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ASSOCIATIONS
• Matt Hafen recently was elected president of the Southern Utah Estate Planning Council. He has served on the board of directors of the council since January 2014. Hafen is a shareholder at Durham Jones & Pinegar, assisting clients throughout Utah, California, Nevada and Arizona on a variety of estate planning matters.
BANKING
• Bank of Utah, Ogden, has hired Kimberly O’Neal as branch manager for the bank’s location at 309 S. Redwood Road, Salt Lake City. O’Neal has worked in retail banking for community, regional and national banks for more than 23 years. She most recently worked with JP Morgan Chase Bank. O’Neal is a graduate of the University of Utah, where she majored in consumer economics/family studies.
CONTESTS
• Registration for the 2017 High School Entrepreneur Challenge has begun. Open to all students in Utah ages 14-18, the activity is a competition to win $30,000 in cash and scholarships. The deadline for submitting ideas is March 1. Twenty-four finalist teams will be announced March 16. An awards ceremony will take place at the University of Utah on April 15. Details are at lassonde.utah.edu/hsuec.
DIVIDENDS
• ClearOne, Salt Lake City, has announced a quarterly cash dividend of 5 cents per share for the first quarter of 2017. The dividend is payable March 1 to shareholders of record Feb. 15. The company designs, develops and sells conferencing, collaboration, and network streaming and signage solutions for voice and visual communication.
ENERGY/NATURAL RESOURCES
• Dominion Resources Inc., based in Virginia, said it plans to change its name to Dominion Energy Inc., in recognition of its focus on the evolving energy marketplace and to unify its brand following last year’s merger with Salt Lake City-based Questar Corp. The change will be made later this year, pending approval of shareholders of the name change at the annual meeting this spring. Created in 1983, the company does business in 18 states. Its portfolio includes about 26,400 megawatts of generation; 14,600 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline; and 6,600 miles of electric transmission lines. It also has 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity.
• Vivint Solar, Lehi, has appointed Thomas Plagemann to chief commercial officer and head of capital markets and Erica Dahl to vice president of public policy and government affairs. Plagemann also has been elected as the chair of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) State Policy Committee. At Vivint, Plagemann will be responsible for product and market expansion, including continuing to lead the company’s tax equity, capital markets and other financing strategies, as well as providing leadership for the company's government affairs efforts. In his role as chair of the SEIA State Policy Committee, the decision-making body for policy initiatives at the state levels, he will lead members of the State Policy Committee in working with SEIA staff to set the direction and strategy for SEIA’s state-level policy efforts on behalf of the solar industry. Based in New York City, Plagemann has more than 20 years of experience originating and executing financings and investments in the power sector. Prior to joining Vivint Solar as executive vice president and head of capital markets, Plagemann served as managing director, head of energy, U.S corporate and investment banking at Santander Global Banking & Markets. He started his career at Deutsche Bank and has also held management roles at GE Capital, AIG and First Solar. Dahl will be responsible for leading the company’s government affairs strategy at the local, state and federal levels and advising executive leadership regarding policy opportunities and challenges for business development. Based at Vivint Solar’s Utah headquarters, Dahl joined the company in 2015 as director of public policy and government affairs. Prior to Vivint Solar, she served as the director of community relations for the Central Region of Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City and as vice president of government relations for Bank of America in San Francisco.
FINANCE
• APX Group Holdings Inc., Provo, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, APX Group Inc., has completed its offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of its 7.875 percent senior secured notes due 2022 in a private placement. The notes constitute a further issuance of the $600 million aggregate principal amount of 7.875 percent senior notes due 2022 that were issued in last May and last August. The issuer intends to use the net proceeds from the notes offering to redeem $300 million aggregate principal amount of the issuer’s outstanding 6.375 percent senior secured notes due 2019 and pay the related redemption premium, and to pay all related fees and expenses and to use remaining proceeds for general corporate purposes.
GOVERNMENT
• Holly Yocum is the new director of the Salt Lake County Department of Community Services. Yocum had been serving as the associate director for the past two years. Prior to that, she was executive director of the Utah Film Center. Yocum holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Utah, with an emphasis in economics and statistics.
HEALTHCARE
• Chateau Recovery, a Midway-based co-ed residential treatment center serving adults struggling with mental health and substance abuse disorders, has hired Cy Hirsche as director of admissions. Hirsche started his career as a successful entrepreneur who founded multiple companies in the software industry. Prior to Chateau Recovery, Hirsche was a client liaison specialist at a treatment facility and held director-level positions at other programs. He attended Utah State University and Brigham Young University and is advancing his studies in addiction counseling at Utah Valley University.
LAW
• Parsons Behle & Latimer has named seven shareholders in its Salt Lake City office: Nicholas U. Frandsen, Alan S. Mouritsen, Nora R. Pincus, Brian M. Rothschild, Jacob A. Santini and Bruce H. White. Frandsen is a member of the firm’s Litigation department and concentrates his practice on banking and finance, employment and labor, and commercial litigation. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.S. degree in 2004 and a J.D. degree in 2009. Mouritsen is a member of the firm’s Litigation department and concentrates his practice on appeals, administrative law, personal injury, and copyright and trademark litigation. Pincus is a member of the Environmental, Energy & Natural Resources department and focuses on all aspects of natural resource development, land use and real estate, with emphasis on oil and gas exploration and production, mining, real estate development and renewable energy projects. Her education includes a B.A. degree in 2004 from the University of Utah. Rothschild is a member of the Corporate Restructuring & Chapter 11 Bankruptcy department and represents debtors and creditors in distressed situations and opportunities, including in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings; FDIC, SEC and state law receiverships; out-of-court restructurings; and distressed asset sales, mergers, and acquisitions. His education includes graduating with a B.S. degree from the University of Utah in 1997. Santini is a member of the Environmental, Energy & Natural Resources and Litigation departments. He concentrates on regulatory and permitting issues, focusing on air quality law. His litigation practice includes environmental and natural resources litigation. He graduated with a B.S. degree in 1999 from Utah State University. In 2009, he received a J.D. degree from the University of Utah. White is a member of the Corporate Transactions & Securities department and concentrates his practice on all aspects of corporate law, business transactions, corporate financing and corporate reorganizations. Prior to joining the firm, he was a shareholder at both Greenberg Traurig and Patton Boggs in Dallas. White’s education includes a B.S. degree in 1985 from Utah State University.
MANUFACTURING
• MityLite, an Orem-based commercial furniture products company, has hired Zachary Wright as Northeastern regional sales director. Based in Baltimore, he will be responsible for sales into sales into all channels, with the exception of the newly formed Healthcare Division. Wright will manage the mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S. and Canada.
PHILANTHROPY
• Zions Bank and the IRS have partnered to have the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offer free, professional tax assistance across Utah. The program is set up to help individuals and families with lower incomes received qualified tax assistance each year. Potential volunteers and people seeking tax assistance can find details about the VITA program at utahtaxhelp.org or irs.gov, or by calling 211.
• The AARP Foundation will provide free tax assistance and preparation through its Tax-Aide program through April 18. In its 49th year, the program offers free tax preparation help to anyone, especially those who are 50 and older, who cannot afford a tax preparation service, at more than 5,000 locations. It is offered at about 40 sites in Utah. Details are at www.aarp.org/findtaxhelp or call 1 (888) 227-7669.
REAL ESTATE
• CBC Advisors has introduced a new service line: Advisors Consulting Services. The service line will focus on location advisory strategy, incentive advocacy and economic development consulting. The new line will be led by Todd Brightwell and Kevin Long and will be housed in the company’s new offices on the 22nd floor of the 111 Main tower in downtown Salt Lake City. Brightwell joined the firm to lend his expertise to the venture and serve as president of consulting services. He most recently served as chief operating officer at EDCUtah. Long moved last fall from his previous position of principal broker and chief operating officer of CBC Advisors to serve as managing director, where he will oversee in partnership with Brightwell the development of the national consulting group.
• Hamlet Homes has opened a new community, Glenmore Village, at 1300 W. Winchester Ave. (6500 S.), Murray. It includes 29 home sites, with 23 townhomes and six single-family homes. The neighborhood consists of two floor plans for the townhomes, ranging from two to three bedrooms, and three single-family home floor plans, ranging from three to four bedrooms. Pricing for the townhomes start in the high $200,000s with single-family homes starting in the $400,000s.
• JF Capital, a local private equity firm, has broken ground on a new development called Moda Granary Place. The five-story building will include 134 apartment spaces and will be located at 258 W. 700 S., Salt Lake City, in the area known as the Granary District. Floor plans will include both one-bedroom and two-bedroom options. Construction will take an estimated 14 months, with the first units scheduled for occupancy in March 2018. Strategic Builders, a J. Fisher company, will serve as the contractor on the project.
RECOGNITIONS
• Two organizations and one individual were honored recently for their efforts in help clean Utah’s air. During the second annual Utah Clean Air (UCAIR) Partnership Summit, awards were presented to Utah Clean Energy, UCIAR Non-Profit of the Year; Zions Bank, UCAIR Business of the Year; and Provo Mayor John Curtis, UCAIR Clean Air Person of the Year.
• Winners have been announced in the 21st Century Communities Challenge, part of the Winter Innovation Summit held recently at the Salt Palace Convention Center. The challenge is a nationwide competition for market-ready, early-stage technologies developed for “Smart Cities.” Participants submitted nominations in November, were down-selected to the finalists who gathered at the summit and pitched to a panel of mayors. RapidSOS, a New York City-based company, won $5,000 for its integrated 911 emergency call smartphone application. Blyncsy, a Salt Lake City-based mobility tracking company, took second place and received a $2,500 prize. Its technology gathers movement tracking data anonymously, allowing for the improvement of traffic flows within a city. Other finalists were Rapport.io, a sustainability platform for small to medium-sized cities, and InsightFormation, a strategic planning platform that aims to improve healthcare and other citywide issues. The Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative partnered with Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and the Sorenson Impact Center to host the challenge.
• Pluralsight, Farmington, has been named a winner of the 2016-2017 Cloud Awards program in the category Best SaaS in the U.S. The company received top marks for its cloud-based technology learning platform, which launched last year. The awards program celebrates excellence and innovation in the cloud computing market. More than 300 organizations entered, with entries coming from around the globe.
• The St. George Chamber of Commerce recently presented awards during its “Starry Nights Gala” Annual Community Awards and Installation Banquet: Legacy of a Lifetime Award (Lifetime Achievement), Hyrum Smith; Champion of Change (Public Servant of the Year), St. George Police Department; Emergence of an Entrepreneur Award (Entrepreneur of the Year), Cameron Payne of Twisted Noodle Café; Influence of Innovation Award (Innovator of the Year), Brock Alexander of 5N Plus Semiconductors; Community of Compassion (Nonprofit of the Year), Dixie Elks Lodge; Spirit of Dixie Award (Volunteer of the Year), Fred Dungan; Business Integrity Award, Kelly Nyberg and Randy Cosby of InfoWest; and Customer Service Award, Tom and Dorothy Heers, Inn on the Cliff and Cliffside Restaurant.
• Benjamin Hart, managing director of urban and rural business services at the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), has been named the Champion of the Year by the Utah Association for Career and Technical Education (UACTE). Hart has been instrumental in the creation of business/education partnerships for initiatives such as Utah Aerospace Pathways and Talent Ready Utah. The association consists of 11 divisions, including business, agriculture, information technology, health science, technology and engineering and work-based learning. Each division submits nominees, and winners are selected through a rubric process.
RETAIL
• CBL & Associates Properties Inc., owner and manager of Layton Hills Mall, has announced that fashion retailer Dillard’s Inc. will open a store at the mall, in the former Macy’s location. Construction is scheduled to begin in April, with a grand opening in the fall. The 160,000-square-foot store will feature a lineup of brands specifically tailored to the fashion preferences of Dillard’s Salt Lake City area customers, CBL said. Dillard’s has 271 locations and 23 clearance centers in 29 states.
• Live Ventures Inc., based in Las Vegas, has announced that subsidiary Vintage Stock Inc. has opened eight new stores, including one at 340 E. 525 N., Harrisville, that will operate under the “Entertainmart” brand. The company now has 57 stores in 10 states. The company offers new and used entertainment, such as movies, games, music, comics and collectables.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Charon Technologies, an engineering company, has announced it will expand in Logan, creating 20 jobs in electrical engineering and computer science. Charon was founded in 2012 in northern Virginia. The company designs software-defined radios and signal processing platforms, as well as communications systems and RF security products. The company and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) said Charon also had considered Arizona, Texas, California and Colorado for the expansion. Nadia Letey with CBRE aided EDCUtah and Charon Technologies in its initial real estate search along the Wasatch Front and ultimately provided the connection to Interstate Commercial Properties, which helped identify an ideal location in Logan.