GOED 2020 Annual Repor t
Targeted Industries
Software and Information Technology Utah is one of the nation’s top states for information technology employment and is home to companies like Adobe, Ancestry, Domo, Micron, Qualtrics, and many others. As one of the fastest-growing states for tech jobs in the nation, Utah’s tech sector is known as Silicon Slopes. In 2019, Utah tech jobs grew by 4.6%, with tech companies supporting one in seven Utah jobs and one-sixth of worker earnings, generating over $2.5 billion in tax revenue annually. In addition to 118,600 Utah jobs in the tech industry itself, tech-related firms provided 50,100 jobs that overlap with other sectors. Another 43,800 employees worked in tech occupations for non-tech companies. Utah has high employee concentrations of software developers, web developers, computer and information research scientists, and many other IT-related occupations.
Initiatives T he Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah published a report on Utah’s tech sector in July 2019. The report focuses on the economic impacts, industry trends, occupations, and workers in the Utah tech industry. T he initiative to fund computer science education in all Utah schools received support from Gov. Herbert. He recommended $10.2 million as part of his budget to the state legislature to ensure every K-12 student has access to this critical education. Coordinated through Talent Ready Utah, in partnership with Pluralsight One, the collaboration between government, industry and education leaders led to a statewide Computer Science Master Plan to align efforts to meet the governor’s goal to provide every student access to computer science education by the year 2022.
Linda Cabrales Industry Director, Software and Information Technology
U tah’s Silicon Slopes, a nonprofit organization that works to connect the growing tech sector in Utah, joined forces with the Utah Technology Council and continues to empower Utah’s tech community.
385-228-6134 | lcabrales@utah.gov
U tah tech industry partners have stepped up to provide wrap-around funding through the Silicon Slopes Computer Science Fund at the Community Foundation of Utah to ensure every child can learn critical computer science skills needed to unlock their full potential.
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