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U.S. Forest Service holds job fairs this week to recruit people to fight wildfires next summer

The U.S. Forest Service is holding two job fairs next week, looking to recruit people to fight wildfires next summer — and perhaps even make a career of it.

Michael Byers is overseeing the recruitment fair for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. He will be looking to fill a variety of positions with veteran firefighters, women, temporary seasonal workers, 30-day emergency hires, people interested in apprenticeship programs and emergency firefighters.

Job fairs will be held Tuesday at Scheels, 11282 S. State St., in Sandy and Wednesday at Cabela's, 2502 Cabela's Blvd., in Lehi. Both run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Nikola Motors unveils electric semi, links up with Ryder System

Nikola Motor Co. of Salt Lake City unveiled an electric semi-truck Thursday and named Ryder System Inc. as its national distribution and maintenance provider.

Company founder and president Trevor Milton said Nikola Motors will decide next year where it will build a manufacturing facility. Several states are being considered. In 2018, Nikola also plans to begin building a network of hydrogen fueling stations across the U.S. and Canada.

The Nikola One semi will have a range of 800 to 1,200 miles, using what Nikola founder Trevor Milton called "a fully electric drive train powered by high-density lithium batteries."

He said leases for the Nikola One will include unlimited hydrogen fuel, warrant and scheduled maintenance coverage over 72 months.

Salt Lake County has the highest GDP growth in the state

Salt Lake County's gross domestic product grew twice as much as the next closest county in the state over the past four years, according to the New York City-based financial technology company SmartAsset.

Its GDP Growth Index put Salt Lake at 9.35. Next in line was Utah County with a 4.24 growth index. Davis, Weber and Washington counties rounded out the top five, with index ratings between 2.84 and 2.21.

SmartAsset's financial breakdown also showed that Utah County had issued the most new building permits per 1,000 homes this year (29.4), followed by Washington (27.7), Davis (17.2) and Salt Lake (17.0).

Utah business people on the move

Gavin Wallin, a lead designer at Lehi-based BodyGuardz, which makes protective covers for mobile phones, finished second in the Golf Channel's Driver vs. Driver reality-television competition. He designed a "Pivot" driver.