Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah's natural landscapes attract tech companies, boosting Silicon Slopes' growth.
- About 80% of tech workers surveyed four years ago cited outdoor recreation as a key relocation factor.
- Multiple tech firms say they're committed to preserving Utah's outdoors.
SALT LAKE CITY — Nate Quigley and his wife, Vanessa, studied at BYU, but it was Utah's mountains, rivers, lakes and desert scenery that kept them coming back to the Beehive State after they started careers.
A little over a decade ago, they were living in Florida and preparing to launch a company that would ultimately become Chatbooks — an app that essentially helps users turn digital photos into a scrapbook — when they decided to move back to Utah.
"We realized we had been coming to Utah every year for 20 years — a couple of weeks in the summer; a couple of weeks in the winter," he said. "We thought, Why are we vacationing in Utah instead of working in Utah and living where we love to be every day of the year?"
Today, their Lehi-based company employs over 150 people tied to Utah's growing tech sector. However, Quigley says he knows his story is not unique. He and others in the industry say the outdoors is a key reason businesses have decided to set up shop in the state.
It's also a key reason workers want to live in Utah. The University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute reported in 2021 that about 80% of over 250 people from 140 different employers surveyed in Utah's tech sector said outdoor recreation or access to the wilderness was the "most important factor" in their decision to either move to Utah or, for natives, stay in it.
In other words, the slopes are a key component of Silicon Slopes' success.
While the institute reported last week that Utah's tourism industry — heavily spurred by spikes in national parks and state parks visitation, as well as the state's ski resorts — recorded a record $12.71 billion in direct visitor spending in 2023, state lawmakers say its impact is even larger because of its tie to tech.
It's why several tech executives, outdoor industry officials and state leaders met on Friday to celebrate the connection, as tech and outdoor recreation sectors each celebrated their successes at the Utah Capitol.
"Outdoor rec is way bigger than we think," said Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek. "It's not just about a ski manufacturer, it's about a tech executive that wants to put a company here and hire thousands of software engineers because he or she wants to ski before work."
While it's a big draw for companies, tech companies are also exploring ways to preserve the outdoors.
Silicon Slopes launched its Sustainable Business Coalition in 2019, which aims to address water consumption, air quality and other key components of protecting the outdoors. Quigley said Friday the coalition is "just getting rolling" when it comes to those issues.
It's possible that companies could also play a role in maintaining national parks. Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, revealed his plan for Utah to undertake the growing cost of deferred maintenance projects on federal lands to the group during its presentation.
He told KSL.com that public-private funding partnerships could be an option to raise project funds, which are expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Whatever the future might be, Utah and business leaders agree Utah's outdoors will remain a critical part of its identity and the state's quality of life as it grows in population and as a tech hub.
"Our future is bright because we know how to combine work and pleasure," said Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton. "The tech industry has been a great driver of economic development in Utah, but also a great driver of recreation. We can do both."
