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AGRICULTURE
• Aqua-Yield, a Sandy-based nanoliquid company focused on agricultural production, has appointed Marco Guirado as vice president of international sales and Trent Whiting as vice president of sales for the U.S. and Canada. Guirado most recently served as the international business director for the Stoller Group, where he oversaw growth for the company’s international markets. Before that, he was a regional business and marketing manager with Valent BioSciences. Whiting most recently held several sales leadership positions with Redox Bio-Nutrients, where he oversaw international sales for the company in both their T&O and agriculture sectors.
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
• The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah), at its October meeting in Cedar City, approved a rural film tax credit of up to $375,000 for King Street Productions Inc. for its production of “1923,” a drama series that is a sequel to “1883.” The production is expected to spend $1.5 million in Utah and employ two cast members, 30 crew and 200 extras. Principal photography took place in early October in Summit and Wasatch counties. “1932” tells a story amid drought and lawlessness during the Great Depression, and also the end of World War I. The director is Taylor Sheridan. The producer is David Glasser.
CONSTRUCTION
• HNTB Corp., an infrastructure solutions firm, has hired Scott Lucas for its Salt Lake City team as design-build project director and vice president. Lucas will focus on HNTB’s portfolio of design-build projects in the West Region. Lucas has over 25 years of experience, specializing in interchange design and highway system improvements in urban environments. Prior to joining HNTB, Lucas held design-build positions on high-profile infrastructure in Utah, including the I-15 Reconstruction Design-Build project, the Legacy Parkway project and the Mountain View Corridor. Lucas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Utah.
• Big-D Construction, Weber State University and the Division of Facilities Construction and Management have announced the completion of the Noorda Engineering, Applied Science & Technology Building at WSU. Big-D was awarded the project in 2019 and began construction in March 2020. Named after Utah philanthropists Ray and Tye Noorda, the 130,417-square-foot classroom building will serve as the new home for the College of Engineering, Applied Science & Technology. The building will provide classroom and laboratory space for Mechanical Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Professional Sales, and Product Design & Development. In partnership with the WSU functions, the new facility will also house classrooms and administrative spaces for the early-college NUAMES High School program (Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering & Science). Four centers will also be housed in the building: The Concept Center, the Center for Technology Outreach, the National Center for Automotive Science & Technology, and the Alan E. Hall Center for Sales Excellence.
CONTESTS
• Applications are being accepted for the Silicon Slopes Hall of Fame & Awards, to be presented Feb. 4 at the Grand American Hotel in Salt Lake City. Categories include CEO, CMO, COO, CTO, chief people officer, CFO, CRO, chief product officer and intern of the year. Details are at https://halloffame.siliconslopes.com/.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 7 among U.S. cities for projected GDP growth rate in 2022, according to a report from the American Growth Project, a new initiative from the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise in North Carolina. The initiative is designed to provide up-to-the-minute economic data, analysis and forecasting for towns, cities and rural communities across the country. It examined the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas and ranks San Francisco No. 1, followed by Austin and Seattle. For Salt Lake City, the reported noted that its scientific and technical services sector reported 60 percent growth over the past 10 years, with other sectors such as healthcare, retail trade, educational services and manufacturing also growing during the past decade. Details are at https://kenaninstitute.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/american-growth-project-10122022r.pdf.
• Salt Lake City is No. 30 and West Valley City is No. 92 on a list of “Best Cities for Remote Workers,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on 20 remote worker-friendliness factors, such as Internet quality, cost of living, and access to coworking spaces. It also considered financial bonuses that local and state governments offer prospective telecommuting incomers. The top-ranked city is Plano, Texas. The No. 200 city is Santa Ana, California. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-worst-us-cities-for-remote-workers/.
• The average Utah job-seeker admits that their resume is only 60 percent accurate, according to a survey by iprospectcheck.com, an employment background check and screening company. That means that the other 40 percent of information is embellished, made up or inaccurate in terms of their skills or qualifications. The figure for the U.S. is 72 percent. The lowest figure was in Hawaii, at 35 percent. Five states had the highest rate, 90 percent. Details are at https://iprospectcheck.com/rigorous-resumes/.
• Thirty-six percent of Utahns working from home are returning to their usual, pre-pandemic place of work, driven almost entirely by personal finance reasons, according to a survey by CouponBirds. The highest percentage is in Oklahoma, at 67 percent. The lowest is in Washington, at 15 percent. Details are at https://www.couponbirds.com/research-center/data/people-return-to-the-office-because-of-expensive-office-costs.
• Weber County leads Utah counties where home values have risen the most over a five-year period, a list compiled by SmartAsset. The home value rankings are one factor in a three part study on the places receiving the most value for their property taxes. Weber is followed, in order, by Sanpete, Cache, Utah, Washington, Juab, Davis, Tooele, Salt Lake and Morgan counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/taxes/utah-property-tax-calculator#utah/homeValueGrowth-1.
• Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, is tied for fourth with the Amway Center in Orlando on a list of “best away day experiences for supporters of visiting teams,” compiled by OLBG. It ranked factors including average ticket prices, the cost of beer, stadium capacity, Google reviews and parking costs. The top-ranked venue is Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Details are at https://www.olbg.com/us/blogs/away-days.
GOVERNMENT
• The Salt Lake City Department of Airports is accepting submissions for concession proposals for the nine-gate expansion of Concourse B-East at Salt Lake City International Airport. The deadline is 2 p.m. Jan. 20. The authority is looking for a variety of local, regional and national brands for the 13 retail and restaurant spaces that will open in the coming years. The first five gates of Phase 3 are scheduled to open in fall of 2024, followed by four additional gates in the fall of 2025. The New SLC-Phase 3 encompasses 19,261 square feet of restaurant and retail space. A total of six food and beverage locations are planned and seven specialty retail and news and gift locations are planned for Phase 3. The request for proposal information and link to register on the Utah Public Procurement Place are available on Salt Lake City Municipal’s purchasing webpage, www.slcgov.com/purchasing.
• Eligible Utah homeowners can now apply for mortgage assistance online at homeownersassistance.utah.gov. The state has $66 million in federal pandemic relief funds available to help homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgage due to financial hardships associated with the COVID pandemic. The first application period runs through Nov. 7. The program will first be available for applicants whose incomes are equal to or less than 100 percent of the county area median income in which the household resides, or 100 percent of AMI for the U.S., whichever is greater, and applicants facing immediate foreclosure. Eligible Utah homeowners also need to have experienced a documented financial hardship associated with COVID after Jan. 21, 2020, and own the Utah property for which they are applying for assistance. Approved applicants will be required to participate in either homeowner counseling or a homeowner education program. The Utah Department of Workforce Services has partnered with Community Development Corporation of Utah to administer program funding.
HEALTHCARE
• Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, has named Mandy Richards as the chief nursing executive. Richards has built a career in executive nursing, coming to Intermountain from Hartford HealthCare in Connecticut, where she has served as the executive vice president and chief nursing officer over the past two years. Before her time in Connecticut, she spent 15 years with Allina Health in Minnesota, where she served in leadership roles, including CNO and vice president of patient care and vice president of clinical operations for multiple hospitals within the system, and ultimately as the chief nursing officer for the health system.
INVESTMENTS
• RootRez, a Salt Lake City lodging booking SaaS company, has secured $1.8 million in seed-series funding. The round was led by GW Capital and Peak Capital Partners. The company said the funding will increase its engineering, sales and client support teams and launch into new markets. The company currently has 17 employees.
PHILANTHROPY
• Smith’s Food & Drug Stores, during a one-day event in September, asked customers at 141 stores to donate $1.50 for a breakfast meal for local elementary school children, and Smith’s matched those donations. September was National Hunger Action Month. As part of Make A Difference Day on Oct. 14, Smith’s associates used the funds to assemble 17,000 breakfast bags and delivered them to local elementary school children in need in their local community.
• The Security Service Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of Security Service Federal Credit Union, has donated $2,100 to Catholic Community Services in Salt Lake City. The donation will be used to purchase chef uniforms and baking supplies for students who were formerly homeless and are now working in The Kitchen Academy program. The Kitchen Academy provides culinary services for St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall. The 12-week program allows participants to learn culinary skills. After graduation, the individuals will work at a local restaurant while receiving case management for an additional year. During that year, Catholic Community Services makes sure they stay employed and have housing.
REAL ESTATE
• Gateway Office Tower, 563 W. 500 S., Salt Lake City, has been sold by White Buffalo to Vectra Management Group for an undisclosed amount. The 52,065-square-foot, four-story building was built in 1985 and renovated in 2017-22. The sale announcement was made by CBRE. Eli Mills represented White Buffalo, and Doug Birrell of CBRE Capital Markets’ Debt and Structured Finance arranged the financing on behalf of Vectra.
• A 25-acre industrial site in Salt Lake City’s Northwest Quadrant has been sold by Gannett Enterprises to a partnership between ViaWest Group and Clarion Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. Colliers’ Rusty Bollow and Bobby Stevens represented Gannett Enterprises. Phillip Eilers of Cushman & Wakefield represented the buying partnership. With the acquisition, ViaWest will develop and introduce over 340,000 square feet of Class A industrial space to the market, comprising two buildings of 100,000 and 240,000 square feet. The future planned development will offer building features including 107 shared trailer spaces, 67 dock doors, and nearly 380 parking spaces. Colliers will serve as the exclusive leasing brokerage for the new facilities.
• Richmond American Homes of Utah Inc., a subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings Inc., has opened a two-story Daniela model home at Sage Park, 5333 N. Foxtail Way, Eagle Mountain. Sage Park offers five ranch and two-story floor plans.
RECOGNITIONS
• Squire, Salt Lake City, has been named to a list of “Best of Best Accounting Firms for 2022” by Inside Public Accounting. The annual list recognizes CPA firms across the country on their performance in specific key areas of management, growth and strategic vision. Tanner was among more than 600 accounting practices that participated in the IPA’s survey and an analysis of top firms in the United States and Canada. This is the second consecutive year that Squire has been named to the list. The company was selected from a candidate pool of nearly 600 firms from around the United States.
• Tower Arch Capital, Salt Lake City, has been named to Inc.’s 2022 list of Founder-Friendly Investors, honoring private equity and venture capital firms with the best track records of success in partnering with entrepreneurs. Tower Arch Capital is one of only 15 firms that have been recognized all four years since the list’s inception. Tower Arch is a lower-middle market private equity firm, with over $780 million in equity under management. Target investments include control positions in entrepreneur and family-owned businesses with revenue between $20 million and $150 million or EBITDA between $5 million and $25 million.
RESTAURANTS
• Via 313 has opened at 13222 S. Tree Sparrow Drive, Suite R180, Riverton, in the Mountain View Village shopping center. It serves Detroit-style pizza. The Riverton location is the company’s fourth in Utah and 11th systemwide.
TECHNOLOGY
• Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corp., a Salt Lake City-based developer of robotic systems that enhance productivity, improve safety and bring robots to unstructured and diverse environments, has appointed Drew Hamer as chief financial officer. Hamer has over 25 years of financial leadership experience at public and pre-public technology companies. Hamer joins Sarcos from Velodyne Lidar, where he helped with fund-raising from strategic investors and guided the company through a public offering. Hamer also is a board member of Lightjump Acquisition Corp.
• Domo, an American Fork-based company offering a data app platform, has hired Monica Pool Knox as chief people officer. Pool Knox has been involved in HR leadership for companies including Microsoft, Twitter, Sony, PepsiCo, The Walt Disney Co. and Verizon Wireless in Puerto Rico. Prior to Domo, she led global talent management for Microsoft. More recently, she led global HR as senior vice president and chief people officer for LivePerson. Pool Knox also has served as a consultant for pre-IPO tech companies in the US, Ireland and the U.K. She serves as a board director for Swedish Health Systems, a board director for DreamSmart Academy, and a senior talent advisor for Talentsky.
• RainFocus, a Lehi-based company offering an enterprise event marketing platform, has announced that registration for the RainFocus Insight 2023 event has opened. It will bring together experts from events, marketing and technology Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in Salt Lake City. It also includes a series of virtual events in December. Early-bird pricing ends Dec. 9. Details are at www.rainfocus.com.