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ACCOUNTING
• Tanner LLC, a Salt Lake City-based independent public accounting firm, has named Jodie Hewitson, a tax partner, as tax practice head of the firm. She will provide leadership and direction to Tanner’s growing tax services and oversee 50 tax professionals. Hewitson’s expertise includes all phases of tax compliance and consulting for clients in several industries. She also has experience serving high wealth individuals, clients with closely held businesses, and companies and individuals with expatriate tax reporting requirements. Hewitson joined Tanner’s tax team in 2007 and was promoted to tax partner in 2011. Hewitson earned a bachelor of arts in accounting and Master of Professional Accountancy with an emphasis in tax from the University of Utah.
ASSETS
• Sundance Strategies Inc., Provo, has announced the upcoming release of the first-of-its-kind non-fungible tokens (NFTs) backed by life settlements. The real-world assets backing the NFTs will be up to $500 million, investment-grade-rated life insurance-linked bonds, which will be backed by approximately $850 million of life insurance policies, and approximately $115 million of cash reserves.
BANKING
• Mountain America Credit Union has named Sharlene Wells to the newly created position of senior vice president of public relations and organizational communications. Over the course of her career, Wells has led teams in broadcasting, communications, PR and film/book production. After being named Miss America in 1984, she was one of the first women to sign with ESPN, where she spent 16 years as a sportscaster. She later shifted her career to behind-the-scenes film and publishing work with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), and working inside the Pentagon as the director of communications for the DOD’s Office of Personnel. Wells graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in communications and the University of Utah with a master’s in organizational communications with an emphasis in integrated marketing communications.
CONSULTING
• Global Leader Group, a Lehi-based professional development and management consultancy firm, has added Spencer Holt as its new co-founder and chief learning officer. Holt is a leader, teacher, coach and innovator with international experience in the pharmaceutical industry, finance, franchising and sales industries. Holt most recently was the head of the Commercial Learning and Innovation Center for Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. His experience in business includes bringing the first Five Guys Burger franchise to Canada.
DIRECT SALES
• ASEA, a Pleasant Grove-based company focused on cellular health products through a direct-selling business model., has appointed Kelly Rich as senior vice president of global sales and Anddrew Tan as general manager for Malaysia and Singapore. Rich is responsible for global sales results and will partner with ASEA leadership to create, direct and implement region-specific strategies as part of the overall global sales vision. She has more than 20 years of experience, including working in 25 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas. She has served in executive leadership positions for the past 10 years. Tan is responsible for the Malaysia and Singapore offices and field. He will be a liaison between corporate and the growing Malaysia and Singapore markets. Tan has more than 18 years of direct sales experience in Southeast Asia and has experience in sales, marketing, operations, logistics, communications and general finance.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Medallion Bank, Salt Lake City, has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents per share on the bank’s fixed-to-floating rate non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock, Series F. The dividend is payable April 1 to holders of record March 15. Medallion Bank provides consumer loans for the purchase of recreational vehicles, boats and home improvements, along with loan origination services to fintech partners.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Salt Lake City is No. 19 on a list of the top 20 cities to start a business in 2022, compiled by Business Insider. It reviewed more than 300 metro areas to identify the 20 most beneficial ones for new businesses based on factors like median household income, percent of vaccinated individuals and increases in employment and new businesses. The top-ranked cities include Baltimore; Boulder, Colorado; and Boston. Details are at https://www.businessinsider.com/best-cities-for-business-entrepreneurs-startups-in-2022-2021-12.
• Summit County leads all Utah counties for the lowest closing costs, according to a study by financial technology company SmartAsset. It measured closing costs as a percentage of median home value at the county level. Summit County was followed, in order, by Wasatch, Morgan, Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Washington, Grand, Cache and Tooele counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/mortgage/closing-costs#utah.
• Utah has 1,096 single-family built-to-rent homes, according to a study by nationwide apartment search website RentCafe.com. The top five cities with such homes are Herriman, with 430, followed by Logan, 350; Salt Lake City, 160; South Jordan, 150; and Stansbury Park, 130. The Salt Lake City metro area has nearly 65 percent of the state’s total.
• The American Lung Association has released its 20th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report, evaluating state and federal policymakers’ progress to end tobacco use. Utah’s smoking rate is 8.2 percent, and the high school tobacco use rate is 10.7 percent. Utah received an “A” for both funding state tobacco prevention programs and for strength of smoke-free workplace laws, a “B” for coverage and access to services to quit tobacco, and an “F” for both the level of state tobacco taxes and ending the sale of flavored tobacco products.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• WGU Academy has announced a partnership with Suazo Business Center that will provide Utahns from Hispanic/Latino and other under underserved communities with college-readiness education scholarships. The pilot initiative will allow 20 students to earn transferrable college credits while also completing skills training that builds confidence, resiliency and self-guided study habits needed to succeed in higher education. Students begin classes at WGU Academy on Feb. 1, and the program typically takes two to three months to complete. A gift from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation will fund tuition for students in the pilot program. Students who are successful in WGU Academy will be eligible for scholarships to attend WGU, and WGU Academy and Suazo will collaborate on qualitative research to help assess the effectiveness of the initiative.
• Zack and Brittany Groesbeck will open a Big Blue Swim School location at 1340 E. Park Centre Drive, Cottonwood Heights, later this year and plan to open two more locations in the future. The Groesbecks have signed a three-unit development deal with plans to open one location a year for three years, along with the goal of expanding the Big Blue footprint to eight or nine locations.
EXPANSIONS
• Twisted Sugar, a Utah-based company offering cookies and specialty sodas, has opened a location in The Woodlands, Texas. Proceeds from a grand opening celebrating will benefit Meals on Wheels Montgomery County, a nonprofit organization delivering meals to seniors. Created in 2015, Twisted Sugar has locations in Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Florida and Texas.
GOVERNMENT
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $36,516 to Community Action Services and $45,943 to the Utah State University Family Life Center in housing counseling grants. They are part of $51.4 million in housing counseling grants nationwide to 177 HUD-approved housing counseling agencies and intermediary organizations that provide services for renters, homebuyers and homeowners.
HEALTHCARE
• Clene Inc., Salt Lake City, and wholly owned subsidiary Clene Nanomedicine Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, have appointed Morgan Brown as chief financial officer. The outgoing CFO, Ted Jeong, will continue in a consultative role at Clene during the transition. Brown’s experience in executive finance roles includes four publicly traded life science companies, three as CFO, and the CFO of a privately held clinical research organization. Since 2013, he has been executive vice president and CFO of Lipocine Inc.. He previously was executive vice president and CFO at Innovus Pharmaceuticals and World Heart Corp. He served as CFO and senior vice president at Lifetree Clinical Research and vice president of finance and treasurer at NPS Pharmaceuticals. He began his career at KPMG LLP, where he rose to senior audit manager. Brown earned his MBA from the University of Utah and B.S. in Accounting from Utah State University.
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE
• Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group, a Provo-based hotel management company, has appointed Sherif Guirguis as chief operating officer. Guirguis spent nearly 25 years with Marriott International, serving in general manager, regional and area executive roles. His experience extends across full-service, select-service and extended-stay brands and properties. Following Marriott, he served as vice president of regional operations for White Lodging Services, followed by overseeing the operations of Silverwest Hotels.
INSURANCE
• UBIC, a Salt Lake City-based provider of workers’ compensation insurance and promoter of safety through customized services, training and education, has hired David Plowman as controller. Plowman has over 17 years of experience in the insurance industry. He recently served as controller of Total Care Auto. Before that, he served as accounting manager at Bear River Mutual Insurance Co. and worked at JC Penny Co. and as president of the Utah Chapter of Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA).
INVESTMENTS
• ELearning Brothers, an American Fork-based learning solutions company, has received an additional $54 million investment from RLG Capital and Trinity Investors, enabling eLearning Brothers’ simultaneous acquisition of Rehearsal and Origin Learning. As part of the restructuring, Prudential’s PGIM Private Capital has replaced all previous debt providers and is now the sole debtholder for eLearning Brothers.
• GuideCX, a Draper-based company offering customer onboarding software, has raised $25 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Meritech Capital Partners, with participation from Album VC, Prelude, Sorenson Capital, Epic Ventures and Orchard Ventures, among others. The company will use the funding to accelerate its momentum and solution.
LAW
• Holland & Hart has added Todd Reece to its Salt Lake City office as a partner. Reece has extensive experience as a corporate transactional attorney advising emerging and established privately held companies to meet strategic business goals. He advises businesses on mergers, acquisitions, financings (venture capital and private equity), joint ventures, restructuring and other strategic combinations. He was an internal auditor with a multinational accounting firm for several years before pursuing a legal career. Most recently, Reece was a practice leader of Ballard Spahr’s Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Practice Group. His education includes a B.S. from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management.
• Mayer Brown has added Lauren Shurman as a partner in its Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice at its Salt Lake City office. Her practice focuses on general commercial and employment litigation. Shurman has handled litigation and arbitration matters involving substantive issues ranging from shareholder disputes to claims for breach of contract, tortious interference, defamation, fraud, negligence, antitrust, legal malpractice, and negligent supervision, among others. Shurman’s education includes an M.S. in educational psychology and a B.S. in biology from the University of Utah.
MANUFACTURING
• Clarus Corp., a Salt Lake City-based designer, developer, manufacturer and distributor of outdoor equipment and lifestyle products focused on the outdoor and consumer enthusiast markets, has appointed James Walker III to its board of directors. Walker has over 30 years of experience in investing and asset management across multiple firms and industries. He currently serves as managing partner and founder of Vinson Ventures LLC. Walker previously was managing partner of Fir Tree Partners, where he was a member of its real estate investment committee and chairman of the firm’s risk committee; co-founded Black Diamond Capital Management, where he served as managing partner; and worked in investment banking at Kidder, Peabody & Co. and Bear Stearns. Walker currently sits on the board of Starwood Real Estate Income Trust; is a strategic partner at Jadian Capital; and is a board member of Team USA, the foundation for the US Olympic Committee.
OUTDOOR RECREATION
• Utah ski buses will be free to all riders throughout February, thanks in part to the support of Utah ski resorts, including Solitude, Brighton, Alta, Snowbird, Snowbasin, Sundance and Powder Mountain. Details about “Free Fare February” are at https://www.rideuta.com/Rider-Info/Free-Fare-February.
PARTNERSHIPS
• The Utah Jazz and Gallagher, a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, have announced a partnership that includes community support of a local seminar for female high school students to inspire the next generation of leaders. The partnership officially aligns Gallagher with the Smith Entertainment Group. The day-long educational summit during Women’s History Month in March will be sponsored by Gallagher. Known as “Her Time to Lead,” programming is built around different themes, such as resiliency or finding a voice, in a series of workshops and breakout groups for female high school students.
• Mark Miller Subaru recently had a ribbon-cutting event at its South Towne location in Sandy to reveal new mini-exhibits that Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum has built in several Mark Miller Subaru showrooms. It is the first time in Utah that a children’s museum has built an exhibit in such a showroom. There are three miniature museums in total: one at the Mark Miller Subaru Midtown location in South Salt Lake and two at the Mark Miller Subaru South Towne location.
REAL ESTATE
• Dixon Place has opened at 1034 E. Elm Ave., Salt Lake City. The 59-unit, 100 percent leased, six-story, Class A development has 49,039 square feet of rentable space. The boutique apartment complex offers 35 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom units. The developer is Lowe Property Group. The designer architect and interior designer is MVE+Partners. The 2,200 square feet of ground-floor commercial space houses Lowe Property Group’s headquarters, also designed by MVE + Partners.
• Arden Group, in partnership with Vesta Realty Partners LLC, has acquired the Younique headquarters building at 3400 W. Mayflower Ave., Lehi, for an undisclosed amount. The 125,000-square-foot, five-story office building is 100 percent leased to Younique, a health and wellness direct sales firm, through 2026. The building was developed in 2016 by Stack Real Estate. It sits on a 7.19-acre site. The transaction represents the fourth Salt Lake City office transaction for Arden and Vesta over the past year as well as the fifth office property acquisition in the Silicon Slopes tech corridor.
• Green Leaf East Village, 159 E. Midvillage Blvd., Sandy, has been sold by Green Leaf Capital Partners for an undisclosed price. The Class A building features 336 residences, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, and 491 parking stalls. It was completed in two phases in 2016 and 2017. The building was fully leased at the time of the sale. CBRE announced the sale. Eli Mills and Patrick Bodnar of CBRE represented Green Leaf Capital Partners.
RECOGNITIONS
• Silicon Slopes has announced the inductees for the Silicon Slopes Hall of Fame: Warren Osborn, Todd Pedersen and Astrid S. Tuminez. They will be inducted Feb. 24 at the 2021 Silicon Slopes Hall of Fame & Awards program at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. They join 65 business and technology leaders previously admitted to the Hall of Fame, which was launched in 1999 by the Utah Technology Council. Osborn is being honored posthumously. He was a series entrepreneur, investor and board member who founded 11 companies and invested in more than 100. He also traveled to China and India over 100 times combined to provide on-the-ground humanitarian support and aid to disadvantaged children, orphans and lepers. Pedersen is chairman and founder of Vivint Smart Home who earlier launched his own successful D2D pest control business as a college student and later transitioned to selling burglar alarms and then into automated security systems. Pedersen also is involved in such charitable causes as innovation in public education and fighting against childhood starvation. Tuminez is president of Utah Valley University and is an advocate for the ability of education to uplift and transform individuals. She graduated from Brigham Young University with undergraduate degrees in Russian and international relations. She then received a master’s degree in Soviet studies from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in political science and government from MIT. During her career, Tuminez has held national and global research, consultancy, and leadership positions with such organizations as AIG Global Investment Group, Bank of Philippine Islands, Carnegie Corp., the Council on Foreign Relations, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Microsoft, U.S. Institute of Peace and the World Bank.
• Alan Blakely, a Salt Lake City-based architectural photographer, has been named “Best Architecture and Interior Design Photographer” in the U.S. by Global 100. It is the second consecutive year for him to receive the honor. Blakely was nominated and awarded the honor as a result of the voting of over 293,000 architecture and design professionals worldwide. Blakely, who has a worldwide clientele, began his career as a commercial photographer in Salt Lake City working primarily with advertising agencies, magazines and corporations throughout the U.S. and Canada. He shifted his focus exclusively to architectural and interior design photographer in 2002.
• Supplemental Health Care, a Salt Lake City-based healthcare employment agency, has won the Best of Staffing Client and Talent 5 Year Diamond Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates for at least five consecutive years. Presented in partnership with presenting sponsor Indeed and gold sponsor Talent.com, ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Award winners were selected based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and candidates.
RETAIL
• Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., a West Jordan-based outdoor specialty retailer, has appointed Jeff White as chief financial officer. White has been with the company for six years, serving as its secretary since September and as vice president of finance, chief accounting officer and interim CFO from September 2021 to Jan. 21, 2022. From August 2016 to September 2021, White served in various capacities, including most recently as the company’s senior director of finance and accounting. Prior to Sportsman’s Warehouse, White served in various roles at KPMG LLP. White earned B.A. and master’s degrees in accountancy from the University of Utah.
• Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc., based in Colorado, has announced the closure of its store in downtown Salt Lake City by March 31. The store is at 645 E. 400 S., Suite A. The company said the decision was made after consideration of that store’s operating performance and “reflects the company’s commitment to enhancing operating efficiencies across its store base.” The company will keep open its store at 1033 E. 2100 S., Salt Lake City. Closing the Salt Lake City store marks Natural Grocers’ first store closure in Utah. The company said it has no plans to close any additional stores. Founded in 1955, the company has 162 stores in 20 states.
• Rebel House, a boutique fitness brand offering rhythm-based workout classes, has opened its third fitness studio, Rebel House at the Shop, at 350 E. 400 S., Salt Lake City. The brand was started in 2017 by a local husband-and-wife pair, Devin and Nina Pearson.
SERVICES
• Erin Wilder and husband Mark Wilder have opened a Right at Home location in Provo. Right at Home provides in-home senior care service. Erin Wilder has more than 25 years of experience in publishing and currently is a professor at Brigham Young University. Mark Wilder has worked in the tech industry for over two decades.
TECHNOLOGY
• Park City Group/ReposiTrak, a provider of supply chain, food safety and supplier management technology solutions, has promoted Derek Hannum to the newly created position of chief customer officer. Hannum is responsible for expanding customer relationships, growth and revenue performance, including sales, marketing and customer success. Hannum most recently served as senior vice president of customer success, overseeing the company’s marketing and customer success activities. His 35-year career includes more than 10 years with companies serving the grocery, wholesale and other retail industries. Before joining Park City Group in 2017, Hannum served as managing director of marketing and product for Miller Heiman. His retail industry experience includes marketing leadership roles with Empower Software and CHEP Equipment Pooling Systems. Sales and marketing leadership roles include previous stints with Nissan Motor Corp. USA and Tenneco Automotive.
• PassiveLogic, a Salt Lake City-based company offering a platform for creating autonomous buildings, has launched the Quantum Alliance, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Brookfield. The alliance is an effort among public and private entities to move the building industry toward full autonomy. The Quantum Alliance aims to develop an industry-spanning consensus, known as the Quantum Standard, that defines physics-based digital twins that enable complete building autonomy. PassiveLogic will collaborate directly with partners, including Belimo, Automation Components Inc. and Bradford White, in addition to Brookfield, to gain an understanding of virtually everything in buildings.
• Lendio, a Lehi-based small-business financial solutions marketplace, has hired David Bedell as chief financial officer. Bedell has more than 20 years of expertise in the financial industry, including leading financial operations for multiple technology companies, including leading finance and investor relations at Instructure during its initial public offering in 2015. Most recently, he was CFO at HireVue. Prior to Instructure, he spent over 13 years at Intuit.