A couple of months ago, Silicon Slopes and Utah Technology Council joined forces to unite our community under the same umbrella. Since that time, I haven’t said much about how we plan to utilize the combined power of these two organizations to further strengthen Utah’s startup and tech community. In fact, it appears this is my first public communication to the members of UTC since the announcement. I hope you’ll forgive the delay. We’ve been working hard to ensure our community’s voice is sustained now that these two organizations are united under the same leadership and mission.
We’ve still got a lot of work left to do, but I wanted to give you an update on our progress. To start, we’ve relocated Utah Technology Council to downtown Salt Lake City, so please feel free to come visit the team anytime at our new office inside Kiln. Silicon Slopes HQ hasn’t changed, we’re still in the heart of Thanksgiving Point.
We’ve also been engaged on the issue of tax reform. On July 17th, we’ll be hosting a free, open-to-the-pubic town hall on this issue with the following individuals confirmed to come speak: House Speaker Brad Wilson, Senate President Stuart Adams, Former House Speaker Greg Hughes, and Former Senate President Wayne Niederhauser. (There’s still time to register for this event.)
We’re honored to have these leaders come speak to our community about how they’re moving forward and thinking about tax reform. We stand ready to be helpful in achieving what I believe is everyone’s goal: ensuring Utah remains the best place to live and start a business. Our state has a way of coming together to solve problems in the spirit of collaboration. On behalf of our organization, I’d like to thank Speaker Wilson and President Adams for continuing that tradition and for their committed leadership on this issue.
The Silicon Slopes community now accounts for 1 in every 7 new job in the state and over 1/6th of Utah’s overall GDP. With more than 6,500 tech companies calling Silicon Slopes home, our community’s job growth is twice the average compared to other industries in the state. There’s never been more capital, resources, and support for entrepreneurs in Silicon Slopes. There’s never been a better time to build a company in Utah.
Due to the success and strength of our community, I continue to believe we have a responsibility to ensure Silicon Slopes doesn’t rise while the rest of the state falls or remains stagnant. With the addition of UTC and its rich legacy of public policy expertise, we’re beginning a new chapter in our community’s story. But it’s important to note that our mission and focus will remain the same. We exist to empower Utah’s startup and tech community to learn, connect, and serve in an effort to make entrepreneurship and opportunity in Silicon Slopes open and accessible to all.
And we’re just getting started.
