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BANKING
• America First Credit Union, Riverdale, has opened a branch inside Lee’s Marketplace at 725 N. Redwood Road, North Salt Lake The company now has 121 locations in Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Arizona. Austin Pratt will serve as branch manager. He joined America First in 2014 as a consumer loan originator and has worked in various leadership roles, most recently as market assistant manager at the Centerville Market branch. He is scheduled to graduate from Weber State University in 2017 with a degree in business administration and will continue on to obtain a master’s degree in business administration.
COMMUNICATIONS
• CallTower, a South Jordan-based unified communications and collaboration company, has hired Brad Nichols as director of wholesale. Nichols has held principal telecommunication and unified communication roles for more than 10 years, overseeing aspects of sales and operations, from policy development and implementation, pricing, and wholesale education and enablement.
CONTESTS
• Nominations are being accepted through Feb. 10 for the 15th annual Utah Innovation Awards, presented by Stoel Rives LLP and the Utah Technology Council. The program recognizes Utah’s best innovations and the companies that created them. Nominations can be submitted online at https://www.utahinnovationawards.com/utah-innovations-nomination-multipage/. Nominations are evaluated by a committee of approximately 80 representatives from private industry, government and higher education. Up to two finalists and one winner may be selected from each category. Award winners will be announced at an awards presentation April 20.
• The Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative has opened the second round of its University Technology Acceleration Grant (UTAG) program. Letters of intent, which are not required, are due Feb. 10 and submissions close Feb. 23. UTAG is a competitive research grant program, available to individual researchers or ad-hoc teams employed by Utah colleges or universities, to advance the maturity of or de-risk technology that has been developed in university labs. Applications must be submitted at www.utagutah.com. Details about rules and regulations are at ustar.org/our-programs and selecting UTAG. USTAR’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Assistance Center (SSAC) will offer a webinar to assist applicants on the application process from noon-1:30 p.m. Jan. 31. Registration for the webinar can be completed at ustar_utag.eventbrite.com.
• The Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund (UMLF) is accepting applications through Jan. 30 for the Women’s Entrepreneurial Conference (WEC) Grant Competition. The competition takes place April 19 at Holladay City Hall. Twelve semi-finalists will be notified Feb. 17. Finalists will pitch live during the Women's Entrepreneurial Conference, with winners announced during the event. The grants have been made possible through the support of the Salt Lake Chamber Women’s Business Center, Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund and Utah Women's Networking Group. Details about the competition are at http://www.umlf.com/loan-programs/womens-entrepreneurial-conference-wec-grant-competition/online-grant-application/.
DIRECT SALES
• LifeVantage Corp., Salt Lake City, has appointed Gary Koos as interim chief financial officer. He succeeds Mark Jaggi. Koos has more than 35 years of financial and leadership experience, having served in multiple C-level financial and operational roles across a broad range of industries. Most recently, Koos served as head of finance of the PCT division of Comet Technology Inc. He previously served as president, CEO and CFO, leading the financial and operational restructure for Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing USA Inc. He also served in several senior financial and operation executive roles in both public and private companies.
ENVIRONMENT
• The state’s first “net zero” community has opened near Liberty Park at 1172 S. 400 E., Salt Lake City. Living Zenith is co-founded by Mitchell Spence and Tiffany Ivins of Redfish Builders, a boutique home builder designing and building personalized spaces since 1995. The project is a culmination of collaboration with the Governor’s Office of Energy Development, Salt Lake City’s Sustainability Department, WheelerCat, Portland Energy Conservation Inc., Utah Clean Energy, the University of Utah and others. Each unit is made with high thermal barriers, efficient appliances, triple-paned windows and LED lighting. The homes are powered by a Wheeler solar photovoltaic system.
EXPANSIONS
• Vivint Solar Inc., Lehi, has expanded the availability of its solar energy systems into New Hampshire, with services beginning in the Manchester, Nashua and Concord areas. Vivint Solar now operates in 15 states and Washington, D.C.
FINANCE
• VFI Corporate Finance, Salt Lake City, has named Burk Reynolds as chief operations officer. Reynolds has been an accounting and financial services professional for over 20 years. Prior to joining VFI Corporate Finance, he worked as a principal for Lone Peak Valuation Group and with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in its financial advisory and litigation support services group. Reynolds also worked for a fully integrated oil company and later served as chief financial officer of another company. He joined VFI in 2014 as chief financial officer. Reynolds graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s and a master’s of accounting.
• Onset Financial, South Jordan, has hired Debbie Worthen as vice president of marketing and public relations. Worthen was a meteorologist, reporter and anchor for KUTV 2 News, working at the station for 15 years.
NONPROFITS
• Deb Jordan has been named executive director of the Arthritis Foundation. She will oversee Utah, Montana and Idaho for the foundation, which fights for the arthritis community through advocacy, scientific discovery, building stronger relationships with healthcare providers, and developing programs for those suffering from juvenile arthritis. Jordan joins the organization after leading the corporate foundation for USANA Health Sciences Inc.
RECOGNITIONS
• The Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) presented awards at its recent annual meeting. Derek Miller, president and chief executive officer of the World Trade Center Utah, received the Nick Rose Award for Leadership in Economic Development in the Private Sector. John Curtis, mayor of Provo, received the Thayne Robson Award for Leadership in Economic Development in the Public Sector. Mark Gibbons, president of City Creek Reserve, received the Cornerstone in Economic Development Award on behalf of City Creek Center.
• Nine women were honored last week at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Utah Women’s Leadership Celebration in Park City in an event hosted by Zions Bank and Sundance Institute. The women were celebrated for their leadership in a variety of fields. Honorees include Amy Rees Anderson, managing partner and founder of Rees Capital, Business Leadership; Pat Frobes, lead director of the board of directors of Zions Bancorporation, Board Leadership; Erika George, Samuel D. Thurman Endowed Chair at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Global Justice Leadership; Deneece Huftalin, president of Salt Lake Community College, Educational Leadership; Julie Mack, Sundance’s environmental spokesperson, Environmental Leadership; Pat Mitchell, Sundance Board of Trustees chair and PBS’s first woman president and chief executive officer, Media Leadership; Jennifer Napier-Pearce, editor of The Salt Lake Tribune, Journalism Leadership; Idaho First Lady Lori Otter, chief executive officer of Idaho Women in Leadership, Administrative Leadership; and Vicki Varela, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, Film and Global Branding, State Leadership. This is the fourth year that Zions Bank and Sundance Institute have hosted the event.
• Healthcare solutions for connected medical devices produced by DigiCert, Lehi, have been recognized as a finalist in the category of Security Products and Solutions for Healthcare (100-499 employees) in the 13th annual Global Excellence Awards, presented by Info Security PG. Winners will be honored Feb. 13 in San Francisco.
• HealthCatalyst, Salt Lake City, has been named one of the 30 Best Workplaces in Technology by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work. Health Catalyst ranked No. 9 on the annual list among companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, and is the only healthcare technology company to make the 2017 list. The rankings are based on anonymous survey feedback from its employees and more than 42,000 employees at Great Place to Work–certified organizations across the U.S. technology industry.
• Neumont University has announced that Tyler Berry and Kyle Kacprzynski are the winners of the university’s Capstone Project Invitational event held Jan. 13 in Salt Lake City. They were selected from five finalists from more than 40 projects. Kacprzynski earned the Industry Award for creating “Mydi DIMI,” a live sheet music composer application that can utilize a computer keyboard and speakers or a USB-enabled MIDI keyboard. Kacprzynski will graduate from Neumont this spring with a bachelor’s degree in web design and development. Berry earned the Alumni Choice Award for “NU Code,” a competitive coding challenge website that compiles and executes code remotely. Berry will graduate from Neumont in March with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. He plans to start his tech career as a software engineer at Google in September.
• Four Utah companies have won Seal of Distinction awards for 2017 from WorldatWork. Utah companies are BambooHR, Lindon; Mountain America Credit Union, West Jordan; O.C. Tanner, Salt Lake City; and the Space Dynamics Laboratory at Utah State University, Logan. Begun in 2012, the Seal of Distinction is awarded to companies that meet defined standards of workplace programs, policies and practices weighted on several factors, such as the complexity of implementation, required organizational resources, perceived breadth of access and overall level of commitment from leadership.
SERVICES
• Alpine Technical Services (ATS), a Midvale-based provider of water treatment technology and safety shower solutions, has named Kevin Whatcott as executive vice president of finance. He will focus on the expansion and rapid growth of ATS across all markets. Whatcott has over 20 years of leadership experience and business expertise focused on expanding opportunities and resolving complex financial and operational challenges. He earned an MBA from Brigham Young University and a bachelor’s in economics from Utah State University.
• Zeel, a company providing in-home massages, has expanded into Salt Lake City and Park City. Residents and visitors to those cities can schedule spa massages at home, in as little as an hour from the time the massage is booked.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) Technology Commercialization and Innovation Program has awarded grants to 20 Utah companies and universities to help bring their cutting-edge technologies to market. The 2017 TCIP grant recipients are Ancestor Cloud Inc., CureMD LLC, Elastocrete LLC, Gruv Fishing, Inertial Sense, InnoSys, Microsurgical Innovations Inc., Novi Security, Nozzle, PK Clean, Promotus, QRP, Simplicity Airway Inc., Spectra Symbol, Storj Labs, University of Utah Airway Management Devices, Veritas Medical, Waterbear Life Devices (LIYEN Inc.), Whistic Inc. and ZipBooks. This year’s grant solicitation was the most competitive in the history of the program, with 183 applicants requesting funds in excess of $18 million out of $1.8 million available. Qualified technologies may receive grants of up to $100,000. Recipients may also take advantage of mentorship opportunities and entrepreneurial curriculum. Applicants are vetted through volunteer review panels made up of local industry experts. The volunteer review panels recommend awards based on technical merit, team experience, level of matching funds and potential for job creation in the state. Companies receive funding upon meeting required performance metrics, such as the completion of technical or business milestones.
TRAVEL & TOURISM
• Visit Salt Lake (VSL) has appointed Karen Staples as northeast director of convention sales. She will be based in Connecticut and will represent Visit Salt Lake and promote Salt Lake as a convention and meeting destination to corporate and association planners in the region. Staples’ career in the hospitality industry includes various sales positions at other convention and visitors bureaus. Before joining VSL, she spent two years as managing director of development for the Talley Management Group. Prior to that, she spent five years as director of eastern regional sales for Visit Spokane. Her career also includes sales experience with the Hartford/Spokane Alliance Convention Bureau and the Greater Hartford Convention & Visitors Bureau.