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Show supplement to the National Enterprise Utilities Increase VC01 L Spending While capital spending plans for utilities across the country fell sharply this year, Utah utilities plan to increase their capital outlay. According to a recent Conference Board report, utilities decreased capital expenditure plans by 67 percent during the first three months of 1976. investor-owne- d Wild and Wooley Notions Color T ourists Perceptions byDeanAlsup Sage brush, Oral Roberts and salt water taffy are what many tourists expect to find in Utah this summer. Still others expect a lot of Indians, some tumbleweeds and a society several years behind the rest of the country. The general opinion, however, of the tourist who has spent a few hours in Utah, and Salt Lake City specifically, is that the people are nice, the city clean and the climate hot but healthy. Tom Brown, Director of the Salt Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau, is intrigued with the preconceived image that tourists have of Utah and Utahns, because, as Brown puts it, Theres more to tourism than money, but not much. A few people from the East and overseas imagine us Utahns as a ragged sort of people dressed in long black coats scratching our livings out of a bed of salt and digging in the desert for what water we can find. Just one of the astounding myths that tourists bring to Utah Is the belief that Mormons bury their dead within the walls of the Salt Lake Temple - probably the most popular of all tourist attractions In the state. -- Surge in City Sales Reverses Trend 15-Ye- ar by Mary McMillan Gaber in the extra sales volume. Every time a new mall Salt Lake Citys down- begins operating, that area received a leap in its share of the market, Witt said. Other indications that the citys business is improving can be seen in sales revenue figures. In the first quarter of 1975 the city led the county in beautification project and ZCMI center may be responsible for reversing a trend. For 15 years, the citys share of the county sales volume has been steadily deSuburban malls creasing. have been drawing more and more business while downtown merchants have been losing customers. But suddenly, during the first three months of 1976, city town 15-ye- ar slumped sales. post-Christm- as But in 1976 merchants post-Christm- city as sales volume was five percent greater than its volume, while the suburbs pre-Christm- post-Christm- as as volume drop- share of the ped 9.8 percent. The citys third quarter market increased dramatically, from a low of 48.3 1975 sales volume of $303.2 merchants million rose to $318.6 million during the first quarter of 1976. Third quarter 1975 sales volume of $313.2 million for the balance of the county fell Foundation speculated the to $283.2 million in 1976. continued on page 6b ZCMI Center may have pulled percent to 53 percent. Not since 1972 has the city received such a high share of the county market. Alan Witt of the Utah Brown is very much concerned with tourism and the money that the traveler spends in Utah. He should be. He is one of 30,500 people employed in Utah because of the tourist industry. out-of-sta- te Wealth in Tourism But Utah Power and Light expects to more than double its investment during the next five years, according to spokesman Grant Pendleton. The power company spent $164.5 million in 1975, he said, and intends to spend $280 million in 1976. company expects to spend a total of $1.5 billion in the next five years. is Utah Because Utah does not possess great quantities of natural wealth, the state depends heavily on tourism. In fact, our state ranks in the top 12 of states that are dependent on tourism. We need it. Extend Their Visit The experiencing high electrical demand from both industry and the residential population, Pendleton said. According to the recent Conference Board report, decreased expenditures by other utilities is due to a reduction in the projected demand for electricity through 1985, and to problems related to nuclear technology. Mountain Fuel Supply company expects to increase its expenditures slightly, from $42 million to $56 million, according to executive vice president John Crawford. We have plenty of I Brown said. tourists, dont think we have to work on getting more people into the state; instead, wre need to get the traveler to stay here longer. Brown believes most Most of the money will people would stay longer if their first impression of Utah go toward plant facilities to was a good one. And that first increase our capacity for deContinued on page 4b livery of gas, Crawford said. Construction Boosts Employment to Boom Proportions in Utah The construction industry is boom condiapproaching tions in Utah, according to Robert S. Welch, Job Service information officer. n The Salt Lake-Ogde- area is experiencing its share of the building activity. The number of new construction jobs in the area has increased from 1400 in April to 900 in May and another 1700 in June. While employment in heavy manufacturing has been sluggish throughout the recesn area sion, the Salt experienced a sharp increase Lake-Ogde- in employment in that industry in June, from a decrease of 100 in May to an increase of 1400. According to Welch, all manufacturing jobs are showHe ing continued gains. added food production is the only manufacturing business experiencing a decline in employment. Retail trade in the Salt n area is also sporting strong gains in employment. Retailers hired 1300 new people in April, another 600 in May and added another 400 in June. Wholesalers added 800 new employees to their payrolls last month. Local and state governments show sharp declines in employment due, Welch said, in educational to staff lay-ofinstitutions. These declines Lake-Ogde- fs include such seasonal employees as bus drivers and lunch workers. (See Chart) . |