Industry Briefs are provided as a free service to our readers. Company news information may be sent to brice@slenterprise.com. The submission deadline is one week before publication.
ASSOCIATIONS
• The American Bankers Association has elected A. Scott Anderson as its chair for the 2021-22 association year. The election took place during ABA’s annual convention held in Tampa, Florida. Anderson is the president and CEO of Zions Bank, based in Salt Lake City. The bank’s 122 locations offer customers a range of financial products. Anderson has more than four decades of banking experience, including leading Zions Bank as CEO since 1998.
BANKING
• Desert Financial Credit Union, based in Arizona, has hired Jeremy Nelson as chief marketing officer. Nelson has 20 years of experience in the financial industry. Nelson began his career at a credit union in Utah and worked his way up to vice president of direct marketing at a regional credit union, serving 1 million members in seven western states. He has a Master of Business Administration in marketing from the University of Utah.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Zions Bancorporation NA, Salt Lake City, has declared a regular quarterly dividend of 38 cents per common share. It is payable Nov. 18 to shareholders of record Nov. 10. The board also has announced a share repurchase for the fourth quarter of 2021 of up to $325 million, equaling 3.2 percent of the market value of the company. The cash dividend on series A, G and I series shares are payable Dec. 15 to shareholders of record Dec. 1. The cash dividend on the Series J shares is payable March 15, 2022, to shareholders of record March 1, 2022.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Utah is ranked No. 2 on a list of “most competitive states for manufacturing,” compiled by Site Selection Group, a location advisory, economic incentives and real estate services firm. It used its GeoCision analysis to provide a scoring of all 50 states based on weighted site selection variables that measure primary considerations for manufacturers. The top-ranked state is South Carolina. The bottom-ranked state is New York. Details are at https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/best-states-for-manufacturing-in-2021.
• Utah County leads a list of Utah counties as a “place receiving the most incoming investment,” compiled by SmartAsset. It identified places that are receiving the most incoming investments in sectors such as business, real estate, government and the local economy as a whole by considering three factors: business establishment growth, gross domestic product growth and new building permits. Utah County was followed, in order, by Washington, Tooele, Wasatch, Salt Lake, Kane, Cache, Juab, Morgan and Iron counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/investing/investment-calculator#Utah/incomingInvestment-3.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 63 on a list of “2021’s Best Cities for Aspiring Chefs,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared 120 of the biggest U.S. cities offering access to culinary arts programs and school ratings. We also measured career potential based on historical employment growth, long-term job outlook, and current salaries. The top-ranked city is Miami. The No. 120 city is Baton Rouge, Louisiana. On breakout lists, Salt Lake City was No. 1 for best long-term job outlook for chefs and head cooks, No. 2 for the highest average in-state tuition rate, and No. 3 for lowest three-year change in average salary for chefs and head cooks. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-aspiring-chefs/.
• Park City is Utah’s “best place to retire,” according to a seventh annual study by SmartAsset. It compared localities across four criteria: tax burden, access to medical care, and opportunity for recreation and social activity. Park City was followed, in order, by Salt Lake City, Bountiful, Ivins, Washington, Cedar City, Vernal, Logan, Price and Ogden. Details are at https://smartasset.com/retirement/retirement-calculator#utah.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 30 on a list of the “2021 Top 100 Best Places to Live,” compiled by Livability.com. It outpaced more than 1,000 cities with populations between 20,000 and 1 million. The rankings were guided by a study by Livability.com in partnership with Ipsos and used 50 data points measuring economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education and healthcare. The top-ranked city is Madison, Wisconsin.
• Utah’s scones are ranked Nov. 34 on a list of America’s favorite breakfast foods, based on a survey by MealFinds.com. No. 1 is Texas’ breakfast taco. The least-favorite item is South Dakota’s sorghum pie. Details are at https://www.mealfinds.com/favorite-breakfasts-in-each-state/.
GOVERNMENT
• Jennifer Fresques recently was sworn-in as the newest member of the Utah State Tax Commission. She succeeds Lawrence Walters, who stepped down last spring. Fresques previously served as a commercial appraisal manager in the Salt Lake County Assessor’s Office.
• The public procurement process to select concessions for The New SLC Phase 2 is now underway, which includes the 22-gate extension of Concourse A. The first four Delta gates will open in spring of 2023, followed by the addition of 18 Delta gates opening in the fall of 2023. The Request for Proposal (RFP) is available on Salt Lake City’s purchasing webpage at www.slcgov.com/purchasing. Interested businesses must be registered on the Utah Public Procurement Place (UPPP) webpage, www.slcpurchasing.com, in order to download documents and submit a proposal. The deadline for proposals is 2 p.m. Jan. 21. Phase 2 has been designed for 19 retail and restaurant spaces totaling 23,873 square feet. A total of 12 food and beverage locations are planned, including two full-service restaurants with alcohol service, a fast food hamburger chain and two dedicated coffee concepts. Seven specialty retail, news and gift and service locations are part of the Phase 2 extension. A Salt Lake City Department of Airports (SLCDA) selection committee will review the proposals to determine if the submissions meet the minimum requirements before ranking them and meeting with the top ranked firms.
HEALTHCARE
• IONIQ Sciences Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company developing a rapid and non-invasive multi-cancer screen, has appointed Aaron B. Dorny to its board of directors. Dorny’s career has focused on improving the operational and financial standing of companies of all sizes. His work has crossed multiple industries, international borders and business disciplines, including accounting, finance, manufacturing, intellectual property, product development, restructuring, and corporate strategic planning, including time at Innovative Coatings, EP Minerals, EaglePicher and Ernst & Young Corporate Finance, as well as in advisory roles for many other organizations. Dorny holds a Master of Accountancy from Brigham Young University.
• Newport Healthcare, a national network of healing centers for teens and young adults with primary mental health disorders, has opened a location in Oakley to serve families throughout the U.S. Newport offers a family-systems approach, providing gender-specific, individualized, integrated programs that encompass clinical therapy, academic or career support, and experiential practices.
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE
• Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group, a Provo-based hotel operator, has been selected to manage the Home2 Suites by Hilton Phoenix Avondale in Arizona. It is the company’s fifth new management contract this year, with a combined nearly 1,000 hotel rooms. The Home2 Suites Avondale features 120 suites.
INVESTMENTS
• Build Capital Partners, Salt Lake City, has launched Lane VC, an autonomously managed venture capital firm focused on the electric vehicle market and adjacent businesses linked with the mobility industry. Lane VC succeeds Build Mobility and will manage the existing portfolio of Build Mobility, which was established in 2019 with an initial investment into XOS Trucks. Since then, the firm has seen XOS go public, and continued to invest in mobility startups in Europe and the Americas. Lane VC will continue to deploy capital across Europe and the Americas, primarily leading direct investment rounds with initial investments of up to $25 million. It will be led by Kasey Evans, who has led Build Mobility since joining Build in early 2019. Build will continue to participate in EV investments with Lane VC.
• Volley, a Lehi-based asynchronous messaging application company, has announced a $5.5 million seed investment from investors and a group of angels. The round was led by Silicon Valley-based Shasta Ventures, followed by Silicon Slopes-based Peterson Ventures. Other participants are Godard Abel, CEO of G2 Crowd; Todd Pedersen, CEO of Vivint; Austen Allred, CEO of Lambda School; Nathan Stoll, former CPO of Strava; and Scott Paul and Natalie Paul, serial entrepreneurs and angel investors.
MANUFACTURING
• Red Cat Holdings Inc., a Puerto Rico-based software provider for the drone industry, has announced that its Teal Drones subsidiary has opened a U.S.-based manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City. The 13,000-plus-square-foot facility will be substantially focused on quality standards-based processing and manufacturing and will scale the operation to full capacity over the coming months. The facility also enables the expansion of the Teal team.
NONPROFITS
• Registration has opened for Utah Food Bank’s 16th Annual Utah Human Race, set for Thanksgiving morning in Sandy. Participants in the family-friendly 5K/10K fun run have a direct impact on the 511,000 Utahns facing hunger because every registration fee and sponsorship dollar benefits Utah Food Bank. The race route begins and ends at the Sandy Promenade at 10200 S. Centennial Parkway. Both races begin at 8 a.m., and all ages and ability levels are welcome. Online registration closes a noon Nov. 22. Details are at www.UtahHumanRace.org.
PHILANTHROPY
• Gov. Spencer J. Cox, along with officials from Zions Bank, World Trade Center Utah, Utah’s refugee resettlement network and the Afghan community, recently announced the launch of the Afghan Community Fund. The state’s Refugee Services Office crafted a unified method to align the efforts of the two resettlement agencies, International Rescue Committee and Catholic Community Services, as well as the Utah Muslim Civic League and others. The Afghan Community Fund advisory committee is chaired by Scott Anderson, president and CEO of Zions Bank, and Naja Pham Lockwood, founder and CEO of RYSE Media. Other members are Luna Banuri, Utah Muslim Civic League; Aden Batar, Catholic Community Services; Natalie El-Deiry, International Rescue Committee; Miles Hansen, World Trade Center Utah; and Asha Parekh, Refugee Services Office. Details are at https://www.utahcf.org/afghan-response.
• Employees and sales representatives of Sunder Energy, South Jordan, have donated over $30,000 to help the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The company also donated to the cause. Working with the National Peace Corps and Friends of Afghanistan, the funds are intended to secure safe passage for individuals out of Afghanistan, as well as relocation and resettlement costs of Afghan refugees. A solar sales company, Sunder operates in 25 states with 1,000 active sales reps.
REAL ESTATE
• Walton Street Capital, Chicago, has acquired 201 Mountain View Park, a newly constructed 628,611-square-foot Class A industrial park in West Valley City, from a joint venture of Hines and a global investment firm. Financial details are not disclosed. The three-building, multi-tenant property is at 6252, 6312 and 6368 W. Beagley Road and occupies approximately 41.5 acres. The sale announcement was made by Cushman & Wakefield. Kip Paul and Michael King of Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets in Salt Lake City together with Jeff Chiate and Mike Adey of Cushman & Wakefield’s National Industrial Advisory Group represented the seller in the transaction. Walton Street Capital also purchased the 95-unit Quattro apartment development at 385 E. 400 S., Salt Lake City. Financial terms were not disclosed. That sales was announced by CBRE. Eli Mills and Patrick Bodnar of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction, a joint venture among Wadsworth Development, Wolverton Capital and dbURBAN.
• Arden Group, in partnership with Vesta Realty Partners LLC, has acquired the Solutionreach building at 2600 Ashton Blvd., Lehi, from the Gardner Co. and The Boyer Co. Financial terms were not disclosed. The 145,646-square-foot, five-story Class AAA office property developed in 2016 represents the second office property acquisition in the Salt Lake City area for the partnership in 2021. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction on behalf of the sellers.
• Guild Mortgage, a San Diego-based mortgage lending company originating and servicing residential loans, has promoted Jackie Baggs to regional operations manager for its Southwest Region. Baggs will oversee continued growth in revenues and build relationships between operations and sales throughout 29 branches in Utah and Nevada. Baggs has 23 years of experience in the mortgage industry and joined Guild in 2019 as Salt Lake City operations manager. She was promoted to district operations manager in 2020.
RECOGNITIONS
• WeLink, a Lehi-based fixed-wireless broadband provider, has been selected as winner of the “Residential Broadband Internet Solution Provider of the Year” award in the fifth annual Mobile Breakthrough Awards program conducted by Mobile Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization. With over 2,600 nominations this year, the Mobile Breakthrough Awards honor excellence and recognize the innovation, hard work and success in a range of mobile and wireless technology categories. All nominations were evaluated by an independent panel of experts within the wireless industry.
• Impartner, a Salt Lake City-based pure-play company focused on SaaS-based channel management technology, has been ranked No. 1 in partner management automation in a new report from analyst firm Research in Action. Impartner earned the position among top 13 global vendors based on over 100,000 data points from 1,500 manager surveys, analyst opinions and vendor evaluations. The Research in Action Vendor Selection Matrix is primarily a survey-based methodology for vendor evaluation, in which 63 percent of the evaluation is based on a survey of enterprise IT or business decision-makers. The remaining 37 percent is based on the analyst’s judgment, which is informed by a combination of intensive interviews with software or services vendors and their clients, plus their informed, independent point of view as an analyst.
SCHOLARSHIPS
• The Utah Jazz has announced it would extend its Utah Jazz Scholars program for an additional season to provide college scholarships to students from underrepresented groups. The program provides one scholarship for every Jazz win in the preseason, regular season and playoffs during the 2021-22 campaign. The first cohort of 30 students began attending college as freshmen this fall as Utah Jazz Scholars. Applications for a second cohort will open on Nov. 15 for scholarships in the 2022-23 academic year. Last season, the program totaled 61 scholarships to cover up to the full cost of attendance, including tuition, books, fees, and room and board, for each recipient’s undergraduate education at Brigham Young University, Southern Utah University, the University of Utah, Utah Valley University, Utah State University and Weber State University. The Utah Jazz has partnered with 10,000 Degrees, a nonprofit that focuses on college access and success programs, scholarships and support, to select scholarship recipients and administer the scholarships.
• Western Governors University, based in Salt Lake City, and the Alpine School District have announced a partnership to encourage faculty and staff to pursue high-quality, respected credentials through the nonprofit, online university. The benefits to district employees include fee waivers and exclusive scholarship opportunities. Together, WGU and the district have established the Pathway to Become a Teacher Scholarship. Valued up to $5,000, as many as 10 Alpine employees will be selected to receive that award, to be applied to an approved, WGU bachelor’s or master’s degree program. Additionally, Alpine employees are eligible to apply for the $2,500 WGU K-12 Partner Scholarship. Both scholarships are intended to lower the financial barrier to a university degree and reward current and prospective teachers for their commitment to educating young people.
SERVICES
• Aero-Graphics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based privately owned, geospatial services company, has appointed Daryl Southard as director of business development. He will be responsible for expanding the company’s national footprint in the engineering and infrastructure markets. Southard has over 20 years of business development experience in geospatial, aviation, surveying, civil engineering, agriculture, construction, oil and gas, and renewable energy. Southard also has a background in operations management in remote sensing and working with LiDAR and Ortho Imagery.
TECHNOLOGY
• InMoment, a South Jordan-based company focused on experience improvement, has appointed Mehul Nagrani as general manager of AI product and technology. Nagrani has extensive experience in leveraging machine learning and natural language processing to deliver artificial intelligence products and technology that operationalize experience data to drive better business decisioning. Most recently, Nagrani was the founder and CEO of Fokal AI, an AI automation company and platform for ML applications. Prior to Fokal, Mehul served as the executive vice president and general manager of digital for Univision Communications. He also has been an engagement manager for McKinsey & Co. and an IC design engineer for Micron and Intel.