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ASSOCIATIONS
• Whitaker B. Irvin Jr., president and CEO of Q Hydrogen Commercialization, Park City, has been accepted as a member of the Forbes Business Council. Forbes has recognized Irvin as an entrepreneur with a wide range of experience in industries including finance, aerospace/defense, energy and green high-technology companies. Q Hydrogen Commercialization has developed a technology for turning water into clean, efficient and renewable hydrogen for use in energy and electricity production, transportation and industry.
BANKING
• Zions Bank has named Sui Lang L. Panoke as senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. She is responsible for directing a strategic vision and comprehensive DEI strategy, and delivering a plan of action to promote diversity, equity and inclusion across the bank and the communities it serves. Panoke has two decades of experience as a speaker, consultant and advocate for social, racial and economic equality. Her social impact work has focused on diversifying political leadership and democratizing the media landscape by amplifying the voices of women, people of color, and emerging young leaders. She founded the global training organization Rethink International. Panoke serves on the board of trustees of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association, the advisory board of YWCA’s Real Women Run Utah, and is an ambassador for the Utah Women and Leadership Project. Panoke’s education includes a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Utah.
CONTESTS
• SelectHealth is accepting applications for its 2021 SelectHealth Awards until Feb. 28. The company will recognize 20 organizations from Utah for making a healthy difference. This includes $3,000 and a marketing package worth over $20,000 to help further their cause. Applications will be accepted for working to promote health and well-being, serving a special population, creating safe environments and building strong neighborhoods. Details are at selecthealthawards.org.
• Riverton City and the South Valley Chamber are accepting nominations until Jan. 19 for the Riverton Peak Awards, which recognize outstanding businesses and individuals for their success in business and contributions to the community. The awards include Business of the Year, Business Woman of the Year and Business Man of the Year. Awards will be presented at the Riverton State of the City & Peak Award Ceremony in February. The nomination form is at https://www.rivertonutah.gov/awards/business.php.
• Applications are being accepted until Feb. 8 for the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. The competition involves $60,000 in cash and prizes. All college students in Utah are welcome to participate. The Utah Entrepreneur Challenge is a business-model competition provided by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah and sponsored by Zions Bank. In addition to the grand prize, there are also prizes awarded for best business model, presentation, and technology. Details are at https://lassonde.utah.edu/uec.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Salt Lake City is No. 56 on a list of best cities for “locavores,” compiled by outdoor services provider LawnStarter. It ranked the 150 biggest U.S. cities across 14 key metrics, from the availability of butcher shops and farm-to-table restaurants to the prevalence of community-supported agriculture. The top-ranked city is Santa Rosa, California. The bottom-ranked city is Anchorage, Alaska. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-for-locavores/.
• Utah is the No. 7 best state for lawyers seeking employment in 2021, based on analysis by Testing.org, using the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of lawyer jobs in the state are projected to increase by 3.8 percent this year, to 25,460. The study also looks at starting salaries and the LSAT scores needed to get into the top law school in each state. The average starting salary for lawyers is $107,650. An LSAT score of 164 is needed to get into Brigham Young University. Among states, Alabama is top-ranked, while Idaho is bottom-ranked. Details are at https://testing.org/best-and-worst-states-for-lawyers/.
GOVERNMENT
• Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson has appointed Efren Corado Garcia as the county’s diversity affairs officer. Among his duties, Garcia will oversee the Mayor’s Council on Diversity Affairs (CODA) and the implementation of the council’s recently completed action plan. In 2018, Garcia joined the Salt Lake County Division of Arts & Culture as the “Arts for All” program coordinator. When COVID-19 closed performing arts venues, Garcia voluntarily redeployed to the Salt Lake County Health Department to support the county’s Quarantine and Isolation Unit serving vulnerable populations. He acted as a shelter site lead managing safety policy, client care and staff training. Garcia has taught at the University of Utah and Utah Valley University, and worked for Utah Humanities before joining Repertory Dance Theater. Garcia has served as an appointee to the Salt Lake City Arts Council Board for the past five years. His education includes a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah.
HEALTHCARE
• TheraLight LLC, a privately held medical device company specializing in photomedicine, has announced the relocation and expansion of its corporate headquarters to a new office and warehouse in Lindon to advance the operations and growth of the company. The Utah expansion is 5,800 square feet. The company has also relocated its Florida offices and warehouses to a new and larger location in Fort Pierce, Florida. TheraLight was started and currently led by the founders of Aspen Laser Systems.
• Prime IV Hydration & Wellness, a provider of IV hydration therapy, has opened a new location at 1881 W. Traverse Parkway, Suite D, Lehi. It will provide an array of IV hydration solutions, using a proprietary blend of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and IV fluids.
HOUSING
• The Utah Inland Port Authority ended 2020 with a $171,000 distribution for affordable housing solutions in Salt Lake City. Supporting affordable housing to promote equity and workforce housing needs is a strategy in UIPA’s Strategic Business Plan.
INVESTMENTS
• WeLink, a Lehi-based fixed-wireless broadband provider, has received a $185 million investment from Digital Alpha Advisors, an alternative asset manager focused on digital infrastructure. The funding will enable WeLink to accelerate its plans to grow its current footprint in the Las Vegas metro area and also to expand into two additional metro areas: Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, in the second quarter, with seven additional markets slated for launch in the future. Digital Alpha’s investment also enables new partnership opportunities with Cisco, one of Digital Alpha’s key partners. WeLink was founded in 2018 by Kevin Ross and Ahsan Naim. With the investment, Digital Alpha will become the leading outside investor in WeLink and has appointed Rick Shrotri, founder and managing partner at Digital Alpha Advisors, and Neil Sheridan, principal at Digital Alpha Advisors, to the WeLink board.
• Divvy, a Draper-based spend management company, has announced a $165 million funding rate at a valuation of $1.6 billion. The Series D investment includes new investors Hanaco, PayPal Ventures, Whale Rock and Schonfeld, with participation from previous backers NEA, Insight Venture Partners, Acrew and Pelion. Divvy said it would use the funds to invest heavily in product development and engineering. Financial Technology Partners served as exclusive advisor to Divvy on the transaction.
• Social Climb, a Lehi-based patient acquisition platform for doctors, practices and hospitals, has announced that Resolve Growth Partners has provided $12 million in funding “to fuel innovation and growth.”
• TaxBit, a Salt Lake City-based company offering cryptocurrency tax automation software, has announced new investments from PayPal Ventures, Coinbase Venture and existing investor Winklevoss Capital. It did not disclose the amounts.
LAW
• Holland & Hart has elected 15 attorneys into partnership, including Salt Lake City attorney Engels Tejeda. He counsels clients on a broad range of commercial disputes, from cybersecurity and data breach defense to matters under the Bankruptcy Code, the Uniform Commercial Code and consumer protection statutes. He works with clients in the renewable energy, rooftop solar and banking and finance industries. By appointment of the Supreme Court of Utah, he serves as a judge pro tempore in the small claims division of the Salt Lake City Justice Court. He also served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve for eight years, which included two active duty deployments to Iraq and Kosovo.
• Parsons Behle & Latimer has added Jacob T. Muklewicz as shareholder in the Salt Lake City office. Part of the firm’s Employment and Labor practice team, he counsels and advises large multinational corporations, local businesses, individual investors and professionals in areas involving employment-based immigration law. Muklewicz also counsels companies and foreign nationals regarding visa petitions, immigration petitions, permanent residence, labor certification, PERM process and more.
MANUFACTURING
• Code Corp., a Salt Lake City-based designer and manufacturer of a line of hardware and software data capture solutions, has named Dave Frick as vice president of operations. Frick has more than 37 years of global business, international supply chain and medical device manufacturing experience. He has led national and international operations for numerous life science companies, including Varian Medical Systems, Philips Healthcare and Richardson Electronics Ltd.
OUTDOOR RECREATION/
SPORTS
• Ski Utah has selected Paul Marshall as director of communications, succeeding Anelise Bergin. Marshall served in that same role from January 2015 to April 1018. After that, he earned his master’s degree from Brown University and started a consulting business.
PHILANTHROPY
• Cambia Health Solutions, based in Portland, Oregon, and its regional health plans serving members in Utah and three other states, has committed $11.5 million to address mental and behavioral health needs intensified by COVID-19 in rural communities. The Utah community partners that will receive funds are the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Association for Utah Community Health, Utah Office of Multicultural Affairs, the National Children’s Alliance (Utah’s Children Justice Centers), and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Utah.
• Makana Masks, a Park City-based manufacturer of reusable safety masks, has donated 500 masks to the Ute Indian Tribe of Utah. In recent weeks the Ute Indian Tribe and other communities in Utah and throughout the United States have experienced a surge in cases of COVID-19. The CDC has identified masks to be the most practical and effective way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, in conjunction with social distancing and hand-washing. The company’s connection to the tribe came by way of Martha Macomber, the educational liaison between the University of Utah and the Ute Indian Tribe. She personally delivered 10 cases of Makana Masks to Eagleview Elementary School, Indian Health Services (IHS) and the Police Department on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.
REAL ESTATE
• Icon 9700, a 264-unit luxury apartment community in Sandy, has been sold by Magna Investment and Development to Starwood Capital Group. Financial terms were not disclosed. Built in 2018, the property was 97 percent occupied at the time of sale. The Salt Lake office of CBRE announced the sale. Patrick Bodnar and Eli Mills of CBRE represented Magna.
• Milagro Apartments, a 183-unit luxury apartment community in downtown Salt Lake City, has been sold by a joint-venture partnership of Colmena Group and PEG Cos. to Graycliff Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. Completed in 2018, Milagro is at 241 W. 200 S. The seven-story building is the first Salt Lake market purchase for Graycliff Capital Partners, based in South Carolina. The sale was announced by the Salt Lake City office of CBRE. Patrick Bodnar and Eli Mills of CBRE represented the sellers.
• DB Capital Management, a California-based multifamily investment firm, has closed its acquisition of Union Square Apartments, a 139-unit community in Provo, for $16 million. It is the first investment in Provo. It owns about 300 units across multiple properties in Salt Lake City. Built in 1991, Union Square Apartments consist of four two- and three-story buildings and one single-family home. DB Capital Management acquired the property in an off-market deal, leveraging relationships from previous deals to secure the asset.
RECOGNITIONS
• Jessica Reimer-Arias, executive director of marketing and social media at USANA, a Salt Lake City-based nutritional products company, has been named on a list of “Top Women in PR” by PRNews. The awards recognize women in public relations and communications “that continually set the bar higher.” Reimer-Arias has more than 15 years of experience working in public relations, marketing and social media.
RETAIL
• Jabz, known for its full-body, circuit style workout that utilizes boxing-inspired exercises, has announced that its newest studio will open at 1094 S. 300 W., Salt Lake City, with local owner Megan Hitt. It will be the first Jabz location in the Salt Lake City market and in Utah.
SERVICES
• Allied Universal, a security and facilities services company, has announced it will hire more than 500 security professionals in Utah. It will have an open house hiring event Jan. 26, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at the Fairfield Inn & Suites at 7141 FLSmidth Drive, Midvale. It will include in-person and virtual interviews. Comprehensive national job listings are at https://jobs.aus.com/.
TRANSPORTATION
• SkyWest Inc., a St. George-based holding company for SkyWest Airlines and SkyWest Leasing, has appointed Smita Conjeevaram to its board of directors. Conjeevaram is a global executive with over 25 years in finance and nearly a decade of experience at two of the Big 4 worldwide accounting firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Her most recent operational role was as deputy CFO of Fortress Investment Group’s Credit Funds and chief financial officer of the Fortress Investment Group’s Credit Hedge Funds. She currently serves as a director and audit committee member of SS&C Technologies Inc. Conjeevaram also is a Certified Public Accountant.