SALT LAKE CITY — A renowned business and economic analyst is warning Utah leaders against believing all the media “hype” about the state’s fiscal management.

Natalie Gochnour, chief economist for the Salt Lake Chamber and associate dean at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, authored an op-ed piece that was published over the weekend in the Deseret News.

In it, she takes issue with the claim espoused by many who cite accolades the state has received over the years indicating that the Beehive state is the “best managed state” in the nation. Gochnour said that while Utah has performed well economically over the years compared to other states, there is still work to do.

“Utah is not the best managed state; it is among the best-managed states,” she wrote. “The entities doing the rankings have changed over time, moving from Financial World magazine in the 1990s, to the Pew Center on the States and Governing magazine in the 2000s, to 24/7 Wall Street (a financial news column) in the most recent tabulations. Utah ranked No. 4 in 2012, No. 6 in 2010, landed a three-way tie for No. 1 in 2008 and a two-way tie for No. 1 in 2005. Saying we are the best-managed state is convenient; it's also out-of-date and misleading.”

The rankings stem from Utah's long history of fiscal restraint, not from any particular personality on Capitol Hill, Gochnour said.

“If we are not careful it gets confused with leadership, creates complacency and stands in the way of needed improvements,” she wrote.

The accolades are “largely misunderstood and can be counterproductive” because they give leaders a false sense of security and accomplishment, which can lead to complacency in the long run.

“We are a state that cares about governance … fiscal responsibility, and we are a state that is business-minded in the way we conduct ourselves in government (which) shows in the 'best managed' rankings,” she said.

However, Utah has never achieved a sole top ranking, Gochnour noted. Even when the state has been ranked No. 1, it has always been a tie with at least one other state, she said.

Speaking on KSL Newsradio’s "Doug Wright Show" on Monday, she explained that during nearly 30 years in public policy, having served three governors and advising two others, Utah was never individually ranked as the best managed state.

Rather than constantly tout the state’s positive rankings, she would like to see leaders spend more effort working to improve areas where the state falls short, such as education, the election system, tax reform and assimilating Utah's increasingly ethnically diverse population.

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“We’re doing really well as a state, but we have a lot more potential,” she said. “We shouldn't let even a positive label get in the way of needed change.”

Gochnour also noted that management should not be confused with leadership. Management is the job of state employees, while leadership is the job of elected officials, she said.

The challenge for leadership would be to recognize that doing well and achieving our full potential are “two different things,” Gochnour explained. Becoming better would mean spending less time talking about how good Utah is and more time solving problems and investing in the future.

“There is such a really proud mix of high rankings — and at the same time, there is still so much more we can do,” Gochnour said.

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