In his monthly news conference Thursday, Gov. Gary Herbert highlighted the importance of international trade to Utah’s economy. The governor returned from his ten-day trade mission to Western Europe on Tuesday. Speaking to the press, Herbert said that the state’s aerospace industry has played a huge role in global business.
“As I was at the Paris Air Show, meeting with General Electric, meeting with Boeing, meeting with Lockheed Martin, it was with some pride as I watched some of the demonstrations of the planes that have significant composite materials made here in Utah,” Herbert said. “The Boeing Dreamliner, the 787, significant material. 53 percent of the material on a Boeing and on an Airbus are made here in Utah. With these planes flying off to everywhere around the world, a little bit of Utah is going with them.”
21,000 Utahns are employed in the aerospace industry, with 6,000 of those jobs dealing with component materials. The Beehive State has outperformed the national average in terms of job creation and unemployment reduction in recent years. Herbert said that other states are looking to model Utah’s economic success.
“We’ve grown our international business over the last five years better than any state in America. That means jobs hit home, expanding the economy. 95 percent of the customers for our businesses here in Utah, lie outside the borders of America,” he said. “I’ve bumped into a lot of governors on my trip over there and the competition is keen. People are learning what we already know; that is, international business pays significant dividends to the taxpayers and the people of our respective state of Utah.”
Herbert also noted the importance of tourism, saying that the majority of visitors to Utah’s national parks are from outside the United States.
