Thanks, Provo!

[Coach McGuirk]

Best place for a business and a career? Provo.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbade...-for-business/

Actually UofU gets a shout out as well as Ogden.

[All-American]

Utah in general is to be applauded for its business policies. As much as this crowd likes to poke fun at the Utah State Legislature, Utah is among the best-managed states in the nation.

Makes you wonder when people will start to realize what the difference is between states like Utah and Texas and states like California and Illinois.

[New Mexican Disaster]

Utah in general is to be applauded for its business policies. As much as this crowd likes to poke fun at the Utah State Legislature, Utah is among the best-managed states in the nation.

Makes you wonder when people will start to realize what the difference is between states like Utah and Texas and states like California and Illinois.

Yeah and what the difference is between states like Massachusetts and Mississippi, too.

[Uncle Ted]

Very nice...

Topping our 14th annual list of The Best Places for Business and Careers is Provo, Utah. The $16 billion economy is thriving largely on the back of Brigham Young University. The school provides a stabilizing presence as the third-largest private college by enrollment in the U.S. The school is also generating new jobs.

My first company was in Provo. It was a good place for start up.

The "Big D" got some love as well...

Texas dominates the ranking with five cities in the top 25, led by eighth-ranked Dallas. The Dallas economy surged 6.2% last year—second best in the nation—to $254 billion. The job outlook in Dallas is strong with 2.9% annual growth expected through 2014, according to Moody’s. Dallas is home to 17 billionaires, more than any other U.S. city besides New York and San Francisco.

[FMCoug]

As much as I gripe about Utah's quirkiness, I have to admit that it has been a great place to start and run a small business.

[All-American]

Yeah and what the difference is between states like Massachusetts and Mississippi, too.

Well, Massachusetts DID elect Romney, after all.

[New Mexican Disaster]

Well, Massachusetts DID elect Romney, after all.

Touche.

[YOhio]

That's awesome. I'm surprised SLC didn't make the top 25, particularly for the success the U of U has had in tech transfer and the massive infrastructure investments that have been made over the past decade. For such a small state Utah really does make a lot of good noise.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Booyeah. Choke on it, Provo haters.

[Coach McGuirk]

BYU recognized for elite cyber security program

The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security designated BYU as a National Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education on Thursday.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=2103...&s_cid=queue-2

[DU Ute]

Utah in general is to be applauded for its business policies. As much as this crowd likes to poke fun at the Utah State Legislature, Utah is among the best-managed states in the nation.

Makes you wonder when people will start to realize what the difference is between states like Utah and Texas and states like California and Illinois.

I agree to a point. The woeful level of education funding is going to hold the state back from reaching its true potential, imo.

[DU Ute]

Booyeah. Choke on it, Provo haters.

I turn to Provo for all my unnecessary supplement and magical healing juice needs.

[TripletDaddy]

BYU recognized for elite cyber security program

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=2103...&s_cid=queue-2

The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security designated BYU as a National Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education on Thursday.

That should count as research. Close enough!

[clackamascoug]

Having grown up in Provo, I was dismayed to see how long it took me to identify the location of the photo. (NE corner of Uni and Center, 85% sure anyway) The older building used to be a drug store, where in 1971 I bought a Black Pepsodent Toothbrush. Does anyone else remember when Center Street was the hub of shopping for shoes and clothes? Good times.

[Coach McGuirk]

Decided to throw this in here,

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2120...cid=featured-1

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46413845

The Beehive State has taken a giant leap toward the nation's business elite, according to a CNBC report released Tuesday.

Utah moved up six slots from eighth place last year to rank No. 2 in CNBC's annual "America's Top States for Business" study. Texas topped the list.

The announcement adds to Utah's list of recent accolades, including being Forbes' top state for business, the No. 1 state for economic outlook according to the American Legislative Exchange Council and the best-managed state according to The Pew Center on the States.

[Omaha 680]

I agree to a point. The woeful level of education funding is going to hold the state back from reaching its true potential, imo.

If quality of education was closely correlated with funding, USA K-12 public schools would lead the world in performance.

[DU Ute]

If quality of education was closely correlated with funding, USA K-12 public schools would lead the world in performance.

Do you think Utah's schools would be worse if they received more funding?

[kimchicoug]

Do you think Utah's schools would be worse if they received more funding?

I don't think simply giving more money is going to equate to higher or lower test scores and performance. It is about getting money to the right places which isn't a strong point of our current educational system.

[Omaha 680]

Do you think Utah's schools would be worse if they received more funding?

No. But they wouldn't automatically be better, either. Most likely they'd stay the same. The USA leads the world in K-12 public school funding. But as the funding continues to go up, the performance continues to plummet. And some of the cities with the most astronomical levels of funding (compared to the rest of the west) have the worst performances.

Would you use the same reasoning above when discussing any other public sector? ie more funding can't hurt so why not?

[Portland Ute]

Do you think Utah's schools would be worse if they received more funding?

What proof is there that they would be any better?

Omaha makes a great point.

We've all seen the graphs of where the U.S. ranks in terms of education, but similar graphs exist that show spending per pupil and the U.S. is near or at the top consistently in spending.

That strongly suggests that spending more is not the answer. It suggest that there is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed.

[New Mexican Disaster]

If quality of education was closely correlated with funding, USA K-12 public schools would lead the world in performance.

And if educational performance were closely correlated with economic might and technological innovation then we would actually be in the middle of the pack and badly trailing all of those European and Asian wunderkinds, because the educational "crisis" has been going on for what, 30 years +?

[Jeff Lebowski]

I can't find a "Thanks, Utah" thread so I will put this here. Utah ranked best state in the country for business climate:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...port-says.html

Another accolade for the Beehive State. MarketWatch at the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday named Utah the “brightest star” on the American flag. Why? Pollina Corporate Real Estate ranked Utah at the top of its list of Ten Pro-Business States for 2012.

The study, co-published with the American Economic Development Institute, analyzed a state’s pro-business environment across 32 individual measures that state governments control, including taxation, human resources, economic incentive programs and state economic development efforts.

[FMCoug]

The Frontier flight from PVU kicks ass. Took it this AM.

Thanks Provo!

[MarkGrace]

Thanks, Provo!

[Pelado]

The Frontier flight from PVU kicks ass. Took it this AM.

Thanks Provo!

I didn't realize they were running commercial flights now. How many years before they'll have a flight to Boise?

[FMCoug]

I didn't realize they were running commercial flights now. How many years before they'll have a flight to Boise?

It's a booming operation. 2 flights a day.

[FMCoug]

Sadly I don't get to partake of the return flight. But I am doing the no frills airline western tour.

Today:
Frontier from PVU to DEN
Spirit from DEN to LAS

Tomorrow:
Southwest from LAS to SLC

[Jeff Lebowski]

Threepeat, baby. Utah tops Forbes' best for business state ranking for the third year in a row.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...ight-year.html

[Katy Lied]

If quality of education was closely correlated with funding, USA K-12 public schools would lead the world in performance.

I was just going to say that.

Do you think Utah's schools would be worse if they received more funding?

If you look at correlated data (not causal data), the states who spend the most on schooling produce the worst scores. Prime example: California who spends at the top and produces Mississippi-style scores.

I think Cali's spending is more related to its multicultural environment. Utah has less ethnic diversity.

I also think that increasing funding mostly diverts the marginal money to non-teaching positions like counseling, radon testers, etc. I don't think your average student benefits from increased funding when scores are already high.

[byu71]

Threepeat, baby. Utah tops Forbes' best for business state ranking for the third year in a row.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...ight-year.html

All in all, this is a pretty damn good state. I hear the too stuffy complaints or backwards. A lot of those I hear it from could move to California or elsewhere, but they don't. They just don't seem to get that some of the things they complain about, LDS church influence namely, is what also what creates an overall culture they appreciate.

I prefer San Diego's weather, but that isn't a big enough plus to get me to move there.