Nolan E. Karras (R)

Part A: As Governor, what specific efforts will you make to create a climate that is conducive to business growth and friendly to businesses thinking of relocating?

A solid educational system that provides skilled workers, a fair tax structure and rules and regulations which are fair and reasonably enforced are absolutely necessary.

As Governor, I will foster home-grown businesses and work diligently to attract new businesses to the State.

I will work to make Utah an incubator for companies who get their start in the classrooms of our colleges and universities. Combined, the University of Utah and Utah State University bring more than $450 million in research grants to our state each year. I believe the state should do more to encourage the growth of these good ideas into successful companies. Companies that get their start in Utah are more likely to stay in Utah.

We need to entice the best and brightest college professors to Utah. These professors would in turn attract the top graduate students who often create new companies.

I would also reduce the amount of money these new companies must pay the state in exchange for use of university facilities. These high up-front costs could be changed to include lower amounts of cash in combination with stock options in the new company. I support the constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall that would permit universities to take stock in lieu of cash for the transfer of technology from the university to the private sector.

If we have highly skilled workers being trained in our colleges, universities, and vocational programs we can attract great companies to locate here and hire our workers. Education is the key.

Part B: Are you in favor of the recently created Fund of Funds?

Yes. I believe the recently created Utah Venture Capital Enhancement Act can boost the amount of venture capital available to new Utah businesses and more established companies as well.

Because the Fund is driven by market forces, managers will be looking for investment opportunities that offer more than marginal returns. The potential for growth and profitability will be the priority, making the Fund a valuable revenue source.

Part C: Do you favor tax breaks for businesses relocating to Utah?

Incentives can be an important part of building an attractive business environment. As a state legislator I sponsored the bill eliminating sales tax on manufacturing equipment. That bill helped convince Kimberly Clark to locate in Ogden. Currently, the company pays more than $1 million in property taxes to Weber County.

As Governor, I will look at providing incentives that benefit both the business and the state. While I am anxious to put out Utah’s welcome mat to the business community I am not willing to “give away the store” and shortchange local and state coffers.

Our very best incentive is our life style. If a company is seeking more support than a great way of life, we will have to be reasonable and do what we can to help them locate and be profitable. A profitable business, no matter how large or small and no matter where it is located within this state is vital to our economy.

Part D: How can job growth be encouraged in areas outside the Wasatch Front?

As Governor, I’ll explore dividing the state into economic regions, similar to the travel regions we already have. Each region would have a direct line to the Governor’s office. I want to be personally aware of economic development needs and plans in every corner of the state. I also want to use the Lt. Governor more for economic development purposes and to allow him or her to use the status of their office in helping secure more jobs for Utahns.

On a recent trip to Blanding I met Chris Webb, City Manager. Blanding is a small community and there isn’t much of a business base. But instead of wringing his hands and complaining about what he doesn’t have, Chris has gone to work to build the businesses he does have. One of them is Eagle Air, a medical air transfer service. The company flies patients from remote corners of southeastern Utah to area hospitals. Chris secured a federal grant to help the company build a bigger hanger and add employees so that aircraft maintenance work would stay in Blanding.

Chris, and others like him, is a valuable resource for other communities looking to build their economic base. I will personally lead the effort to coordinate our efforts and share successful strategies. Whether it’s a job in Blanding or Beaver or Brigham City, each success will be good news for us all.

A job created in any part of the State should be a basis for celebration throughout the state. As Governor, I will lead and foster this attitude.

Marty Stephens (R)

Having conducted a thorough examination of all state government functions and processes, a private sector-drawn commission to be appointed within 30 days of my election will recommend ways to eliminate redundant or unnecessary business regulations. I will act on these recommendations and in doing so will make government more efficient and make Utah a better place to conduct business.

I will work to coordinate economic development plans between state and local governments in order to save money and ensure that regional market strengths are not unnecessarily competing against each other.

I will abandon our “shotgun” approach to economic development, in favor of a “rifle” approach. This involves shifting our focus to the better utilization of Utah’s singular strengths, including, our high degree of bilingualism, strong high tech infrastructure, genetic and biotech research and development resources, and many other areas in which our unmatchable convergence of skills offers enterprise an undeniable competitive advantage.

I will always approach solutions to regulatory problems by looking first to private sector solutions.

I will support the building up of industries that run counter to the traditional business cycle, in order to help us better withstand future economic downturns; these include industries such as healthcare and natural resources.

Utah needs a detailed, ten to 20 year plan outlining major transportation needs and solutions – including appropriate funding strategies.

I plan to build on the recommendations – to be issued in November – of the legislative task force currently examining these issues. I will work to see that the recommendations are fully funded, primarily through user fees assessed on those who log the most use of our roads. Other options I will examine include, but are not limited to: toll roads, commuter rail, light rail, more Park and Ride lots, and an expansion of the Ride Share program.

Do the math and you will agree with me that at current rates of growth, Utah’s demand for water will soon outstrip our supply. A few more calculations reveal that the current trend of cutting funding for long-term water development programs will only hasten the impending shortage.

I will immediately begin planning for long-term development of the Colorado and Little Bear rivers – our only remaining major undeveloped water sources.

Are you in favor of the recently created Fund of Funds?
As Speaker of the House, I was a major supporter of the Fund of Funds, also known as the Venture Capital Enhancement Act. I am confident that the $100-million fund will do an enormous amount to “grease the wheels” of economic development in Utah, and is a prime example of how government can be part of the solution in the process.

Do you favor tax breaks for businesses relocating to Utah?
In principle yes, though such decisions must ultimately be made on a case-by-case basis, as examined through the lens of objective cost/benefit criteria and our mandate to work first to grow in-state business.

Olene S. Walker (R)

Urban Economic Development

Our number one priority should be to keep Hill Air Force Base open. We have a quality employer in our state that provides a strong economic base to northern Utah. I am already working with our Congressional delegation and the Utah Defense Alliance to preserve Hill.

I also believe we must protect and preserve the quality jobs that already exist in Utah. All too often, small businesses reach a plateau and are quickly purchased by larger, out-of-state companies. I pledge to develop ways to grow Utah businesses.

No one is working harder or smarter than I am to bring quality jobs to our state. We must focus on increasing the number of venture capital companies in Utah. We must encourage the high-tech industry to continue operating here. We must incubate small businesses. And we must effectively utilize the Industrial Assistance Fund.

In just the past few months, companies like Orgill, Malt-O-Meal, MACC and Adam Aircraft are opening offices in Utah, which translates to more jobs.

I will market Utah to other states and countries not only to bring more high quality jobs to Utah, but to increase the export of Utah-based products. We have begun national and international trade developments and this will be our emphasis during those missions.

We should continue to market Utah as a business-friendly environment. Utah offers a highly-trained, highly-motivated workforce as well as connectivity and recreational opportunities. Marketing Utah begins with focusing on and educating our future workforce.

Fund of Funds

Government is limited in its ability to create jobs. However, government can do limited things to encourage business to create jobs. The Fund of Funds allows private companies to create jobs, not the government. This is good government and a strength to Utah’s economy.

Relocating Businesses to Utah

I know the real challenges it takes for an average Utahn to begin a business. My husband Myron and I second mortgaged our home to begin our family business, Country Crisp Foods. We eventually grew that business from 17 to several hundred employees before we sold it.

Our state agencies are providing e-government services for one-stop information and programs for Utah business owners. Now, a business owner can learn all he or she needs to know about starting, closing and growing a business in one location, even at 3 a.m. This is an example of state government assisting business development and not interfering with it.

I am also committed to ensuring we provide incubation for small businesses. Some of our best jobs and economic stability are found in Utah companies.

Technology Transfer

In December, I issued a challenge to the Utah Board of Regents to enhance technology-transfer from our educational institutions to new business. We are on the cutting edge of research at our colleges and universities and should take that opportunity to develop “new” businesses in Utah.

In the coming months, I will continue to foster dialog on this subject and lead action toward making our business and education partnerships the most effective and forward-looking possible.

We have an opportunity to create an ongoing cycle of research to business development. As mentioned earlier, I believe education is THE engine for economic development.

Rural Economic Development

A large percentage of the land in southern Utah is owned by the federal government. This can limit the economic development opportunities for many counties. Much uncertainty about the future of those lands exists. I am working with county and federal officials, along with the public to end the uncertainty.

I have implemented the Outdoor Recreation Task Force and believe it is one way for our rural communities to enhance economic development. We must also expand our Smart Sites, a program that has shown success in bringing jobs to rural Utah.

In my short time as Governor, I have been managing the state to be fiscally responsible. This is critical to when businesses make decisions to locate or expand in Utah. As we have seen in other states, business development and retention is harmed by a lack of stability in state finances.

Richard Mack (L)

Companies around the globe will be attracted to Utah if I am elected governor. As a principled, small government conservative, I will work diligently to remove the job-killing, over-regulating practices by state agencies that scare businesses away. I will not compromise my fundamental beliefs for the sake of political expediency, and by remaining predictable and stable—offering a fair shake to all Utah businesses and entrepreneurs—Utah will again become a haven for rosperity.

So-called “economic development” programs—including the recently enacted Fund of Funds—attempt to predict and determine the winners and losers, and transfer wealth from civil society to the political class. No wonder such “crony capitalism” has given capitalism a bad name. I will strive to curtail any state program that attempts to favor some industry sectors over others. Freedom is the best program for economic development.

It is a moral outrage that people in Utah were taxed to pay for “economic development” programs which drove their wages down. Such practices should not just change; they should stop.

As governor, I will work to get state government out of the way of Utah businesses and allow a self-regulating, free-market economy to flourish here. In addition to using the bully pulpit to tell the members of the world’s business community that they are welcome here, word will spread that Utah is the perfect place to produce wealth and prosper.

It is yet another outrage that Utah-based businesses were taxed to pay for “economic development” programs to attract foreign competitors, or provide an advantage to their local competitors. I will work to end such programs so that home-grown businesses are no longer undermined. The business-friendly environment I want to create will encourage all businesses to choose Utah.

Civil society regularly “spins-off” technologically innovative and profitable new businesses with the assistance of venture capital firms and other “business incubators.” The current practice of using taxpayer dollars and student tuitions to subsidize scientific research that becomes privately-held intellectual property for less than fair market value—under the guise of “public-private partnership”—is another condemnable form of corporate welfare.

It is counter-productive for the State of Utah to cannibalize, compete with, and crowd-out this ongoing wealth-creating activity within Utah’s civil society. As governor, I will advocate for a cessation of state intervention in Utah’s venture capital market, and the return of commercially-related research and development activity from state agencies to Utah’s civil society.

One of Utah’s untapped and wealth-generating resources is the vast amount of land (approximately three-fourths) within our borders that is claimed by the federal government. As governor, I will be committed to efforts to transfer control of these lands to the State of Utah or civil society. Opening up more land for Utahns to take stewardship of will benefit all Utahns, including those living in rural Utah.

Ken Larsen (PC)

As Governor, the best thing I will do to make Utah a business-friendly state is to do everything I can to get government out of the way of business. Reducing and eliminating government programs that violate the Constitution, such as using taxpayer’s money to hustle new business, would allow for reductions in taxation on Utah business. Reducing and eliminating unnecessary permits, licenses and other regulations that strangle free enterprise, would open the way for new business, especially Utah-created business.

I do not favor special tax breaks for special entities.

I will focus on my oath of office which will require me to protect the lives, liberties, harmless pursuits of happiness and other rights of individuals within the State. As I said during my 1996 campaign, I believe an atmosphere of less government, lower taxes and more freedom will do more to help local business and encourage business “immigration” into our State than any special, business-favoritism, program that might be heaped on the pile of excess government already choking this State.

The best way to encourage job growth outside the Wasatch Front is to establish Utah ownership of Utah. Right now most of the area outside the Wasatch Front is owned by the Federal Government. They have no constitutional authority to control that land and it should belong to Utah. Then, intelligent state management could reap an economic boom as Utah discovers its treasures. I believe in seeking a peaceful way to satisfy the multiple interests in our unoccupied territories, without violating the environment.