PROVO, UTAH — TURNING A HOMEGROWN INNOVATION ECONOMY INTO DURABLE PROSPERITY

Provo helped write the founding story of Silicon Slopes. Companies such as Qualtrics, Vivint, and Ancestry were born there. Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University anchor one of the Mountain West’s deepest talent and innovation pipelines, while more than 4,000 technology companies operate across Utah County.

But Provo’s economy extends well beyond technology. The city is home to a globally connected nutraceutical and consumer health industry, a growing life sciences sector, and an advanced manufacturing base that includes some of the most sophisticated production facilities in the Intermountain West.

Provo has built an economy with distinctive assets and genuine momentum. Its next challenge is to translate those advantages into more locally headquartered companies, higher-quality jobs, and lasting prosperity.

THE MOMENT

Provo has been recognized three times as the nation’s Best-Performing City. It has also invested deliberately in its future through major projects downtown, along key commercial corridors, and around its institutional and innovation assets.

The next step requires more than another list of target industries. Provo must determine which parts of its economy it can truly own, where those industries can grow, and which public investments will generate the strongest returns.

The City’s new Economic Development Strategy will create a disciplined framework for making those choices. Key questions include:

• Which industries can Provo lead rather than simply participate in?
• How can the city turn its university, talent, and entrepreneurial assets into more locally headquartered companies?
• Which industries are most likely to produce higher-quality jobs and stronger wage growth?
• Where should priority industries grow, and what land use, infrastructure, or development barriers must be addressed?
• Which public investments and economic development tools will produce the greatest fiscal and community value?

THE CIVIC SOLUTION

CivicSol is proud to partner with the City of Provo on this work. The engagement moves from economic analysis and market insight to industry prioritization, place-based investment strategy, and implementation. The engagement includes:

• Competitive benchmarking and economic analysis to identify where Provo holds genuine advantages
• Industry cluster and emerging-trends analysis focused on technology and SaaS, nutraceuticals and consumer health, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, education, and healthcare
• Assessment of the talent, infrastructure, zoning, and development conditions shaping business growth
• Engagement with employers, entrepreneurs, university leaders, developers, capital providers, site selectors, elected officials, and civic partners
• A transparent framework ranking industries by job quality, talent alignment, competitive advantage, infrastructure capacity, and fiscal return
• Geographic investment analysis connecting priority industries to Provo’s key opportunity areas
• Fiscal and feasibility analysis identifying where private investment can lead and where targeted public action is needed
• A three-year action plan, ten-year roadmap, accountability map, and adaptive performance dashboard

THE IMPACT

The result will be more than a list of promising industries. It will be a place-based decision framework showing Provo where to compete, where to invest, and how to turn its economic strengths into measurable community value. This work will help Provo:

• Focus on the industries it is best positioned to lead
• Grow locally headquartered companies and strengthen its entrepreneurial pipeline
• Connect economic growth to higher-quality jobs, rising incomes, and greater opportunity
• Align industry priorities with specific places and infrastructure investments
• Direct public resources toward investments that can generate lasting returns
• Establish clear responsibilities, performance measures, and points for course correction

Provo does not need to manufacture an economic identity. It already has one. The opportunity now is to sharpen that identity, invest behind the advantages that are hardest to replicate, and ensure that the city’s next era of innovation produces durable prosperity.

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