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BANKING

• The board of directors of Zions Bancorporation, Salt Lake City, has approved a plan to purchase up to $275 million of common shares during the first quarter of 2019. The board customarily considers capital actions on a quarterly basis; additional capital actions will be considered in future periods. Zions said it will continue to use stress testing as its primary mechanism to inform its decisions on the appropriate level of capital, based upon actual and reasonably probable stressed economic conditions. Its hypothetical post-stress capital results, as can be found on its website, are substantially stronger than regulatory minimum capital guidelines, it said. Zions conducts frequent stress testing in targeted areas throughout the year.

CONSTRUCTION

• Beecher Walker, a Holladay-based commercial architecture firm, has hired Molly G. Enos to lead the design efforts in its newly revaMped interiors department. Also a licensed architect, Enos joins the firm most recently from Southern California, where she specialized in commercial, residential and community-based architecture and interiors projects. Enos’ education includes a Bachelor of Arts in International Business degree and from Westminster College. Beecher Walker also has created a strategic alliance with West Coast-based Garrison Hullinger and his namesake firm Garrison Hullinger Interior Design (GHID). Beecher Walker has been collaborating with the 35-person studio for some time on projects both Beecher Walker has brought to GHID and vice versa. GHID has a particular strength in hospitality and multi-family living but is also innovative with interiors for office.

CORPORATE

• Co-Diagnostics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based molecular diagnostics company, has closed on a previously announced offering. In a registered direct offering, the company issued and sold more than 3.9 million shares of its common stock at a price of $1.40 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $5.5 million. The company said it will use the net proceeds from the offering for expansion of existing initiatives in the infectious disease testing and agrigenomics verticals, to further develop and commercialize applications of its technology in the growing liquid biopsy and next-gen sequencing markets, to expand its sales efforts, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as the exclusive placement agent for the offering. Maxim Group LLC acted as financial advisor to Co-Diagnostics.

DIRECT SALES

• DoTerra, a Pleasant Grove-based essential oils company, has hired Dr. Russell J. Osguthorpe as chief medical officer, succeeding founding executive Dr. David Hill, and vice president of medical and scientific initiatives. Osguthorpe is a medical executive trained in pediatric infectious diseases. Prior to joining doTerra, he was the pediatric medical director and pediatric department chair of a tertiary care hospital. Hill remains chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee, continues his global mission to educate about essential oils, and chairs the company’s newly created Medical Executive Committee.

DIVIDENDS

• The board of directors of Zions Bancorporation, Salt Lake City, has declared a regular quarterly dividend of 30 cents per common share. The dividend is payable Feb. 21 to shareholders of record on Feb. 14. The board also declared regular quarterly cash dividends on the company’s various perpetual preferred shares. The cash dividend on the series A, G, H and J shares are payable March 15 to shareholders of record on March 1. The cash dividend on the Series I shares is payable June 15 to shareholders of record on June 1.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

• Sanpete County leads all Utah counties in a ranking of “where it pays the most to save,” compiled by financial technology company SmartAsset. The study measured savings account rates against household income, living expenses and tax burdens. Following Sanpete were (in order) Salt Lake, Summit, Morgan, Daggett, Wasatch, Uintah, Tooele, Duchesne and Box Elder counties. Details, including the methodology and an interactive map, are at https://smartasset.com/checking-account/bank-cd-rates#Utah.

• Salt Lake City is No. 25 among 52 large (populations of more than 1 million) metro areas for having the “most economic freedom,” according to rankings compiled by Reason Foundation, a nonprofit think tank. Its U.S. Metropolitan Economic Freedom Index was topped by Houston, Jacksonville, Tampa, Richmond and Dallas-Fort Worth. The bottom of the rankings included Riverside, California; Rochester and Buffalo, New York; New York, Newark and Jersey City in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; and Cleveland. The index uses nine measures of state and local government policies to produce an overall score for each of the nation’s metro areas.

EDUCATION/TRAINING

• The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), diesel industry leaders and education leaders have announced the expansion of the Utah Diesel Technician Pathways program to now include the Davis and Tooele tech colleges in partnership with their corresponding school districts. In addition to the program’s already existing industry partners, various companies from both the Tooele and the Davis county regions have joined the partnership with this expansion to support Utah students. The program is designed to provide Utah students a direct pathway from high school and college to the workforce. Participants in the Tooele region are Broken Arrow, Cargill, Deseret Transport Detroit Diesel, Intermountain Trailer, Knight Transportation, Penske, Peterson Industrial Depot, Phillips Heavy Equipment Services, Smith Power Products and Warner Truck Centers. Participants in the Davis County region are Albertson’s Trucking, C.R. England, Crown Lift Trucks, Geneva Rock, Granite Construction, Honnen Equipment, Kenworth Sales, May Trucking Co., Penske Trucking, Peterbuilt Trucking, Prime Inc., Redbone Trucking, Robinson Waste, Rush Truck Center, Ryder Trucks, Smith Food & Drug, Staker Parson Co., Swift Transportation, Transfleet, Warner Truck Center and Wheeler Cat.

HEALTHCARE

• Steward Health Care, a Texas-based private, for-profit, physician-led healthcare network that operates five hospitals in Utah, has named Brian Dunn as regional president of Utah. Dunn has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, most recently serving as an operating partner at private equity firm The Riverside Co. Prior to Riverside, he served as CEO at Success Health and executive vice president for hospital operations at Promise Healthcare. Dunn has also worked for CHG Healthcare Services and as CEO and president of Salt Lake Regional Medical Center. He also served as the Arizona and Nevada regional president for IASIS Healthcare, which Steward acquired in 2017. Dunn’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Utah. Michael Jensen, who has been serving as Utah’s interim regional president since June will continue to serve as president of Davis Hospital and Medical Center.

• Activz Global, a West Jordan-based company discovering health technologies, information and products, has announced the appointment of Dr. Joseph Maroon to its advisory board. Maroon is a clinical professor of neurological surgery with expertise in health, nutrition and wellness. Maroon has been a team neurosurgeon in the National Football League since 1981 and serves as medical director of other professional sports organizations. He has served on the editorial boards of eight medical and neurological journals and is currently associate editor of Surgical Neurology and editorial board member of Neurological Research and The Physician and Sports Medicine journals. He also is past president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE

• Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group, a Provo-based hotel management company, has promoted Victoria Cramer to chief operating officer. Cramer was hired in 2018 as vice president of sales and revenue management. Her experience includes executive roles at Marriott International and Choice Hotels International and serving as CEO of consulting firm VPStrategies.

INVESTMENTS

• Simplus, a Salt Lake City-based salesforce quote-to-cash company, has closed $20 million in financing. The Series C funding round was led by Kensington-SV Global Innovations LP (KSV) and joined by Savano Capital Partners. Also participating were existing investors Salesforce Ventures, Cross Creek Advisors, EPIC Ventures, University Growth Fund, Simplus Chief Financial Officer Paul Fletcher and G2 Crowd CEO Godard Abel. Simplus said Silicon Valley Bank will provide an additional $6.5 million in debt financing.

LAW

• Fabian VanCott has elected its 2019 board of directors, including Jason W. Hardin as president of the firm for the second consecutive year. Others on the board are Nicole M. Deforge, Scott M. Petersen, Gregory M. Saylin and James C. Waddoups. Hardin is a civil and administrative trial attorney and former naval submarine officer. Hardin, Petersen and Waddoups have been on the board for most of the past decade, Deforge will be serving her third term, and Saylin will be serving his second.

RECOGNITIONS

• Finalists have been announced by the Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce for its annual Peak Awards, which honor business leaders and community volunteers for exceptional efforts. Three of the eight awards are based on voting. The nominees for Small Business Woman of the Year are Lora Lea Mock, Professional Recruiters; Tracie Drage, Brown Floral; and Shellee Spafford, Abacus Accounting & Bookkeeping. Nominees for Small Business Man of the Year are Eric Higginson, Snackdash; Chris Holt, Campman; and Lance Paulson, Lance Paulson Insurance Agency. Finalists for Small Business of the Year are Profile by Sanford, City Journals and Good Grammar Bar. Recipients in other categories are Community Service Award, Neuroworx; Clark & Barbara Stringham Volunteer of the Year, Sean Marchant; Ambassador of the Year, Cameron Wilkins; President’s Award, Salt Mine; and Chairman’s Corporate Partner Award, KeyBank. The awards will be presented Feb. 28, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus, Karen Gail Miller Conference Center, in Sandy.

• Utah State University’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business was recently awarded first place for “Excellence in Co-Curricular Innovation” by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) for its Small Enterprise Education and Development (SEED) program. The program sends student interns to Ghana, the Philippines, Peru and the Dominican Republic to teach local entrepreneurs professional skills and help them grow their small businesses. Fifty-three universities competed for four national USASBE awards.

• Nav, a Salt Lake City-based company offering a free site and app for small-business owners to access their business credit scores and get matched to financing options, has announced Anne Boulter, owner and founder of Private Detox of Utah, as the $10,000 grand prize winner of the company’s third Small Business Grant. Private Detox of Utah is the only provider of in-home drug and alcohol detox in Utah, helping individuals safely detox in the comfort and privacy of their own home. The company, which was started in July 2018, has a goal of helping more than 100 Utahns detox within the first year of business. To be considered for the Nav Small Business Grant, business owners are asked to share a challenge their business is facing. Boulter shared that she struggled from a lack of capital. The grant will allow Boulter to increase the advertising of her company and its personalized, private services, as well as invest in an electronic medical records system.

• NTEN and Google Fiber recently announced its 2019 Digital Inclusion Fellows, who are professionals from Utah, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Texas who work at nonprofits and social service agencies ranging from youth education and literacy organizations to public libraries and more, to empower individuals and communities by helping them get online. The group includes Krysti Nellermoe, education program supervisor at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City. The IRC provides services for refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, survivors of torture, and other immigrants to help them to thrive in the U.S.

RETAIL

• CenterCal Properties, a commercial real estate company, has announced new retailers at three of its Utah properties, including Station Park in Farmington. Opening in early spring will be Utah Home Fitness, F45, Slapfish, Farmington Franks and REMAX Metro Offices. Opening later in the spring will be Columbia Sportswear, Sicilia Mia and Station Park Dental. P.F. Chang’s will open in the summer and Barnes & Noble will open in the fall. Recent openings include Pizza Hut, Santorini’s Greek Grill, Jersey Mike’s Subs and Sprint.

SERVICES

• Capita Financial Network, a Sandy-based financial firm, has hired Jayson McGinnis. He has more than 20 years of experience as a financial planner with Fidelity Investments and has a background in retirement income planning and investment analysis. McGinnis earned his bachelor’s degree from Utah Valley University.

TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES

• Quick Base, a Massachusetts-based company offering a software-as-a-service platform for building business applications, has opened its second location in Salt Lake City. Avison Young represented Quick Base in the real estate transaction.

• SolutionReach, a Lehi-based patient relationship management solutions company, has hired Nagi Prabhu as chief product officer. Prabhu has 18 years of executive-level product experience, most recently serving as chief product officer at Icertis. Prior to that, he held executive roles at Apttus, CA Technologies, RealPage and Intacct Corp.