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Show .tAtsu-muni- ift 4 THE jNAflONAL Us0n Business news and commentary Volume 6 Number 41 Wednesday, April 13, 1977 50 cents Utah business activity has the jump on U.S. growth Business activity in Utah climbed sharply last year, resuming the strong growth pattern begun in the early 1970s. Based on sales tax receipts, sales volume in Utah during 1976 gained 14 percent over 1975. jobs were created in Utah. This represented a gain of 6 percent in total nonagricultural employment. On the other hand, unemployment in the state declined by 13 percent in the same period. But according to a report issued by the Utah Foundation, after adjustments for inflation, the effective real growth" in sales volume last year amounted to 7.8 percent. Just the same, this adjusted real gain" compares with adjusted increases of 2.5 percent in 1975 and only .7 percent during the recession year of The 1970s, the Foundation pointed out, have marked a dramatic gain in Utah business activity. Even after allowing for the recession of 1974, the increase in sales volume in Utah adjusted for inflation during the 1970-7- 6 period has averaged 6.9 percent. This rate of growth 1974. 12-mon- th y greater than the average increases of 3.0 percent per year in the 1960-6- 5 period and 2.5 percent in the 1965-7- 0 period. is substantially Strong Economy, Growing Employment The increased business activity last year was a reflection of a strong economy and a growing job market. During 1976, nearly 27,000 new Outpacing the Nation The rising rate of business activity in Utah is ahead of the nation, too. The average increase of 6.9 percent in adjusted sales volume between 1970-7compares with an average increase of only 2.9 percent in adjusted personal consumption expenditures throughout the U.S. during the same period. Last year adjusted sales volume in Utah climbed by 7.8 percent while ajdusted national personal consumption expenditures rose by 4.9 percent. Habitual water waster gets 10 years for water squandering. 6, to the Foundation report, this of the pattern past six years is an almost direct reversal of the 1960 experience when business activity in Utah was growing at a much slower pace than that of the rest of the nation. During that time, the rate of business growth in Utah was 28 percent below that of the U.S. as a whole. Since the beginning of the present (See BUSINESS ACTIVITY, page 12) According Nurserymen say water restrictions are all wet Although the director of the Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District says summer yard watering must be restricted, Utah Nurserymen claim he is making a According to Robert Hilbert, director of the conservancy district, the average yard should be watered only five hours a week this summer. To show he means business, he is planning to unveil three alternative restriction Business could suffer KALL believes A legislative amendment eral Manager KALL radio has launched a to allow for continued economic growth in Utah is being drafted by the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. The amendment will alter the Federal Clean Air Act to allow for a variance in significant de- terioration of air quality standards in rural areas. According to Peter Cooke of the Chamber's legislative fairs committee, present standards leave questions $75,000 water conservation campaign. According to Gen- Bennie L. Williams, it is probably the first campaign of its kind in the country. We have already spent over $5,000 to produce table tents for restaurant tables, Williams said. The little cards tell customers wrater is not being automatically served, and drought is real In addition to distributing the table tents, KALL is planning to advertise water conservation on 60 billboards for six months, beginning in June. That effort will cost about $25,000, Williams estimated, adding the station has budgeted $75,000 for the total campaign this year. We think water conservation means a lifestyle change, Williams commented. This over-waterin- for on campaign may go another two or three years. He said he thinks Utahs drought is worse than most people realize, and he foresees penalties for over-users. The government usually relies on itself to publicize things like a drought, Williams says. But it doesnt do a good enough job. Private enterprise needs to do the job, too. must be requested. about the number of manufacturing plants that can be Devconstructed in Utah. elopment of our mining interests also hangs in limbo, he said. Jack Dunlap of Bonneville Research, a consultant retained by the Chamber to research air quality regulations, said the issue is over what consti-(Se- e BUSINESS, page 13) g illegal. We are starting out making this restriction a voluntary effort. So far this has worked, and we think it will keep working. But if it doesnt, we are talking about turning to a pricing procedure, where we place a surcharge on water after a certain amount is used. The third alternative, and one we dont expect to have to use, is actually writing an ordinance, restricting watering to certain times and hours, Hilbert explains. af- Within a week of their printing, Williams said, 70,000 tents were requested by restaurant owners. According to Barrie McKay, spokesman for Utah Restaurant Association, eatery owners have reported a good response among customers. They report few requests for water, McKay added. Of 1500 restaurants in Utah, about half have received copies of the notices during the first month of the campaign, McKay estimated. pro- grams during a May 3 meeting, one of which would make He adds the conservancy district is recommending that no new landscaping be iniV rOoiSfiKMarki .aafe , Pages': A frtf wiMiyiKicnidijr row tiated this year. New plants are expensive he If people spend explains. $400 for new plants, and we restrict watering, when those shrubs start to turn yellow, people may turn around and sue the water department, he says. The "recommenda-(Se- c NURSERYMEN, page 4) |