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Show 'vu& THE JJTAH -. Wednesday. September 22, 1976 supplement to the National Enterprise Were No. states. And Utah has a new and finance packages, dustry location is the battle cry in the new war among the weapon. A recent study prepared by Fantus Company (a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet) has claimed Utah has the best business climate of all 12 western states. In the study, funded by the Illinois Manufacturers Association, Utah ranked No. 10 in the nation. The study rated each state according to its legislative climate, the characteristics of the population and facilities for living. Utah ranked best in the qualities of its population and the. poorest of facilities for living. Utahs legislative climate rated excellent or good in 67 percent of the categories listed. Receiving excellent grades were strict laws regulating labor strikes, low expenditures for workmens compensation benefits, low government payroll and low public debt. Regarding Utah's population, 100 percent of listed categories received good or excellent ratings. Fantus gave Utah excellent ratings for a high average of the number of school years completed (in this class Utah ranked No. 1 in the nation.). Continued on page 4b Three Purchase Bank Two Salt Lake City busi-- ; j ; ' Nurseryman 1! Charges Harrassment Armed with tax benefits in- nessmen and an attorney are the new owners of Commun-- ; ity Bank and Trust Co., 950 At-- ; West North Temple. torney Franklin D. Johnson, Robert R. Mascaro, manager of the newly acquired bank, and John Gaskill, area bus- inessman and banker, have purchased Community Fin- ancial Services, a bank hold-- ; ing company, for an undis-- 1 closed amount of cash. Net capital value of the bank was set at about $500,000. As a rule, Gaskill said, banks sell for about 1 12 to 12 times their net capital value. That value, he added, is subject to change every day. Mascaro said the bank Continued on page 10b 2 by Dean Alsup Review Staff Reporter Paul Engh says someone is trying to put him out of business. He doesnt know who or why, but he thinks there is some strong behind what he calls political motivation harassment. of Alpine Engh is the owner-manag640 East 4500 South. He has owned Nursery, the nursery for about six years. Since 1953 the 6th East 4500 South area has been zoned (for duplexes). The Salt Lake Planning Commission says that because Enghs retail nursery business doesnt conform to duplex zoning, he will either have to close up or convert his business to a wholesale operation. He believes he can Engh disagrees. legally maintain a nonconforming retail business because his nursery has been selling retail since long before the area was zoned for duplexes. The County Attorney's office filed action against Engh in August, 1975 to stop him from illegally operating a retail business in an area not zoned for commercial or retail use. Enghs attorney, E. H. Fankhauser, said the case was originally dismissed in Judge Charles Jones court because of insufficient evidence. Fankhauser said that Jones dismissed the case because the County Attorney's office wras unable to provide any evidence indicating that Engh was operating an illegal business. Continued on page 3b er R-2-1- Homebuilders Complain of Federal Interference Owner of Alpine Nursery , Paul Engh says political motivation supports a move to zone him out of business. Sales Dive To Utah car dealers, sum- Government policies and the of the of housing industry lagging rate recovery were of the utmost concern to leaders of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) who ended national meetings at the Hilton and Hotel Utah Tuesday. About 1200 builders from across the country attended the meetings headquartered at the Hilton Hotel. Key factors considered by attending builders were government subsidy programs to make homes more affordable and government no-grow- th no-grow- th 'a-,V: policies that, according to Ken Results Disappointing Speaking on the topic of slow recovery rate of the housing industry, John C. Hart, NAHB president, said that the Se ptember forecast for 1976 housing production by NAHBs economists is about 1.4 million new housing starts. Although starts are up significantly from 1975, he said, the figure is still disappointing because of the lag in the multifamily sector. Hart listed high interest rates and rigid government regulation as two key factors responsible for increasing home prices. Despite housing's gradual move toward he said, the recovery in the past year, fundamental problems which led to the 1974-7- 5 housing depression, the worst in 30 years, are still as real as ever. Geremia, public relations director for the meetings, continually cause home prices to rise. According to NAHB figures, the average home price in the U.S. is about $43,000. Only 16 percent of American households can afford to purchase a medium priced home. Without Change Direction Ameran Geremia said, government subsidy, Two years ago it was impossible to deal ican family must have an income of $12,766 to with these issues except on a stop-ga- p qualify for a $25,000 home. A family must have an annual income of $19,800 to $22,000 to emergency basis." he said. But with todays Continued on page 4b purchase an average priced home, he said. mer came to an abrupt end. July domestic auto sales plummeted 58 percent below June figures that month, while foreign car sales crumbled by 61 percent. Chevrolet posted a 57 percent decrease in sales; Ford posted a 59 percent decrease compared to June. Chevrolet dealers sold 465 cars in July; 1091 in June. ' Ford dealers sold 351 in July, compared to 874 in June. A total of 1612 domestic cars were sold in Utah in July, compared to 3910 sold in June. Foreign car dealers sold 439 automobiles in July, compared to 1132 in June. Sales of the Toyota, the most popular foreign car in Utah, declined slightly less than those of the Datsun, the second most popular import. Dealers sold 116 Toyotas in July, compared to 311 in June, a decline of 62 percent. They sold 59 Datsuns in July, 228 in June, a decline of 74 percent. DOiMESTIC AUTO SALES Utah 1976 Can Sold 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 3 4 5 Month 6 7 |