SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s life sciences industry growth from 2012 to 2022 was the fastest in the nation, with over 1,600 life sciences-related companies calling the Beehive State home.
As the industry continues to grow, the workforce supply is struggling to keep pace with the demand.
Current projections from the Utah Department of Workforce Services show life science occupations are expected to grow at a 33% rate and have a total of approximately 15,000 openings over the next 10 years.
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“Currently, (higher education) institutions are utilizing base budget funding to operate life science programs. These funds are not enough to allow for the expansion or creation of new programs that industry desperately needs to keep up with the workforce demands,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
To do so, Cox on Monday announced a proposal asking the Legislature to support a $7 million investment initiative to strategically build a bigger life sciences workforce. Cox said if the funding request is met, Utah will be able to reduce the anticipated workforce gap by 40% through program expansion, creating the capacity to educate over 1,000 new life science students year over year.
One Utah-based company that could benefit from a workforce insurgence is bioMérieux, a biotechnology company whose North American headquarters is in Salt Lake City. According to BioUtah, bioMérieux is the second-largest life sciences employer in the state, with 3,500 team members spread across six sites with approximately 300 jobs available today.
The funding will be administered through the Utah System of Higher Education and Talent Ready Utah to expand and develop targeted programs at higher education institutions. Funding will also be used to hire faculty and staff, purchase equipment for programs and provide outreach for student recruitment.
Cox said institutions will be able to apply for funding through a competitive grant process and institutions must show “regional demand, strong employer support and integrated, high-quality work-based learning experiences.”
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Utah Senate Majority Whip Ann Milner, R-Ogden, said she hopes initiatives like this will lead to a Silicon Slopes-like emergence for the life sciences industry in Utah.
Gov. Spencer J. Cox speaks at bioMérieux in Salt Lake City, with General Manager and Head of Clinical Operations Colin Hill, Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden, University of Utah President Taylor Randall and Utah State University President Elizabeth Cantwell. Cox announced a proposal aimed at supporting Utah’s life sciences workforce on Monday. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
“We’re the state that’s perfectly positioned for this. If we can grow the talent in this state … we can create an incredible life science ecosystem in Utah that will be second to none in the nation,” Milner said, adding that Talent Ready Utah has been at work on several initiatives to help support K-12 life science programs so students are ready to move into the life science field when they reach higher education.
University of Utah President Taylor Randall said the initiative will be “catalytic” to what the state and universities can do to invigorate Utah’s economy and workforce.
“This will require all of us,” he said. “This is what a system working well can do together to increase the workforce in an industry that is absolutely blowing up.” Randall said he’s had discussions with various deans on how academic programs can be retooled to increase the number of students going into the life science industry.
Gov. Spencer J. Cox shakes talks with President Elizabeth Cantwell, Utah State University and President Taylor Randall, University of Utah after a press conference at bioMérieux in Salt Lake City, announcing a proposal aimed at supporting Utah’s life sciences workforce on Monday. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
Elizabeth Cantwell, president of Utah State University, said she sees the most important aspect of the initiative as helping to position Utah to act as a national leader in life sciences.
“We have to graduate students who not only move into the workforce but become leaders. We have to bring those new ideas that come out of every sector of Utah … bring those life sciences ideas to fruition, give them an innovation ecosystem that works for us and really drive capacity from Utah for the whole nation as opposed to attracting and bringing it here,” Cantwell said.
It also looks like this initiative may just be a first step in a larger goal to build out Utah’s life sciences sector.
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“This is just the beginning. We hope to do even more over the years to come to close that gap and to make sure that we have the best jobs available for our students here in this state and that Utah continues to lead the nation when it comes to innovation and life sciences all across the country,” Cox said.
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Logan Stefanich is a reporter with KSL.com, covering southern Utah communities, education, business and tech news.
OLJATO, Utah – A Colorado man wanted for the murder of a minor on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation was arrested Tuesday, according to the Navajo Police Department.
In a Facebook post from the NPD, Jeremiah Hight, 23, of the Ute Mountain Tribe was taken into federal custody after police had been looking for him in the Oljato area since Saturday.
Hight was a suspect in the murder of a minor during a shooting on the Ute Mountain Reservation in Towaoc, CO., according to the NPD.
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The post said that a federal arrest warrant for murder was issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigations-Durango Office.
Police said the investigation was joined by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement, NPD K-9 Unit, and the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations-Kayenta District.
A man rescued his brother from a “large avalanche” he triggered while the pair were snowmobiling in Utah on Wednesday, authorities said.
The brothers were in the Franklin Basin area of Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest when one of them triggered the avalanche while “side-hilling in a bowl beneath a cliff band in Steep Hollow,” an initial accident report from the Utah Avalanche Center read.
He saw the slope “ripple below and around him” and was able to escape by riding off the north flank of the avalanche, according to the report.
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But his brother, who was farther down the slope standing next to his sled, was swept up by the avalanche, carried about 150 yards by the heavy snow and fully buried, the avalanche center said.
Using a transceiver, the man was able to locate his brother underneath the snow, seeing only “a couple fingers of a gloved hand sticking out,” the report said.
The buried brother was dug out and sustained minor injuries, according to the avalanche center. The two were able to ride back to safety.
The Utah Avalanche Center warned that similar avalanche conditions will be common in the area and are expected to rise across the mountains in North Utah and Southeast Idaho ahead of the weekend.
SALT LAKE CITY — According to forecasters, several parts of Utah will receive snow Thursday morning and evening.
On Wednesday, the Utah Department of Transportation issued a road weather alert, warning drivers of slick roads caused by a storm that will arrive in two different waves.
UDOT said the first wave should arrive along the Wasatch Front after 8 to 9 a.m. and will move southward across the state until around noon. By 10 to 11 a.m., most roads are expected to be wet.
“This wave of snow only lasts for a few hours before dissipating around noon or shortly after for many routes,” UDOT stated on its weather alert.
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Road Weather Alert: Two rounds of snow expected on Thursday. The 1st comes 8/9am thru noon & the 2nd 4/5pm thru midnight. Both of which bring minor valley road snow & a few inches to the mtns. For more information visit: https://t.co/QrWh3RKePZ……@UtahTrucking#UTWX#UTSNOWpic.twitter.com/NatnzofugZ
UDOT said an inch or two of snow could be seen in Davis and Weber counties due to cold captures temperatures in the morning.
The Wasatch Back and mountain routes are expected to receive a few inches of snow through noon, with some heavy road snow over the upper Cottonwoods, Logan Summit, Sardine Summit, and Daniels Summit, according to UDOT.
Travelers in central Utah should prepare for a light layer of snow, with an inch or two predicted in the mountains.
Second wave of snow in Utah
According to UDOT, there will be a lull in snow early to mid-Thursday afternoon. But there should be another wave of snow from 4 to 6 p.m.
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“With temperatures a bit warmer at this point, the Wasatch Front will likely see more of a rain/snow mix,” UDOT said. “However, some showers may be briefly heavy for short periods of time and be enough to slush up the roads late afternoon/evening with bench routes seeing the higher concern.”
UDOT predicted the Wasatch Back and northern mountain routes to receive another couple of inches during the second wave.
The storm is expected to end around 9 p.m. for the Wasatch Front and valleys, while the mountains will continue to receive snow until about midnight.
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