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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

• The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art has been awarded two grants totaling $140,000 from the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts and VIA Art Fund/Wagner Foundation. The museum was awarded a spring 2022 grant from the Warhol Foundation to support the exhibition “Haimaz, Heimr, Hjem, Heem, Hām, Home,” opening in March of 2023. As a VIA Art Fund/Wagner Foundation Incubator grantee, the museum will receive support to further its commitment to its community through fostering experimental practices and advancing critical discourse in contemporary art on a national level.

ASSOCIATIONS

• ULI (Urban Land Institute) Utah has announced several new board members. They are Ruth Hill, partner, J. Fisher Cos., as WLI (Women’s Leadership Initiative) Committee chair; Connie Gonzalez, investment banking associate, Piper Sandler; as YLG (Young Leaders Group) Committee chair; Rylan Anderson, development associate, QFactor; as YLG Committee vice chair; Hayley Pratt, partner, Castlewood Development, as Trends Committee chair; and Jeff Grasso, managing partner, Vesta Realty Partners, as Trends Committee co-chair.

BANKING

• WebBank, a Salt Lake City-based industrial bank, has appointed Kelsey Hardy as senior vice president of business development. Hardy joined WebBank in December 2015, bringing more than 10 years of business development, contract structuring, negotiating and oversight experience. During her tenure at the bank, she has held positions in compliance, due diligence and implementation and, most recently, as vice president of business development.

COMMUNICATIONS

• The Utah Broadband Center is accepting applications through Feb. 2 for a pair of new broadband planning grants, which are available to help local governments, municipalities, nonprofits and government agencies develop plans to expand high-speed Internet access and adoption in Utah communities. Recipients are expected to complete their five-year plans by June 1 for those plans to be included in the statewide digital connectivity action plan. The grants, funded by the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and the Digital Equity Act, empower local stakeholders to identify areas of the state that need increased investment in infrastructure, skills training or access to devices to facilitate Utahns’ access to critical digital resources such as telemedicine, remote work or educational opportunities. The grants are the Local Broadband Planning Grant and the Local Digital Access Planning Grant. Details are at broadband.utah.gov.

CORPORATE

• World Archives, a Provo-based company focused on historical newspaper content, has rebranded as Storied. The rebrand coincides with the company’s launch of a next-generation family history platform by the same name. Backed by Charles Thayne Capital and built by former Ancestry.com executives, Storied is in a public beta period in which users can build family trees, create and share stories, and receive hint notifications for free. Paid plans enable users to create private groups and gain access to billions of records and newspaper articles from 46 countries.

DIRECT SALES

• USANA Health Sciences Inc., Salt Lake City, has launched an “affiliate program,” available in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Affiliates earn 15 percent to 20 percent commissions on sales when they share USANA products through their personal links.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

• Utah is ranked No. 1 on a list of states with the most new-construction homes being developed, compiled by portlandrealestate.com. It analyzed U.S. Census data and Statista to determine which states had the most new construction homes being developed per 1,000 residents. Utah has 11.7 new builds per 1,000 people. For comparison, Rhode Island has the fewest, at 1.27 per 1,000 people. The U.S. average is 5.23. The study indicated that the average value of a house in Utah is $554,955.

• Nearly one in three Utahns do not believe they will achieve the same level of financial security as their parents, according to a study by online course platform Teachable. The national average is 43 percent. The study indicated that $53,972 is the highest yearly salary that young Utahns expect to ever earn. Hawaii residents are the most optimistic about future earnings potential ($84,441), while Oklahomans are the least ($45,486). Details are at https://teachable.com/blog/income-expectations.

• Magna is ranked No. 6 on a list of “Best Markets for First Time Homebuyers in 2023,” compiled by Realtor.com. It considered markets where homes are not just affordable, but have many characteristics that make them great places to live. It looked at commute times, job opportunities, places to eat and drink, percentage of younger residents and the local housing markets. In the study, Magna has the widest selections of listings per household and tied with Moore, Oklahoma, for having the youngest average buyers. The top market is Portsmouth, Virginia.

• The average Utahn feels the least “financially free” at age 31, according to a study by CouponBirds. The national average is 38. Most Utahns think they would need a minimum of $5 million to be financially independent. Montanans’ average age is 27. People in Delaware and Vermont think they feel the least financially free at 61. Details are at https://www.couponbirds.com/research-center/data/when-can-you-achieve-financial-freedom.

• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 65 and West Valley City is No. 147 on a list of “Best Cities for Cheese Lovers,” compiled by Lawn Love. It compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on cheese access, quality, affordability and community interest. The top-ranked city is New York City. The No. 200 city is Salinas, California. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-for-cheese-lovers/.

• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 22 and West Valley City is No. 191 on a list of “Best Cities for Lunar New Year Celebrations,” compiled by Lawn Love. It compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on four categories broken down into 11 metrics, such as Asian American population size, Lunar New Year festivals and events, fireworks legality, and safety. We also awarded bonus points to cities with a Chinatown district. The top-ranked city is New York City. The bottom-ranked city is Springfield, Missouri. Details are at https://lawnlove.com/blog/best-cities-to-celebrate-chinese-new-year/.

• LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, is ranked as the No. 3 most beautiful sports stadium in the world by OLBG. It analyzed Tripadvisor reviews for words such as “beautiful,” “stunning” and “aesthetic” to reveal the most beautiful sports stadiums in the world according to fans. The top-ranked beautiful stadium is Asgiriya Stadium in Sri Lanka, followed by Folsom Field in Colorado. OLBG also analyzed Instagram hashtags to reveal the most Instagrammed stadiums, with Edwards Stadium ranked No. 34 on the worldwide list and No. 21 for North America. Details are at https://www.olbg.com/us/blogs/stunning-sports-venues.

EXPANSIONS

• The Any Hour Group, an Orem-based provider of home services, has announced partnerships with seven businesses to expand its operations into new markets, including California, Oregon, and Minnesota. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Companies involved are 3 Mountains Plumbing; Connors Plumbing & Heating; EJ Plumbing; Oak Island Heating & Air Conditioning; Pacific Aire; We Care Plumbing, Heating & Air; and Wizard Plumbing.

HEALTHCARE

• Halia Therapeutics, a Salt Lake City-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has appointed Dr. Margit M. Janát-Amsbury as chief medical officer. She is an experienced leader of cross-functional early development teams in oncology and has more than 20 years of experience in academic and industry settings. Janát-Amsbury most recently served as an executive medical director in early oncology development at Amgen and was also the product team lead for Amgen’s prostate portfolio. Before joining Amgen, she oversaw the development of multiple small molecules at Tolero Pharmaceuticals, which Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma acquired in 2017. Janát-Amsbury has held faculty appointments with the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Utah, where she also served as co-director of the Center for Nanomedicine.

HOSPITALITY

• LivAway Suites, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on extended-stay hotels with a developer-centric business model and hotel design, has arranged $85 million in debt financing through Keystone National Group for its first locations nationally. Following two years of market research and brand development planning, LivAway Suites has assembled numerous sites in top extended-stay markets across the United States that will break ground this year.

INTERNATIONAL

• World Trade Center Utah is seeking qualifying Utah companies to participate in a business trip to Southeast Asia’s top manufacturing and distribution hubs — Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam — to explore economic and business opportunities in the region. The cost is $4,000 (does not include travel and lodging expenses). Details are available by contacting Charlotte Serage, manager of trade shows and trade missions, at cserage@wtcutah.com.

INVESTMENTS

• Angle Health, with headquarters in Salt Lake City and San Francisco, has announced $58 million in Series A funding, led by Portage. The round also included participation from PruVen Capital, Wing Venture Capital, SixThirty Ventures, Mighty Capital, Wormhole Capital, Mindset Ventures, Crew Capital, Aloft VC and Pilot founder Waseem Daher; and support from existing investors Blumberg Capital, Correlation Ventures, TSVC and Y Combinator. Angle Health provides a digital-first care navigation experience with its comprehensive healthcare benefit plans for employers. Following its recent expansion into Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri and South Carolina, with initial focus on the employer-sponsored health plan segment, the company is already covering tens of thousands of members on its fully insured and self-funded products since launching in 2021.

• Pelion Venture Partners, a Salt Lake City-based venture capital firm, has announced that Tyler Hogge has joined the firm as a venture partner. Hogge will invest in early-stage startups, support existing Pelion portfolio companies, and incubate new businesses alongside very early-stage founding teams. Hogge’s experience includes serving as senior vice president of product at Divvy through its $2.5 billion acquisition by Bill. Prior to Divvy, Hogge led core product teams at Wealthfront, spent time at SaaStr and Andreessen Horowtiz, and led inside sales and business development teams at Clearwater Analytics. Since the Divvy acquisition, he has invested in nearly 30 startups through his investment fund, Kindling Capital.

LAW

• Armstrong Teasdale has appointed Brennan Moss as office managing attorney in Salt Lake City and added partner Aaron Clark to that office. Moss succeeds partner Martin Walsh, who will continue his active corporate practice and continue to serve in other leadership capacities for the firm. Moss is one of two founding members of the firm’s Salt Lake City office, which opened in April 2020. He is a skilled cross-discipline attorney with experience spanning the corporate, real estate, litigation and white-collar defense areas. His education includes a B.A. from the University of Utah. Clark has nearly two decades of litigation experience and has focused his practice on financial and white-collar crime litigation. Prior to joining Armstrong Teasdale, Clark was an assistant U.S. attorney and senior litigation counsel in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, where he previously served as deputy chief of the Narcotics Section. Before that, he was assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. Armstrong Teasdale has more than 700 lawyers and staff professionals across 16 offices internationally.

PARTNERSHIPS

• Intermountain Healthcare, a Salt Lake City-based health system of 33 hospitals in seven states, and Story Health, a health technology and services company that provides scalable specialty care beyond the clinic, have entered into a partnership to improve access to specialty care for patients with heart failure. The partnership combines Intermountain’s experience in clinical-quality improvement and excellence in healthcare delivery with Story Health’s specialty care platform solution to extend access to high-quality heart and vascular care for patients with heart failure, the companies said. The initial work will be a program that implements Story Health’s platform into the Intermountain system.

PHILANTHROPY

• Novarad, a Provo-based healthcare company, has released CryptoChart Lite, a web-based version of its CryptoChart medical image and report sharing system, to developing countries at no cost. CryptoChart Lite is designed to provide a simple, user-friendly and secure solution to sharing patient images and reports without CDs, passwords, or portals. Users drag and drop medical images onto the secure web client, and receive a shareable secure QR code or web access code. Patients and providers can access digital records anywhere, anytime from a computer or mobile device using the code. The new version is also available for free to hospitals, imaging centers and clinics in the U.S. and Canada, although the full version is more conducive to streamlined workflows.

REAL ESTATE

• Havenpark Communities, an Orem-based operator and developer of manufactured home communities, announced that that it completed $35 million in community upgrades across its properties last year. Upgrades include durable infrastructure, community amenities, landscaping, new signage and overall enhanced curbside appeal. The company said it plans to continue making significant upgrades and improvements as needed across its portfolio in 2023. Since 2017, Havenpark has sourced and installed over 4,000 new factory-built homes.

RESTAURANTS

• L.O.V.E. Restaurant Group has opened a Slim Chickens location at 990 N. 400 E., Spanish Fork. The restaurant offers fried chicken and Southern-inspired sides and the new location has the potential to add 75 jobs. Slim Chickens has more than 170 locations. L.O.V.E. Restaurant Group has eight locations, with plans to open two more across Colorado and Utah.

SERVICES

• Cyberbacker, an Ogden-based provider of administrative support and virtual assistant services for businesses, announced that in 2022, it added 38 franchise markets (37 in the U.S. and one in Canada) while providing continued support to its employees in the Philippians. It also Cyberbacker raised $541,812.80 through its profit-sharing program, with all proceeds going directly back to their employees. The company said it is hoping to end 2023 having created 10,000 jobs through their franchisees’ efforts, as well as having 100 franchisees by this time next year. The brand is also looking to add 56 territories by the end of 2023, including new areas in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The company was founded in 2018 and now has 3,850 clients.

TECHNOLOGY

• RizePoint, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on technology in food safety, quality management, compliance and social responsibility, has named Paul Damaren as executive vice president of business development. Damaren has worked as a senior executive in the certification space for 17 years and has more than 38 years’ experience in the hospitality, certification, service and retail agri-food sectors. He has worked with many companies across multiple sectors, supporting their food safety, supply chain, health and wellness, front- and back-of-house operations, brand protection, quality, environmental, health and safety, GMP/GDP compliance, automotive, aerospace, medical, information security and technology requirements. Before working in the certification industry, he was a professional chef/consultant for more than 20 years, working in major hotel chains, restaurants, private golf courses, and food service organizations.

TRANSPORTATION

• Alpine Air Express Inc., a Provo-based regional air cargo carrier, has hired Robert Frisch as chief operating officer. In the newly created role, he will be responsible for overseeing the company’s operations and aircraft maintenance management team, as well as leading Alpine’s 119 positions. Based in Provo, Frisch has decades of experience in aviation operations, regulation and planning. Prior to joining Alpine, Frisch was chief operating officer at Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp., which currently performs flying services for United Airlines as United Express. Previously, he served as vice president for flight operation and labor relations at Air Wisconsin, where he began his career as a chief pilot 20 years ago.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

• Visit Salt Lake, a private, nonprofit corporation that promotes Salt Lake as a convention and travel destination, has hired Faye Pastor as a sales manager. Based in Washington, D.C., Pastor will pursue meetings with 201 to 1,700 attendees from the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. Pastor has worked in the hospitality industry her entire career, with sales experience in hotel sales, exhibit and sponsorship sales and marketing. Pastor most recently served as exhibits and sponsorship manager for the Association for Molecular Pathology. She also has worked at the San Francisco Peninsula CVB, Ecological Society of America, Visit Norfolk, Atlanta CVB and Visit Sacramento.