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CONTESTS
• The application deadline for the 2020-21 University of Utah Opportunity Quest competition is open until Nov. 24. Opportunity Quest is a statewide business model competition. The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the UofU hosts branch OQ competitions across the state at the University of Utah and partner universities. First-place teams receive cash and in-kind prizes and advance to the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. Students participate by registering for the branch competition at their universities. Also, the application period for the 2020-21 High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge is open until Feb. 17. The challenge allow students to showcase their innovations and entrepreneurial spirit and win cash and prizes. All Utah high school students, ages 14-18, are eligible to compete. The program is managed by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Summit County leads all Utah counties in a ranking of the lowest closing costs, according to financial technology company SmartAsset. The study measured closing costs as a percentage of median home value in each county, and the places where closing costs make up the smallest portion of home value are the places that rank the highest. Summit’s average closing costs are $5,418, with closing costs being 0.9 percent of home value. Summit is followed, in order, by Wasatch, Morgan, Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Washington, Grand, Cache and Daggett counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/mortgage/closing-costs#Utah.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• Weber State University recently celebrated the grand opening of a new building at its Davis campus in Layton. The Computer & Automotive Engineering Building opened to classes beginning in the fall semester this year. The 51,000-square-foot building will help the College of Engineering, Applied Science & Technology (EAST) address the demand for additional workforce in Northern Utah. In addition to six classrooms, the $20 million building features a “sandbox,” or test environment, for computer science and software engineering courses. The new home of the automotive technology program has updated automotive shops, including a Tesla learning center and an engine test cell. GSBS Architects designed the building, and R&O Construction completed construction. It is the third major building at WSU Davis. The university has renamed Building D3, which is now called the Stewart Center in honor of the Stewart Education Foundation and its long-standing support of Weber State.
• Rowland Hall, a coeducational college-preparatory day school for grades preschool through 12, has selected Michael “Mike” McGee as head of school. A native of the United Kingdom, Gee has over 30 years of experience in education, starting as a science teacher in Nottingham and most recently concluding eight years as the head of Allendale Columbia School in Rochester, New York. McGee succeeds Alan Sparrow, who retired in June after leading the school for 28 years.
EXPANSIONS
• Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., a West Jordan-based outdoor products retailer, has agreed with Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. to purchase two Field & Stream locations. The stores in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Charleston, South Carolina, will be rebranded as Sportsman’s Warehouse. The total purchase price of $4.5 million for inventory and assets will be funded through Sportsman’s Warehouse cash on hand. The transaction is expected to close in October, subject to customary closing conditions. Sportsman’s Warehouse previously purchased 10 Field & Stream stores from Dick’s in late 2019 and early 2020. Sportsman’s Warehouse operates 107 stores in 27 states. It plans to open nine stores this year. The company also opened its first Legacy Shooting Center earlier this year.
HEALTHCARE
• ASEA, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on cellular health, has appointed Nico Raczek as chief scientific officer. Raczek will lead research and development and will oversee all redox scientific research and product development efforts. Raczek has experience in scientific strategies, new product development, research, and regulatory and scientific affairs. He has worked in Europe, the United States, Asia, and Africa, and has acquired expertise in nutrition and health, cosmetics and consumer goods as well as in the ingredients business and academia. In addition, ASEA has announced a new life science research lab along with an expanded scientific advisory council and medical professionals board. The new Verdis L. Norton Center for Redox Life Sciences will serve as the center for all redox life science research and development. The expanded Science Advisory Council for ASEA includes six third-party scientific professionals. The medical professionals board includes 16 people.
• Solutionreach, a Lehi-based patient engagement solutions and innovation company, has added Dr. Chris DeRienzo to its SR Health medical advisory board. DeRienzo is chief medical officer and senior vice president of quality at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also is a practicing neonatologist; frequent keynote speaker on analytics, continuous improvement and restoring humanity in healthcare; and author of the book Tiny Medicine: One Doctor’s Biggest Lessons from His Smallest Patients.
INVESTMENT
• Alucent Biomedical, a Salt Lake City-based, privately held medical technology company focused on vascular disease, has closed a $35 million Series B financing round led by an unnamed large multinational strategic investor and joined by another new investor, Fresenius Medical Care Ventures. Alucent was founded by the Avera Research Institute, an arm of Avera Health, which also contributed to the financing. The company has raised approximately $60 million to date. The funding will be used to support the completion of two clinical trials.
• Wasatch Global Investors, Salt Lake City, has appointed Albert Trinkl to its institutional development team. Trinkl will take a newly created role to lead distribution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Trinkl previously was head of institutional clients for the Middle East and Africa at Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm DWS. He has over 30 years of experience in fund management and client service and distribution roles. His time in Europe and the Middle East has included posts at Allianz, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, HSBC, Lingohr & Partner and DWS.
PHILANTHROPY
• Purple Innovation LLC, a Lehi-based comfort products manufacturer, has partnered with the Precious Dreams Foundation to provide bedtime comfort to children in foster care and homeless shelters. The partnership aims to raise awareness around the importance of sleep hygiene for children, especially those in difficult and stressful environments. The partnership began with the ninth annual Pajama Ball, Precious Dreams Foundation’s annual fundraising gala. In the coming months, Purple and Precious Dreams Foundation will collaborate on a number of initiatives, including providing comfort drops to kids in need, hosting in-store and online donation campaigns and creating educational resources for vulnerable children.
RECOGNITIONS
• The Women’s Business Center of Utah has announced that Molly Kohrman is the 2020 WBCUtah Entrepreneur of the Year. Kohrman, owner of Brownies Brownies Brownies, will be honored Oct. 22 as part of the organization’s Disco Biz Bash event. Details are at https://bit.ly/discobizbash.
• Optima Recovery’s combination hot and cold physical therapy device won the $25,000 grand prize in the 2020 Bench to Bedside Competition, led by the Center for Medical Innovation in partnership with the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah. The Optima Recovery device meets a common need for physical therapists, athletic trainers, and medical professionals who regularly use hot and cold treatments to promote healing and recovery to strained and injured muscles. Optima’s five-person team comes from University of Utah and University of Wyoming. This year, 29 teams participated and competed for more than $100,000 in prize money. The overall runner-up, winning $15,000, was O2Go’s improved oxygen tank mounting system for mobility walkers. Other winners were the Legacy Grand Prize Winner ($25,000), Bedvee’s at-home adjustable head of bed device; Legacy Runner-up ($15,000), Gaia Technologies’ upper-arm prosthesis sensor array; Best in Medicine ($5,000). Neurosense’s peripheral neuropathy measurement device; Best in Engineering ($5,000), Vizport’s visualized shunt placement for hydrocephalus surgery; Best in Digital Medicine ($5,000), Smart2Eat’s nutrition-focused restaurant recommendation mobile application; Best in Business ($5,000), Noci Therapeutics’ analgesic wound dressing for partial dermal thickness injuries; Global Health Award ($5,000), PhyR’s personal insulin generator for developing countries; Marriott & Eccles Libraries Award ($5,000), Gennisi’s improved calculation of maternal blood loss during childbirth; and COVID-19 Innovation Award ($2,500), Ideas Innovation’s low-cost adaptable powered air-purifying respirator.
• USANA Philippines has been named the No. 1 vitamins and dietary supplements brand in that country by Euromonitor International, a market research company, for the second consecutive year.
• A team from Weber State University beat 18 other national and international teams to win this year’s General Motors/Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business Supply Chain Case Competition. In the past five years, Weber State had advanced to the finals four times, but 2020 is its first championship in the competition. This year’s competition was held virtually and addressed supply chain sustainability for the Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac Escalade and GMC Hummer. WSU’s team consisted of Amberly Arrington Carter, Jared Theurer, Cameron Loftus and Zac Bartholomew. Stan Fawcett is director of Weber State’s supply chain program, and Dee Fawcett is the team advisor.
SERVICES
• Penske Truck Leasing has opened a consumer and commercial truck rental, truck leasing and contract truck fleet maintenance facility at 1135 W. 135 S., Lindon. The 8,400-square-foot facility has five truck bays and one wash bay.
TECHNOLOGY/
LIFE SCIENCES
• InMoment, a South Jordan-based experience improvement company, has appointed Wendy Rand as chief human resources officer. Rand’s experience includes leading workforces at Park City Mountain, TransUnion, Diageo, and Jones Lang LaSalle.
• Motovosity, a Lehi-based employee engagement platform company, has appointed Logan Mallory as vice president of marketing. Mallory most recently led digital marketing within a core business unit of LogMeIn Inc. His experience also includes working at Jive Communications, Workfront and Deseret Book. With an MBA from Brigham Young University, Logan also teaches as an adjunct professor within the Marriott School of Business.