June 30, 2015
Let’s Learn a Little More About Utah!
With the announcement that FairCom is opening an office in Utah’s “Silicon Slopes,” the FairCom eNewsletter investigative team thought it was time to learn a little more about Utah.
FairCom’s new office is in the Salt Lake City area, an area that is being called the “Next Silicon Valley.” That alone is enough to get our techie blood stirring, and it is just one reason to love Utah. Here are a few of our favorite facts about the Beehive State…
Image Credit: Andy Morffew
Utah’s State symbol, the Beehive, symbolizes thrift and industry.
A thriving state, Utah is constantly ranked as one of the top states for economic growth.
Utah is the site of the nation’s first department store, Zions Co-operative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI), established in the late 1868. In December 1999, ZCMI was sold to Macy’s Department store. The Macy’s store in downtown Salt Lake City still uses the original ironwork façade of ZCMI.
Utah covers 84,900 square miles of land, making it the 11th largest state in the United States. Utah has 11,000 miles of fishing streams and 147,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs, making for a amazing outdoor recreation only minutes from anywhere you are in the state.
The Great Salt Lake covers 2,100 square miles, with an average depth of 13 feet. The deepest point is 34 feet. And because the salty water adds to your buoyancy, you can float like a cork!
The name Utah comes from the Native American Ute tribe and means “people of the mountains.”
Utah mountain peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah’s counties is 11,222 feet—higher than the average in any other state.
Because of the state’s inland location, Utah’s snow is unusually dry, earning it the reputation of having the world’s greatest powder. Fourteen Alpine ski resorts operate in Utah leading to the slogan “The Greatest Snow on Earth.”
Rainbow Bridge (pictured above), one of Utah’s most recognizable natural landmarks, was carved of solid sandstone. It is the world’s largest natural-rock span standing 278 feet wide and 309 feet high.
Utah residents are the nation’s largest consumer of ice cream and Jell-O per capita. Fun Fact: If all the ice cream consumed by an average Utah resident in a year was stacked under the Rainbow Bridge…it would melt.