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AGRICULTURE
• U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced a slate of Farm Service Agency (FSA) state committee appointees. State committees are selected by the secretary and are responsible for carrying out FSA’s farm programs within delegated authorities. State committees are appointed for a one year term. William Tolbert of Piute County will serve as the Utah committee chair. Other appointed Utah committee members are Scott Mower, Sanpete County; Randy Sessions, Morgan County; and Mike Yardley, Beaver County.
BANKING
• Bank of Utah has hired Kim K. Ford as a vice president trust officer. Ford has 19 years of experience in trust services, including more than 10 years as a vice president senior trust officer for Wells Fargo Bank in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. She also served as a vice president trust officer for US Bank.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Utah was the 21st-ranked “growth state” in 2017, according to U-Haul data analyzing the past year’s U.S. migration trends. Year-over-year arrivals of one-way U-Haul truck rentals increased by 10 percent, while departures increased by 8 percent from Utah’s 2016 numbers. Arriving trucks accounted for 50.2 percent of all one-way U-Haul traffic in Utah, which was ranked No. 38 in growth for 2016 and No. 10 for 2015. Texas was the top growth state for the second year in a row.
HEALTHCARE
• Collective Medical, Salt Lake City, has appointed Nicole Oishi as head of success. Oishi will leverage her experience as both a clinician and a healthcare executive to lead Collective Medical’s customer success teams. Oishi joins Collective Medical from Cambia Health Solutions, where she served as vice president of clinical services for Regence. Prior to that, she was the general manager for Regence’s ASO Service Center. Her experience also includes roles at the Washington State Health Care Authority as the administrator purchasing healthcare for the 300,000 Washington employees, retirees and their dependents, and leading large physician practices for the University of Washington and Pediatric Associates. She has also served as a nurse in various settings, including skilled nursing and home health.
• Predictive Technology Group Inc., Salt Lake City, has appointed Dr. Hugh S. Taylor to its Scientific Advisory Board. The company specializes in genetic testing, diagnostics, and therapeutic products to advance precision medicine. Taylor, a chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University, brings extensive clinical research and development expertise in endometriosis and women’s health to the board.
INTERNATIONAL
• World Trade Center Utah is preparing to publish its annual Resource Guide, a free directory that provides Utah companies with international business and trade-related resources throughout the state. The deadline for eligible companies to submit information for inclusion in the guide is Jan. 31. The guide will be published in both print and online editions. WTC Utah members will receive preferred recognition. Details are at http://wtcutah.com/.
LAW
• Holland & Hart LLP has elected eight attorneys into the firm’s partnership, including Craig Frame and Ashley Peck of its Salt Lake City office. Frame is in the firm’s Corporate practice and advises companies at all stages of growth, from formation to exit, helping them successfully raise capital, and complete acquisitions and divestitures. He also serves as outside general counsel to emerging growth companies. Peck practices in the firm’s Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources group and represents industrial, energy, mining and municipal clients in complex environmental litigation and regulatory compliance matters. Holland & Hart also announced that Eric Maxfield has been elected to a three-year term on the firm’s Management Committee. The five-person committee oversees the management and strategic direction of the entire law firm, which has approximately 500 attorneys in eight states and Washington, D.C. Maxfield, of the firm’s Salt Lake City office, fills the regional representative position most recently held by Brad Boodt of the firm’s Denver office. Maxfield is a trial lawyer and commercial litigator whose experience includes disputes involving fiduciary duty and shareholder claims, trade secrets, professional liability and malpractice, healthcare and insurance matters, and class actions.
• Snell & Wilmer has elected six attorneys into the firm’s partnership, including Craig T. Jenson and Elisabeth M. McOmber of its Salt Lake City office. Jenson’s practice focuses on real estate. He represents a wide variety of clients, including real estate owners, developers, and lenders, and general contractors and suppliers in transactional and litigation matters. He graduated from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law in 2009. McOmber has been with Snell & Wilmer’s product liability litigation group since 2004. She has experience defending product defect claims against manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automobiles, watercraft and marine products, and aircraft. She also chairs the firm’s Salt Lake City office Community Involvement Committee and serves as an associate mentor.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. has named Kent Crawford as group manager, responsible for oversight of four markets: Seattle; Portland and Medford, Oregon; and Salt Lake City. He will continue in his role as general manager of KUTV-TV, KMYU-TV and KJZZ in the Salt Lake City market. Crawford joined KUTV in 1982 and most recently served as general manager since 2011. During his tenure at the station, he has held various sales positions, including director of sales, local sales manager, new business development director and account executive. Crawford has a bachelor of science degree in health science from the University of Utah.
RECOGNITIONS
• The Utah Chapter of CCIM has announced that Jim Sorenson of Sorenson Cos. has been named the 2018 Excellence Awards Hall of Fame recipient. The award is presented to an institution or individual “that has had a dramatic and valuable impact on the Utah commercial real estate market.” Sorenson has helped develop several new industry categories, including digital video compression software, mass-market videophones, video relay service for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, and environmental testing. He also has been an advocate of education, including providing the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah with a $13 million gift to create the Sorenson Impact Center, with the mission of cultivating impact investing expertise in students and providing the seed money for the University Venture Fund (UVF) at the Eccles School. Sorenson and other Excellence Awards recipients will be honored at an event March 3 at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.
• The Utah Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Retailers (SIOR) has named Vic Galanis as SIOR Office Broker of the Year. Galanis is a first vice president in the Salt Lake City office of CBRE. He specializes in occupier advisory and transaction services for the commercial office segment.
• Seven Utah companies have been named to the 2017 Entrepreneurial 360 list, compiled by Entrepreneur Magazine. Honorees were identified based on the results from a study of independently owned companies, using a proprietary algorithm and other advanced analytics. Utah companies on the list are No. 26 Malouf, Logan; No. 44 Pluralsight, Farmington; No. 100 Aqua-Yield, Draper; No. 141 BambooHR, Lindon; No. 216 97th Floor, Lehi; No. 279 ARIIX, Bountiful; and No. 345 Rags To Raches, Lehi.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Zion National Park Lodge as the 2017 national winner of the “Food Recovery Challenge” in the lodging sector. The lodge — the only in-park lodging at Zion — has been composting its food waste for more than a decade. Xanterra Parks & Resorts Inc. holds the contract to operate the lodge. The EPA identified the lodge for “recovering” nearly 30,000 pounds of food in 2016 alone and for participating in the program since 2013.
• Several Utah ski resorts were ranked in the 2017 Best in Snow Awards, presented by Liftopia. The Best in Snow Awards uses survey feedback from thousands of skiers and snowboarders. Included in the list of “Top Overall Ski Areas in North America” is No. 2 Alta, No. 3 Snowbird and No. 6 Powder Mountain. The list of “Top Overall Ski Areas in the High West” includes No. 1 Alta, No. 2 Snowbird, No. 4 Powder Mountain, No. 7 Solitude Mountain Resort and No. 10 Snowbasin. In the list of “Most Challenging Ski Areas in North America” is No. 4 Snowbird and No. 6 Alta. The “Best Value Ski Areas in North America” list includes No. 5 Powder Mountain, No. 6. Alta and No. 10 Snowbird. The “Top Snow Consistency and Quality in North America” list includes No. 1 Alta, No. 3 Powder Mountain and No. 4 Snowbird.
SERVICES
• TaskEasy has announced it will move its U.S. headquarters from Millcreek to a 39,500-square-foot building off 700 South and West Temple in Salt Lake City. The company plans to add nearly 200 jobs over the next year. TaskEasy delivers lawn care services directly to customers through its mobile app and website.
• Onset Financial Inc. has hired Melinda Haynes as senior vice president of product management. She will oversee the customer experience and track analytics related to finance processes and expectations. Most recently, she spent nearly three decades at Zions Bancorporation, including serving as senior vice president and director of Zions Bank operations. Haynes’ education includes graduating from the University of Utah.