Utah Foundation Hosts State of the States Discussion on Utah’s Progress

As part of the State of the States release, the State of the Nation Project partnered with 12 state and regional organizations to help interpret and share state-specific findings with local audiences.

One of those partners, the Utah Foundation, hosted a June 10 event exploring what the State of the States report shows about Utah’s progress, strengths, and challenges. The Utah Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research organization that works to inform public policy and engage Utah residents.

Moderated by Carlton Christensen of the Utah Transit Authority, the event featured Shawn Teigen, president of the Utah Foundation; Robert Spendlove, senior economist at Zions Bank; and Laura Summers, director of industry research at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.

The discussion highlighted Utah’s strengths in areas such as social capital, children and families, life satisfaction, economic growth, and employment. Speakers also discussed challenges related to mental health, housing affordability, civil liberties, and the gap between strong economic indicators and residents’ perceptions of their financial well-being.

FOX 13 Salt Lake City covered the event and its key takeaways, describing the report as offering both “good and bad” news about how Utah is doing.

Salt Lake City's FOX 13 covered the event's key discussions in an article available here. 

Learn more about the Utah Foundation's partnership with the State of the States project and watch the event recording here.