If you're one of the thousands who've been laid off, you might not have to look too far for a new place to start your career.
That's because a new report says out of all the cities in
America,
Orem and
Provo were voted the second best places for Americans to find a new job and an affordable home.
The businesses we talked to in Orem say their secret is a delicate balance involving an unprecedented talent pool from the Universities, a great quality of life and a strong 24 percent of companies looking to hire.
There are promising signs touting hiring on dozens of buildings throughout Orem: IT buildings, security, even car dealerships. Signs, that many thought were extinct. Brad Whittaker, the Director of the Commission of Economic Development in Orem says, "The secret is the entreprenurial spirit we have growing around the Valley, and a lot of the support for what we call, growing our own."
In fact, it's the early roots of internet software giants like Novell's WordPerfect that began to generate homegrown business. The thousands of trained professionals that were brought to the Valley by Novell have now tenaciously built upon their software experience.
So, why'd the internet giants come to the Valley in the first place? One important piece of their success formula: the 60,000 students that come from BYU and UVU each year, a large portion of which are esteemed engineering students with a revolutionary way of thinking.
BYU Graduate Jared Sidwell works for DOBA, a company that connects suppliers with online retailers. They, too are hiring 15-20 salespeople before the end of summer, and they've already hired 15 since the beginning of the year. Sidwell says he's received hundreds of applications from candidates wanting to relocate, "Other places that are known for their technology, and they aply to Utah...and I think it's because of our quality of life."
The proof is in the numbers. The Commission of Economic Development in Orem reports the unemployment rate in Orem is around 5 percent, an impressive number considering several cities unemployment is near double that.
