Ogden City is pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded a $1 million grant to the City for the creation of a lab that will train workers and provide space for business startups in the growing field of software applications for mobile devices. The lab is expected to create 750 jobs and generate up to $4.6 million in private investment over a 10-year period.

“The mobile apps initiative is an important element in our efforts to continue with the positive economic momentum of our community. This project will create jobs for Ogden's techforce and increase the economic opportunity in our downtown core; as well as leverage the City's existing IT-industry clusters,” said Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell.

The new mobile app facility will be strategically located in Ogden’s downtown and will be operated by a consortium of experienced, capable partners, including the City of Ogden, Weber State University, the Weber State University Research Foundation, and private-sector industry leaders. It is exactly the type of collaborative partnership that EDA wanted for the grant.

The software industry is a bright spot in the U.S. economy. Over the past five years it posted revenue gains in almost every year, and saw employment grow as well. So creating a facility such as this one in Ogden—where workers for this dynamic, growing field can be trained, and where business startups will have a place to learn and grow—makes sense, both as a strategy for today and an investment in tomorrow.

The Obama Administration launched a new initiative recently to accelerate efforts to make new and useful services available to consumers on their mobile devices. As the president pointed out, “the exponential increases in computing power, the rise of high-speed networks, and growing mobile revolution have put the Internet at our fingertips, encouraging innovations that are giving rise to new industries and reshaping existing ones.”