest otherwise is nonsense and flies in the face of reality. The Wasatch Front has been on an aggressive march of growth in Western warehousing, manufacturing and distribution, energy development, and general commercial growth from high tech to medical supplies, and an endless supply of every kind of imaginable product in the field of consumer goods for quite a few years now. Infact, The Wasatch Front leads the nation in growth of so many fields now, that it has become passe to even post another relocation to this metro, or an expansion that will serve the Western U.S. This has been going on for how many years now? And those that actually are considered experts in pronosticating U.S. metro's growth predict that The Wasatch Metro will not only remain in the top five, but will experience a continued acceleration.

FACT...There is not a metro in this country, which is not passed over regurlarly because of some inane or real misconception of some kind. Many metro's which were once much larger than Salt Lake City Metro have long since been overtaken by the Wasatch Front. The same will continue to happen over the next decade.There are many metros in the West or Midwest, that are only a fraction of the Wasatch Fronts size now. Yet even so, The Salt Lake Metro's growth continues to outpace many of them by a considerable percentage, despite having to extract that percentage from a much larger population base.

FACT...The reality is that the Wasatch Front will continue to be in the top tier of those metros leading in population and economic growth in No. America.
.

Great! So what is keeping us from changing the laws to accommodate and welcome those talented LGBorT employees?

urbanboy · #**967** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 6:18 PM**

Oh, sorry, just read Viperlord's comments and saw Cool Whip Man.

delts145 · #**968** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 7:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justnslcsugarhood.

I think Boise and Denver are also FAR more likely to have "green" corporations choose them as a place for business then SLC but with Ralph Becker in office I could be wrong.

There is definately a good possibility that we'll see many significant improvements with Becker as Mayor. I'm very hopeful. I think he's made allot of correct moves so far in making Salt Lake a city of more diverse and exciting options.

TonyAnderson · #**969** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 7:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cottonwood

Idaho and Boise, also has another Fortune 500 company called Boise Cascade Holdings which has their headquarters downtown Boise. As recently as 3 years ago we had three Fortune 500, the Albertsons Headquarters but now the main headquarters is in Eden Prarie, MN because of the buy out, but Boise still has the Western corporate headquarters for the "Albertsons" brand name just not the main headquarters for Super Valu.
Go back a decade ago and there were even more Fortune 500 companies, 3 more, with headquarters in Boise but buy outs and mergers have changed that.
At one time Boise had the most Fortune 500 headquarters per capita than any other city in the nation and the best thing is all of the historical Fortune 500 that were headquarted here and the current Fortune 500 headquartered in Boise are homegrown which really speaks of the entrepreneurial creative spirit of Boise. In current times though we are competing just like any other city for expansions and relocated headquarters and currently there are at least a dozen mid sized and large companies considering expanding, relocating or moving headquarters to Boise. I know of a few recent smaller expansions into Boise from California and Washington high tech companies that also considered Utah but then there are companies that looked at both Boise and Salt Lake and chose Salt Lake...It depends on who has the best tax package or wooing package. It just sucks that times change and homegrown companies get bought out by other corporations.
Microsoft is considering Boise for a major regional headquarters expansion and Micron is teaming up with Solar companies to turn Boise into the green/solar product assembly capitol of the West. That would be sweet.

Well among tax packages and what not, companies also look at the things such as the geographic location, transportation hubs (how prominent the airport is, railroads, etc.), as well as things like cost of doing business (wages, rent, etc.), labor pool, crime and more.

That's why I don't think a company would just instantly disregard Salt Lake, because of the culture, if they were planning on moving their headquarters. If they're moving their headquarters, there must be things they don't like at the their current location, or things that they can find better off elsewhere like perhaps lower taxes, paying lower wages, greater talent pool, and more accessible transportation.

The reality though, is that there's a LOT of cities in America competing for the big companies, and most cities get passed over many times. Especially if you're not New York City or Chicago.

WeST · #**970** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 10:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyAnderson

Well among tax packages and what not, companies also look at the things such as the geographic location, transportation hubs (how prominent the airport is, railroads, etc.), as well as things like cost of doing business (wages, rent, etc.), labor pool, crime and more.

That's why I don't think a company would just instantly disregard Salt Lake, because of the culture, if they were planning on moving their headquarters. If they're moving their headquarters, there must be things they don't like at the their current location, or things that they can find better off elsewhere like perhaps lower taxes, paying lower wages, greater talent pool, and more accessible transportation.

The reality though, is that there's a LOT of cities in America competing for the big companies, and most cities get passed over many times. Especially if you're not New York City or Chicago.

I can't imagine anything more foolish then making a relocation decision solely or primarily based on issues like gay marriage. As has been said, companies weight many factors when deciding where to locate operations. If any company does as some are suggesting, they will not be profitable or competitive in the long run. I hope that "green" companies will not do things like that or we will have another failed greenvolution.

Comrade · #**971** Posted **Aug 11, 2009, 10:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by delts145

There is definately a good possibility that we'll see many significant improvements with Becker as Mayor. I'm very hopeful. I think he's made allot of correct moves so far in making Salt Lake a city of more diverse and exciting options.

I think the jury is still out on Becker.

We'll see, though.

MetroFanatic · #**972** Posted **Aug 12, 2009, 12:22 AM**

Firstly... Cool Whip Man made my days.

Secondly... I think we've already seen vast improvements with Becker in office. The possibility to get streetcars being a big one... I'm just hoping it comes through.

Stenar · #**973** Posted **Aug 12, 2009, 1:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WeST

I can't imagine anything more foolish then making a relocation decision solely or primarily based on issues like gay marriage. As has been said, companies weight many factors when deciding where to locate operations. If any company does as some are suggesting, they will not be profitable or competitive in the long run. I hope that "green" companies will not do things like that or we will have another failed greenvolution.

The new (old now... new at the time) CEO of iomega moved the company from Utah to San Diego because he didn't like the local culture/politics. He said so many times in newspaper interviews and especially didn't like the liquor laws.

Ziff Davis Publishing, a huge publisher of magazines, was considering relocating their corporate offices to Sandy about 10-15 years ago, but after polling employees, they decided not to relocate because the employees didn't want to live in Utah. Few employees said they'd relocate and stay with the company.

TonyAnderson · #**974** Posted **Aug 12, 2009, 4:04 AM**

Yes, Utah has unique values and ideas that other places don't. Some business's may thrive here because of it, while others leave.

T-Mac · #**975** Posted **Aug 12, 2009, 5:57 AM**

delts145 · #**976** Posted **Aug 12, 2009, 10:48 AM**

Salt Lake deemed best airport in America

http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_1303980...ce=most_viewed

Travel+Leisure magazine this month named Salt Lake City International Airport the best in America...

Salt Lake City airport tops in on-time flights

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...e-flights.html

..

WeST · #**977** Posted **Aug 12, 2009, 7:32 PM**

I think this is development related, but if others disagree than I am happy to take this to irrelevant.

Felony drug arrests down after cameras installed at Pioneer Park

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7510785

delts145 · #**978** Posted **Aug 12, 2009, 8:24 PM**

Well actually WeST we had posted about this and had had allot of discussion about it. I think it's very interesting and a worthwhile topic in relation to downtown development. It's particularly relevant when deciding how to deal with issues like Pioneer Park's ongoing progress.

I would be very interested to hear what people's opinion is about a program like this. Perhaps not for the entire downtown, but at least in trouble spots like Pioneer Park.

urbanboy · #**979** Posted **Aug 12, 2009, 9:35 PM**

I'm glad you found a connection. See, everything is interconnected.

WeST · #**980** Posted **Aug 13, 2009, 2:47 AM**

I have heard some interesting points (elsewhere) on this issue about cameras in Pioneer Park. I have mixed feelings. I ultimately like the idea of targeted areas where cameras on install on a temporary basis. It is true that this just pushes buyers and dealers into the neighborhoods and businesses, but by diffusing it I think it may prevent more problems. Further, if the image of Pioneer Park can change I think you will see an even quicker revitalization of that area.