Governor Gary Herbert dropped in to Brigham City last Friday for a visit with local residents. An intimate group met with the governor at the Utah State University Brigham City campus where he told them he feels comfortable in the job and prefers the bottom up approach to getting things done. “Together, we can do some good things.”

In these tough economic times Herbert said he has several priorities. One of them is to grow the economy. He wants to empower the private sector and get out of its way. “I believe in free market risk and reward. I want government to be a partner. I won’t micromanage,” he explained.

If the economy is going well everything else falls into place. Herbert said there are 130 businesses currently looking at Utah as a place to locate.

Retaining existing businesses and protecting existing jobs is very important to the state. If a company has 50 employees, a great benefit would be for them to add five more employees. The state can create incentives for existing businesses and foster economic expansion. A recent example prevented the loss of 220 jobs. Instead there will be an additional 1,000 employees for a Utah company.

But that isn’t enough. Government should tighten its belt and do without. The state may need to pinch some programs. If a rosebush needs pruning, the dead wood needs to be cut out. It can then come back better and more beautiful than before.

Utah government is efficient and effecting, the best managed state in the U.S. but the state still needs to do more with less.

Another priority for Herbert is education, which is an investment. There is a long term benefit but it costs the state today. Utah needs to compete and win in the global market. To have the long, sustained economic growth the state needs, education has to be a priortiy.

A third priority Herbert addressed was energy. Utah is blessed with energy potential that is largely untapped - not just oil, gas and coal, but new technology such as geothermal, wind power and hydropower. The energy industry is recession proof and is growing exponentially. There are a lot of opportunities to keep power costs down.