Orrin Hatch Visited Our Office, Here Are Some Of The Things He Said

“Your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Last Thursday Senator Hatch visited the Silicon Slopes office and met with a small group of tech…people? Influencers? Titans? And also me. Because I invited myself.

Senator Hatch told the attendees how proud he is of the Utah tech community. “It’s been an absolute thrill to me to see all of you budding up the way you have,” he said. He also explained that as chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, he knows that the government could be doing more to help the tech industry. “We have continual education to do with our senators and congress people. Not many of them understand what we need to do to resolve our high tech issues.” The senator added, “I’m open to your suggestions about how we can be doing a better job.”

So participants started offering suggestions and asking questions. Many of these suggestions and questions addressed the struggles many Utah startups face when trying recruit talent. Struggles such as poor air quality, lack of affordable healthcare, and the need for more diversity. In perhaps what was the most direct answer of the afternoon, Senator Hatch said of the latter issue, “We want to come up with an immigration system that works. It’s very difficult to change the system. But if I have anything to say about it, we’re going to change it.”

Others asked about tax credits, funds for developing new rail lines, what’s being done to improve the patent process, and how to make building a business an easier process in our state. Even if not every question had a good answer, it was an important discussion that identified some key issues in Silicon Slopes.

The senator urged everyone to contact his staff and tell them what they need to improve the state of our State’s tech.