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CAPITAL
• Divvy, a Lehi-based spend-and-expense management company, has announced the formation of Divvy Capital, a real-time funding solution for businesses in need of fast, flexible capital. Divvy said it will allow business leaders, through automatic pre-approval, to bypass the application process and gain instant access to the funds they need to grow their businesses. Eligible Divvy users are pre-approved for Divvy Capital.
COMMUNICATIONS
• Comcast has appointed Nelson Duckett as area vice president for Comcast Utah, part of the company’s Mountain West Region that includes Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Nelson has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, most recently serving as director of technical operations for Comcast California.
CORPORATE
• The board of directors of USANA Health Sciences Inc., Salt Lake City, has authorized share repurchases of up to $130 million, which includes $30 million remaining under the share repurchase authorization as of Dec. 28, 2019. Repurchases may be made from time to time, in the open market, through block trades or otherwise, subject to applicable rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The number of shares to be purchased and the timing of purchases will be based on market conditions, the level of cash balances, general business opportunities, and other factors.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of SkyWest Inc., St. George, has declared a quarterly dividend of 14 cents per share. The dividend will be paid April 6 to shareholders of record March 31. SkyWest Inc. is the holding company for SkyWest Airlines and SkyWest Leasing, an aircraft leasing company.
• The board of directors of People’s Utah Bancorp has declared a quarterly dividend of 14 cents per common share. The dividend is payable Feb. 18 to shareholders of record Feb. 10. It continues the over-50-year trend of paying dividends by the company. People’s Utah Bancorp is a $2.4 billion bank holding company for Altabank.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Utah has the nation’s No. 9 healthiest economy, according to SeniorLiving.org, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis. The rankings were determined by analyzing data pertaining to unemployment rates, wages and gross domestic product in every state. The findings ranked Utah No. 2 (tie) for unemployment rate, No. 27 (tie) for change in unemployment from 2015-19, and No. 28 for per capita gross domestic product. The top-ranked state is Massachusetts. The worst-ranked state is Mississippi.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• Weber State University’s Department of Dental Hygiene is partnering with the University of Utah School of Dentistry to elevate learning opportunities for dental students and dental hygiene students and provide care to underserved populations in northern Utah. The partnership will allow both programs to extend comprehensive care to Utahns with limited access to dental services, such as low-income families, blind, disabled, 65 and older, those living in rural areas, and Medicaid patients. During the academic year, five dental students from the University of Utah and five dental hygiene students from Weber State will regularly visit the partnering campus to work in cross-disciplinary teams, providing patient care and simulating private dental practice. Interprofessional education focuses on teaching students how to provide team-based, collaborative care for better patient health.
• WGU Labs Inc., an affiliate of Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, has announced a product and market development agreement with education technology company MajorClarity. As part of the partnership, WGU Labs will develop content for interactive career simulations and provide support for MajorClarity’s market expansion. Rather than having students read about careers or watch videos, MajorClarity engages students with career “test drives” through career-specific projects designed to give students a deeper understanding of different careers to help them determine which roles might be a good fit.
EXPANSIONS
• Galileo Financial Technologies, a Salt Lake City-based payments platform company that powers fintech companies, financial institutions and investment firms, has opened offices in Mexico City. Tory Jackson, Galileo’s in-country manager for Mexico, has relocated from the company’s headquarters in Salt Lake City to lead the new office.
LAW
• The shareholders of Durham Jones & Pinegar, Salt Lake City, have elected nine attorneys to the firm’s board of directors: Mark L. Astling, Brad R. Cahoon, James D. Gilson, R. Blake Hamilton, Richard M. Hymas, Jeffrey M. Jones, N. Todd Leishman, Joshua E. Little and Kevin R. Pinegar. They will serve for one year, managing the firm. Astling is a member of the firm’s Business & Finance section and advises a variety of corporate and pass-through entities and individuals on federal and state tax issues. Cahoon is a member of the firm’s Litigation section. His practice focuses primarily on environmental law. Gilson is a member of the firm’s Litigation section. He practices general business litigation and represents businesses and individuals in white-collar criminal defense matters. Hamilton is a member of the Litigation section. He practices civil rights litigation and governmental entity defense. Hymas is a member of the firm’s Litigation section. His practice focuses on employment law and business litigation. Jones is a member of the firm’s Business & Finance section. His practice concentrates on corporate and securities matters. Leishman is a member of the firm’s Business & Finance section. His practice concentrates on corporate and business law. Little is a member of the firm’s Business & Finance section. He represents public and private companies in a broad range of corporate finance and business combination transactions, as well as providing general legal advice to public and private companies. Pinegar is a member of the firm’s Business & Finance section. His practice emphasizes corporate and securities law.
• Fabian VanCott, Salt Lake City, has elected its 2020 board of directors: Jason W. Hardin, James C. Waddoups, Joan M. Andrews, Nora K. Brunelle and Scott R. Sabey. The firm also appointed Kyle C. Jones as its new managing shareholder. Sabey and Jones are new members of the board. Hardin was elected president of the firm for the third year.
RECOGNITIONS
• Impartner, a Salt Lake City-based channel management platform company, has announced that Impartner PRM for Microsoft Dynamics 365 earned best new product award in the 2020 BIG Innovation Awards, presented by the Business Intelligence Group.
• Two Utahns have been named the state’s top youth volunteers of 2020 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Sydney Ward, 17, of Salem, and Owen Hughes, 13, of Bountiful, earned the award for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for four days of national recognition events. Ward was nominated by Salem Hills High School. Hughes was nominated by Bountiful Junior High School. Program judges also recognized for other Utahns as finalists: Ashlyn Anderson, 17, of Provo; Lily Hawkins, 18, of Salt Lake City; Kate Herbert, 18, of Lehi; and Brianna Smith, 17, of St. George.
RESTAURANTS
• HallPass, described as Utah’s first food hall, has opened at 153 S. Rio Grande St. in The Gateway in Salt Lake City. It has more than 11,000 square feet of communal dining and chef-driven fare. It features eight restaurants and two bars. It is open for dinner, with lunch service to follow soon. It is anchored by SkinnyFATS and includes Waffadopolis, Beer Zombies Tap Room & Beer Garden, Blaze of Thunder, Raining Ramen, CodSpeed, Hibachican, Colossal Lobster, Guac Pusher and a password-protected speakeasy.
RURAL UTAH
• The Utah Coal Country Strike Team, which serves Carbon and Emery counties by raising incomes and diversifying the economy, has awarded two $75,000 grants to Price City and Castle Dale City as part of its economic redevelopment initiative. The new funds support the Strike Team’s primary initiatives to assist with regional economic diversification and renew existing residential and commercial assets with programs such as downtown beautification, tourism infrastructure and other development priorities.
SERVICES
• The Bucker Co., Salt Lake City, has announced a partnership with Roger Armstrong and expanded its operations by opening an office in Newport Beach, California. The office will be known as Armstrong Buckner Insurance Services. The Buckner Co. now has eight offices in Utah, Idaho, Colorado and California. The brokerage provides insurance, employee benefits, bonds and risk management.
• Avetta, an Orem-based supply chain risk management company, has appointed Indy Chakrabarti as chief marketing officer and Aaron Wattam as chief human resources officer. Chakrabarti will lead the marketing and strategy efforts at Avetta. He has more than 15 years of experience working in the financial, technology and energy industries. Wattam is responsible for all people-related strategies for Avetta’s global employees. He has more than 25 years of human resources experience and has led people strategy and global human resources teams in technology, oil and gas, distribution and logistics, and manufacturing organizations.
• Assisted Living Locators has launched a franchise in Salt Lake City. Assisted Living Locators provides no-cost guidance in locating quality assisted living options — including in-home care, independent living, assisted living, memory care and retirement apartments — throughout south Salt Lake City, including the Murray, Holladay, Draper, Lehi and Provo areas. The company generates revenue from the referral fees paid by the providers in its network. The new franchise owner is Karen Hall.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Qualtrics, a Salt Lake City-based customer experience company, has appointed Brian Stucki to lead the Qualtrics CustomerXM business. He will be responsible for leading the global strategy, growth, delivery and operations of Qualtrics’ customer experience offerings. Stucki joined Qualtrics in 2015. He previously was head of global customer success. Prior to Qualtrics, he was a management consultant at Bain & Co. overseeing CX engagements for various global and Fortune 500 clients.
• Pluralsight Inc., a Farmington-based technology skills platform company, has appointed Angela Han as its first chief customer officer. Han will be responsible for expanding the global post-sale function for Pluralsight, including customer success, customer support and services. Han has nearly 20 years of customer success and services experience, most recently serving as chief customer officer at PlayerLync. She held a variety of executive roles focused on customer lifecycle management with several technology companies, including SendGrid, Ping Identity and Concur SAP.
• LingoTek, a Lehi-based translation technology company, has appointed Mark Hjerpe as chief revenue officer. Hjerpe has more than 20 years of enterprise localization and revenue management experience. He has lived, worked and led teams in Latin America, Asia and Europe. Prior to joining Lingotek, Hjerpe served as vice president of global sales and marketing at RWS Life Sciences.