Working 4 Utah is an excellent innovation

Good government requires a willingness to be innovative and forward-thinking. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has set out an aggressive agenda and is striving to have Utah lead by example with the Working 4 Utah initiative.

As Utah moves toward implementing a four-day workweek on Monday there are tremendous benefits to be seen by everyone affected. There are three critical areas that highlight the broad-spectrum benefits of this program: energy costs and the environmental impact, customer service and employee satisfaction.

In a time of record energy costs, Utahns are finding ways to trim their energy consumption at home and in business. Taxpayers should expect government to make the same types of assessments being done at kitchen tables around Utah about the way we are consuming energy.

By closing government buildings on Fridays, we are able to cut energy costs by 20 percent in those buildings. This is a significant step, not only in a budgetary sense and saving taxpayer money, but also in the effort to reduce state government's carbon footprint, thereby helping to improve our air quality and our overall quality of life.

Huntsman has set an aggressive goal to increase energy efficiency 20 percent by 2015. This initiative is just one step in that overall goal to be more responsible about energy consumption.

In addition to the budgetary and environmental benefits, this effort should be seen as an effort to be more innovative in our approach to deliver government services to the public. By extending the hours government offices are open Monday through Thursday to 7 a.m. until 6 p.m., customers will be able to access services that have historically conflicted with traditional business hours.

This move is an effort to ensure service when it is convenient for the taxpayers. We're here to serve you, so if our hours are set to accommodate your needs, we're doing our job more effectively.

We are also able to serve the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with more than 800 services available online at Utah.gov, giving customers immediate access to services without the hassle of ever having to enter a government building.

Finally, state employees are some of the finest, most dedicated public servants the taxpayers of Utah could ask for. We can keep and recruit good public employees by reducing their commuting costs by 20 percent each week. Employees are also given more time each weekend to enjoy the tremendous quality of life Utah is known for.

Another significant advantage will be the state's ability to attract and recruit the best and brightest of the emerging work force who are looking to be innovative and creative and equally value time away from work to be refreshed.

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