Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Utah Boots Up Effort To Grow Aerospace, Defense Industry

A group of Utah organizations has launched a new effort to grow the aerospace and defense industry in the state, saying Wednesday that it has created a new Utah Cluster Acceleration Partners (UCAP) effort to help accelerate expansion and growth of the industry. The group said that the aerospace and defense industry currently adds up to more than $5.4 billion in contributions to the state's economy, employing more than 42,000. The groups involved in the effort are the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE), the Department of Workforce Services (DWS), the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) and Grow Utah Ventures. Among the goals of the new group is to help create more opportunities for people to get training and education for jobs in the aerospace and defense industry. The groups behind the effort hope it will help bring more revenue and jobs to the state from companies, as well as encourage firms to start and locate aerospace and defense firms in the state.