UMA ON THE HILL:
ENFORCEMENT FOCUSED IMMIGRATION BILL HELD BY SPONSORRep. Stephen Sandstrom makes changes to his "Arizona style" immigration bill, but insists he's not watering down the proposal. He was reevaluating the fiscal note being criticized by many of his fellow House members. HB-70 is the highly touted approach to immigration reform that focuses on enforcement. Most often when a sponsor pulls his bill from the agenda of a committee, it is because he either has some serious changes to make or he knows he does not have the votes to advance it. This is one of many before the Utah House of Representatives that Speaker Becky Lockhart says will all get a hearing to determine what the sense of the body is regarding immigration reform.
UMA and the rest of the Utah Business Coalition heard from another House member, Representative Bill Wright who has a more moderate approach that focuses on creating a “guest worker” program in Utah. His bill appears to be the one that will be the starting point for the immigration efforts in the Utah Senate, spearheaded by Senator Bramble. UMA has been invited to “be at the table” for this discussion. It is expected that the discussions will begin in earnest this coming week.
GOVERNOR HERBERT LOOKS INTO BLOCKING NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM
Gov. Gary Herbert says he wants to investigate further what would happen if Utah blocked implementation of the federal healthcare reform law. Herbert criticized the same healthcare reform measure during a speech in Washington, D.C. With four Supreme Court decisions, two supporting Obama Care and Two saying it is unconstitutional, Utah and other states are poised to test the United States Supreme Court on this contentious issue.
BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT RESOLUTION HITS A SNAG IN COMMITTEE
A House committee killed Rep. Brad Daw's call for a Constitutional convention in order to pass a balanced budget amendment. While most believe it would be a good thing, many are skeptical about calling a constitutional convention that could perhaps address more than the intended issue. This has been tried many times before without success.
FIX FOR CORRECTING MISCLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES PASSES HOUSE
The House passed Sen. Karen Mayne's SB-35 to keep companies from declaring workers as owners in an effort to avoid paying taxes. The bill was amended slightly by the House and will now return to the Senate for concurrence. This is the culmination of a yearlong effort to address this serious problem, mostly in the construction industry, without negatively impacting legitimate LLC companies across the state. Notwithstanding this being a construction issue, UMA has been a part of the effort because the missed payments for workers compensation and unemployment insurance negatively impact trust funds at the Labor Commission and Department of Workforce Services. Governor Herbert is expected to sign this bill.
SENATE COMMITTEE PASSES MEDICAID REVAMP BILL
A Senate panel approved Sen. Dan Liljenquist's proposal to help the state cut Medicaid costs. The figures on the cost of Medicaid in Utah are staggering. It has been estimated that within just a few years, Medicaid could use up nearly half the State budget if not brought under control. Senator Liljenquist has taken on the daunting task of finding a way to rein in this federal program gone wild.
RESOLUTION TO CLEAR THE ROADS PASSED BOTH HOUSES
A resolution calling on the federal government to allow bigger semi-trucks on highways wins final passage and is now on the way to the governor's desk. Confusion over the claim that Utah was raising truck size and weight limits was dispelled when it was explained that the Federal Government froze limits in all states in the early 1990’s and that Utah’s limits were at the maximum level. However some surrounding states, like Wyoming and Idaho had much lower limits that now continue to cause a roadblock to efficient truck traffic across the West. Thousands of trailers are dropped at the borders of Wyoming every year and pick up by other trucks because the limits in Wyoming will not allow triple trailers. Millions of dollars in fuel costs alone result because of this inefficiency. UMA supported this effort to clear the road and make truck transport more efficient.
Today in Manufacturing
The Oversight and Government Reform Committee is taking its turn in a hearing designed to give a voice to business complaints about government regulations ... continue
Today in Manufacturing
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits plunged to the lowest level in nearly three years, boosting hopes that companies will step up hiring this year ... continue
UTAH IS THE PLACE FOR LIFE SCIENCES BUSINESSES
EDCUtahIn June the world's leading executives, scientists and decision-makers within the biotechnology industry will gather in Washington, D.C. for the 2011 BIO International Convention. EDCUtah, USTAR, and the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) will be there as well, leading a variety of Utah businesses and higher education organizations in the Utah Pavilion.
The message of the Utah Pavilion: Utah is the place for life sciences businesses.
Barbara Bagnasacco, a partner with the law firm Ballard Spahr, says the convention represents an excellent opportunity to showcase the more than 100 companies in Utah that finance, service, or support the biotech, pharmaceutical, natural product, health care and life sciences industries, including research organizations, manufacturers, service providers and venture capitalists. Ballard Spahr was the inaugural law firm supporting Utah's delegation to BIO and remains a key sponsor of Utah's participation in the convention.
"We believe it is important to support emerging technology companies and life sciences companies and to foster entrepreneurship in the regions where we practice," she explains. "The life sciences industry in general, and the biotech sector in particular, are a critical element in Utah's economic development and growth, and Utah has emerged as a credible player in the industry. Ballard Spahr has been involved for many years and will continue to be involved to facilitate the growth of the industry within Utah, nationwide, and internationally."
Making Participation Affordable
To be sure, Ballard Spahr, GOED, USTAR and the many other organizations that help sponsor Utah's delegation to BIO have reduced what would generally be an expensive event into an economically viable marketing opportunity for even the smallest of Utah's life sciences or biotech-related organizations. In addition to showcasing Utah's life sciences industry, EDCUtah Vice President of Marketing Kim Lofgreen says the Utah pavilion at BIO has proven to be a productive venue for launching research, finding partners, selling services, arranging financing relationships and garnering interest from venture capital firms. Thus the Utah pavilion has been a staple at the convention for the past six years. EDCUtah is currently accepting applications from Utah organizations interested in participating in the 2011 BIO Convention, which runs June 27-30. Interested parties should contact Lofgreen for additional details (801) 328-8856.
For its part, EDCUtah's efforts at BIO will be focused on helping Utah-based life sciences and biotech companies achieve their growth and expansion goals while recruiting other life sciences businesses to the state. Pursuing the expansion of Utah's life sciences industry is compelling for three reasons:
1. It is a rapidly growing industry.
2. The sector generates high-paying, quality jobs across a range of occupations--from technicians and manufacturing workers to research scientists and medical doctors. Utah's life sciences industry spans medical devices, diagnostics, drug delivery, therapeutics, personalized medicine, natural products and nutrition, and also includes manufacturing, services and research activities.
3. The sector offers Utah and its communities a "quality-of-life dividend" since investments in the life sciences can lead to benefits for the state's citizens in terms of improved health care and nutrition, a cleaner environment, and healthier foods.
Michael Flynn, EDCUtah's director of proactive recruitment, says "medical device manufacturing and life sciences are major areas of proactive recruiting focus for us, where we are spending a lot of time developing strategies for bringing jobs and investment to Utah. We continue to work with several life science companies on projects and have met with many more, pitching them on the benefits of doing business in Utah. As with most of our proactive efforts, long lead times are the norm and we will continue to shepherd these deals along in hopes that they will select Utah for expansion or relocation."
EDCUtah President & CEO Jeff Edwards adds that business recruitment in the life sciences space is highly competitive. "Everybody wants to recruit biotech projects. Even foreign countries like France, Germany, Canada and several dozen others will have massive pavilions at the BIO convention. It's a very competitive industry," he explains. "Biotechnology companies are at or near the top of the list for many state's recruitment efforts. In fact, numerous states have created campuses and incubators to foster the growth of biotechnology companies. Nonetheless, Utah has a compelling life sciences story to tell and our pavilion at BIO is an excellent venue to share that story with the world."
The Utah Life Science Opportunity
Utah's strength in life sciences was built on the presence of its medical device and natural products companies, leadership in personalized health care, and the success of three world-class research universities: Utah State University, University of Utah, and Brigham Young University. In fact, the University of Utah leads the nation in start-up companies. Further, the concentration of Utah's life sciences industry places the state first among the western states for life science businesses per capita and second for overall industry growth.
Utah's strength in the life science industry is concentrated in the following areas:
Cellular systems
Medical devices and products
Microbe biotechnology
Environmental & agriculture technology & remediation
Personalized / predictive medicine
Genetics & biomarker development
Pharmaceutical research & clinical services
Neuroscience
According to the Utah Department of Workforce Services, the life science industry accounts for about 26,800 Utah jobs, paying an average monthly salary of $4,213 -- 29 percent higher than the average monthly non-farm employment salary in the state. Of the 26,800 jobs, approximately 10,093 are in the medical device manufacturing sector, 8,250 are in the scientific research and development sector and an estimated 4,572 jobs are in the pharmaceutical, medicinal and chemical sector.
Nelson Laboratories and Merit Medical Systems, Inc. are two examples of robust life sciences businesses that are expanding in Utah. Nelson Labs is adding some 360 new jobs while Merit is adding approximately 395 new jobs. Bagnasacco says three up and coming biotech companies growing in Utah are Sera Prognostics, Q Therapeutics, and VentureMD.
Sera Prognostics is a women's health company developing diagnostic blood tests for early prediction of preterm birth and other pregnancy complications. The tests measure proprietary biomarkers that are highly predictive of preterm birth risk.
Q Therapeutics is developing novel products to treat debilitating and often fatal diseases of the central nervous system, based on stem cell technologies. The initial product is being developed to treat diseases that involve damage to cells providing the myelin sheath that insulates the neurons of the nervous system, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Transverse Myelitis, ALS (or Lou Gehrig's Disease), and spinal cord injury.
VentureMD is a seed-stage medical device business accelerator that provides the human, financial and intellectual capital to develop and manage start-up medical device companies based on promising ideas, addressing needs in the areas of orthopedics, spine, dental, arthroscopy and laparoscopy.
Utah Talk
"I get it — and I know that you get it, too," Herbert told the state senators and representatives gathered in the House chambers to hear his annual address. "As elected officials, each of us has been given a mandate and the voice of the Utah voter rings loud and clear: strengthen Utah's economy."
Utah Talk
With such numbers, one might ask, is Utah spending millions to recruit out-of-state businesses, while neglecting homegrown companies? Not so, says GOED Executive Director Spencer Eccles. In 2009, more than 70 percent of those incentives were offered to Utah companies. In 2008, Utah companies received more than 60 percent of the incentives awarded.
GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCES BUSINESS EXPANSION IN HYRUM UTAH
GOEDThe Board of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) met today to consider significant new business expansion in the State and approved a post-performance tax rebate to assist a leading meat packing and processing facility to expand in Hyrum Utah.
JBS USA Holdings, Inc. will invest over $30 million in the development of a new and expanded meat packing and processing facility in Hyrum. The expansion when completed will employ 420 new full time staff in addition to the nearly 1,000 current employees at the location. The new positions will offer wages in excess of 100% of the Cache County average wage, including full benefits. New state wages paid over the 10 year life of the incentive will exceed $115 million and the State expects to receive more than $8.7 million in new taxes paid over the same period.
“We congratulate JBS on the expansion of their Hyrum facility. This expansion will bring new, stable, and high-paying jobs to northern Utah,” said Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert. “The Governor’s Office of Economic Development makes a concerted effort to promote and assist business development in all parts of our state. The JBS expansion is further evidence that Utah continues to be a nationwide leader in job creation and business expansion.”
“JBS’s is excited to continue our long standing partnership with Hyrum, Cache County, and the State of Utah. We feel this expansion will help us sustain our presence in the state by improving efficiencies and adding production capacity that will and provide a solid foundation for years to come,” said Jerry Petersen, JBS Director of Operations, Hyrum, Utah.
JBS USA Holdings, Inc. (JBS)—formerly Swift Foods Company— is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of JBS S.A., headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. JBS processes, packages and delivers fresh, processed and value-added beef, pork, lamb and mutton products to customers in over 60 countries on six continents. The company currently has facilities in 10 states and could have occurred elsewhere, which is why officials at GOED are pleased that the company has agreed to expand their Cache County operation; currently the plant in one of the county’s largest employers. Exports account for approximately 25% of JBS sales and that contributes to jobs in Utah.
JBS sells its products primarily to retail customers, such as grocery store chains, wholesale clubs and other retail distributors as well as foodservice customers (such as foodservice distributors, further processors and chain restaurants). JBS also produces and sells by-products derived from its meat processing operations, such as hides and variety meats, to customers in the clothing, pet food and automotive industries. JBS ships its products to over 9,000 customers worldwide.
The State offered incentive would be made available on a post-performance basis, payable after the job creation and investment has been made. It will be in an EDTIF refundable tax credit of $1,759,500 which represents 20% of new state revenue over 10 years.
MANUFACTURERS DECRY REGULATIONS AT HOUSE HEARING
AP"From large manufacturers to a small electric company, businesses complained about costly government rules Thursday at a forum provided by Republicans who are eager to slash federal regulations. Democrats protested that GOP lawmakers only wanted to hear about the burdens of regulation, not the benefits to public health and worker safety."
National Association of Manufacturers’ President and CEO Jay Timmons "complained about the EPA's 'continued ratcheting down of emission limits."' Timmons "called it 'shocking' that the Environmental Protection Agency took an 'enormously costly' air quality standard for ozone from the Bush administration and plans to make it even more onerous, a step he estimated could cost millions of jobs down the road."
Quick Manufacturing News
Urges passage of Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act which would send money to small businesses Click to continue
Today in Manufacturing
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SECRETARY SALAZAR ANNOUNCES NEW GUIDANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY ON PUBLIC LANDS
Holland and Hart
On February 8, 2011, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a number of long-anticipated initiatives designed to encourage rapid and responsible development of renewable energy on public lands. The draft guidance from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) and the final guidance from the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) provide direction to the agencies and industry on navigating the many permitting and compliance requirements faced by solar and wind energy developers.
The FWS released two draft guidance documents. The first, “Draft Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines,” is designed to provide wind energy developers with information to consider in selecting sites for wind energy facilities to avoid and minimize negative effects to fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. Click here to view these guidelines on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website. The second, “Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance,” explains the FWS’ approach to issuing programmatic eagle take permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (“BGEPA”) and provides guidance on conservation practices and adaptive management recommended to facilitate issuance of these permits and compliance with BGEPA.
Click here to view this guidance on the U.S. Fish adn Wildlife Service website. Both guidance documents will be available for public comment for 90 days following publication in the Federal Register.
Click here to read more >
EMPLOYERS FACE UI TAX INCREASE – WHY IT IS GOOD NOT TO BE IN CALIF.
California Manufacturing and Technology AssociationUnemployment continues to soar above 12% in California and 1.7 million residents received Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits in 2010.
The State has borrowed up to $9.8 billion from the federal government to pay out a record $23 billion in unemployment benefits. Now the Obama administrations’ budget contains a proposal that would give states the option to increase taxes on employers to fund their UI shortfall.
Obama’s plan would increase the minimum tax wage base from $7,000 to $15,000. These federal minimum tax wage base has remained at $7,000 since 1983. The federal tax rate used for unemployment insurance would be cut in half, meaning the federal government would not see an increase in revenue from the adjustment. The proposal gives states the choice of increasing taxes, cutting benefits or a combination of both. Although these proposals would not go into effect until 2014, their approval will impact future decisions employers make regarding hiring and salary increases.
In addition, the Obama budget proposal would halt the automatic tax increases imposed on employers when the money borrowed reaches a certain level. This trigger is based on a State’s effort to pay the interest and principle of a federal UI loan. California has accrued a debt of $9.8 billion dollars from loans they have received from the federal government of which interest is due September 2011. Governor Brown has proposed that the interest be paid by borrowing money from the State Disability Fund, which is paid by employees.
These proposals fall far short of addressing the massive UI deficits that over 20 states are facing. Tax increases in the middle of a recession will only prolong efforts for a true economic recovery. Instead of federal UI extensions and tax increases, the federal and state government should focus on improving the business climate and foster job growth. Permanent high-wage jobs are key to turning this economy around.
UINTAH BASIN ATC PRESIDENT MOVES ON – INTERIM PRESIDENT NAMED
UCATDr. Darrell K. White has been appointed acting campus president of the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College. The appointment comes just days after current UBATC President Paul Hacking announced his resignation to accept a joint position as Associate Executive Director of the Uintah Impact Mitigation Special Service District and as Associate Vice President of Regional Development for Utah State University.
White will take the helm at UBATC on Feb. 17; he will serve until a new campus president can be appointed.
“Darrell White is an excellent choice for interim president. His experience with public education, UCAT and the legislature make him uniquely qualified to serve in this capacity,” Hacking said.
“The Uintah Basin has an incredible treasure in its applied technology college,” White said. “The faculty and staff, along with students and industry, have built a tremendous resource that is a centerpiece to the communities it serves and a model to the nation. I am pleased to be able to serve with UBATC’s outstanding team – some of the greatest people anywhere.”
White received a master’s degree in educational administration and a doctorate in curriculum and supervision from Utah State University. He has served as director of development for UCAT since 2006. His career in public education includes service as deputy for education to Gov. Olene S. Walker, executive director of the Utah School Superintendents Association, and superintendent for four school districts. He also served as UCAT interim president in 2005-06.
Utah College of Applied Technology President Rob Brems said he appreciates Dr. White’s willingness to take on the assignment as UBATC Acting Campus President.
“He (White) is well-known, respected and appreciated among policy-makers, the applied technology colleges, school districts, and higher education,” Brems said. “Working with UBATC’s excellent executive team, the UBATC Board of Directors, and the faculty and staff, I am confident that he will keep UBATC’s momentum as they continue to meet the workforce needs of business and industry in the Uintah Basin.”
Brems announced that the search for the new UBATC campus president will begin immediately and be conducted nationwide.
“We expect to appoint a new UBATC president sometime in April,” he said.
As required by state law, the campus president will be appointed by the UCAT president after consultation with the UBATC Board of Directors and with the approval of the UCAT board of trustees.
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