Provo/Orem No. 2 in U.S. in patents granted, low unemployment

Utah County is enjoying economic growth in part because it’s a tech center that continues to innovate and generate patents, while also having low unemployment, according to a study released Friday by the Brookings Institution.

The Institute’s Metropolitan Policy Program examined the patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and their relation to the economic growth in a metropolitan area.

The Provo/Orem area was ranked No. 2 in the country out of 366 metro areas with the second-highest growth rate in patents granted from 1990 to 2010 (8.9 percent), while enjoying an average unemployment rate of only 4.1 percent, according to the study. Utah County is the home of some of Utah’s largest technology companies, including Adobe and Novell. Boise, Idaho, was ranked first among cities with low unemployment rates, with a patent growth rate of 11.9 percent.

The study’s aim was to analyze how the generation of patents has affected certain regions of the country. It showed that 92 percent of all U.S. patents were granted in 100 of the nation’s metropolitan areas. The top city for general patent growth, according to the report, was San Jose, Calif., home of Silicon Valley, the country’s largest technology center. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah’s iSchool Campus gets $2 million in venture capital

Park City-based iSchool Campus said it has received $2 million in venture capital from Crocker Ventures, a privately held Utah-based investment firm that funds promising early stage companies in life sciences, information technology and education.

iSchool said the investment will help it bring its education technology platform to more schools across the county.

Currently being piloted in schools in Utah and seven other states, iSchool has created a learning platform that uses iPads and other technologies to deliver curriculum to students. Salt Lake Tribune

Provo Data Firm Pledges 1,000-plus Jobs by 2020

In return, state agency offers millions in tax breaks to Qualtrics, others.

Qualtrics, the fast-growing data collection software firm in Provo, will get a multimillion dollar tax break from the state of Utah if it creates almost 1,100 jobs over the next seven years, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development board decided Thursday.

"This is a great company for Utah, great jobs, [a] good investment," Teri Klug, director of strategic development at the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, told the board after it unanimously approved the $10.8 million post-performance tax credit in return for a pledge to create 1,080 jobs by the end of the decade.

"I think that they’ll grow nationally, and then they’ll have their headquarters here locally," Klug said. "Just stay tuned."

The jobs must pay at least 125 percent of the Utah County average wage, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics says is $724 a week. Some will pay much more.



"These jobs do pay approximately 165 percent of the average county [wage] without benefits. With health care benefits these are high-paying jobs in excess of 175 percent of the average county wage," Christopher Conabee, GOED’s managing director of corporate recruitment, said.

Stuart Orgill, a Qualtrics co-founder, wouldn't confirm those percentages. But the tax credit will help the company keep its headquarter in Provo, he said later.

With more than half of the Fortune 100 companies and 1,300 universities as customers, Qualtrics’ sales have been doubling each year for six years, Orgill said. Managing the growth has been difficult, and the company’s need for more senior management is outstripping its ability to develop enough leadership talent from among its 250 employees. The problem pushed Qualtrics to think about moving out of Utah, he said.

The question became, "Do we want to bring additional people from outside [the state], or do we want to move to a location that would be in a very established tech sector?" Orgill said. With the incentive’s help, the company now will be able to recruit managerial talent without leaving Provo, he said.

The investment was the largest first-round speculation in a Utah software startup since 2008, according to GOED.

Also Thursday, GOED’s board approved two other tax incentives:

• The Royal Bank of Scotland will receive a post-performance tax credit of $5.3 million, in return for creating 50 more jobs at its support center in Taylorsville. The incentive expands an existing pact the bank forged with GOED two years ago, when the state development agency agreed to provide an $8.6 million tax credit to one of the bank’s divisions, on the condition that it create 260 jobs by 2025.
• Workday Inc., a California-based business software company, will receive an $8.4 million post-performance tax credit. The company has pledged to create 500 jobs in Salt Lake City over 15 years. The agreement modifies an incentive GOED gave the company in March. At the time, Workday planned to create 250 jobs. Salt Lake Tribune

Irish company buys Utah’s Panoptic Security

Utah’s Panoptic Security Inc., a provider of services to ensure merchants comply with credit card security standards, has been purchased by an Irish company.

Sysnet Global Solutions of Dublin bought Panoptic Security to help accelerate its growth in the U.S. market, the companies said.

Panoptic has about 20 employees in Salt Lake City who will stay put for now, a spokesman said.

Much like Sysnet, Panoptic provides products that help small- and medium-sized businesses, banks, underwriters and credit card processors to comply with industry standards designed to protect the security of customer account information.

"With Sysnet and Panoptic joining forces, it allows the combined group the opportunity to offer a larger global footprint and a broader product and service offering," Panoptic CEO Matt Hoffman said. Salt Lake Tribune

Private Equity Firm to Buy Utah’s Ancestry.com for $1.6B

In a cash deal valued at $1.6 billion, Ancestry.com has agreed to sell a controlling stake in the Provo-based genealogy website to a group led by European private equity firm Permira Funds.

CEO Tim Sullivan would not say exactly how long the deal had been in the works or how much of Ancestry Permira will acquire when the deal closes early next year. Those kinds of details will come out later, he said.

Sullivan said Ancestry anticipates no changes in its operating structure with the deal. The company will stay in Provo, where the company has about 700 employees, and it will continue to focus on beefing up content and technology, as well as expanding product offerings in areas such as DNA that improve the experience of more than 2 million subscribers. Longer term, Permira’s presence in Ancestry will make it possible to accelerate some investments in the company that Ancestry hopes to make, Sullivan said. Salt Lake Tribune

Provo named best in country for business and jobs

The nation's business and jobs mecca is located in Utah County, according to one of the country's top business publications.

This week, Forbes released its 14th annual "Best Place for Business and Careers," listing Provo ahead of Raleigh, N.C., and Fort Collins, Colo. Last year’s top city, Raleigh, N.C., dipped to No. 2 as living costs climbed to 5 percent above the national average.

Also cracking the top 10 was Ogden at No. 6, with Salt Lake City coming in at No. 24 on the list of the top metro areas nationwide.

Provo's $16 billion economy was bolstered by Brigham Young University — the third-largest private college by enrollment in the nation. In 2010, the school ranked behind only the University of Utah and MIT in the number of start-up companies produced through university research.

Forbes said Provo also enjoyed the third best job growth in the country last year at 3 percent, as well as the lowest violent crime rate in the U.S. The city also had the tenth lowest overall crime rate nationally, with a population that has doubled in the past 20 years. Deseret News

Utah Valley University childcare center receives $1 million donation

A year and a half ago, Kellie Jeffrey was a single mom with an associate’s degree and a desire to finish her education. But she needed affordable child care for 18-month-old Philip while she took a full load of 12 credits a semester.

After looking at a number of Utah colleges, she found what she was looking for at Utah Valley University in Orem. The school’s 11-year-old Wee Care Center "sealed the deal for me," she said.

That opportunity for affordable child care will expand to many more UVU students, thanks to a $1 million gift from Barbara Barrington Jones that will substantially enlarge the Wee Care Center.

In making the announcement Wednesday, UVU President Matthew S. Holland said one of his top priorities this year is helping women finish their degrees: In Utah, women’s postsecondary participation rate lags significantly behind the national average. Salt Lake Tribune

Sallie Mae Bank Awards $90,000 in Utah Scholarships to Future Engineers, Nurses, Respiratory Therapists and Teachers

Sallie Mae, the nation's No. 1 financial services company specializing in education, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Sallie Mae Bank, has awarded a total of $90,000 in scholarships, the largest award amount in its six-year history. The 21 undergraduate recipients are pursing engineering, nursing, respiratory therapy or teaching programs at a higher education institution in six Utah counties.

Since the scholarship program began in 2006, Sallie Mae Bank has awarded nearly $450,000 in scholarship assistance to students attending colleges in Cache, Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah and Weber counties. Recipients were required to submit a one-page essay detailing their educational goals. MarketWatch

Sundance Film Festival reports economic impact

It's been months since the last lathered-up studio execs and black-clad hipsters fled Park City in the aftermath of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, which turns sleepy Park City into showbiz central each year in January. One of the most eagerly anticipated outputs of the festival, however, is just now enjoying its premiere screening (so to speak).

Last week the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the David Eccles School of Business of the University of Utah issued its annual report assessing the festival's impact on Utah's economy. In 2012, the festival's fiscal footprint was a robust $80 million, up 2 percent over the tally from the 2011 festival.

The report, announced by the Sundance Institute, found that the festival supported more than 1,700 jobs in 2012, generated more than $69 million worth of media exposure, and brought more than 46,000 people to Utah, including 5,700 from countries outside the United States. Daily Herald/The Ticket

Sundance Film Festival an $80 million impact, report says

The big stars and "star gazers" that come to the Sundance Film Festival spend big bucks.

The Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah reported Wednesday that the 2012 Sundance Film Festival generated an overall economic impact of $80 million for the state.

Total festival-related spending increased 15 percent over 2011 levels, driven by increases in lodging expenditures and retail purchases.

"The 2012 Sundance Film Festival was a resounding success from a number of perspectives, and we are pleased to see the positive impact it continues to have each year on the state's economy," said Jill Miller, managing director of Sundance Institute.

The economic impacts of nonresident visitor spending during the 2012 event included $69.7 million in gross state product and $36 million in earnings for Utah workers. The report showed that level of earnings supported 1,376 jobs in the state, generated $4.5 million in state tax revenue and $2 million in tax revenue for local governments over the 10-day period of the festival from January 19 to January 29. Deseret News

The Best-Kept Secret in Tech is in Utah

In late February Ryan Smith was having a private dinner with venture capitalist Mike Moritz, who backed Google, Yahoo and PayPal at Station 1, an upscale restaurant in Silicon Valley’s verdant burb of Woodside. Moritz’s firm, Sequoia Capital, wanted to invest in Smith’s company, a data-collecting software firm called Qualtrics, based in Provo, Utah. But Smith had in hand a $500 million offer for the business he spent the last ten years building with his father and brother. It was the moment to make his family richer than their wildest dreams.

For days Smith tossed and turned between a sure $500 million and the idea of “going big.” A week later he made up his mind, called the bidder and turned down the offer. “Moritz got me,” Smith says. “The second act is never as good as the first. I want to go big now.”

Ambitious tech startups have a playbook these days: Set up shop in Silicon Valley or New York and issue scads of breathless press releases for even the slightest product tweaks in hopes that your “news” will be amplified ten times by a chorus of bloggers. So it’s rare to unearth a firm that’s beginning to dominate its software niche (online survey-taking), doubling its revenue annually, turning a healthy profit and scoring capital from elite VCs, yet is a family-owned business nowhere near Silicon Valley that has never issued a single press release. Forbes

Fitch Assigns Initial 'A' Rating

Fitch Ratings has assigned an initial 'A' rating to Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems' (UAMPS, or the System) approximately $72.1 million of Payson Power Project refunding revenue bonds, series 2012, to price via negotiation on or about March 14, 2012. (The Payson Project consists of a combined cycle, natural gas-fired, electric generating facility with a nominal generating capacity of 140 MW located in Payson City, Utah.) Proceeds of the bonds will be used to advance refund the System's outstanding 2003 series A and 2007 project revenue bonds for approximately a 10.6% savings of the refunded par. The Rating Outlook is Stable. Wall Street Journal-Market Watch

Credit Union opens new location in Payson

Mountain America Credit Union is expanding operations into Payson. The new branch will open on Monday and will be located at 818 S. State Road 198, in the former Far West Bank building. Provo Daily Herald