Everyone has always underestimated a company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The New York boys thought they could take me on, that nobody out here has any knowledge or wisdom.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Considering the company I keep in this place, that is hardly surprising.
I ended up working in Michigan for a young company called Sycor out of Michigan, worked there, and that company got bought by Northern Telecom. We became the Bell Northern Research Labs of Northern Telecom.
At the outset, at least, all three groups had something else to recommend them, as well: They were headquartered 3,000 miles away from the East Side of Manhattan.
From our group, we've had joint ventures with a lot of international companies: Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Sara Lee, currently with Hershey's and Tyson. We've learned a lot of the best practices.
Seeing how those companies operate, it didn't amount to a massive vote of confidence in their artists. There was talk of me going to Columbia after that, but nothing happened. I got disillusioned, and I pulled back.
Think of everything in Seattle - Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks. Then you go down to Silicon Valley - Intel, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter. What does New York produce?
We don't grow unless we take risks. Any successful company is riddled with failures.
It's a success story here in Michigan. We have hiring going on. We have new industries going on.
My message to business leaders is clear: If you are looking to expand your business and boost the bottom line, there is no better place than Utah to do it.
Utah is America's best place for business because Utahns make it their business to succeed - and we have the track record to prove it.