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April 30th Monday Report
April 30th 2007


Top 15 Global Brands by value:

Economic Notes:

This Weeks Leads:
 

SCORECARD & MANAGEMENT NOTES

SCORECARD

First Qtr 07 Home Sale Price Increase - Top 20 Zip Code Areas

RankZIPCit yAve Price% Change 07/06
184097Orem $312,90066%
284029Grantsville $259,54758%
384054North SL$280,90043%
484660Spanish Fork$214,70043%
584128West Valley$212,00035%
684074Tooele $189,90032%
784664Mapleton $382,54130%
884102Salt Lake City$271,50029%
984119West Valley City$179,90029%
1084094Sandy $255,00028%
1184655Santiquin $214,90028%
1284043Lehi $248,06327%
1384087Woods Cross$227,45026%
1484044Magna $166,97526%
1584070Sandy $232,00025%
1684104Salt Lake City$132,00025%
1784116Salt Lake City$162,00025%
1884041Layton $196,25025%
1984118Taylorsville/ Kearns$182,57524%
2084088West Jordan$265,95024%

First Qtr 07 Highest Price Home Sale Price - Top 20 Zip Code Areas

RankZIPCit yAve Price% Change 07/06
184004Alpine $546,5001%
284092Sandy $414,15016%
384103Salt Lake City$406,78718%
484108Salt Lake City$399,00020%
584664Mapleton $382,54130%
684020Draper $379,8356%
784095South Jordan$360,00022%
884117Holladay $348,000-6%
984124Holladay $344,75013%
1084093Sandy $338,00023%
1184121Cottonwoo d$325,00014%
1284097Orem $312,90066%
1384109Salt Lake City$312,00015%
1484042Lindon $307,000-1%
1584003American Fork$306,00023%
1684065Riverton $304,90018%
1784025Farmington $304,50015%
1884105Salt Lake City$285,5002%
1984653Salem $282,50021%
2084054North Salt Lake$280,00043%

First Qtr 07 Most Home Sales - Top 20 Zip Code Areas

RankZIPCit yAve Price# Sold
184115Clearfield $168,000280
284118Taylorsville/ Kearns$182,575274
384084West Jordan$225,000235
484404 Farr West/Harrisville $139,900229
584043Lehi $248,063222
684074Tooele $189,900213
784065Riverton $304,900193
884088West Jordan$265,950176
984041Layton $196,250174
1084020Draper $379,835161
1184067Roy $160,000158
1284120West Valley$185,000154
1384095South Jordan$360,000143
1484044Magna $166,975140
1584403South Ogden$125,400140
1684401Marriott/Slat erville$125,000134
1784128West Valley$212,000133
1884119West Valley$179,900122
1984003American Fork$306,000121
2084075Syracuse $238,950118

Source: Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service

MANAGEMENT NOTES

Why Office Design Matters

Building the civilized workplace.

You want to concentrate and collaborate, but how can you get the best of both worlds in your current office set-up?

One factor that affects knowledge worker performance that isn't well understood is the physical work environment-the offices, cubicles, buildings, and mobile workplaces in which knowledge workers do their jobs. There is a good deal said about this topic, but not much known about it. Even more unfortunately, most decisions about the knowledge work environment are made without seriously considering their implications for performance.

In 2002 I and my then-colleagues at Accenture Bob Thomas and Sue Cantrell undertook a study of this issue. We interviewed forty-one companies that had some initiative under way intended to improve the performance of high-end knowledge workers, or those with particularly high levels of expertise and experience, who were critical to the organization's mission. We were interested in all the factors that affected knowledge work performance, but the topic most commonly addressed by the companies was the physical work environment (the other common ones were information technology and management).

The introduction of a new workspace was most often the catalyst for a broad redesign of the knowledge work environment in our study. Because it is so tangible, a new or alternative office can be both the symbol and a key part of the reality of new ways of working. For example, Pharmacia recently built a new pharmaceutical research building outside of Chicago that was intentionally designed to encourage more interaction among its R&D staff. The new workspace was intended not only to attract top research scientists to the company, but also to promote a more collaborative culture. Particular designs can encourage certain types of behavior, although they will never guarantee it. Of course, office space is also expensive, and savings resulting from decreased or alternative space often serves as a rationale for change.

Workspace design is a somewhat faddish phenomenon, in part because no one knows exactly what factors affect knowledge worker performance, and how those factors interrelate. In the absence of knowledge, vendors of office environments, architects, and developers are free to make all kinds of claims about what works. But we do know some things from the limited amount of research on this topic, and in the next section I'll provide a list of what is generally agreed to be true with regard to the physical work environment. Then I'll describe a framework that will help managers think about the physical environments for knowledge work in their own organizations.

What we know about the physical work environment

From either previous research, logic, or common sense, there are a few things we know about the relationship between physical work environments and knowledge worker performance. They include:

Knowledge workers prefer closed offices, but seem to communicate better in open ones.

Of course there is great variation among open and closed office types, but the most extensive research in the area (from Cornell professors Frank Becker and William Sims) suggests that while most knowledge workers prefer closed offices because they are better able to concentrate, they communicate informally and build trust and social capital more easily in more open office environments (even high-walled cubicles, they say, restrict interpersonal communications). They note: "Our research, done with employees in job functions ranging from software development to marketing and business development, indicates that the more open the 'open' plan office environment, the more conducive it is to overall work effectiveness, when communication and interaction are critical elements of the work process." Becker and Sims are undeniably experts on this topic, but I feel that, like many corporate executives, they downplay the need for concentration and quiet when knowledge work is done in office environments.

Knowledge workers congregate in particular geographical areas.

This factor has been made well-known by Carnegie-Mellon professor Richard Florida in his book The Rise of the Creative Class. He documents the fact that knowledge workers (not synonymous with the "creative class," but closely overlapping it) are drawn to, and are made more productive by living in, cities and regions with concentrations of other people like themselves. Silicon Valley, Boston, and Austin are prominent examples of this phenomenon, at least for knowledge workers oriented to information technology. The connotation is that if you're a knowledge worker or a business that needs to hire them, you need to find out where the center of action in your industry is, and locate yourself there. If you're a city manager or mayor and you want these successful, taxpaying individuals to live in your city, you need to make your city attractive to them and to the businesses that hire them.

Particular designs can encourage certain types of behavior, although they will never guarantee it.

Continued next week

Source: An excerpt from Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performance and Results from Knowledge Workers, by Thomas H. Davenport

Greetings!

Wasatch Front Home Sales

  • Where are the hightest price increases?
  • Where are the hightest prices?
  • Where are the most sales?
  • Top 15 Global Brands
  • Why Office Design Matters


  • Top 15 Global Brands by value:
    		•

    1. Google
    2. General Electric
    3. Microsoft
    4. Coca-Cola
    5. Marlboro
    6. Wal-Mart
    7. Citibank
    8. IBM
    9. Toyota
    10. McDonalds
    11. Nokia
    12. Bank of America
    13. BMW
    14. Hewlett-Pakard

    Source: Millward Brown Optimor, Financial Times

  • Economic Notes:
    		•

    • International Business Confidence
    • Global business sentiment dipped at the end of April, but remains consistent with a global economy that is expanding near its potential. Behind the dip were weaker hiring intentions and investment in equipment and software. Sentiment is strongest in Asia and weakest in Europe. Financial services are very upbeat, with confidence in the industry reaching a new record high. Vehicle manufacturers remain the most dour. The best news in the survey is solid expectations regarding the six-month outlook, suggesting sturdy economic growth later this year. The worst news in the survey is a recent spurt higher in pricing pressures, as higher energy and other commodity prices may be finally showing up.
    • The Conference Board Consumer Confidence
    • The Conference Board index of consumer confidence declined in April to 104 from an upwardly revised 108.2 in March (previously 107.2). The decline was led by the present situation component, although expectations also weakened.
    • Mass Layoffs
    • The number of layoff events involving at least 50 workers from a single establishment in March was slightly lower than expected. A total of 1,276 mass layoff events took place, compared to 1,280 in February. As such, they involved 130,700 workers, compared to 144,000 in February. All numbers are seasonally adjusted. This month's numbers will alter our forecast. Expect mass layoff events to rise steadily for the next few months.
    • MBA Mortgage Applications Survey
    • Mortgage demand increased 3.6% in the week ending April 20. Purchase applications increased 3.7% and refinance applications increased 3.6%. Existing home sales tanked in March, so suppliers are cutting costs, as well as tighter lending standards may have eased the risk premium. The result is nine and ten basis point declines this week in contract rates for fixed and adjustable mortgages, respectively.
    • New Home Sales (C25)
    • New home sales advanced in March, according to expectations, but the gain was weaker than expected. Sales increased to 858,000 annualized units in March, a m/m gain of 3%. On a year-ago basis, sales remain down by 24%. Census also revised downward January and February numbers. The months of inventory have improved slightly, declining to 7.8 months from 8.1 in February. The median sales price is up by more than 6%.
    • Existing Home Sales
    • Housing markets remain weak. As expected, existing home sales dropped in March, according to the realtors' data. The decline, however, was far worse than anticipated, with sales of existing homes falling by 8% to 6.12 million units. House prices are about flat from a year ago, and the months of inventory stand at 7.3 months.
    • Chain Store Sales
    • Chain store sales fell 0.3% in the week ending April 21, the second consecutive modest decline after a string of five consecutive modest gains. Year-over- year growth slipped to 2.1%, the weakest in six weeks. Cooler than normal weather was mentioned as a drag on sales.
    • Durable Goods (Advance)
    • New orders for durable goods rose 3.4% in March, a stronger than expected gain. After months of weakness, core capital goods, a proxy for business investment in equipment and software, finally bounced back in March, posting a 4.7% gain. Still, first quarter investment will be weak; core capital goods fell 15.3% in the first quarter after a 4.2% decline in the fourth quarter of last year.
    • Oil and Gas Inventories
    • Crude oil inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels for the week ending April 20, according to the Energy Information Administration, far exceeding expectations of a 1.0 million barrel draw. Gasoline stocks fell by 2.8 million barrels, again trouncing expectations, which called for a far more modest decline of 400,000 barrels. Refinery activity fell sharply by 2.6% to 87.8% last week; refinery activity was expected to increase by 0.4 of a percentage point. Distillate inventories were unchanged. The mixed report is predominantly bullish.
    • Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report
    • Underground storage of natural gas increased by 18 billion cubic feet during the week ending April 20. This was practically in line with expectations for an injection of 15 Bcf. Inventories are now 17.5% above the five-year average. This report is likely to have a slightly bearish effect on prices.
    • The Conference Board Help Wanted Index
    • The index of newspaper help wanted advertising again inched lower in March to a reading of 30 from an unrevised reading of 31 in February. The reading is consistent with a softening labor market where job growth has likely passed its cyclical peak.
    • Jobless Claims
    • U.S. initial jobless claims decreased by more than expected, falling 20,000 to 321,000.

    Source: Economy.com

  • This Weeks Leads:
    		•

    • Ruth's Chris Steak House
    • Ruth's Chris Steak House, Inc. trades as Ruth's Chris Steak House at 103 locations nationwide and internationally.
    • The high-end steak and seafood restaurants occupy spaces of 11,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations and mixed-use centers.
    • Plans call for 20 openings in the existing markets during the coming 18 months.
    • Typical leases run 10 years with four, five-year options.
    • A vanilla shell and specific improvements are required.
    • Preferred demographics include a population earning an average household income of $90,000.
    • A land area of two acres is required.
    • For more information, contact
      • Phil Demena,
      • Ruth's Chris Steak House, Inc.,
      • 5318 Northwest 77th Terrace,
      • Parkland, FL 33067;
      • Web site: www.ruthschris.com.
    • Batteries Plus
    • Batteries Plus, LLC trades as Batteries Plus at 290 locations nationwide.
    • The stores, which carry car, hearing aid and other specialty batteries, occupy spaces of approximately 1,600 sq.ft. in outlots of strip centers.
    • Plans call for 40 openings nationwide during the coming 18 months.
    • Typical leases run five years.
    • Preferred cotenants are big-box retailers.
    • Competition is cited as Interstate Batteries. Preferred demographics include a population of 100,000 within five miles earning household incomes above the market median.
    • The company is franchising.
    • For more information, contact
      • Nate Zelazoski,
      • Batteries Plus, LLC,
      • 925 Walnut Ridge Drive, Suite 100,
      • Hartland, WI 53029;
      • 262-912-3186,
      • Fax 262-912-3100;
      • Email: nzelazoski@batteriesplus.com;
      • Web site: www.batteriesplus.com.
  • BONNEVILLE RESEARCH
    		•

    Bonneville Research is a Utah-based consulting firm providing economic, financial, market and policy research to public and private sector clients throughout the intermountain west.

    Our services include:

    • Urban Renewal/Redevelopment Analysis and Budgets
      • Urban Renewal "Blight" Studies
      • Economic Development "Benefit Analysis"
      • Financial Potential Analysis
      • Project Area Budgets
    • Strategy and Policy Analysis
    • Economic and Fiscal Impact Analysis
    • Statistical and Survey Research
    • Business License Fee Analysis
    • Work Flow Improvement and Cost Analysis

    We live where we work and each of our effort sis tailored to address the unique needs of our clients and their communities.

    Bonneville Research relies by the quality and relevance of our client work.

    We work to help clients achieve enduring results and improve the communities in which we live.

    If you need a superior team of outstanding people working fluidly together to solve your toughest problems.

    If you need someone who can work side-by-side with you together to achieve your mission.

    If you need results that enure.

    THINK BONNEVILLE RESEARCH

    If we can help, please call or email us at

    • Bob
      • 801-364-5300
      • BobSpring@BonnevilleResearch.com
    • Jon
      • 801-746-5706
      • JonSpring@BonnevilleResearch.com

    Bob in Japan

    From April 27th through May 12th, Bob and his wife Gwen will be in Matsumoto Japan.

    Gwen will be representing Salt Lake City as part of the 40 year anniversary of the Sister City relationship with Matsumoto City.

    Two of Bob & Gwen's children - Will (26) & Liza (24) have been living in Matsumoto this past year teaching English as a second language.

    Bob will be visiting with long time JC friends and just trying to stay out of trouble.

    Matsumoto is in the Japanese Alps - close to the sites of many of the 1998 Winter Olympics.

    Jon will be available to handle any issues or questions that may come up.
  • Matsumoto Japan
    		•

    Masumoto-jo is one of the jewels in the crown of Japan's four National Treasure samurai castles.

    It dates back to the 16th century and is nicknamed the "Crow Castle" due to its distinctive black coloring.

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