Celebrate 2009

President's Letter - December 2009

Dear Friends of UTC:

Utah continues to gather national attention as an economic hot spot as many other states struggle to hold their heads above water. In light of the extended economic turmoil we are experiencing this year, what we have achieved is nothing short of extraordinary. I am fully convinced that Utah possesses vision and talent that is unique in all the world, with great legislative, industry and educational leaders.

I want to take this opportunity to highlight just a few accomplishments from the past year. I hope that, as you review these, you will get a clearer picture of the great technology community that we have here in Utah and take advantage of opportunities to enhance your participation in building this community.

Events

UTC held more than 100 events in 2009 with 5,000-plus registered attendees. The wide variety of topics and top-notch presenters at these events provided tremendous value and unique possibilities for learning and building relationships that can be found nowhere else in the state. Here is a small sample:

  • Our greatest-ever Hall of Fame, with Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google (more below)
  • Compelling exclusive roundtables with Senator Bennett, Governor (now Ambassador) Huntsman and Governor Herbert
  • Annual Members’ Meeting with CEO, Tom Harrison of Diversified Agency Services
  • Breakfast with IBM Chief Economist Phil Swan
  • Clinic with world-leading cyber-security expert
  • Educational event with BYU Hawaii President Steve Wheelwright – formerly with Harvard Business School

Life Science Executive in Residence

We are excited about our recent addition to the UTC staff: Dr. Michael Feldman, Life Science Executive-in-Residence. Drawing upon his more than 20 years’ experience as a senior executive in the life science community, Michael will help advance and further develop UTC’s and Utah’s life science industry in our community. Prior to UTC, Michael served as Deputy Director of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games Drug Testing Laboratory, General Manager and SVP of Northwest Toxicology, and VP of Business Development for LabOne /Quest Diagnostics. Most recently, he was President, CEO and Director of BioMicro Systems. Please join me in welcoming Michael to UTC. He can be reached at mfeldman@utahtech.org.

Public Policy

Utah’s legislative session again proved to be crucial for business in the state. UTC, bolstered by help from you and other members, was able to influence key pieces of legislation with enormous impact for all Utah technology companies. We were successful on nine of our top 10 priorities.

Two of these had significant national implications:

  • “Card Check” - Joint Resolution Regarding Secret Ballot is a measure that will help protect the right of company employees to vote by secret ballot. This is immensely important for all companies seeking to protect their companies from unionization. Look for it on the ballot at next year’s election.
  • The second bill was defeated due to our collective efforts. Trademark Amendments would have deprived Utah consumers of alternative sources of valuable information on goods and services that are crucial to making informed purchasing decisions, limiting the results presented on web search engines. Look for this year’s follow-up bill sponsored by Sen. Stephen Urquhart.

Click here for a full summary of our 2009 public policy efforts.

Hall of Fame

The 2009 UTC Hall of Fame Celebration was our most successful Hall of Fame yet, and will be a tough one to top. We were privileged to hear not only from global leader Eric Schmidt of Google, but also from three of Utah’s finest leaders: Greg Butterfield, Managing Partner of SageCreek Partners and Peter D. Meldrum and Mark H. Skolnick, Ph.D., co-founders of Myriad Genetics. 46 UTC trustees helped host the event.

Click here to view video from that evening.

Thanks to all of our trustees and investors, sponsors and community partners who helped us accomplish so much in 2009. We hope that 2010 will bring continued success and invite you to get more closely involved with UTC. Please contact me with your comments at pres@utahtech.org.

Sincerely,


Richard Nelson
President & CEO
Utah Technology Council

Global Administrator | 12/9/2009 4:58:57 PM | 0 Comments