Fish Lake improvements progressing

More than $3 million worth of upgrades are under construction in the Fish Lake Basin. Improvements include upgrades to the parking areas at the Fish Lake Lodge and Lakeside marinas, as well as upgrades to the marinas as well as one at Bowery Haven. A fishing pier at Bowery is also in the plans. However, the pier and expansion of the marinas are pending final permitting from the U.S. Corps of Engineers.


In the meantime, parking areas have been expanded and improved. Another project is a boardwalk at Twin Creeks. A spawning ground for Kokanee Salmon, Twin Creeks has become a popular destination for people in the fall, hoping to view the fish as they swim upstream. Future projects for the basin include upgrades to roads in the area. Richfield Reaper

Wasatch Academy to build new addition

Wasatch Academy has begun construction for a new addition to their expansive campus by removing two old buildings. The new building will be specialized for housing the academy’s growing engineering department. The new, Wasatch Academy Engineering Building is estimated to be completed by late May 2019. These spaces will allow students to explore deeper into the sciences of robotics and engineering while being guided by experienced teachers. Larger projects, such as student-made solar heaters, will now be able to be stored whereas in past years, they often had to be disassembled so other classes could share the same space. Sanpete Pyramid

Rocky Mountain Power funds middle school renewable energy project

Rocky Mountain Power presented North Sanpete Middle School with a check for $576,224 to launch the largest Blue Sky renewable energy project in over a decade. The project includes a 206-kilowatt solar array that will generate approximately 80 percent of the school’s energy. The project also includes an electric vehicle charging station and a battery energy storage system that will be charged using excess solar power during the day as it helps meet the school’s energy needs even on cloudy days. Deseret News

Understanding Utah’s Future Skill and Knowledge Needs

The Utah Department of Workforce Services releases Skill and Knowledge-based Projections

By Lecia Parks Langston, Senior Economist

“It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.” Wilbur Wright

The following skill and knowledge projections suggest that the foundation for future workforce preparation relies on those old favorites “readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic.” Technical skills and knowledge areas are also important, but rely on an excellent foundation in basic skill and knowledge areas.

• Utah occupational projections and the Occupational Information Network (O*Net) provide the foundation for these skills and knowledge estimates.

• “Basic Skills” dominate the top 10 in-demand skills, suggesting a need to ensure training on “the basics” for all prospective workers.

• Basic skills needs cross occupational and educational boundaries. • Basic skills make changing occupations possible as the labor market changes.

• Communication skills and reading rank highest on the top skills list, followed by critical thinking. • The top five skill and knowledge areas are the same for every region of the state.

• The top 10 in-demand skills change very little regardless of the occupational training level.

• Customer Service ranks, by far, as the knowledge area with the highest projected demand.

• For occupations requiring formal training past the high school level, competence in English, computers/electronics, and mathematics becomes increasingly important — although these skills are in demand for employment at all training levels.

• Short-term shortages for certain technical skills may seem to displace the overarching need for all workers to have a strong foundation in basic skills in training discussions.

Show Me the Economy

New Occupational Projections Available

Mark Knold, Supervising Economist
 
 “The government knows everything about everyone.” 

 Fortunately, that statement is not true. Yet society still looks to the government to provide answers to comprehensive and complex questions that have their foundation within individual decisions and activities. One subject frequently directed toward the government is individual-level information about the economy — particularly, what occupations are in demand, what occupations pay well and have lucrative outlooks, and ultimately, what occupation(s) should I build my career upon?

It takes the accumulation of a wide array of individual information to answer these questions. Employers provide the foundation information about the occupations they employ. Jobs are held by individuals, but employers provide the profile information about the job itself, not any particular individual.

Since society desires to profile such a broad spectrum of the economy — occupational profiles and the occupational distribution within the economy — only government is in the unique position to collect, analyze and provide answers for said desire. Yet, no government program or regulatory agency mandates any comprehensive occupational reporting from individuals or businesses. Therefore, government attempts to fill the void with an ongoing, robust and voluntary survey of employers — a survey where employers are asked to provide details about their various occupations, including descriptions, quantities, wages/salaries and location. Through this survey emerges an occupational portrait of an economy.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) structures and funds the survey, yet the individual states conduct the survey. Under BLS administration, all states use the same methodology; therefore, occupational profiles are comparable across states.

Through this survey, analysts discover how industries are populated with various occupations. Accountant is an occupation, yet accountants can be found across many different industries. Other occupations may be more exclusive to certain industries; for example, doctors are largely found only in the healthcare industry. One of the survey’s products is that industries can be profiled with their general mix of occupations. This is called an industry’s occupational staffing pattern.

This brings us back to the original questions: what occupations are in demand, what occupations pay well and have lucrative outlooks, and ultimately, what occupation(s) should I build my career upon? The foundation is to make informed forecasts about how industries will expand/contract over the next 10 years. By applying existing occupational staffing patterns to each industry’s projected change, a trained economic analyst can then make an extrapolation about how occupations will correspondingly increase/decrease. Knowledgeable analyst judgment further refines the occupational expectations, such as knowing an occupation will grow faster than in the past, with the result being a set of occupational projections that accumulate to profile a state or regional economy.

A new set of occupational projections are done every two years to keep the information fresh even though economies do not change dramatically in short order. Because of slow change, updated occupational projects generally continue the overall message of preceding occupational projections. But economies do modify with time, and therefore, subtle changes will arise with each new set of occupational projections.

Utah’s most recent occupational projections are found here: http://www.jobs.utah.gov/wi/pubs/outlooks/state/index.html. These projections look forward to the year 2024.

The occupational profile is structured from the general to the detailed, mimicking the structure of a family tree. First, broad occupational categories are defined, such as management or healthcare occupations; then, subcategories are defined; and finally, individual occupations are defined. Individual occupations are the heart of the occupational projections. But overall patterns and characteristics do emerge when observing the broader categories.

While a Utah statewide profile leads the way, Utah’s local economies are not homogenous; therefore, nine Utah subregions are also profiled. Due to confidentiality restraints and statistical reliability, the amount of occupations available will diminish the smaller a subregion; but, occupations comprising the backbone of a regional economy will be available.

Central Region 

Lecia Parks Langston, Senior Economist 

The Central Utah projection region consists of Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier and Wayne counties. Central Utah’s employment base is expected to growth at an average annual rate of 1.1 percent between 2014 and 2024. While that rate of expansion is the second-slowest in the state and falls far below the Utah average of 2.7 percent, slower expansion is not uncommon among Utah’s less-populated areas.

Over the 10-year projection period, Central Utah is expected to create 850 job openings each year. Slower-than-average growth means the need to replace workers leaving occupations will likely generate 66 percent of these openings, while new openings from growth will account for only 34 percent. Statewide, new growth is expected to produce a larger share (54 percent) of total openings.

Occupational groups with the largest current employment are expected to also generate the largest number of job openings between 2014 and 2024. Food preparation/serving and sales occupations should show the highest number of openings in Central Utah. These occupations also tend to have high replacement needs. Other occupations projected to show many openings include transportation/material moving, office/administrative support (e.g., clerical), education/training/library and management. On the other hand, the fastest growth occupational groups should be construction/extraction (e.g., mining) and production occupations.

Two occupational groups, architecture/engineering and community/social service are expected to experience slight declines in employment although they will still produce openings because of replacement needs. Other slow growing occupations include legal, protective service, office/administrative support and personal care/service occupations. Despite a low growth rate, office/administrative support occupations will still supply a large number of openings due to current employment levels and replacement needs.

Because many jobs in the Central Utah economy currently require little education and many of these positions have high replacement needs, jobs requiring a high school education or less are expected to account for 71 percent of total openings. Jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree or a high school education should show the fastest growth rates.

Individual occupations projected to produce a high volume of openings in Central Utah often pay lower-than-average wages. This is a pattern common statewide. For example, in Central Utah fast food workers, cashiers, waiters/waitresses and janitors rank among the highest opening-producing occupations. However, general/operations managers, transportation managers, heavy truck drivers, registered nurses and school teachers should also produce a large number of openings in the area.

In an attempt to help provide career guidance, the Department of Workforce Services has attached star ratings to most occupations. These ratings take into account both employment opportunities (openings and growth rate) and wages. In Central Utah, a wide variety of occupations received the five-star rating, which denotes the best employment outlook and wages in the area. The list runs the gamut from registered nurses to accountants to heavy truck drivers. For more information about star ratings detailed occupational projections, see the links in the data visualization.

The Infrastructure Labor Market

By Mark Knold, Supervising Economist, and Lecia Parks Langston, Senior Economist

The labor force is made up of people. People vary in every conceivable way. One person is artistic while another can only draw stick people. One person might be able to disassemble and reassemble a car engine while another might not know what an alternator is. We are different. We have different aptitudes and abilities.

Parallel to this variability, jobs are different. High levels of education do make it possible to work in high-skill occupations that return high incomes. But not everyone is cut out for higher education or has the means to obtain higher education. Therefore, they might end up in “lesser” or “unimportant” jobs.

But is that accurate? Are their job options inferior and unimportant? A recent Brookings Institution report brings to light a segment of the economy that is highly important yet is dependent upon the labor force that may not be built for, have the economic means, or desire to attain a college degree or higher.

Brookings identifies a niche they call the infrastructure economy. As Brookings notes, “Infrastructure helps facilitate the exchange of information, drive production, and deliver resources, spanning multiple sectors of the economy and serving as a foundation to long-term growth.” It goes further to note that “Infrastructure jobs depend on a steady stream of talent to construct, operate, design, and govern the country’s major physical assets.”

Brookings also documents why these infrastructure jobs can appeal to the individual. “Infrastructure occupations also boast competitive wages with relatively low barriers to entry, frequently paying up to 30 percent more to workers with a high school diploma or less compared to those in all other occupations. Plumbers, truck mechanics, and power line installers are among the numerous infrastructure occupations that fall into this category, which tend to emphasize on-the-job training rather than higher levels of formal education.”

Brookings identified 95 occupations that support the infrastructure foundation. Their work was well founded and designed. This intrigued us to develop a profile of said infrastructure configuration for the Utah economy. We could not replicate the Brookings work in terms of finalizing upon infrastructure industries, but we could place our focus instead upon all infrastructure occupations.

Infrastructure occupations do not have to be found in only infrastructure industries. A helicopter pilot, an infrastructure occupation, may fly a medical helicopter for a hospital, even though said hospital is not categorized as an infrastructure industry.

What is important is that there are occupations that Brookings has identified as key occupations that help to keep the economy operating, growing, designed, and governed. And a practical appeal is that many of these jobs offer low barriers to entry while supplying competitive wages.

Across the nation, these occupations number 11.9 million, or 8.8 percent of all occupational employment. In Utah, these jobs number around 121,400, also 8.8 percent of all occupational employment. Again, the appeal of these jobs is not just that they fundamentally support so many other jobs and industries in the economy, but that these jobs don’t require a high level of education or formalized training for entry. Oftentimes these occupations emphasize only on-the-job training. Yet, these jobs pay on average 22 percent higher in Utah than other occupations that are willing to accept only a high school diploma or less.

Utah does have its unique structuring across its different geographic regions, and this will include the possibility of a different profile of the infrastructure economy in each local region. The following is an infrastructure profile for the Central Utah region.

Central Utah 

Infrastructure jobs play a major role in the Central Utah economy providing better wages than other positions requiring similar education and training. 

Central Utah (Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier and Wayne counties) is home to roughly 3,000 infrastructure jobs, a striking 13 percent of total employment. With this high share of employment, the area’s infrastructure location quotient is 1.4 compared to 1.0 statewide. Location quotients quantify the regional concentration of this occupational group compared to the nation. In this case, Central Utah infrastructure employment accounts for a share 40 percent greater than the national average. A large number of heavy/tractor-trailer drivers in the area are largely responsible for Central Utah’s high infrastructure location quotient.

Pay 

In Central Utah, infrastructure jobs requiring less than a Bachelor’s degree pay roughly 40 percent more than similar jobs in the overall Central Utah economy. Many of the highest-paying infrastructure occupations require just a high school education (plus on-the-job training).

Education and Training 

About 97 percent of Central Utah’s infrastructure jobs typically require less than a Bachelor’s degree. The major role played by heavy/tractor-trailer drivers in the region contributes to the large share of infrastructure jobs with a post-secondary non-degree award (40 percent). Most infrastructure jobs require little on-the-job training. More than three-fourths of the jobs are in occupations calling for on-the-job training of a month or less.

Again, a preponderance of heavy truck driver employment dominates the activities of the area’s infrastructure employment. Almost 80 percent of infrastructure employment is involved in operating activities. Construction-related activities account for the next largest share at 12 percent.

Looking Forward 

Over the next decade, infrastructure employment in Central Utah is projected to grow at a slightly slower rate (9 percent) than overall employment (11 percent). However, there is a significant need for replacements in this occupational group. While infrastructure jobs are expected to account for roughly 10 percent of openings due to growth, they should generate 15 percent of replacement openings.

Snow College plans to expand, enhance its campuses

Snow College leaders see a future with updated athletic facilities, new classroom buildings and student housing, additional course offerings and contiguous footprints that tie into the biking and walking paths of its surrounding cities. While there are no plans for Snow to mimic sister Utah colleges that have adopted four-year formats in the past decade, administrators see a need for an enhanced campus and community experience.

Utah's Board of Regents recently approved a new master plan for Snow College. It identifies locations for potential new buildings, which would fill in some of the geographical gaps between existing campus structures. While most additions are decades away, other projects are expected to begin in the next few years.

The master plan anticipates that Snow will partner with a private developer to build dorms in Richfield, and the administration could begin accepting bids near the end of this year.

At the Ephraim campus, construction has begun on a new science building, scheduled to open in fall 2017. The school hopes to begin next year with a series of phased updates to Snow's football stadium, adding lighting for night events, concessions and updated bathroom and locker-room space. The college also wants to transform the segment of Ephraim's Center Street that runs through campus by adding parking and links to bike and pedestrian paths. Salt Lake Tribune

Educational attainment in Central Utah

By Lecia Parks Langston, Senior Economist 

“No economy can succeed without a high-quality workforce, particularly in an age of globalization and technical change.” Ben Bernanke

• With 88 percent of its population having graduated from high school, Central Utah performs just slightly better than the nation, but not as good as the state.

• Piute County shows the second-lowest share of high school graduates in the state and is the only Central Utah county with a lower rate than the United States.

• Wayne County shows the highest levels of educational attainment in Central Utah.

• Young people are less likely to have graduated from high school than their elders.

• Central Utah still shows a significantly lower share of college graduates than both the U.S. and Utah.

• Lower educational attainment reflects the lack of employment opportunities for highly educated persons in less-populated counties. Persons who pursue a higher education must often find jobs in urban areas.

• In Utah, there is a five-point spread between women (28 percent) and men (33 percent) with at least a bachelor’s degree — the largest state-level education gap in the nation. The Central Utah education gap is scarcely smaller with women at 17 percent and men at 21 percent.

• In Central Utah, as elsewhere, the higher an individual’s educational attainment, the less likely they are to be unemployed.

• The same basic relationship consistently appears in Central Utah, Utah and the U.S. — the higher the educational attainment, the higher the earnings.

• In Central Utah both veterans and nonveterans show roughly the same percentage with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Economic success and educational attainment certainly seem connected. Well-educated populations typically display higher overall incomes, more diversification, and wider variation in employment opportunities. Site-location firms use educational attainment as a factor in making recommendations for their clients. Plus, a well-educated workforce is often a more productive workforce. On the other hand, less-populated regions may lack the job opportunities demanded by those with more education. Understanding the education of an area’s population and labor force assists us in understanding the region’s economic environment.

This article highlights the educational attainment data for Central Utah. Figures are taken from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) just-released five-year average figures for 2010-2014. The five-year average is the only data set available for small counties and provides comparability across regions.

You’ll notice from the visualization that there’s a lot of data available. This article will cover the information with broad brush strokes. Those truly interested in the educational attainment of a particular region can use the visualization to dig even deeper. However, keep in mind that the survey margins of error (available from the Census Bureau) for small counties might be considerable and should be used with caution.

Long-Term Employment Projections

The long-term employment projections have been updated for the time period of 2012 to 2022. Projections are produced for the state of Utah as well as for eight sub-state areas. The areas are determined by population and job density and are not created equal. But rather, types of jobs are determined by the nature of the local area’s economy. Short-term projections for 2012 to 2014 are also provided for statewide.

The value in providing these projections is to help identify which types of jobs are most likely to be in high demand in the future. Ultimately, the long-term employment projections act as a forecasting measure by which individuals as well as organizations and agencies can plan ahead.

See the latest long-term projections produced by DWS for the Central Utah area.

A Story of Wage Data

The Wages and Income page has a new look to the wage data that is gathered by the Workforce Research and Analysis division. Along with visualization of the data, you can now read story points at the top of each graph, to help understand what the data is showing you along with highlighting its insights. Just click along the story points at the top of the visualization to follow the story of wages.

Richfield High School replacement project starting

Voters approved a bond for $46 million in June for a slate of capital improvement projects for schools across Sevier County — the largest of which is the replacement of Richfield High School.

The plan is to replace RHS in phases at its current location. The first signs of construction of the new high school are scheduled to begin in September as new tennis courts are built. The final design is not complete, but many details have been hammered out including the decision to build two stories. Most of the current buildings on the campus are going to be removed and replaced by June of 2016 in two primary phases. The first phase, some 80,000 square feet, is scheduled to be finished by the summer of 2015. Richfield Reaper

Note: Roughly 31 percent of Sevier County’s population is under 18—comparable to the under-18 year-olds share in Utah—the youngest state in the nation.  

Tapping into Utah’s Brightest at the Milford Renewable Energy Fair

Innovators, experts and students alike will gather on May 1, 2013 for the fifth Annual Milford Renewable Energy Fair. The fair attracts people from all across Utah to learn more about renewable energy and the future of the industry in Utah. Hosted by the Southwest Utah Renewable Energy Center (SUTREC), the Milford Renewable Energy Fair will begin at 9:00 am at the Milford High School in Milford, Utah. Utah Policy

Repositioning higher education

It’s been a lean time for higher education, and Snow College may be in the toughest situation of any school in the state, said Utah Sen. Ralph Okerlund.

“It’s not just a Snow College thing, cuts are going on at campuses across the state,” Okerlund said. “We as a Legislature have asked them to look at their models and make sure they are providing the most bang for our buck.”

What constitutes the most bang for the taxpayers’ buck, according to the Legislature?

“It’s tougher in rural areas where there are not as many employment opportunities, so we have to be smart,” Okerlund said.

Okerlund said the change in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s missionary policy would affect Snow for the next two to three years. Due to the composition of Snow’s student body, the change will have a more dramatic effect on Snow than any other institution in the state, Okerlund said. The loss has been projected to be more than $2 million in lost tuition over the course of the next year.



The debate over the future of Snow College Richfield spilled over into a Richfield City Council meeting Feb. 12.

“They are cutting a lot of things,” said Mike Turner, city council member. He said he is concerned about the closure of programs, the cuts in funding at the Snow Richfield campus, and the potential effect on Richfield’s economy.

Turner said he had talked with Noel Bailey, who is part of a group of retired employees from Snow Richfield that has expressed displeasure with cuts to programs at the campus.

The group of former college officials met with the state auditor’s office in October 2012 to express six concerns, including how a legislative budget line item for $1.2 million for career and technical education is spent. Read more on this subject: Richfield Reaper

School construction underway in North Sanpete School District

Three construction projects begun by the North Sanpete School District this past year are now well under way and residents of the valley are able to see the progress being made. Renovations at Moroni Elementary, addition to North Sanpete High School and the new Mt. Pleasant Elementary School are all in full construction mode. The most ambitious of the three projects is the building of the new elementary school in Mt. Pleasant. With the old building reached capacity several years ago and the heating system worn out, it was imperative a new edifice be built. Daily Herald

CNN Money gives Snow College High Marks

CNN Money recently marked Snow College sixth in a national study of more than 1,200 junior colleges for financial efficiency. President Scott Wyatt said the college's direction, including buildings on campus and high enrollment support the ranking. President Wyatt said the school is far better than he imagined it could be when he assumed the position in 2006. Herald Journal

New Academic Building for Delta High School underway

The 18-month construction of a new academic building for Delta High School has begun. Okland Construction is heading up the construction. Millard County Chronicle Progress

Snow College receives approval for first four-year degree

Utah’s Board of Regents quickly and unanimously approved Snow College’s first bachelor’s degree. The vote was the last hurdle the four-year degree in commercial music, developed in a partnership with     the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, had to clear before implementation.

Snow College is the first school to take advantage of a new policy adopted by the Board of Regents allowing two-year schools to offer a limited number of four-year degrees. The program has three areas of emphasis: performance, production and songwriting/composition. According to a Snow press release, classes for the bachelor’s degree should begin in August. Students should begin graduating from the course in May 2014. Sanpete Messenger

Coyotes and Deer Focus of New Study

Just how many fawns do coyotes kill? And how does the killing affect the number of mule deer in Utah? What about efforts to control coyotes? How effective are those efforts? And how do those efforts help deer in the state?

Biologists with the Division of Wildlife Resources want to know. In cooperation with Brigham Young University and Utah State University, they’re launching a study to find out.

The study on Monroe Mountain is just one of several things the DWR and its partners are doing to help mule deer in Utah. In just the past six years, tens of millions of dollars have been spent to help the state’s deer herds by restoring deer habitat, reducing highway mortality, and stopping deer poachers. KCSG Television

Snow College unveils plans for Richfield Campus

Snow College's future - including the Richfield campus - was discussed during a public meeting Jan. 18 in Richfield. "Our goal is to double enrollment at this campus," said Snow College President Scott Wyatt. He detailed a plan, which is designed to implement mandates from the Legislature, as well as the Utah State Board of Regents. Wyatt explained the state's 2020 plan, which calls for three goals - increase the number of people going to college, help a larger proportion graduate and economic innovation by being more engaged with industry.

One of the changes on the Richfield campus Wyatt announced is the development of five new career and technology programs. Several CTE programs have been cut from the school's offerings in the past three years, and the new programs are part of a refocusing effort. The programs include industrial technology, manufacturing, facility maintenance, mining technology and energy technology. Another new program involving the Richfield campus is a natural resources management degree. Another new program for Snow students is a commercial music program. Richfield Reaper

Utah among states to get funds for job training programs

This week, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Martha Kanter, undersecretary of education, announced nearly $500 million will be given to community colleges across the nation in order to better provide training and workforce development. Among those recipients, Utah will receive $2.7 million over the next three years. The funds will be distributed among Salt Lake Community College, Snow College, Dixie State College, Utah Valley University, Weber State University and the Utah College of Applied Technology. Deseret News