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ASSOCIATIONS
• Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, has been appointed to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Task Force to Eradicate Human Trafficking. The task force is organized around five guiding principles for the business community to embrace: involve C-suite leadership in identifying risky business partners and locations, measure and monitor the problem and solutions, work with suppliers and their employees to ensure compliance, examine production planning and recruitment practices, and take action in the community. These principles provide an organizing framework to raise public awareness, convene and enlist the broader community, and secure funding to combat the problem.
• Goldman Sachs has created the 10,000 Small Businesses Voices National Leadership Council, which is composed of six graduates of its 10,000 Small Businesses program. Natalie Kaddas, CEO of Kaddas Enterprises, Salt Lake City, will be one of two council vice chairs. The council will lead and help direct 10,000 Small Businesses Voices advocacy efforts around ongoing COVID-19 relief and policy changes that prioritize Main Street businesses and jobs.
CONSTRUCTION
• FFKR Architects, Salt Lake City, has announced that senior principals Steven Goodwin will serve as secretary of the firm and Michael Leishman will serve as treasurer. The company has more than 170 architects, designers and planners, with a second office in Arizona.
• Pentalon Construction, Salt Lake City, has promoted Jeff Young to commercial construction manager and Elise Lewis to project manager. Young has been in commercial construction for over 20 years and came to Pentalon in 2019. He started at Pentalon as a project manager with over 10 years of experience. Young has overseen projects in excess of $50 million. Lewis started her career with Pentalon in 2017 as an assistant project manager. She then spent a year gaining practical experience with BIM and other coordination software before returning to Pentalon in 2019. She earned a bachelor of science in construction management degree from Brigham Young University.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Zions Bancorporation, Salt Lake City, has authorized a common stock share repurchase for the first quarter of 2021 of up to $50 million and also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 34 cents per common share. The dividend is payable Feb. 25 to shareholders of record Feb. 18. The board also declared regular quarterly cash dividends on the company’s perpetual preferred shares. The cash dividend on series A, G, H and J are payable March 15 to shareholders of record March 1. The cash dividend on the Series I shares is payable June 15 to shareholders of record June 1.
• The board of directors of Clarus Corp. has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 2.5 cents per share. The dividend will be paid Feb. 19 to stockholders of record Feb. 8. Based in Salt Lake City, the company develops, manufactures and distributes outdoor equipment and lifestyle products focused on the climb, ski, mountain and sport markets.
GOVERNMENT
• Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson has announced Eric Hutchings as a new outreach and strategy senior advisor to the mayor. Hutchings has experience as a legislator representing the west side communities of Kearns, Taylorsville and West Jordan. He served in the Utah State House of Representatives from 2001 to 2020 representing District 38. He also has also held several appointed positions with various organizations and was appointed chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Law and Criminal Justice Committee. Hutchings has a bachelor’s degree in Asian studies from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in international sffairs and global enterprises from the University of Utah.
HEALTHCARE
• Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and University of Utah Health have selected Dr. Sachin Apte as chief clinical officer of HCI and physician-in-chief of the cancer hospital. Apte will oversee oncology work of HCI and U of U Health to deliver high-quality cancer care and prevention programs across the Mountain West. He also will serve as a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at U of U Health. Apte most recently was associate chief medical officer at Moffitt Cancer Center. Apte is a gynecologic oncologist who previously served as chair of the department of gynecologic oncology. Apte succeeds Dr. John Ward, who has served in this position in an interim capacity since April 2019. Ward will continue his service at HCI, including his clinical program caring for breast cancer patients and other key leadership roles.
• National Partners in Healthcare (NPH), a national healthcare organization delivering anesthesiology services, has announced that Intermountain Anesthesia Consultants (IAC) has joined NPH. The organization is a joint venture between Archimedes Health Investors LLC, a healthcare-focused private equity firm, and Assured Healthcare Partners (AHP), a private equity firm providing growth, consolidation and repositioning capital solutions in the healthcare services industry.
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE
• Dynamic City Capital, a Provo-based firm focused on premium-branded hotel investments, has acquired the Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton San Diego Downtown/Bayside hotels. Built in 2016, the two hotel properties combined have 364 rooms. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Hilton Garden Inn, San Diego Downtown/Bayside, has 204 premium guest rooms with a full-service restaurant and bar. The Homewood Suites by Hilton San Diego Downtown/Bayside offers 160 large private suites, all with fully equipped kitchens. DCC has selected Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group to operate the hotels.
INTERNATIONAL
• The board of directors of World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah) has formed two committees to provide more Utah companies with the services and knowledge to compete and win globally. Amanda Covington, chief communications and government relations officer at Larry H. Miller (LHM) Group of Companies, will chair the Strategic Partnership and Outreach Committee. Brad Bonham, co-founder and CEO of Walker Edison, and Derrick Porter, CEO of Beauty Industry Group (BIG), will co-chair the Global Business Services Committee. Porter, Bonham and Covington joined WTC Utah’s board in 2020. All three have experience working with and leading global organizations. The Strategic Partnership and Outreach Committee will support and shape WTC Utah’s efforts to strengthen and coordinate its vast network to benefit the state, WTC Utah members and partners and Utah businesses. Julia Breinholt-Pappas, WTC Utah’s director of marketing and communications, and Jim Porter, director of business development, will staff the committee. The Global Business Services Committee will work with the WTC Utah team to develop premium services that are calibrated to generate global growth for Utah businesses. Aaron Starks, WTC Utah vice president of global business services, will staff the committee under Bonham and Porter’s leadership.
INVESTMENTS
• PatientBond, a Salt Lake City-based patient engagement SaaS provider, has closed on its Series C financing. The company said the funding will be used to rapidly expand the company's go-to-market offerings, including its customer success team. All existing investors participated in the oversubscribed Series C with the addition of five family offices and one venture group. PatientBond is used by more than 1,200 healthcare provider locations across the United States.
• Teal Drones, a Salt Lake City-based unmanned aerial systems company, has accepted a multi-million-dollar investment package from Decathlon Capital Partners, which has offices in Park City and Palo Alto, California. Teal said the investment will fund its growth and finance continued research and development efforts. Teal is developing complex air control, data processing and mapping technologies housed in rugged, high-performance drones for use by the military, public safety organizations and commercial enterprises. Teal said the transaction was done without surrendering equity, and it will repay the investment through future revenue, allowing the company to keep its ownership structure intact.
• Transit Scientific, a private, Salt Lake City-based company that designs, develops and commercializes medical devices, has closed its Series A financing round, which was led by a large multinational investor and joined by previous seed investors. Transit products include the XO Score scoring sheath and XO Cross microcatheters.
• DW Healthcare Partners, a Park City-based healthcare-focused private equity firm, has completed an investment in Parnell Pharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd. Founded over 50 years ago in Australia, Parnell is a fully integrated manufacturer and developer of animal health pharmaceuticals focused on the U.S. market. Concurrent with the close, Jay Benear, founder and managing director; Doug Schillinger, managing director; and Eric Moore, principal, will join the Parnell board of directors.
• Mercato Partners, a Salt Lake City private equity fund, has announced it has completed the final distribution of its inaugural Traverse Growth Fund. The fund was announced in October 2007 with an investment in consumer audio brand Skullcandy. Over the life of the fund, Mercato has supported the growth stage and highly successful exits for well-known technology and consumer companies, including Control4, MediConnect Global, Stance and Fusion-io. Mercato Partners is currently deploying its third growth fund, now under the Traverse brand. In the past 14 years, Mercato also has added three new practices: Savory, a dedicated food and beverage fund; Alpha, a direct secondaries fund; and Prelude, an early-stage venture fund.
LAW
• Stoel Rives LLP has named David L. Mortensen as office managing partner of the firm’s Salt Lake City office. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the office and recruiting efforts to support the firm’s business in Utah. He will also oversee the move to soon-to-be-completed, new office space at 95 South St. at City Creek, where Stoel Rives will be the anchor tenant. Mortensen is partner in the Litigation practice group, with extensive experience in intellectual property as well as complex commercial litigation and represents some of the largest cities in Utah and has litigated dozens of high-profile cases for individuals and companies, both in Utah and across the United States. He received his J.D. from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School and joined Stoel Rives as a summer associate nearly 25 years ago. Mortensen succeeds D. Matthew Moscon, who has made the transition from office management to continue his active energy litigation practice.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• Love Communications, a Salt Lake City-based advertising and marketing firm, has hired Jeremy Chase as vice president of business development. Chase has more than 25 years of experience in account management. His experience spans numerous territories, including new business growth, brand development, digital and traditional advertising campaign planning and strategy, market research and production.
REAL ESTATE
• ViA, a 138-unit midrise apartment building in South Salt Lake, has been sold by an affiliate of Mountain Capital Partners, an affiliate of Dekel Capital, and Castlewood Development, to Graycliff Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed. The sale was announced by Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap. Brock Zylstra, IPA first vice president, and IPA’s Danny Shin, Steve Gebing and Cliff David represented the sellers. The five-story property was built in 2016.
• Lotus Co., a Salt Lake City-based property development company, has hired Adam Hughes as vice president of operations. Hughes most recently was CEO of Better City, an economic development consulting firm based in Ogden. Lotus has created a $200 million portfolio and has a $316 million development pipeline of projects along the Wasatch Front.
RECOGNITIONS
• Ripple LLC has received the Tibbetts Award, bestowed by the U.S. Small Business Administration to companies and entrepreneurs involved in bringing transformational technologies through the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Ripple has worked on game-changing neurotechnology since its founding in 2005, focusing on developing neuroprosthetics and neuroscience research products. Its innovations include implantable medical devices used to improve the control of prosthetic limbs, treat phantom limb pain, and create a brain-machine interface. Privately held Ripple has been awarded over $35 million SBIR/STTR grants and contracts through the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and DARPA.
• OrthoGrid Systems Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company focused on transforming intraoperative musculoskeletal surgery, has been named a Top 10 Surgery Solution Provider 2020 by Healthcare Tech Outlook. Each year, Healthcare Tech Outlook recognizes the companies at the forefront of surgery solutions and impacting the industry.
RETAIL
• TruFusion will open its first Utah gym at The Gateway this fall, using 13,000 square feet on the corner of 100 South and Rio Grande. TruFusion features a variety of rooms to provide different, boutique-style workouts. Launched in 2013, TruFusion has 13 locations.
SPORTS
• Comcast Corp. has announced it will continue to be the official cable television and communications partner of US Ski & Snowboard through 2023. As part of the renewed, multi-year commitment, Comcast will support America’s Olympic skiers and snowboarders through a domestic events program, enabling US Ski & Snowboard athletes with opportunities to compete on home snow at world-class venues.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Canary Speech, a Provo-based company focused on automatic speech recognition and natural language processing techniques, has hired Nate Blaylock as chief technology officer. Blaylock previously was senior research manager and NLU architect at Nuance Communications, spending eight years at Nuance and Cerence, a spinoff of Nuance's Automotive division, and was a research scientist at Saarland University and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. His education includes bachelor’s degrees in linguistics and computer science from Brigham Young University.