December 16, 2015(Utah Pulse) - Finding qualified workers to fill open positions is among the obstacles to growth for employers in Utah, according to a new report from the non-partisan Utah Foundation, Is This the Place? A Survey of Utah Employers. The report also shows the wages offered for those skilled positions are often below national median levels. The survey of more than 150 businesses across the state also shows that Utah’s workforce is recognized for its strong work ethic, … Continued
December 16, 2015(Salt Lake Tribune) - Utah’s pro-business credentials remain impeccable, according to a new survey, but there are signs some employers are having trouble finding qualified workers. Nearly 72 percent of 151 Utah employers recently reported difficulty in locating adequately skilled candidates to fill job openings, the new poll by the nonprofit Utah Foundation found. About a third of those employers said worker shortages were the single greatest obstacle to their companies’ growth, while a comparable share called it “the … Continued
December 16, 2015(Daily Herald) - The technology boom is reverberating with a cause and effect throughout Utah County in apartment, condominium and single-family home construction. By 2050, three cities — Eagle Mountain, Lehi and Saratoga Springs — are projected to outpace the rest of the county with more than 400,000 combined residents, nearly one-third of the projected total county population. The Utah Foundation Report estimates there will be 1.2 million people living in Utah County by 2050. Put in perspective, … Continued
December 14, 2015(care2.com) - Utah has historically had some of the worst voter turnout in the country, hovering around 20 percent of all eligible voters. In the four years between 2011 and 2015, however, officials have managed to nearly double that number, with one very easy step: Switching municipalities over to a vote by mail ballot, which allows voters to fill out and return ballots at leisure rather than having to go to the polls. A study put out … Continued
December 14, 2015(Standard-Examiner) - THUMBS DOWN: To the Utah cities that still haven’t implemented vote-by-mail. Why? Because the cities that adopted it saw voter turnout this November increase 39 percent over 2011, according to a report from the Utah Foundation. In Ogden, turnout jumped from 20 percent in 2013 to 36 percent in November — still far too low, but a significant improvement. And the story was the same across the Wasatch Front: North Ogden — up 17 percent. … Continued
December 07, 2015(ThinkProgress.org) - Since 2009, Utah has tested out a number of voting reforms designed to increase participation, including online voter registration and pilot projects allowing voters to register on Election Day, as well as mail-in voting. The Utah Foundation, a public policy think tank, looked at turnout data over the past few municipal elections in a report released last week. They found that those municipalities that implemented voting by mail saw major increases in their turnout rates. … Continued
December 03, 2015(Standard-Examiner) - One effect of cities and other municipalities offering vote by mail is that local elections, once generating very low returns, are bringing more voters to the polls. According to research from the Utah Foundation, municipal election turnouts in Weber and Davis counties this year were far higher than turnouts for similar elections in 2013 and 2011. Similar vote turnout success occurred across the state. In Weber County, turnout was just below 40 percent this year. … Continued
December 03, 2015(UtahPolicy.com) - Utah once had one of the best voter participation rates in the nation, with turnout reaching nearly 70% in elections going back to 1980. That’s gone down significantly in recent years, and a new Utah Foundation report Voting in Utah: Analyzing Current Practices and Future Options for Utah Voters looks at reasons for that decline as well as efforts to bring it back up. While there are some innovative programs designed to bring new voters … Continued
December 03, 2015(KNRS TalkRadio) - A new study — of voting by mail, in Utah — shows it likely more than doubled voter turnout. The Utah Foundation reports, the average participation — in this year’s election, across 70 cities that used vote-by-mail — was 40 percent. In Salt Lake City, voter turnout was up 13 percent from 2 years ago… and 24 percent, from 2011.
December 03, 2015(KSL.com) - There’s no easy solution to increasing voter turnout in Utah, according to a new report by the Utah Foundation. The decline over the past two decades “cannot be pinned to any one cause,” the report titled “Voting in Utah” concluded, noting also that factors such as a lack of competitive races cannot easily be addressed. “There’s only so much policymakers can do. They can’t mandate who’s going to run,” said Mallory Bateman, a research analyst … Continued
December 02, 2015(KUER) - Voter turnout in Utah has been on the decline for more than a decade. A new study from the Utah Foundation that takes a look at why that might be happening. Why don’t more Utahns vote? It’s complicated, according to Mallory Bateman, a research analyst at the Utah Foundation and one of the report’s authors. “The partisan nature of our races. The number of competitive races that exist. And, just kind of the whole caucus … Continued
December 02, 2015(St. George Spectrum) - Utah’s decades-long decline in voter participation has been helped by recent efforts to make it easier for residents to cast their ballots, especially in areas where by-mail ballots have become the standard, according to a new report analyzing the results of November’s municipal elections. Voter turnout in the 70 cities and towns that used vote-by-mail this year saw an average increase in turnout of 39 percent when compared to the last off-year municipal election in … Continued
December 02, 2015(Salt Lake Tribune) - Utah cities and counties that voted by mail this year increased voter turnout by an average of 52 percent, a new study says. That is welcome news because turnout has plummeted in recent decades, including setting a record low in 2014, when only 28.8 percent of the state’s voting-age population participated in the general election, according to the Utah Foundation. It released a report Wednesday looking at some of the reasons for low voter turnout … Continued
December 02, 2015(Deseret News) - There’s no easy solution to increasing voter turnout in Utah, according to a new report by the Utah Foundation. The decline over the past two decades “cannot be pinned to any one cause,” the report titled “Voting in Utah” concluded, noting also that factors such as a lack of competitive races cannot easily be addressed. “There’s only so much policy makers can do. They can’t mandate who’s going to run,” said Mallory Bateman, a research … Continued
November 30, 2015(Fox 13 News) - It’s not a refrain likely to make anyone tap their toes, because yellow air days signal the beginning of Utah’s dreaded valley inversions, where everything our cars, industries, fireplaces, and furnaces burn stays trapped close to the ground, ready to enter our lungs . . . Shaun Teigen, researcher with the Utah Foundation was in studio on Monday to talk about what people can do to help prevent pollution.
November 17, 2015(St. George Spectrum) - Five years of job growth and wages that have finally started ticking upward have Utah ranked as having among the hottest job markets in the U.S., but residents still aren’t feeling all that great about the types of jobs available. Residents rated a lack of good jobs as their largest concern among all quality-of-life issues in a new report released this week by the Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan think-tank based in Salt Lake City. Utahns … Continued
November 17, 2015(Daily Herald) - The technology boom is reverberating with a cause and effect throughout Utah County in apartment, condominium and single-family home construction. By 2050, three cities — Eagle Mountain, Lehi and Saratoga Springs — are projected to outpace the rest of the county with more than 400,000 residents, nearly one-third of the projected total county population. “Obviously the area is growing fast, so we have a lot of work to do,” said Cameron Boyle, Lehi public relations. … Continued
November 16, 2015(KUTV) - Utah is known for its religious culture and the great outdoors, it’s also slowly becoming known for bad air, traffic and even crime. Monday The Utah Foundation, a not-for-profit, released its latest Quality of Life survey. Overall there isn’t a big change in the last two years, or even the last four years, but the change was in a direction, researchers did not expect. The quality of life index is down a point and a … Continued
November 16, 2015(St. George Spectrum) - SALT LAKE CITY – Utah residents say that their quality of life hasn’t gotten much better in recent years even though the state economy has been steadily improving, according to a new report released Monday by the Utah Foundation. The state has some of the country’s lowest unemployment rates, but people are concerned about the quality of those jobs and availability of affordable housing, the report found. Schools and air quality are also high on … Continued
November 16, 2015(Daily Herald/Associated Press) - Utah residents say that their quality of life hasn’t gotten much better in recent years even though the state economy has been steadily improving, according to a new report released Monday by the Utah Foundation. The state has some of the country’s lowest unemployment rates, but people are concerned about the quality of those jobs and availability of affordable housing, the report found. Schools and air quality are also high on the list of concerns. … Continued
November 16, 2015(Deseret News) - Utahns overall rate themselves as having a high quality of life, yet this year that score has remained stagnant — and even slightly decreased — in spite of a thriving economy. Dragging the state’s ratings down are several top priorities that Utahns name as areas that need improvement: public schools, job availability, transportation and air quality. “I figured we’ve got one of the best economies in the nation, so things have got to be getting … Continued
November 16, 2015(KUER) - A new report from the non-profit Utah Foundation shows that despite an improving economy, Utahns feel their quality of life is about the same is it was two years ago. The Utah Foundation’s biennial report on Quality of Life asks Utahns to rank the quality and importance of 20 different aspects of their lives that might affect their happiness. “It’s not whether we are happy per se. And it’s not whether we are healthy per … Continued
November 16, 2015(Salt Lake Tribune) - Utahns report that their quality of life has remained stable over the past four years, in spite of an improving economy. Results published by the nonprofit Utah Foundation also show a remarkable consistency since 2011 in the level of concern state residents show for hot-button political and social issues such as air and water quality, public schools, affordable housing and employment. The Quality of Life Index published Monday held steady for 2015 at 76.9 out … Continued
November 16, 2015(KSL.com) - Utahns overall rate themselves as having a high quality of life, but they view several top priorities — public schools, job availability and air quality — as areas that need improvement. In its third biennial Utah Quality of Life Index, the Utah Foundation reports that Utahns are slightly less satisfied with life than they were in 2013, down more than one point, projecting 76.9 out of a possible 100 points. The score is an average … Continued
