Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm

As privacy advocates and security experts debate the validity of the National Security Agency's massive data gathering operations, the agency is putting the finishing touches on its biggest data farm yet.

The $1.2 billion complex at a National Guard base 26 miles south of Salt Lake City features 1.5 million square feet of top secret space. High-performance NSA computers alone will fill up 100,000 square feet.

The NSA's Utah Data Center will be able to handle and process five zettabytes of data, according to William Binney, a former NSA technical director. Binney's calculation is an estimate. An NSA spokeswoman says the actual data capacity of the center is classified.

The Utah center will employ about 100 technicians to keep the power and water flowing and the computers and other equipment humming. The NSA and the University of Utah have developed a certificate.

Despite its capacity, the Utah center does not satisfy NSA's data demands. Last month, the agency broke ground on its next data farm at its headquarters at Ft. Meade, Md. But that facility will be only two-thirds the size of the mega-complex in Utah. National Public Radio

Gold and silver mine proposed in Utah’s Tooele County

The Bureau of Land Management is analyzing the environmental impacts of a proposed heap-leach mine in the remote southwest corner of Tooele County, where a historic mining district has tapped deposits of valuable metals for a century and a half.

Desert Hawk Gold Corp., based in Spokane, Wash., seeks to develop the Kiewit Mine Project on 104.5 acres of private, state and federal land in the Clifton Hills, about four miles outside the town of Gold Hill, according to a draft environmental assessment released earlier this week. The public has until March 12 to submit comments on the project, which aims to drill 350 to 500 exploratory holes over a 660-acre area to determine the extent of silver and gold deposits.

The company expects to complete mining and ore processing in six years, followed by a three-year reclamation program. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah Enters into 20-year Incentive Agreement with Boeing to Boost High-tech Job

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development has announced that it will work with The Boeing Company over the coming years to expand the number of high-tech manufacturing jobs located in its Utah operations.

GOED will enter into a 20-year incentive agreement with Boeing. The main goal of the agreement, which may have incremental adjustments during its life, is to increase composite manufacturing in the State. Currently, Boeing manufactures 787-8 and -9 vertical fin in Utah, and in March announced it would assemble the 787-9 horizontal stabilizer.

The first phase of employment will include the addition of 104 new highly incented positions that will pay at least 125 percent of Salt Lake County’s average yearly wage including benefits over the life of the agreement. Wages paid out over the life of the incentive will exceed $146 million. Over the lifetime of the agreement, Boeing will pay over $5.5 million in new state taxes.

Along with Boeing’s growing work in process, the addition of 104 new positions will help the company support airplane production rate increases. The Department of Workforce Services (DWS) and the Industrial Assistance Fund (IAF) will be matching Boeing training funds up to $225,000 for specialty training. In addition to this training DWS will be providing up to $100,000 in inaugural “WorkKeys” funding in Utah. “WorkKeys” is a national program that allows the company to have greater accuracy in determining the skill set of potential new employees. These programs working in tandem should allow the company to increase the proficiency of its incoming workforce.

As the world’s leading Aerospace company, Boeing is the largest manufacturer of commercial and military aircrafts and leads the world in aerospace technology. They are also one of NASA’s largest service providers and are in charge of operating the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. Boeing has operations in roughly 70 countries and customers in nearly 150 countries worldwide. They are headquartered in Chicago and employ more than 170,000 people. They are one of the largest exporters in terms of sales in the United States.

The GOED Board of Directors has approved a $1,376,254 Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF) post-performance refundable tax credit, or 25 percent of Boeing’s new state revenues over the incentive’s 20 year lifetime. Standard Examiner

Utah Announces Bid for 2026 Winter Olympics

Utah officials plan to make another bid to hold the Winter Olympics.

Gov. Gary Herbert and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker made the announcement Monday outside the University of Utah stadium, where ceremonies were held for the 2002 Winter Games.

A committee of advisers urged Herbert and Becker to make what could be a longshot bid for the 2026 Winter Games — other U.S. cities could argue it's their turn. Salt Lake faces possible challenges from Denver and the Reno-Tahoe area.

Utah says it can capitalize on the infrastructure left in place from the 2002 Olympics. The Utah games were successful, but Salt Lake was tarnished by scandal.

Utah showered $1 million in cash, gifts and other favors on International Olympic Committee delegates in a scandal that rewrote the rule book for Olympic bids. Herald Journal

How Do Utah's Largest Metro Areas Stack Up in Terms of Economic Competitiveness?

When evaluating the 100 most populous metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the U.S., how do Utah's major metros stack up in terms of economic competitiveness? Very well, in fact.

A report out earlier this month on NewGeography.com says the Provo-Orem, Salt Lake City and Ogden-Clearfield metro areas all rank in the upper third of the top 100 metros in terms of competitiveness. Provo-Orem actually ranks fourth, behind San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX, and Bakersfield, CA, while the Salt Lake City metro ranks sixth. Ogden-Clearfield ranks 29th.

Of the Provo-Orem metro, NewGeography says: "This metro area just south of Salt Lake City has seen surprisingly large job gains in professional, scientific, and technical services; administrative and support services; specialty trade contractors; state/local government; and computer and electronic product manufacturing.

NewGeography.com says its goal with the rankings was to see which metros are becoming more competitive (gaining a larger share of total job creation) and which are losing their share of the jobs being created. Hence, all 100 metros were ranked based on the overall competitive effect and what percentage of jobs (from 2010-2012) are based on competitive effects.

To determine the competitiveness rankings, the organization analyzed data from Economic Modeling Specialists Intl (EMSI) using a method called "Shift-share." The analysis focused on overall job change from 2010-2012 in the 100 most populous metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the U.S.

As NewGeography.com explains, Shift-share analysis can also be referred to as "regional competitiveness analysis." It helped the organization distinguish between growth that is primarily based on big national forces (a rising tide lifts all boats) and local competitive advantages. The primary components of NewGeography.com's Shift-share analysis are:

• Industrial Mix Effect -- Representing the share of regional industry growth explained by the growth of the specific industry at the national level.
• National Growth Effect -- This explains how much of the regional industry’s growth is explained by the overall growth of the national economy.
• Expected Change -- This is simply the rate of growth of the particular industry at the national level (equals the sum of the industrial mix and national growth effects).
• Regional Competitiveness Effect -- This explains how much of the change in a given industry is due to some unique competitive advantage that the region possesses, because the growth cannot be explained by national trends in that industry or the economy as whole.

"To generate our ranking, we summed the overall competitive effect for each broad 2-digit industry sector (e.g., agriculture, manufacturing, health care, construction, etc.) and added them together to yield a single MSA-wide number that indicates the overall competitiveness of the economy as compared to the total economy. We calculate the competitive effect by subtracting the expected jobs (the number of jobs expected for each MSA based on national economic trends) from the total jobs.

"The difference between the total and expected is the competitive effect. If the competitive effect is positive, then the MSA has exceeded expectations and created more jobs than national trends would have suggested. It is therefore gaining a greater share of the total jobs being created. If the competitive effect is
negative, then the MSA is below what we would expect given national trends. In this case the MSA is losing a greater share of the total jobs being created," NewGeography.com explains. Utah Policy

Tooele County Commissioners Questioned After More Layoffs

Revenue shortfalls have led to rounds of layoffs for Tooele County employees, and county leaders' actions are falling into question.

The county's financial issues started when the last weapon was destroyed at Deseret Chemical Depot in January and, subsequently, federal money stopped coming in. The county now has $23 million to work with for 2013 compared with $27 million in 2012 — a $4 million shortfall.

County layoffs began in August, when 22 county employees were let go.

Then in September, county commissioners asked department heads to cut at least 15 percent from their budgets. The cuts resulted in 22 more layoffs.

Some former employees have voluntarily retired and saw the county's revenue decrease coming years ago, and the commissioners had taken no action to increase revenue.

County commissioners say they chose those cuts over a tax increase. In fact, the county hasn't raised taxes since 1987. Deseret News

Voters Approve $47 Million Bond for S.L. County Parks, Trails

Salt Lake County residents approved a $47 million general obligation bond Tuesday to fund construction of three regional parks, substantial completion of two major trails and purchase land in Magna for a future park.

While some people refer to the trail and parks bond as Salt Lake County Mayor Corroon's legacy, he says it's an investment in the county's future recreational needs.

Corroon said he frequently hears from his parks and recreation staff about sports leagues that approach the county because they have no place to play.

In approving Proposition 1, voters agreed to a small property tax increase over the 20-year life of bond, $5.73 a year on a residence valued at $238,000 or $10.24 on commercial property of the same value.

The bond proceeds will be used to substantially complete the Jordan River Parkway and Parleys trails; develop regional parks in Bluffdale, Draper and West Valley City/Kearns; and purchase land for a planned park in Magna.

Corroon has said he has been working with the County Council to work through the to-do list. Corroon has earmarked funds for deferred maintenance in the budget he will formally propose to the County Council next week.

The proposal approved by voters was an austere version of a $110 million bond Corroon proposed to the Salt Lake County Council in 2011. The council refused to place the question on the ballot, citing concerns about the bond's size, the sputtering economy and teeming deferred maintenance costs at existing county facilities. However, the County Council voted unanimously to place the $47 million question on the general election ballot. Deseret News

Bikeways a glimpse of Salt Lake City’s two-wheeled future

Experimental bicycle lanes along 300 East in Salt Lake City are drawing lots of feedback from residents, most of it positive, from what city officials say.

With the blessing of the city council and Mayor Ralph Becker, an unabashed cycling enthusiast, the city is about a month into trying out the two new lane configurations, designed to test ways of making biking on urban streets safer for two-wheeled traffic.

Depending how the pilot project goes, residents could see similar lanes being added throughout the downtown in future years.

A so-called buffered bike lane runs between 800 and 900 South on 300 East, amounting to a striped buffer painted on the pavement on either side of a conventional bike lane.

In addition to being cost-effective, the bikeways are thought to be compatible with other city operations, such as snow removal and trash pickup.

Public response in hand, the city will consider incorporating the lanes and similar ideas into broader plans, particularly as elected officials and city staff begin an overhaul this fall of the city’s bicycle-pedestrian master plan, last revised in 2004.

Salt Lake City saw a 28 percent increase in bicycle travel last year, and city planners are anticipating a similar rise again this year when a new batch of surveys and other data also is compiled in the fall. Salt Lake Tribune

Website to address idea of Millcreek city

Remain an unincorporated township or become a city?

To help Millcreek residents answer that question on the Nov. 6 ballot, Salt Lake County has retained an outside consultant to create a website and produce mailers that will provide information and perspectives about the incorporation proposal.

And to ensure those materials are factual and balanced, the county has brought in an incorporation supporter (Jeff Silvestrini of the Future of Millcreek Association) and an opponent (Tom Love of Protect and Preserve Our Millcreek Township) to aid the consultant, Redirect Digital and Direct Marketing, in assembling the information.

Their work is coming to fruition. The website — www.millcreekballot.com — is scheduled to debut the week after Labor Day.

As designed by Redirect founder James Roberts and his colleague, Erin Cannon, the website’s homepage will inform visitors that there are "Important Ballot Issues for the Future of Millcreek." One click later, visitors can read Love’s 500-word treatise on why the east-central Salt Lake Valley community’s 63,500 residents would be better off with the status quo and Silvestrini’s similarly sized essay describing why the area would be better off becoming the county’s 15th city.

The website also will provide pro and con information on the forms of government residents may choose, if incorporation passes, plus the advantages and disadvantages of electing council members at-large or from districts.

Once the website is running, Roberts’ team will turn to producing and sending two mailers to every household in the township, informing people about the impending election and the website. More detailed brochures then will be mailed out in three phases: Around Oct. 8 to people signed up to vote by mail, Oct. 22 to early voters and a week later to people likely to vote Nov. 6 at polling places.

The County Council allocated $100,000 for public education, said Kimi Barnett, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon’s intergovernmental director. Most of that money will go to printing and distributing the mailers and brochure. Redirect’s contract is for up to $25,000, she added. Salt Lake Tribune

West Jordan considers rules for solar and wind power

The notion of self-sufficient living is gaining momentum in Utah’s fourth largest city, as the City Council ponders a new alternative-energy ordinance to allow small wind- or solar-powered systems on businesses and residential properties.

"It’s something that has been on our radar screen for a while. We’ve received inquiries at our front counter from businesses and residents that want to add those facilities to their properties," said West Jordan Development Director Tom Burdett.

The new ordinance aims to address height, location and basics that allow the power-generating systems to be incorporated into citywide developments. Salt Lake Tribune

West Jordan raises property tax; Taylorsville set to do the same

For the first time in 24 years, City Council members in this sprawling southwest Salt Lake Valley city raised property taxes, but not before getting an earful from residents.

The 17 percent bump — which will cost the owner of a $220,000 home an additional $41 per year — will pay for 10 new police hires, sorely needed fleet upgrades, road repairs and new computer software.

Tuesday’s truth in taxation hearing was the 10th opportunity residents had this summer to sound off to their elected officials. And for close to an hour, they filed forward and spoke, in large part, against the higher tax.

Taylorsville’s tax boost will require the owner of a $172,000 home to pay $26 more per year or about $2.16 more per month. The owner of a business valued at $172,000 can expect an annual increase of $47.98.

The added revenue will fund street-scape maintenance and installation of a safety wall along 4100 South from Redwood Road to 1300 West, an area where cars have veered off and landed in backyards.  Salt Lake Tribune

Vote on Salt Lake City’s mega-theater

The show must go on, but how it goes on is now up to Salt Lake County.

The County Council will consider Tuesday whether it will play a supporting role in Salt Lake City’s proposed $110 million Broadway-style theater, or whether it will walk away.

If the County Council does not participate, the proposed 2,500-seat playhouse most likely will be scaled back.

As of Monday, the tea leaves were unclear, with Council Chairman David Wilde, a Republican, saying he didn’t think he could support it, due to the price tag and an uncertain economy.

But Salt Lake City Councilman Kyle LaMalfa, who sits as chairman of the city’s Redevelopment Agency, which is coordinating construction, said he is "hopeful" the County Council would endorse the plan.

With or without the county’s partnership, Salt Lake City’s time frame mandates the project move forward.

In December, the City Council voted to spend $18 million to design the venue it hopes will contribute to a downtown renaissance. Salt Lake Tribune

Taylorsville mayor urges residents to shop locally

The recession has taken a toll on this west-side suburb, where a number of large retail outlets have shut down in recent years.

Now RC Willey might leave the city, a potential blow that has led Mayor Russ Wall to encourage residents to shop locally as a way to keep the next big store from closing.

In his mayor’s message posted on the city’s website, Wall said the CEO of the home-furnishings store indicated in a meeting that Taylorsville residents tend to shop at the RC Willey in Murray.

"The reason our stores were selected over others was that they were not performing as well as other stores in the chains," Wall wrote. "The performance is affected by Taylorsville residents not shopping in their Taylorsville stores."

Stores that have closed in Taylorsville as corporations downsize include KMart, Albertsons and Circuit City, he said.

RC Willey CEO Scott Hymas said Tuesday that the Taylorsville location has been "a great store for us" and no final decision has been made on its fate. He denies saying more Taylorsville residents shop at the Murray store than their hometown store.

The prospect of losing RC Willey troubles Wall. The loss of a major retailer can reduce sales tax revenue by $300,000 to $400,000, which could require a 10 percent hike in property tax to make up the difference, he said.

Other cities also encourage their citizens to patronize local businesses.

Art Raymond, a spokesman for Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, said the capital city works on many fronts to boost local shopping, including supporting the Farmers Market and setting up a parking system that accommodates downtown visitors. Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake's growing gap in pension funding may cost taxpayers

Salt Lake City may need to increase taxes or cut expenses to cover an $83.6 million gap in future city employee pension costs.

The Pew Center on the States' report on widening pension gaps in the U.S. said healthy cities should cover at least 80 percent of future liabilities.

Assets for the city's pension fund will only cover 70 percent of future liabilities, according to the city’s financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011. Since 2000, that figure has dropped 11 percentage points through 2010.

Unfunded liabilities are a statewide issue because Salt Lake funds its retirees through the Utah Retirement Fund, said Gordon Hoskins, financial director for Salt Lake City. The fund declined with the stock market when the recession hit in 2008. By comparison, in 2007 a healthy stock market helped the city cover 85 percent of its future liabilities. Deseret News

Utah’s Vietnamese-Americans form chamber of commerce

For members of Utah’s Vietnamese community, Tom Huynh’s election to the West Valley City Council last year was a turning point.

For decades, they’d been running businesses, sending their children to school, making sacrifices to support their families, helping out their neighbors and assimilating into American life while still preserving their culture.

And in the past few years, they were talking about the need for a business organization. On May 12, community members and their supporters gathered at the New East Sea Plaza in West Valley City to launch the Utah Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce (UVACC).

The timing was historic, just a few months after Huynh, a native of Vietnam and the first minority member of the West Valley City Council, began his term. Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Chamber Names New Board Chair, Vice Chair

Having celebrated its 125th anniversary as Utah’s largest and longest-standing business association, the Salt Lake Chamber has named Ray Pickup as the  104th person to serve as chairman of the Board of Governors. Pickup, president and CEO of Workers Compensation Fund (WCF) will serve a one-year term beginning July 1, 2012.

In addition to well established Board priorities to enhance education, invest in infrastructure, reform immigration, clean the air, contain health care costs and renew downtown Salt Lake City, Pickup has identified three priority areas for the coming year. Utah Pulse

A scanner will record your license plate, where it was and when

Drive your car over aspen-covered Boulder Mountain in southern Utah or park it in downtown Salt Lake City or on the Brigham Young University campus in Provo and you can expect something to happen.

The recent request by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to mount license plate scanners on Interstate 15 in southwestern Utah met opposition, but law enforcement across the state, including police at BYU, are already using license plate scanners to find everyone from parking scofflaws to violent crime suspects.

Even before the DEA request, southwestern Utah had a concentration of license plate scanners.

The St. George Police Department has its own scanner, while other police forces in that county are on a list of agencies that can borrow a car from the Utah State Tax Commission equipped with scanners. The drug task force that covers Iron and Garfield counties also has a license plate scanner it has used to build cases against people suspected of growing marijuana on public lands.

A Salt Lake Tribune review identified 47 police departments and county sheriffs who use license plate scanners or have permission to borrow the Tax Commission scanner cars. Statewide agencies, including the Utah Highway Patrol, also use the scanners. Salt Lake Tribune

Draper says it won't be 'bullied' by groups that oppose recreation center

A handful of business owners joined the Utah Taxpayers Association Monday to oppose a $29 million bond to build a new recreation center.

But the Draper mayor and City Council responded by saying they won't be "bullied" by those who oppose the facility.

The owners are concerned about losing business, arguing that a new recreation center would have some of the same attractions that their businesses already have, such as water slides and access to fitness equipment. Since Salt Lake County has tentative plans to build a separate recreation center in the city by 2016, a Draper recreation center would require the residents to pay for two facilities, opponents say. Deseret News

World Trade Center Utah to Host Roundtable Discussion

Two United States Senators will be visiting the World Trade Center Utah today, May 29, 2012 at 2:30 pm, to meet with Utah’s business leaders interested in global trade and the issues that Utah’s entrepreneurs and employers face when working to expand and prosper in today’s economy.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) both serve on the important Senate Finance Committee that is responsible for more than 60 percent of the federal budget, and is the committee that addresses tax reform; entitlement reform including Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security; and trade agreements.

The roundtable discussion with Senators Hatch and Crapo will be open to all business leaders who are interested in attending.  The meeting will be held in the new World Trade Center at City Creek, formerly the Eagle Gate Tower at 60 East South Temple, third floor.  

The new facility is the home of four organizations who are central to the growth of Utah’s economy.  The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), The World Trade Center Utah (WTCU), the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR), and the Office of Energy Development have all recently co-located to the building in order to collaborate and coordinate more efficiently. Utah Policy

Summer Employment For Young People

In Utah, the Conservation Corps Bilingual Youth Corps based at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, will expand its Bilingual Youth Corps by hiring 36 bilingual high school students over a two-year period to help complete 50 miles of wilderness trail maintenance and habitat restoration on 135 acres of public lands on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, the Salt Lake Watershed and along the Jordan River Parkway. KCSG Television

For more information see: Utah Corps