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BANKING
• Bank of Utah has hired Bradley Stucki as senior vice president and commercial lending team lead at the bank’s Business and Home Loan Office in St. George. Stucki previously served as vice president and branch manager for People’s Town & Country Bank, a division of People’s Intermountain Bank and Bank of American Fork, where he helped grow its presence in the St. George market. He also worked 13 years for Zions Bank, where he was vice president and team leader overseeing real estate lending for the Southern Utah area. Prior to that he managed real estate development for three investment companies. Stucki received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Utah, and a bachelor of science degree with an emphasis in business and accounting from Brigham Young University.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Approximately 350,000 family caregivers in Utah provided an estimated 290 million hours of care — worth $4.1 billion — to their parents, spouses, partners, and friends in 2017, according to state data available in the latest report of AARP’s “Valuing the Invaluable” series.
• Provo is No. 1 in the U.S. for the smallest percentage of residents with maxed-out credit cards, according to a recent study by CompareCards.com. In Provo, 17.9 percent of cardholders have at least one maxed-out card, and 6.1 percent have more than one — both the lowest levels in the U.S. Salt Lake City has 22.3 percent of cardholders with maxed-out cards, while Ogden has 23.3 percent. Details are at https://www.comparecards.com/blog/us-cities-maxed-out-credit-cards/.
• Utah is No. 10 on a list of “States Most At-Risk for Package Theft,” compiled by Security.org. The study uses the most recent FBI data on larceny thefts from buildings as well as survey results from more than 1,000 consumers across the U.S. The study shows that nearly 40 percent of U.S. consumers have been victims of package theft. Utah has 2,092 larceny thefts per 100,000 residents.
• “Fear of missing out,” or FOMO, results in Utahns spending an average of $4,197 per year, according to a study by Couponing101.com. The national average is $3,912. FOMO refers to the deep feeling of envy from other people are having more fun or experiencing better things than you. Couponing101.com conducted a survey of 3,500 people to investigate just how much they are spending to avoid the feeling of FOMO, as well as how many overspend on payday leaving them strapped for cash for the rest of the month. One in three Utahns say they overspend on payday and are “stretched for the rest of the month.” Two in three say Facebook causes them the most FOMO, and 17 percent have used loans in order to avoid FOMO. Rhode Islanders spent $13,354 per year, while residents of Maine averaged $1,051 per year.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• The Board of Trustees of Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, has elected Dr. Charles W. Sorenson as chairman. Sorenson is president and CEO emeritus of Intermountain Healthcare. Sorenson was elected to the WGU board in October 2015. Prior to his eight years as president and CEO of Intermountain, he served as chief operating officer for 11 years and worked for decades as a urologic surgeon at the Utah-based, nonprofit hospital system. Sorenson succeeds former Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer, who will continue to serve as an active board member. The board also elected Talia Milgrom-Elcott as a new board member. She is co-founder and executive director of 100Kin10. She has been executive director for more than five years. 100Kin10 is a network of more than 300 partners working in response to President Obama’s 2011 call to train 100,000 excellent new science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers by 2021. WGU has been an active 100Kin10 partner since 2014, Before launching 100Kin10, Milgrom-Elcott was program officer at Carnegie Corporation of New York and, before that, as deputy chief of staff at the New York City Department of Education.
• Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, has received the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants’ top award, the 2019 Academic Partner of the Year. WGU was recognized for its commitment to educate and make a difference in the cybersecurity workforce, successful evaluation reports post-class, and cybersecurity student engagement and interaction.
EXPANSIONS
• Lucidchart, a South Jordan-based visual workspace company, has opened its Asia Pacific headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. Over the next five years, Lucidchart plans to hire over 100 new positions in Melbourne, specifically focused on sales, customer success and marketing. It is Lucidchart’s second international office expansion, having opened an EMEA headquarters in Amsterdam at the end of 2018.
• The Advocates, a Salt Lake City-based contingency-based law firm, has expanded into Wyoming. The firm has already expanded to four other states, with offices in 10 cities.
HEALTHCARE
• Bryan Brandenburg has launched Zenerchi LLC, a life extension and biomedical simulation and visualization artificial intelligence company based in Salt Lake City and Vietnam. Brandenburg serves as the company’s chief science officer, co-founder and CEO. After several years in development, Zenerchi has raised $1.2 million in seed funding this year from private accredited investors. The company is finalizing an additional $5 million funding round that is currently underway with institutional investors. The company’s cloud-based platform is designed to result in wellness and medical uses that span biomedical and pharmaceutical research, life extension, fitness, wellness, edutainment, exhibitions, and STEM/STEAM education, as well as spawning new advances in medical diagnosis, drug testing, omics and healthcare.
INSURANCE
• Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, Salt Lake City, has named Dr. Amy J. Khan as its executive medical director. Khan will lead statewide medical cost and quality stewardship activities for the health plan in Utah, as well as for Regence BlueShield of Idaho. She has more than three decades of experience in healthcare, specifically in population health management, person-focused care management, and developing high-performance provider networks. Her clinical experience includes internal medicine, addiction medicine and medical epidemiology with a focus on chronic disease control and prevention. She previously served in medical directorship roles with Aetna, McKesson, Dignity Health and The Permanente Medical Group.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• Method Communications, Salt Lake City, has hired Jenna Kastan as director of media strategy and Jim Jackson as art director. Kastan previously was media director to former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan. Prior to that, she seven years at “CBS This Morning” in both New York and Washington, D.C. She held titles from overnight desk assistant to editorial producer. Jackson has experience in graphic design, retail marketing, branding and digital communications. He previously was group creative director at Periscope and the managing partner/creative director at Boom Island Inc.
PHILANTHROPY
• Deer Valley Resort is welcoming skiers to participate in the “Shred for Red” event Dec. 7. All proceeds will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Utah. Each Shred for Red participant who raises more than $300 will enjoy a full-day lift ticket to Deer Valley Resort, on-mountain challenges/activities, a Shred for Red participant bib, the opportunity to ski and take photos with past and current Winter Olympians, as well as access to an exclusive après-ski reception. The experience is family-friendly and open to skiers of all abilities. Details are at lls.org/shredforred.
• Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife (VETPAW) has announced a partnership with Alpha Coffee to raise money for anti-poaching efforts in Africa. VETPAW is a group of veterans committed to combatting poaching in Africa. Alpha Coffee is a U.S. veteran- and military-spouse co-owned and operated company. VETPAW and Alpha Coffee collaborated on the launch of organic craft roasted premium coffee blend called Task Force Rhino. Each bag of coffee sold will raise a $2 donation for VETPAW’s anti-poaching operations, and a cup of coffee will be sent to deployed troops. The blend is available at Alpha Coffee’s website and at its Cottonwood Heights location.
• Spherion and Tifie Humanitarian are matching donations up to $25,000 to give to local Utah and Idaho organizations during November and through their “Light the Lives of Others” campaign. Spherion is inviting Utahns to help five local nonprofit organizations that help vulnerable people — women in particular — build new lives for themselves through their “Light the Lives of Others” campaign. They include People Helping People and Warrior Spirit Recovery. Each Spherion office will be on site to do volunteer work at the organization and raise funds specifically for that organization. Details are at https://www.lighthelivesofothers.com.
REAL ESTATE
• CenterCal Properties LLC has closed on the final nine acres of land for Mountain View Village in Riverton. The property will feature entertainment, restaurants, a movie theater and about 90 additional retail tenants. The site will be home to several parks and parklets, more than 1,700 newly planted trees and 10,000 plant species. Still in planning stages is a 440-unit luxury residential apartment complex. Phase I is open with an anchor grocery store and other national retailers. The full project, in three phases and on 85 acres, is expected to be open in mid-2021.
• Hamlet Homes recently had the grand opening of Granton Square and its new headquarters, at 84 W. 4800 S., Murray. The community has 61 three-bedroom townhomes. This is one of five new communities of townhomes and single-family homes for Hamlet Homes in 2019 alone. Since the company’s founding in 1994, it has built over 3,600 homes in 60 communities.
RECOGNITIONS
• The Utah Manufacturers Association has announced its 2019 Manufacturers of the Year. The association annually recognizes several Utah manufacturing companies for outstanding performance in operational performance and best practices, economic achievement, workplace safety, community and state involvement and outreach, and fidelity to the principles of free enterprise. This year’s awards were presented to Capstone Nutrition, Ogden; Futura Industries, Clearfield; Little Giant Ladders, Springville; Marathon Petroleum Co., Salt Lake City; Merit Medical, South Jordan; Monnit Corp., Salt Lake City; Packsize, Salt Lake City; Petersen Inc., Ogden; Powerblanket, Salt Lake City; Purple Innovations, Alpine/Grantsville; US Synthetic, Orem; and Sleep Number, Salt Lake City.
• SaltStack, a Lehi-based producer of automation software for security operations teams, has been named a Gold award winner for Startup of the Year in the 2019 Golden Bridge Awards for Cyber Security Services. SaltStack was recognized for its leadership in developing a collaborative solution for SecOps automation that can be used by enterprise IT and security teams for continuous compliance and vulnerability remediation.
SERVICES
• Assisted Living Locators, based in Arizona, has launched its franchise in North Salt Lake. Michelle Malais, a senior living advisor, is the franchise owner. Her daughter-in-law and registered nurse, Samantha Malais, will also work on her senior care team. Assisted Living Locators offers a no-cost service for seniors and their families providing expert advice on short- and long-term care options, including in-home care, independent living, assisted living, memory care and retirement apartments. The company generates revenue from the referral fees paid by the providers in its network.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• InsideSales.com, Provo, has had a corporate rebrand to Xant. “A play on the word ‘cognizant,’ Xant embodies how its data and platform make sales organizations ‘all-knowing,’” the company said.
• Instructure, Salt Lake City, has hired an executive talent firm to assist in the search for a replacement for chief financial officer Steve Kaminsky, who will retire next year after nearly eight years with the company. Kaminsky will continue in the role until a successor is appointed and then remain with the company during a transition period. Instructure offers its Canvas Learning Management Platform for schools and the Bridge Employee Development Platform for businesses.