Utah is a funnel for federal money for research and development, according to a newly released study.
The state received a total of $4.4 billion in federal R&D funding in fiscal year 2023, figures from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah indicate.
The study is one of several undertaken by the Gardner Institute to show the economic connections between Utah and the federal government. The full report is available at https://gardner.utah.edu/recent-research/.
And while "R&D" often is associated with Utah's research universities, the study shows that 80.7 percent of the $4.4 billion, or $3.53 billion, went to private businesses in fiscal 2023, with higher education institutions receiving 10.3 percent, or $450 million.
"Utah's federal research funding hit a record high in FY2023," said Andrea Brandley, senior education analyst at the Gardner Institute. "These investments drive new discoveries, innovations, startups and technological advancements that strengthen the economy and improve life quality."
Among the benefits the report lists for federal R&D funding are job creation, innovation and entrepreneurship. The jobs include researchers at private businesses, faculty researchers at universities, lab technicians and administrative staff. Innovation includes new discoveries, patents and technological advancements, with Utah's research universities involved in defense, aerospace, medicine, water and engineering research, accelerating the development of new products and solutions to complex challenges. Entrepreneurship benefits as research funding fuels entrepreneurship and commercialization, generating new startup companies. Utah's universities have a strong track record of turning discoveries into successful businesses, fostering long-term economic growth, the Gardner Institute said.
Nine percent of federal R&D funding in fiscal 2023, totaling $390 million, went to federal agencies in Utah. Nonprofit organizations and state and local governments received less than 1 percent of total federal R&D funding.
More than 85 percent of Utah's federal research funding came from the U.S. Department of Defense, totaling $3.75 billion; nearly 7 percent from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health, or $290 million; and the remaining 8 percent came from other federal agencies. Major private-sector recipients include Northrop Grumman, in aerospace and defense, and Biofire, in medical research.
The primary recipients of federal R&D money for higher education were a pair of public research universities, the University of Utah and Utah State University, which received roughly 95 percent. Federal sources accounted for more than half of their research funding in that fiscal year.
Federal R&D funding was spread throughout the state, as over 100 entities across 41 cities and 11 counties received funding between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2024. Those recipients then spent those research dollars on personnel costs, equipment, infrastructure and other research support services throughout Utah. The University of Utah spent research-related funds in 27 of Utah's 29 counties in fiscal 2023.
