“Does anyone here know anything about Utah? What about that Mormon kid?”

OK, that’s not exactly how it went. In fact, I kind of muscled my way into reporting NEWSWEEK’s recent story on the Beehive State: “Promised Land: How Utah Became an Economic Zion.” (As you can tell, the headline writers didn’t skimp on religious verbiage.)  

What actually happened: My editor, Tony Dokoupil, came across a Deseret News article a couple months back that discussed the state’s potential as “the next Silicon Valley” and he took interest. When he told me he was going to write a feature on the state’s entrepreneurial drive, I dutifully offered my services.

 Of course, I don’t personally have much experience with Utah’s startup culture, but as a Mormon who went to college at BYU, I assumed I wasn’t far removed from some of the industry’s most influential players/observers. So I put up the LDS bat signal (with the help of my dad’s extensive LinkedIn directory) and spent a weekend fielding e-mails from major movers and shakers. 

By Monday, I was able to hand over a list of data points and contacts so thoroughly overwhelming that my editor had to assume I made half of it up. (I didn’t!) The piece turned out well, I think, and even the information that didn’t make it into the article itself helped shape my editor’s thesis and perception of Utah. So thanks to all those who helped.

 Here’s a key paragraph:

 Defining itself against the liberal left coast is an act of jujitsu. Utah’s biggest potential liability—its conservative, religious populus—becomes an indisputable strength. Utah’s people are, indeed, an employer’s dream. They are healthy, hard workers (pouring in 48 hours a week on average), and exceedingly stable, with the highest birthrates in the nation. The large number of young Mormons who spend two years on a conversion mission also means a huge swath of the population earned its sales stripes in hostile terrain. This might not offer an easily replicable path for states looking to follow Utah’s economic lead. Then again, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is always looking to expand.