Media Recognition
Provo City consistently receives media attention from the business community both nationally and internationally. Previously named America’s Most Livable City, Provo continues to appear on impressive lists for job growth, quality job force and other business accomplishments. The recognition as a quality place to do business continues to draw companies and employees alike to Provo. Noticeable recognition includes the following:
Best Cities for Business and Careers
May 2006 - Inc. Magazine - ranked Provo # 9 on their ‘06 Boomtowns list of Hottest Midsize Cities for Entrepreneurs call Provo an "entrepreneurial hotbed." The list puts the focus on job growth stating that it is the best measure of a region’s economic vitality. Inc. Magazine also stated that high-tech firms, low crime and outdoor activities make Provo a magnet for young professionals.
June 2006 - Kiplinger’s Personal Finance - ranked Provo City # 21 on their list of 50 Smart Places to Live. Cities were ranked on good value home prices, reasonable cost of living, quality health care, and great quality of life. Other key criteria used were weather, education, cultural & recreational amenities, transportation and low crime rate.
December 2005 - Public Accounting Report - ranked Brigham Young University’s Undergraduate and Graduate Accounting Programs #2. Both programs moved up one spot from last year’s ranking. This marks the 10th consecutive year that these programs have ranked among the top three in the nation.
October 2005- Men’s Fitness - ranked Brigham Young University the Fittest College in America. Partnering with Princeton Review, together they surveyed 10,000 students from 660 top colleges and universities and compiled a list of 20 fittest and 20 fattest colleges in America.
October - 2005 - Yahoo Hotjobs - named Provo, Utah among the "rising stars’ among cities and metropolitan areas that provide the foundation for good work and life balance. The selections were based on population growth, cost of living, access to medical facilities, average commute times, availability of recreational activities and other data.
July 2005 - Business Week Online - ranked Provo, Utah as one of the best cities for entrepreneurs. Because of the predominantly Mormon culture many BYU’s students have fulled a two-year mission which according to Don Livingstone, director of the Marriott School of Management’s Entrepreneurship Center "gives them a lot of confidence in meeting people and expressing ideas and communicating."* Other factors included low crime rate, low tax rates, reasonable real estate prices, and a Rocky Mountain landscape.
Provo City was ranked sixth in Forbes' 2004 Best Places for Business and Careers survey, which weighed job and income growth, cost of doing business and work-force qualification of the 150 largest metropolitan areas. In an article in the Deseret Morning News Provo’s location in relationship to BYU was given much of the credit for this distinction.
June 2005 - Forbes
- ranked Provo City 15th on the list Best Places for Business and Careers, which ranks cities on their highly educated labor forces and relatively low business costs.
Forbes Magazine previously ranked Provo No. 6 in it’s annual survey of the best cities for business and careers for 2003. The survey ranks 150 top locations in the United States for business measured by income and job growth, as well as the cost of doing business, the price of labor, energy, taxes and office space. It also considered crime rates, the number of college graduates, advanced degree holders and housing costs. Also mentioned was the outdoor environment and mountain recreation as a major draw to Utah County.
Shortly after the 2003 Forbes survey was released, Cognetics, a Massachusetts based research firm ranked Salt Lake City/Provo, Utah as the nations’ 4th best metropolitan area for small businesses.
Provo Named Least Stressful City in America
January of 2004, Sperling’s Best Places released their annual survey of America’s Most and Least Stressful cities. Provo, Utah received the top spot for Least Stressful midsized city in the nation. Noted Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings, "We’re not surprised with this ranking as Provo is a great place to live." Mayor Billings added that Provo residents benefit from "outstanding recreational and cultural activities, great educational opportunities as well living in a city that is a great place to raise a family." He concluded, "All of these attributes blend together to make our community a wonderful, low stress place to live."
Most Secure Place to Live in America
Farmers Insurance recently named Provo the number one most secure metropolitan area in America. Based on crime statistics, risk factors of natural disasters and job loss numbers, Provo was ranked the most secure place to live of metropolitan areas with 200,000 residents or more.
An Entrepreneur Hotspot
The National Commission for Entrepreneurship ranked Provo as the No. 1 entrepreneurial city among comparable areas for the most of the 1990’s.
“It might be the quality of the labor force, it has something to do with a still-developing but vibrant local economy. It probably stems in part from the presence of two local schools of higher education whose collective student body tops 50,000. It would not happen without good ideas, hard work, and business expertise. Although a single specific cause is difficult to pin down, the general effect is clear: Utah Valley is a place where entrepreneurs thrive” Utah Valley BusinessQ, “An Entrepreneur Hotspot”, Spring 2003, pg. 24
The Most Productive Cities in America
In Sprint's recently completed productivity study 313 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) were evaluated for productivity. The Sprint study examined a set of eight criteria that were measured and quantified to form an economic productivity composite index. Among the key measurements were business sector diversity, population growth and employment growth. The top 10 most productive cities in America are:
Dallas
San Francisco
San Jose, Calif.
Houston
Atlanta
Provo/Orem, Utah
Boise City, Idaho
Sioux Falls, S.D.
Nashville, Tenn.
Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah
Each of these cities have diverse economic bases and highly skilled labor forces. All top cities possess either strong manufacturing economies or are regional retail, transportation and/or professional centers. The study also indicated that business expansion, especially small business growth, is a required component for productivity. For more on the Sprint business study on productivity visit www.sprint.com .
Other Recognition
In 1991, Provo was named America's most livable metropolitan area by Money Magazine. Since then, Provo has consistently placed in the Money magazine top 35. Provo scores high in Money's criteria of economy, housing, education, health and crime.
Despite (or perhaps because of ) the Mormon culture, Money reports that "corporate transferees find the Utah Valley a delightful surprise." One Provo immigrant was quoted in the magazine saying "In Los Angeles there's no place to escape. Here I drive to Bridal Veil Falls on my lunch break and dunk my feet in the Provo River”. Provo has received accolades from some of the nation's top publications , including: Money, U.S. News and World Report, Business Week, The Economist, and Forbes.
"If you imagine Provo and Orem as quaint, rural hamlets, consider this: the area is home to more than 80 software companies. This may be the best educated county in all the nation as well." Money, September 1991,p.139.
"The beehive state {Utah} is also a veritable job machine that, for the most part, sidestepped the protracted recession." U.S. News and World Report, February 22, 1993, p43
"Newcomers can't resist the regions bang-up combination of economic strength and its striking scenic location...People also feel safe here." Money Magazine, September 1994.
"Short hair, dark suits, and polite conversational replies all give BYU a kind of clumsy courtliness and an aura of serenity that is sometimes mistaken for passivity, but which belies the fierce drive lying close to the LDS {Mormon} surface." Forbes, December 7, 1992, p.88.
Provo increased 65 percent from 1980 to 1990. In 1995, Provo was the national leader in job growth at 6.57 percent. In 1992, Business Week magazine named Provo one of 12 "Hot Spots" for economic growth and technology development.
Forbes magazine in 1992 stated, [Provo-Orem] has become the site of something unexpected and undeniably important for American High Technology."
U.S. News & World Report, February 22, 1993, observed, "Utah is emerging as one of the nation's premier high-tech meccas, with more software enterprises than California's Silicon Valley and one of the nation's largest concentrations of biotech companies."
On Money magazine's list of best places to live, Provo has remained in the top 35 for six consecutive years - a feat accomplished by only one other city.
Provo is one of 50 Fabulous Places to Raise Your Family in a 1993 book by Lee and SaraLee Rosenberg.
Home Office Computing, in the November 1993 issue, named Provo the fourth best city for running a home-based business.
The April 23, 1994 issue of The Economist described the 40-mile strip between Salt Lake City and Provo as "the world's second-biggest swathe of software and computer-engineering firms after California's Silicon Valley."
"Utah's software valley is changing from a Mormon community to an international software center....Unlike Silicon Valley, where rivals engage in cutthroat competition, Utah's software companies help one another." Business Week, "Hot Spots," October 19, 1992, p. 84.
The Economist, in their April 23, 1994 issue, described the 40-mile strip between Salt Lake City and Provo as "the world's second-biggest swathe of software and computer-engineering firms after California's Silicon Valley." In their June 14, 1993 issue, Fortune magazine called Novell, Inc. "the only competitor with the clout to challenge Microsoft."
Dominant companies like Novell, Inc. are a part of the exciting advances taking place here. The high technology clustered in the Provo/Orem area is second to none. Many other up-and-coming, high-tech companies are quickly carving a niche for themselves in Provo.
Economic Development Department
86 N. University Ave. Ste. 240
Provo, UT 84601
(801) 852-6160
Office Hours: Monday - Thursday 7 A.M. - 6 P.M.
Questions & Comments | 
