COMMUNITY    MATTERS
		Building a New Utah

With each new Census report or demographic study, it becomes clearer that Utah’s diversity is growing significantly. Utah’s population hit an all-time high of 2.5 million people in 2005, but for the first time, most of the growth was due to in-migration rather than net natural increase (births minus deaths). In fact, the Census Bureau reports that Utah would have experienced a net out-migration from 1997 to 2004 were it not for international immigration. In Davis, Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties, 177,000 residents speak a language other than English, and nearly 40 percent of employers have employees for whom English is not the primary language.

“Language and Cultural Barriers” is one of the 17 priority problems identified in United Way of Salt Lake’s (UWSL) 2007 Community Assessment. Thirteen of the 17 priority problems have grown worse since our previous assessment in 2004, and “Language and Cultural Barriers” is one of the problems that is worsening. It now affects between 97,000 and 265,000 people in Davis, Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele counties—the service area of UWSL. (Read the full article)
 
 Deborah S. Bayle
 President and CEO