EDCUtah Extends Fond Farewell to Special Advisor Dr. Kelly ...

by bschott

It's no fluke that Utah had one of the best economies in the nation, prior to the recession, or that it will yet reclaim that status in the near future, says Dr. Kelly K. Matthews, who will retire this month from his roles as senior economist and executive vice president for Wells Fargo Bank, and also from his role as special advisor to EDCUtah.

Dr. Kelly MatthewsMatthews, who received his bachelor's and master's degrees from BYU and his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, has been analyzing and prognosticating about the national and local economies for the past 36 years. He attributes much of Utah's solid economic status to a fiscally responsible government under the leadership of former Governor Jon Huntsman and now Governor Gary Herbert. "Utah is well-positioned to once again be one of the nation's best state economies," he says.

Over his career, Matthews has traveled widely and conducted a rigorous speaking schedule that has taken him throughout Utah and across the nation. He estimates that he has given 7,600 talks on the economy to civic, education and business groups, and his monthly press briefings about the Wasatch Front consumer price index have become a staple of the Utah business diet.

For the past five years, EDCUtah has been fortunate to draw upon Matthews' knowledge and experience as he has served on the organization's executive committee and board of directors.

"Dr. Matthews has been a wonderful resource and we are deeply grateful for his service to EDCUtah and to the state," says EDCUtah president & CEO Jeff Edwards. "His reports and insights have been extremely important to us as we have strategized and formulated our economic development efforts."

For Matthews' part, he looks back fondly on the years in which he has served as EDCUtah's special advisor. "I enjoyed pulling economic data together and offering my opinion. EDCUtah is the spearhead of economic development in the state and an important component in helping companies to grow here or come to Utah," he says. "Thanks to EDCUtah, everyone involved in economic development in Utah is on the same page, from state government to county and city leaders; everyone is working together, telling the same impressive story."

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