Lila Canyon mine ruling, call center expected to boost county’s economy

By Sun Advocate

The latest Utah Department of Workforce Services’ Trendlines report highlighted several events expected to positively impact Carbon County’s economy.
First, the department of workforce services recapped Sorenson Communications’ plan to open a call center in Price.
The call center is anticipated to employ more than 100 people by the end of the year.
The company provides communications services to the deaf.
Second, a federal judge recently rejected an environmental group’s effort to stop UtahAmerican Energy’s preparations to produce coal at the Lila Canyon mine.
At the regional level, more than 100 workers in Grand and San Juan counties at the Lisbon Valley copper mine south of Moab will no longer have employment by early February.
Constellation Copper announced late last year that the company will cease mining operations at the site after extracting about 900,000 more tons of ore.
Federal land managers have proposed setting aside nearly two million acres of public land in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming for potential commercial oil shale development.
Most of the nation’s oil shale reserves are in eastern Utah, western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming.
The draft plan also covers development of the tar sands in Utah.
At the state level, the combined surge of newcomers and newborns continues to keep Utah near the top of the nation’s fastest growing regions, noted the department of workforce services.
Estimates released by the United States Census Bureau ranked Utah third in population growth behind national leaders Nevada and Arizona.
The state’s late mortgage payment rate increased nearly one-half percent during third quarter 2007. But Utah still posted one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the nation, ranking 47th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Foreclosures in Utah rose 7.2 percent last November, reversing the state’s trend of declining filings. With 981 foreclosure filings, Utah was among 43 states reporting an increase during the last year, concluded the department of workforce services.