Utah’s Economic Forecast

Logan Stefanich,” Here’s why the economists aren’t anticipating a Utah recession in 2023.”KSL.com, Dec 16, 2022. CLICK HERE

“Despite most economists expecting a national recession to appear in 2023, Utah economy is showing no signs of a recession….”

LOCAL NEWS:

David DeMille, Is St. George a ‘boomtown’? Metrics say yes, boding well for 2023, St. George Spectrum, Dec 11,2022. CLICK HERE

“Over the last five years, the St. George metro area has seen its population grow by more than 20%, its number of businesses grow by more than 30% and its annual gross domestic product increase by nearly 4% each year.”

Mark Eddington, In sunny southern Utah, the business climate is hot and getting hotter, Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 5, 2021. CLICK HERE

BUSINESS:

“Nearby national parks, transportation connections and welcoming policies make St. George and Cedar City attractive to entrepreneurs of all kinds.

St. George and Cedar City — in southwestern Utah’s Washington and Iron counties,

Job growth in the St. George and Cedar City areas for the past two years ending in June was 5%, compared with 3.7% for Utah as a whole. In July, job growth in Washington and Iron counties was 4.7% and 4.1%, respectively. That’s over four times Utah’s 1.1% job growth.

For instance, the aerospace firm Intergalactic recently brought its headquarters, 40 employees and $23 million worth of capital investment to St. George.

Zonos, a St. George-based software company that simplifies duties, taxes and fees associated with cross-border commerce, recently announced it had raised $69 million in Series A funding, which will help bolster its economic reach and footprint. Series A is the name given to a company’s first round of venture capital financing.

Other major players include SkyWest, an aviation mainstay in St. George for years; RAM Co., which manufactures electro-mechanical devices; and Litehouse Foods in nearby Hurricane, which has undergone several expansions, just to name a few.”

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A series of major new projects were either completed or broke ground, from a $300 million expansion of Dixie Regional Medical Center to massive multi-story building projects in downtown St. George and on the campus of Dixie State University.

The booming tourism industry was taking advantage of Zion National Parks and the area’s other outdoor attractions, spurring the permitting and construction of a dozen different hotel and motel projects.