Intermountain-Pacific Rim Trade Project records, 1985-1992

The Intermountain Program in Pacific Rim Relations was started at the University of Utah in 1987 by Dr. Kent Morrison of the Political Science Department and Dr. Roy Shaw of the Marketing Department, under a U.S. Department of Education Title VI(B) grant, for the purpose of pooling the resources of the academic community, public agencies, and the private sector together in improving economic and commercial ties between the Intermountain West and the nations of the Pacific Rim. This initiative was primarily a joint venture of the University of Utah's Graduate School of Business, College of Social and Behavioral Science, and College of Humanities, but it also collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Commerce, Utah Department of Economic and Community Development, World Trade Association of Utah, and the Utah District Export Council. In 1988 the name of the program was changed to the Intermountain-Pacific Rim Trade Project (IMPART).

The heart of IMPART project was its Data Center, located on the College of Business mainframe computer, which administered several databases that provided textual and statistical information pertinent for international trade as well as a directory of companies engaged in commerce with the Pacific Rim. IMPART also offered an educational program that included export-education seminars; college-level courses on Pacific Rim topics; business language classes in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean; and colloquiams on Pacific Rim subjects drawing experts in business, government, and academia. Additionally, IMPART provided internships to University of Utah students with intermountain and national businesses and government agencies dealing with Pacific Rim countries.

In 1990 the Brigham Young University/University of Utah Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) was launched with a global focus on international trade. IMPART's business community and education effort was eventually consolidated into the CIBER program and IMPART was phased out when the Department of Education grant ended in 1992.