LADIES AND GENTLEMEN It is a privilege for me to participate in these ceremonies dedicating the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. My assignment is to tell you about the role that The Utah Construction Company played in making this day possible. Because we are here at a school of business rather than in a history class, the major part of my remarks will be devoted to how we turned the company around after it had been in business for 52 years. The logic supporting this approach is that less than 1% of the appreciation in value occurred in the first 52 years. Over 99% of the increase in value to the shareholders has taken place since 1951. It is what we did and how we did it that will be the thrust of my story. But let's begin at the beginning. The Utah Construction Company, which I'll refer to out of habit as "Utah," emerged as a reorganization of an earlier venture that had failed and owed the Ogden State Bank money it could not pay. The new company was capitalized for $24,000. One-third of the shares went to David Eccles. One-sixth each went to his business associates Thomas D. Dee and James Pingree. The remaining one-third went to the construction men - W. H. Wattis and his older brother E. O. Wattis. The new company prospered from the outset and at the end of the very first year rewarded its backers with a cash dividend of 165% of the original investment. The company continued to grow and to prosper until 1920, 1