The next Winter Olympics to be held in Salt Lake City won’t be here for another decade.

But the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute is already generating significant buzz for its projections of what the 2034 Games will mean for Utah.

As part of the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, the Gardner Policy Institute prepares economic, demographic, and public policy research that helps to shape thoughtful discourse on events occurring in Utah.

Their recent work on the Olympics includes reports on the estimated economic impact of the 2034 Games and the ongoing benefits of the prescient upkeep codified in the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, respectively, plus a fact sheet comparing and contrasting Utah’s demographics and infrastructure between 2002 and ’34.

Watch the summary video featuring commentary by Brett Hopkins, CFO/COO, Salt Lake City Utah Committee for the Games, John Downen, Senior Research Fellow, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, Colin Hilton, CEO, Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, and Catherine Raney Norman, Chair, Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games.

It’s naturally gotten plenty of eyeballs on it locally, with television news programs, radio shows, and newspapers/websites from across the state all taking a keen interest.

Among the coverage highlights:

• Growth since 2002: Here’s how Utah is expected to change before 2034 Winter Olympics – KUTV 2
• How Utah has changes since hosting the 2002 Olympics – KSL-TV 5
• Let the Games begin: Salt Lake City 2034 Olympics by the numbers – ABC4 Utah
• Forget gold, how much green will 2034 Winter Olympics bring to Utah? – FOX 13
• What will Utah look like when the Olympics come in 2034? – Deseret News
• Will hosting the 2034 Olympic Games really put $6.6B into Utah’s economy? – The Salt Lake Tribune
• Economic forecast for 2034 is sunny a decade out – Park Record
• Utah will be larger, older and more diverse in 2034 – KPCW
• Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute predicts economic output of 2034 Winter Olympics – KSL NewsRadio

The work that the Gardner Policy Institute’s staff has done has garnered attention well beyond the Beehive State, though; indeed, their reports were cited during an executive meeting of the International Olympic Committee during the just-concluded Summer Games in Paris.

That, in turn, piqued the curiosity of the BBC, leading to a live interview with Eccles School Associate Dean and Gardner Policy Institute Director Natalie Gochnour on the World Business Report program (the conversation begins at the 16:22 mark).