BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY PARKS Supporting the development of business and technology parks that will become Utah’s future centers of employment and innovation. The Business & Technology Parks Program’s primary goal is to partner with industry to develop business and technology parks to facilitate technology commercialization, business expansion, and business recruitment. These tech parks will act as a place where university-related technology commercialization can occur, serve as a location attractive to corporations relocating to the State, and provide a place where local companies can locate to cross-pollinate with other key industries. As such a destination, they need to have the size, scope and look and feel akin to leading technology centers such as Silicon Valley, Northern Virginia, and Research Triangle Park. The University of Utah Research Park, arguably the best example of a successful park in the State, has been a key driver of the State’s economy for the past 30 years, not only by creating a large number of high-paying technology jobs, but by spawning new technologies and spinning out new companies to commercialize that technology. Research Park has also established Utah as a leading center in the health sciences. The state will leverage unique public and private partnerships to promote tech parks, including partnerships with Salt Lake County, the local municipality where the park is located, private developers, the University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College. Financing for tech parks may come from a combination of private-sector and public sources, including office developers, the State and Salt Lake County. Also involved in project discussions are Envision Utah, Wasatch Front Regional Council, the Utah Department of Transportation, the Utah Transit Authority and local governments. As we promote new business and technology centers for the state, one of our goals is to minimize the need for new infrastructure. Access to light rail and commuter rail, and a location that will not require major new roads are key factors as we work to cluster our employment into regional nodes and reduce commuting costs, travel times and pollution. The West Side Development The Business and Technology Parks Program already has helped produce a major win for the state by participating in negotiations with the Air Force, Hill Air Force Base and other interested parties to help the West Side Development get off the ground. The WSD will turn 550 acres along I-15 at the west end of Hill Air Force Base into a business and tech center with a potential for over 5 million square feet of office and industrial space. We believe the WSD is ideally suited to
Governor’s Office of Economic Development • Annual Report 2007
HAFB West Side Development
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