Bright spots in Utah's economy shining through recession

Reported by: Brian Carlson

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - We hear a lot lately about our country's sluggish economy. But believe it or not, it's not all doom and gloom. Several industries in Utah are booming. Right now they're pulling the rest of the state behind them.

International Armoring in Ogden fixes up luxury cars with bullet proof glass, reinforced steel, protective armor then sells the cars overseas.

“They're in the Middle East, they're in Africa they're in South America, in Mexico they're virtually in every corner of the world,” said Mark Burton, CEO, International Armoring.

While many companies are suffering, Burton's export business keeps growing. It's something considered a critical spark to Utah's economic future. Economists said the reason why is it helps Utahns not just pass around the same dollar over and over again.

“You need to have anywhere from a quarter to a third of your economic base be employed in
Export industries for a good health, so that you have that flow of outside money coming into the local economy,” said Mark Knold, Economist, Utah Dept. of Workforce Services.

Last year, Utah saw a lot of it.

In 2008 Utah exports raked in over $10.3 billion dollars.

It's one reason why Utah's top financial experts said our future looks strong.

“The ALEC report that came out a couple of weeks ago listed us as the state as most likely to come out of this first from the economic recession,” said Jason Perry, Exec. Director of Utah’s Governor's Office of Economic Development

Utah's economy doesn't ride on exports alone.

Several Utah economists said our state's diverse economy is holding the state steady. Instead of places like Michigan reliant on the auto industry, Utah is spreading it's wealth over things like tourism, alternative energy, and digital technology, etc. with many industries investing jobs poised to grow in the future.

Utah is seeing a population influx. In fact, it has three of the top 10 fastest growing metro areas in the country, including Provo/Orem, Logan, and St. George. One third of Utah’s population growth is coming from immigration. Economists said that will boost housing sales, and it shows Utah is doing something right.

There's also an influx of businesses coming to Utah. Perry said there are over 125 businesses looking to locate to Utah right now.

“They’re looking for the safest place to invest where there’s a good young labor force, where they can do business for the lowest cost. Utah without question is that place,” said Perry.

There are also several national factors looking good too. Economists said the stock market looks like it’s finally bottomed out, and the housing market is nearly there. Which means it could be all up from here.

As for when the economy will start moving up, economists said it could be as early the fourth quarter of 2009.

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