I thought similarly to your post and still wonder - because they aren't just wanting these Utah companies to succeed, but they want to attract talent similar to Silicon Valley - that to me felt like they're wanting to convince those of us living here need to be open to new things that break the Utah culture - so it's not weird.

That means we have to have a more "inclusive" culture but also things that would attract people outside of Utah. I took that as getting rid of state-run liquor stores or having archaic rules (Zion Curtain).

It's an interesting dilemma - as this type of thinking will obviously change the political mindset of the state and like you - I'm not sure I like that- because I moved from SoCal to get away from some of the political crap, but also to be closer to BYU/Church as well. I get for what they're trying to do but seems like an awfully slippery slope, and you're seeing those changes already happening the closer you get to SLC.