Members of the Board of Business and Economic Development questioned why the company, Economic Development Corporation of Utah, was the only bidder for the state contract.

Chris Roybal ran EDCU until he was picked by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to be his senior economic advisor. Roybal has removed himself from the bid process, but two of the four members of the contract review group were hired after Huntsman took over the state's economic development operations.

Historically, the state has done its own recruiting. But Huntsman and Roybal fired most of the economic development leadership shortly after Huntsman took office, saying the state needed a more efficient, business model for economic development.

Joel Bradford, a Utah Valley State College official, reminded the board that Roybal and the governor were "very much in the process when we fired everyone at DBED and moved in this direction [toward outsourcing to a private business.]"

A second area of potential conflict for EDCU is that some of the state's communities contract directly with EDCU. That relationship could be questioned when EDCU recruits businesses to one area or city over another, said board member Bill Boyle. "We've got to be mindful to the sensitivities of the different parts of the state."

Bradford said: "There is a perception that EDCU is Wasatch Front. It is imperative that [perception] be overcome. I'd like to see a couple more proposals."

Jerry Oldroyd, a board member, said the proposal needs "a real strong conflict of interest component" in EDCU's proposal to assure all communities will be treated even-handedly.

Martin Frey, director of the newly created Governor's Office of Economic Development, said he and the review board are aware of the conflict perception issues and have asked EDCU for a disclosure of possible conflicts.

The decision on whether to hire EDCU likely will be made at next month's economic development board meeting, Frey said.