63M-1-2702 - Purpose.
63M-1-2702. Purpose.
The Legislature recognizes that:
(1) the development of and assistance to business in Utah is a state public purposenecessary to assure the growth of the state's economy and provide adequate employmentopportunities for its citizens;
(2) public colleges and universities in the state hereafter, referred to as "hostinstitutions," have academic and physical resources that can enhance economic developmentwithin the state through a partnership with the Governor's Office of Economic Development;
(3) state funded economic development agencies, hereafter referred to as "agencies"could broaden and improve services to business clients through better regional and statewidecoordination;
(4) coordination of business clients needs is best done in the regions where they areestablished;
(5) this coordination needs to be done under the direction of one designated state agency;
(6) an important tool in these coordination efforts will be the development of a data baseto identify, track, and assign agencies to be accountable for clients;
(7) agency accountability can be improved through client tracking and monitoring at theregional level;
(8) the state has historically experienced a high business start-up rate and hasexperienced a commensurate failure rate partially due to lack of coordination and accountabilityby state agencies;
(9) the state's economy will continue to improve as state agencies and resources becomemore responsive to private business by identifying them, focusing on their needs, and trackingtheir progress; and
(10) the governor and the Legislature will benefit from an annual report measuring taxrevenue increases, new job creation, and other economic impact as a result of tracking andmeasuring state agencies' performance in the various regions of the state.
Enacted by Chapter 50, 2008 General Session