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SALT LAKE CITY — More investment banks are looking to expand in Utah, something that has many wondering if Salt Lake City could become the Wall Street of the West.
Goldman Sachs is seeing a lot of growth in its Utah office. In fact, with 1,500 employees, Salt Lake City is Goldman's second-largest office in the Americas.
"The ability to attract talent here in the Intermountain West is significant," said David Lang, Goldman Sachs managing director. "We've been very successful at it."
The ability to attract talent here in the Intermountain West is significant. We've been very successful at it.
–David Lang, Goldman Sachs managing director
Lang said the Salt Lake operation hires frequently from local universities. The fact that so many Utahns speak a second language is a major draw.
"We are doing business around the world, and having people who have those language skills is very important for us," said Lang.
"It's not only them. It's Royal Bank of Scotland that came and put an operations center in Taylorsville," said Todd Brightwell with the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. "Many people don't know that Zions Bank has a significant trading floor here in downtown Salt Lake City.
Brightwell said more financial services companies are seeing Utah as a great place to expand. The Economic Development Corporation is working with three major banks on projects that would bring 1,000 more banking jobs to Utah.
It's a great time to be in economic development and to be a citizen here in the state.
–Todd Brightwell, Economic Development Corporation of Utah
"It's a great time to be in economic development and to be a citizen here in the state," Brightwell said.
Bloomberg Businessweek recently reported that Utah is gaining momentum in its bid to be Wall Street of the West. That means finance students with their sights set on Wall Street could end up in Salt Lake.
"It's not exaggerating to say this has become a destination of choice for a lot of our existing employees stationed around the world in different places," Lang said.
While employees appreciate Utah's quality of life, employers are drawn to the talent, the time-zone advantage, the cost of real estate and labor and the financial incentives offered by the state.
"We expect that the growth we've seen in the last three or four years here in Utah will continue in the future," Lang said.
