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Still, the current boom owes at least as much to shrewd timing as to divine providence. The state slumped into a deep recession in the early 1980s when the mining and steel industries collapsed. With remarkable foresight, government and business leaders began a restructuring of the economic base that is now paying off. In place of declining heavy industries, home-grown computer firms like WordPerfect and Novell stepped in. "That earlier downturn helped us root out our problems," says Kelly Matthews, chief economist at First Security Bank. "We haven't exactly earned our current good fortune, but in a sense we've already paid our dues."
The corporate recruits are drawn not only by a low-cost (average monthly wage: $1,585, vs. the average wage nationally of $1,850), well-trained work force that is 8% unionized, but also by the hospitality offered by an unusually cooperative state administration. When Al Egbert, general manager of the McDonnell Douglas operation in Salt Lake City, recently got word that an oversize truckload would arrive on a Friday evening, he called the necessary state officials at home, and a highway escort was arranged. The delivery finally came at 9 p.m. "Utah is a unique place, where you can actually get things done," says Egbert. "The cultural norm is to work together and make a profit."
However, not everyone thinks Utah is heaven on earth. Some residents are uneasy about what they regard as putting the profit motive above all else. "There are core aspects of Utah's development -- the 'human infrastructure' side of things -- like education costs, health care and wage rates -- that are not being adequately addressed," says Bill Walsh, head of Utah Issues, an advocacy group for low-income people. Despite the stress on education, Utah is last in the nation in per capita spending on schooling.
For women in particular, life in Utah can be hard. Though no longer legal, polygamy persists in rural areas. There are more females than males in the work force, but they earn only 54 cents for every $1 a man earns, vs. the national ratio of 72 cents. A woman who wants an abortion may not be able to get one in Utah much longer. Last January the state legislature -- which is 90% white, male and Mormon -- passed a law that would make virtually all abortions punishable by imprisonment. It has not been implemented because it is held up in the courts.
Racial minorities too can find life in Utah uncomfortable. The state's population is 93% white, and minorities lack the critical mass to make their concerns heard. Although the unemployment rate is only 5% (compared with 7% nationally), many Utahans work in low-paying service-industry jobs that make supporting a family difficult. Just over 10% of the people live in poverty, and although their circumstances are not nearly as desperate as those of the poor in other parts of the country, many fall in the cracks of the Mormon and state welfare systems. To critics, the failure to correct these flaws is all the more frustrating because Utah has the wealth to address them. "Utah is not that different from the rest of the country in terms of the social and economic problems it faces," says Professor Nancy Amidei of the School of Social Work at the University of Utah. "But the smaller scale makes it potentially more manageable."