EDCU Markets the State
EDCUtah's proactive recruitment program is in now in its third successful year, with the past six months being especially fruitful in terms of project development and lead generation. Now the organization is ready to take the program to the next level.
Over the program's existence, Vice President Michael Flynn has set up numerous meetings with groups of targeted businesses in the Midwest, West Coast, Northwest, Northeast, San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. EDCUtah economic developers met with a variety of companies in the Northeast last week and the organization has another recruiting trip planned for New York City this winter. During such trips, EDCUtah's team meets with the CEOs and other key decision-makers, as well as corporate real estate executives and site selectors for the companies, to educate them about Utah's story. The recruitment trips have worked well in meeting EDCUtah's objectives.
"What we have learned through experience is that many of the targeted businesses in our database are constantly doing facility planning and evaluation. They evaluate their facility footprints in regular cycles and are constantly in some phase of the facility planning equation. So we want to be top of mind when they sit down and decide they need a new office somewhere. We want them to know the Utah story well enough that Utah will be one of the states on their short list," Flynn explains.
Targeted Businesses
By "targeted businesses" he means that EDCUtah specifically focuses its proactive recruitment efforts on businesses that fit within one of the seven economic cluster areas defined by Governor Gary R. Herbert. Those clusters are:
Aerospace and Aviation
Defense and Homeland Security
Energy and Natural Resources
Financial Services
Life Sciences
Software Development and IT
Outdoor Products and Recreation
"Some of the businesses we are targeting are Fortune 50 and Fortune 100 companies, while others are smaller operations, but they are all businesses that could benefit from the state's strong industry clusters and business-friendly environment. Some of the businesses already have footprints in the state, or are linked to the supply chain here," he adds.
The recruitment trips are also centered on companies that fit specific metrics EDCUtah has identified as good indicators of a business' value to the state. These companies have then been entered into a database EDCUtah has created, which is referred to internally as the "Top 500". Flynn says there is nothing sacred about the number 500 and that currently there are a little less than 400 businesses in the system. (Eventually, that number could surpass 500 as additional targeted companies are added that meet EDCUtah's cluster-based metrics.) "But every company on the list is there for a specific, strategic reason," he continues.
To the Next Level
In order to take the program to the next level, EDCUtah wants to engage its investors in the proactive recruitment process.
"We know we have investors in our organization that do a lot of business in certain markets, or have key connections within certain industries," Flynn explains. "If we knew about those connections, we could leverage that information to backfill our database, add additional strategic businesses, and identify the respective decision-makers, with the goal that EDCUtah economic developers will contact them to plant seeds about Utah's dynamic economy and exceptional workforce."
For example, an EDCUtah investor may have key connections to the software industry in New York, while another investor may have connections in the financial services sector. "We are soliciting our investors to help us by sharing their knowledge and the connections they have within any of the economic cluster industries," he continues.
Another aspect of this new effort is to identify "Utah friendlies" inside the businesses EDCUtah is targeting for proactive recruitment. "One of the vice presidents at a business we are targeting is a graduate of the University of Utah and attended high school in Utah," says Flynn. "We arranged a meeting with him and have established a relationship simply based upon his Utah background. Similarly, there are many other influential people within the businesses we are targeting that have either grown up in Utah, spent time here, own a home here, or are connected with the state for various reasons. We want to find these people, so we are working with alumni associations and other groups, and our investors can help as well."
EDCUtah President & CEO Jeff Edwards says this new effort is an "opt in" program and not mandatory by any means. "Our investors have a wealth of knowledge about their industries, about which companies are growing the fastest or hiring the most, and about why they would be good recruitment targets. It's a natural fit for us to team up with our investors to expand the scope of our proactive recruiting effort. My hope is that or many influential investors will see the potential and opt-in to help us make additional connections within the targeted industries."
Flynn cites an example of how EDCUtah's investors can help. Not long ago, he says, EDCUtah tried to visit with the CEO and CFO of a targeted business, but EDCUtah's economic developers didn't have the right contacts and were held back by gatekeepers at the company. Shortly thereafter, Flynn found (via LinkedIn) a former Utah resident that worked at the company and had all of the right connections. Contacts were made, the Utah story was told, and now that business is good prospect for locating operations in Utah.
"Our proactive recruitment program is working very well, but our success will be greatly enhanced if we can spread the web wide enough," says Edwards. "Our investors that are interested in helping us with this relationship marketing approach to economic development can assist us greatly. The first step is to connect with Michael Flynn via email ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or LinkedIn and express your interest. He will then explain in greater detail how you can help."
Flynn adds that economic development in Utah is rather unique because of the many public-private partnerships that make it so successful. "This program is another example of the group economic development effort we enjoy here," he says.
Reprinted from Utah Policy.
