SLCTech – Similar Footsteps, New Road

Ten years ago, downtown Salt Lake City started to experience a multidimensional shift. The business-centric environment was evident by the void of people outside of business hours. Today, downtown Salt Lake City has and continues to evolve into a vibrant live, work, play metro with a largely young, tech-savvy workforce. 

People often think of Lehi/Point of the Mountain when referring to Silicon Slopes, when, in fact, it stretches from Cache to Utah Counties and east to Park City. Although the Lehi area still enjoys strong tech activity, Salt Lake City is experiencing an influx of tech, climbing the ranks within Silicon Slopes. 

Many have noted that Salt Lake City is on a similar path as established tech hubs such as Austin and Denver. Outside of black and white industry reports, where do those similarities line up? 

I sat down with three industry pros who have experienced booming tech hubs, are in Salt Lake City now, and can attest to the similarities: 

•  David Tillotson, VP of development with SALT Development, spent five years in Austin.
• Jason Winkler, CEO of Q Factor and INDUSTRY established in Denver’s River North (RiNo) District. 
• Ron Ross, CEO of Everee, an established tech entrepreneur. 

The beginning

Utah public and private leadership have strategically grown the economy with a focus on tech. “Start-Ups, IPOs & Cows” spectacularly outlines Utah’s tech history and beginnings. The seed for Utah’s tech environment was planted over 30 years ago in the early 1980s by WordPerfect and Novel. 

Comparatively, Austin laid the groundwork as a tech hub in the 1960s, with Tracor, IBM, and Texas Instruments, over 30 years before the city hit its tech stride, as noted in “A History of High Tech and Technopolis in Austin.”

Fun fact, Austin is often referred to as Silicon Hills and Denver, referred to as Silicon Mountain. 

Same, same

The make-up and relationship between Lehi/Point of the Mountain and downtown Salt Lake City are very similar to Austin’s early tech. Almost everything you hear about Austin’s tech in the late 90s/early 2000s occurred in North Austin, 30 minutes away from downtown, which at the time was primarily financial services, the University of Texas, and governmental entities. 

Downtown Austin, known for its music scene and nightlife, attracted people, which required housing. “An influx of multifamily kicked-off tech in that market,” noted Tillotson. “Such a large population living and playing downtown, beckoned a work component, which was tech. A trend Salt Lake is experiencing.” 

According to Rawley Nielsen, president of investment sales with Colliers Utah, between 2011-2018, Salt Lake County added 19,597 apartment units. At the beginning of 2019, 7,374 units were under construction, with 8,516 units planned or proposed.  

An area of Salt Lake City quickly emerging is The Granary District. This gentrified area is evolving into a hip art, lifestyle, tech, and entrepreneurial hub, which is what drew Winkler to the area to establish INDUSTRY SLC.  

“The parallels between RiNo and Granary couldn’t be stronger,” said Winkler. “Granary in Salt Lake City feels exactly like RiNo in Denver 8 years ago.” Winkler noted Granary is on a similar trajectory as RiNo, but “probably moving faster.” 

Are we there yet?

Everyone has an opinion as to where Salt Lake City is on its journey to becoming a major tech hub. Tillotson and Winkler are on the same page. 

“Salt Lake City is just scratching the surface and getting it started. There hasn’t been an option for downtown tech, which is quickly changing,” Winkler noted. 

While Tillotson said, “Salt Lake City is in the early stages of becoming a key node for technology tenants and has a lot of room to grow. With the unemployment rate at historical lows, more companies are competing for top talent and realizing the city has a lot to offer a young workforce. I’d be shocked if ten years from now, the tech presence in downtown Salt Lake City wasn’t significantly heightened.” 

Ross had the same sentiments, but also shed light on a necessary component of a tech hub; venture capital (VC). “Salt Lake City has great potential to become a major tech hub, but VC is absolutely necessary to get there. A steady beat of successful exits or IPOs will fuel continued interest in VC flowing into the state,” said Ross. 

After returning to Salt Lake City in 2004 from Boston, Ross was surprised at the lack of VC flowing into the state. Since that time, it has increased, with Ross noting, “‘success breeds success,’ which will cause capital to flow more freely.”  

What’s next?

Arguably, the secret sauce to attract business and people to an area is the “live, work, play” trifecta. Austin, Denver, and more recently, Salt Lake City continues to top “best of” lists.

From tech market reports to evidenced experience, Salt Lake City is following some pretty big shoes down a new road to become a major global tech player. The next 5 to 10 years will be an exciting time for an evolving tech presence in the Salt Lake market.