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I N T E R V I E W
State makes a big impression on site selectors, wins major investments
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by R O N S T A R N E R
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BUSINE SS IN U TA H
s executive director of the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), Val Hale has overseen efforts that have propelled the state to unprecedented heights in economic achievement. Forbes recently named Utah the No. 2 Best State for Business for 2018, and the publication has named Utah the No. 1 state in six of the last 13 years. A state that is accustomed to recording big project wins added to its tally in 2018. Facebook, for example, announced last May that it will invest $750 million to build a data center in Eagle Mountain and create nearly 1 million sq. ft. of new space.
Hale has held this position since 2014, but his business expertise was fashioned long before that. Before being appointed GOED executive director, he served two years as president and CEO of the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, he served as athletic director at Brigham Young University and later served on the NCAA Men’s Golf Committee, including a stint as chair from 2003 to 2004. A BYU grad, he worked as a reporter, sports columnist and business columnist at the Provo Daily Herald and later became a top administrator at Utah Valley University. Today, he works to bring even more business to Utah. In a recent interview, he discussed
