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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
• The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) board, at its February meeting, approved a $152,000 cash rebate for Hadley Productions LLC for its production of “Best Christmas Ever,” a family feature expected to spend nearly $4.5 million in Utah. The production is expected to employ eight cast, 130 crew members and 265 extras. Principal photography is scheduled for March 14-April 15 in Salt Lake, Wasatch and Summit counties. The Go Utah summary of the plot is that “friendships are put to the test due to a boastful holiday newsletter.” The director is Mary Lambert. The producers are Brad Krevoy and David Wulf. In a prepared statement, Wulf said his team selected Utah “because of its incredible locations, strong and talented workforce, business-friendly environment, and the dedicated support of the [Utah] Film Commission and Office of Economic Opportunity.”
• ClubCorp, a Dallas-based owner-operator of private golf and country clubs, city and stadium clubs in North America, has named Dan Robinson the opening general manager of the Ken Garff Scholarship Club at Utah, a private business club and premier events venue located at the University of Utah’s Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Robinson spent nearly five years as director of premium for the Utah Jazz, where he was responsible for overseeing all private and membership experiences for Vivint Arena. Robinson also has experience in the hospitality and restaurant industries, including time as an area operations manager at Five Star North America, and has worked as a general manager of several national restaurant brands. Before moving into the hospitality industry, Robinson worked at various companies in the financial services industry, including as vice president of operations at JP Morgan & Chase Co’s Salt Lake City branch and as a senior manager of operations at Discover Financial Services. Robinson earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Western Governors University.
ASSOCIATIONS
• The Utah Black Chamber has released its first publication, Black Utah: Stories From a Thriving Community, the beginning of Black History Month. The book highlights black stories in Utah with interviews from dozens of people from different backgrounds and experiences sharing why Utah has a community for them and how they are thriving. The book aims to build connection, retention, and growth for Utah’s Black community by sharing stories that can inspire current and prospective black leaders. The book is available primarily through Amazon and will also be available in local outlets for a few weeks.
• The Utah Manufacturers Association (UMA) has announced the formation of the UMA Workforce Advisory Committee. Led by Megan Ware, director of workforce development, the committee will provide guidance as UMA develops its “Explore MFG” platform that will be a workforce focused site on topics such as education and training opportunities and connections, career opportunities, and mapping for prospective manufacturing employees and many other workforce topics.
COMMUNICATIONS
• The Draper City Council has approved an agreement allowing Google Fiber to provide high-speed, high-bandwidth Internet service to residents and small businesses in Draper. Construction to install infrastructure is expected to begin this spring, with completion anticipated in just over one year, barring any weather delays or unforeseen obstacles. Decisions about service areas and fees will be solely determined by Google Fiber.
CONTESTS
• The Women’s Business Center of Utah is giving away five $1,000 grants, thanks to the Nasdaq Foundation, to Utah small businesses owned and operated by women to help grow the UtahWomenOwned.com business directory. Women owners simply sign up for the directory, enter the giveaway and share on their social media through Feb. 28. Women already on the directory do not need to apply again. The grant giveaway is open to women business owners, solopreneurs, home-based businesses, e-commerce, brick-and-mortar locations, and franchisees based in Utah. Details are at (801) 364-3631.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Utah is ranked No. 39 on a list of states that are the “most optimistic” about 2022, compiled by SolitaireBliss.com. The average Utahn ranks their 2022 optimism outlook at just 5.7 out of 10. Nationally, the figure is six out of 10. Rhode Islanders are the most optimistic, at 7.2, while Maine residents are the least, at 4.5. SolitaireBliss.com also asked Utahns about what aspects they are most optimistic about for the year ahead, and the results were as follows: improving their mental health and brain sharpness, 29 percent; seeing more friends and family in person, 25 percent; an improved economy/better personal finance, 25 percent; and progress in the fight against COVID, 21 percent.
• The average Salt Lake City resident pays $1,813 per month on the 10 most common household bills, according to bill-pay application Doxo. The average in the U.S. is $2,003. Doxo looked at more than 4,000 towns and cities, breaking down bill payments, including those for utilities, auto loans, cable bills and more. The average Salt Lake City resident spends $1,442 for their mortgage; $1,046 for rent; $400 for auto loans; $254 for utilities; $91 for health insurance; $138 for auto insurance; $84 for cable and Internet; $79 for mobile services; $71 for alarms and security; and $78 for life insurance.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 32 on a list of “2022’s Best Cities for Movie Lovers,” compiled by Lawn Love. It considered cities with plenty of cinemas and screening events, affordable movie tickets and excellent streaming potential, as well as cities’ community interest in movies, filmmaking and local film festivals. The top-ranked city is New York City. The No. 193 city is Toledo, Ohio. Details are at https://lawnlove.com/blog/best-cities-movie-lovers/.
• Cache County leads all Utah Counties as the “best place to get a mortgage,” a list compiled by SmartAsset. It analyzed data on mortgage approval rates, interest rates, average five-year borrowing costs and property taxes. Cache County was followed, in order, by Washington, Utah, Juab, Morgan, Wasatch, Box Elder, Davis, Tooele and Summit counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/mortgage/utah-mortgage-rates#utah/bestMortgageMarkets-4.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 44 on the Smart City Mobility Index (populations between 600,000 and 3 million), compiled by parking technology company easyparkgroup.com. It used data to assess how successfully cities around the world are employing breakthroughs in mobility to enhance the lives of their people and meet sustainability targets while adapting to the post-pandemic landscape. Copenhagen is top-ranked for that population category. Barcelona leads for populations over 3 million. Lund, Sweden, leads for populations between 50,000 and 600,000. Details are at https://easyparkgroup.com/studies/cities-of-the-future/en/.
• The average Utahn said in a recent survey that they would need to own more than $5.1 million worth of assets in order to achieve “millionaire” financial status. The survey was conducted by online gaming site Solitaired.com. The U.S. average was $5.47 million. The highest level was California, at nearly $6.3 million. The lowest was Connecticut, at $4.45 million.
EXPANSIONS
• Kiln, a Utah-based flexible-office and coworking brand, will open a new location at the Eagle View Landing development in Meridian, Idaho, in partnership with Ball Ventures Ahlquist and Ball Ventures. Kiln Meridian will occupy 50,000 square feet on the top two floors of a Kiln-branded building. Kiln has five locations in Utah and Colorado and four in development. Its flex-office space is designed to accommodate individuals and teams of two to 50. The Meridian location will have room for more than 600 people. Eagle View Landing is a 73-acre mixed-use development that will feature Class A office, hospitality, multifamily living, retail and corporate campus spaces.
• England Logistics, a Salt Lake City-based freight brokerage firm, has opened an office in Nashville, Tennessee. The company offers non-asset-based transportation solutions, including full truckload services, intermodal, dry, and temp-controlled LTL, parcel and complete supply chain management. It has office nationwide.
GOVERNMENT
• The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced that Utah will receive nearly $5.8 million, part of nearly $725 million available in fiscal 2022 to 22 states and the Navajo Nation, to create high-paying union jobs and catalyze economic opportunity by reclaiming abandoned mine lands (AML) as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The law allocates a total of $11.3 billion in AML funding over 15 years, which will help communities eliminate dangerous environmental conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining.
• The Bear River Water Conservancy District is among 13 projects in five states approved by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to receive $20.5 million in grants to build long-term drought resiliency. The Bear River district will received $2 million. The 13 projects will leverage more than $66.7 million in non-federal funding to complete projects in five states. The bureau may select additional drought resiliency projects once the regular fiscal year 2022 appropriations have been received.
HEALTHCARE
• Pur Life Medical, based in Highland, recently opened its flagship clinic in Lehi, Utah. The brand now has clinics in Utah and Florida with many others soon to open, and plans to expand to all 50 states, the company said. The Pur Life concept is focused on identifying and restoring proper cell and system functions to assist the body in healing itself.
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE
• Dynamic City Capital, a Provo-based real estate investment firm focused on acquiring and developing hotels, has acquired the Hyatt Place San Francisco Downtown. The amount was not disclosed. The 12-story hotel features 230 guest rooms, 4,300 square feet of retail space, a lobby bar and a 24/7 market. It opened in January 2019.
INSURANCE
• Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah has selected Dr. Donna Milavetz as its executive medical director. She will collaborate with local healthcare providers and employers to enhance the quality of care and innovative offerings for Regence members statewide. Milavetz will also lead initiatives aimed at decreasing healthcare expenses and oversee medical cost stewardship activities for the health plan. Prior to joining Regence, Milavetz served in vice president roles at Steward Health Care. She founded and led Onsite Care Inc. as its chief executive officer and chief medical officer for more than a decade. Milavetz also spent over 25 years in medical directorship, consultant roles and clinical practice.
INTERNATIONAL
• World Trade Center Utah, in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and the U.S. Small Business Administration, will lead a delegation of Utah’s top outdoor companies to represent the state at the OutDoor by ISPO trade show in Munich, Germany, June 12-14. Utah outdoor companies can apply to participate through March 15. Eligible companies can apply for STEP Grant funding to help cover travel costs. WTC Utah provides a booth for Utah companies to exhibit at the show. Outdoor companies who travel to ISPO have the opportunity to showcase their products to international buyers and expand their global footprint. Details are available by emailing jglenn@wtcutah.com by March 15.
INVESTMENTS
• Superconductive, a Cottonwood Heights-based company providing an open source tool for data quality, has raised a $40 million Series B funding round led by Tiger Global, with support from Index, CRV and Root Ventures, bringing total funding to $64.5 million. The new funds will be used to accelerate the continued investment in open source and its community, development and launch of a first commercial product, and key hires across the organization, the company said. It also said it has hired Lawrence Bruhmuller as vice president of engineering. Bruhmuller has held executive engineering leadership roles for over 12 years focused on growth-stage technology startups. Most recently, he held chief technology officer and vice president of engineering roles at Pave, Optimizely and WeWork.
• BeatBread, a Salt Lake City-based music funding platform, has completed a seed round led by Deciens Capital, extending beatBread’s fundraising to date to over $34 million. Deciens Capital was joined by existing and new investors, including Afore Capital, Angel Ventures, IAG Capital Partners, Mucker Capital, Pandeavor Ventures, Octane Lending CEO Jason Guss, Pier Capital and Westrie Capital. Since its launch in November 2020, beatBread has made more than 300 advances to artists and labels across multiple genres, six continents and a broad range of career stages. Artists receive funding in exchange for a limited share of existing catalog revenues, with options also available for advances against unreleased music.
LAW
• TraskBritt has hired K. Russell Griggs and David T. Ostler. Griggs previously was a patent engineer intern and a software development intern. Griggs received his J.D from Brigham Young University and earned a bachelor of science in computer engineering from the University of Utah. Ostler received his J.D from the University of Utah and a B.S. in computer science from Brigham Young University.
NONPROFITS
• VentureCapital.Org, a Utah-based nonprofit organization that assists, coaches and provides mentoring to entrepreneurs raising investment capital, has elected Marcia Nelson as chairman-elect of its Board of Trustees. She began her new vice chairman position Jan. 1 and will become VCO’s chairman of the Board of Trustees on Jan. 1, 2023. Nelson is managing director and registered representative at Sharenett LLC, founding partner of Triple C Advisory, and board advisor for Intuitive Funding. She has 20 years of experience working with family offices and their advisors, building and maintaining a network of family offices and private investors. She serves as chairman of the board at ACG-NY (Association for Corporate Growth); advisory board member at Assure; advisory board member of Sheryl Grant Enterprises; and is a member of the Investment Committee for University Impact, a donor-advised fund. She is a former member of the board at Women in the Boardroom and was the founder and CEO of Deals & Divas, which brought together women entrepreneurs, advisors and investors. Her education includes an undergraduate degree from Southern Utah State College. VentureCapital.Org also has welcomed several people to its Board of Trustees: Maile Keone, president and CEO, Listen Technologies; Jim Divver, senior vice president of government relations, Zions Bank; Bill Kirth, partner, Rectify Partners; and Chris Badger, partner, CFO NOW.
• EyeCare4Kids, a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit provider of vision screenings, eye exams and eyeglasses for underprivileged children, has announced that Ashok Kuruganti has joined its board. Kuruganti is a senior strategic account executive at Pluralsight. He started his career in enterprise Software at Oracle in 1991 and served as senior vice president and CRO at software technologies companies.
• The Younique Foundation, a Lehi-based nonprofit committed to eliminating child sexual abuse and its lasting impacts, has rebranded as Saprea. Company officials say the rebrand allows the nonprofit to better communicate the breadth and growth of its services (healing, prevention, and awareness), reach new global audiences, and facilitate additional partnerships under one brand. In seven years, the nonprofit has served 14.2 million people through its in-person and online resources.
PHILANTHROPY
• The Miracle of Agriculture Foundation’s “Farmers Feeding Utah” campaign recently held a “Military Miracle Project” and delivered free food to more than 600 families in northern Utah and the Utah National Guard’s Camp Williams. The Feb. 14 event, in collaboration with U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, U.S. Rep. Blake Moore and the Major Brent Taylor Foundation, took place at the Weber State University Davis campus in Layton. The Camp Williams event takes place Feb. 22. The Miracle of Agriculture Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was set up as the charitable arm of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. Additional logistical and in-kind support has come from several partners, including Utah State University (USU) and its Hunger Solutions Institute & Create Better Health program, and the Utah Department of Agriculture & Food (UDAF). Additional donations and contributions for the project have been made from The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints, Cal-Maine Foods of Delta, DairyWest and Farm Bureau Financial Services. Since the “Farmers Feeding Utah” campaign started in 2020, it has provided approximately 1.6 million pounds of food, with a retail value of approximately $3.5 million, to more than 40,000 residents in Utah.
• Go Solar Group, a Salt Lake City-based residential solar company, and nonprofit affiliate 1heart1mind have released a 2022 impact statement, showing progress made in Uganda toward self-reliance, education, healthcare and clean energy production. For each residential solar system Go Solar installs in the U.S., the company works with 1heart1mind to microfinance the solar-based equivalent of each U.S. installation for Uganda families. In 2021, the initiatives provided 226 solar lights for 179 households, which have yielded 1,700 additional study hours to further Ugandan children’s secondary education. With a total of 161 students, 70 now attend the boarding school and 41 have received academic scholarships. To date, these improvements can be linked to the earning of 23 new living-wage jobs. After the Suncrest Clinic opened in mid-year 2021, it provided needed medication for 95 patients, 35 of whom received charitable care at no cost. With help from Zion Microfinance Ltd., residents have logged 135 active loans each month, 25 of which, on average each month, are new. This brings the total loan amount deployed in 2021 to $958,561.
REAL ESTATE
• C.W. Group, a Centerville-based real estate development company, has named Darlene Carter as CEO. C.W. Group comprises four divisions: C.W. Land Co., C.W. Urban, Cole West Home and Cole West Development. It is focused on developing master planned communities, residential lots, urban in-fill communities and mixed-use properties throughout Utah. Carter previously was president of C.W. Urban, a division of C.W. Group, from 2017-2020. Carter was named president of C.W. Group, the parent company of C.W. Urban, in 2020. Carter previously served in various leadership roles at Oakwood Homes, Henry Walker Homes and Woodside Homes. Carter joined Colin Wright, founder of C.W. Group, in 2010 at the inception of Henry Walker Homes and transitioned into a new role in 2017 as division president of C.W. Urban. Carter earned a bachelor of arts in journalism and communications from Utah State University, has served as a licensed real estate agent and broker since 2005 and is currently enrolled in the MRED program at the University of Utah.
• A development venture consisting of Patrinely Group and USAA Real Estate has leased 4,600 square feet to Sol Agave adjacent to 650 Main, at the corner of Main Street and 600 South in Salt Lake City. 650 Main is a 10-story, 332,000-square-foot, Class A office and retail development. Sol Agave is a full-service restaurant serving Mexican fare. It will fully occupy the free-standing retail building adjacent to the 650 Main office building beginning in the fourth quarter. Founded in 2014, the restaurant also has a location in American Fork. Patrinely Group was represented by Tanner Olson with Legend Partners and Sol Agave was represented by Luke Mendenhall of WPI Enterprises.
RECOGNITIONS
• Montage Deer Valley, Park City has been named the “Best Hotel in Utah 2022” by U.S. News & World Report. It ranked more than 35,000 hotels and resorts around the world based on three components: reputation among professional travel experts, guest reviews and hotel class ratings. The remaining top-five hotels in Utah are No. 2 Ledge at Blue Sky (Auberge Resorts Collection), Wanship; No. 3 Stein Eriksen Lodge, Park City; No. 4 St. Regis Deer Valley, Park City; and No. 5 Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City.
• Mark Rogers has been named to the 2022 Channel Chiefs list, compiled by CRN, a brand of The Channel Co. It is the second consecutive year for Rogers to make the Channel Chiefs list, in which CRN editors recognizes top IT channel vendor executives who continually demonstrate expertise, influence and innovation in channel leadership. Rogers is senior vice president of alliances and strategic relationships at Impartner.
• Rob Sergent, Alpine Distilling founder and distiller, has received the honorary recognition as a “Kentucky Colonel” by Kentucky Gov. Andy Bashear. The commission of Kentucky Colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the governor of Kentucky and it recognizes an individual’s noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to our community, state and nation. Alpine Distilling is in Park City.
• Pluralsight Inc., a Draper-based technology workforce development company, has been named a “Leader” in the “IDC Marketscape: U.S. IT Training Vendor Assessment” report. The IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. Pluralsight was recognized for several strengths. The Pluralsight excerpt from the report can be downloaded at https://learn.pluralsight.com/reports/idc-marketscape.
RETAIL
• Ross Dress for Less, based in California, will open a new store at the corner of 700 East and 200 South, Salt Lake City, on March 5. The 23,000-square-foot store is located in the 2nd and 7th Marketplace Shopping Center. With this opening, Ross will operate 25 stores in Utah and a total of 1,631 locations.
SCHOLARSHIPS
• AES, whose Clean Energy business unit is based in Salt Lake City, is funding a scholarship program in Utah. The program will provide funding to cover tuition for 20 Utah residents to enroll in solar workforce training courses. AES is partnering with Solar Energy International (SEI), a solar training and educational nonprofit, for the program to stimulate increased participation in the solar industry. Utah residents can apply for scholarship support here: www.solarenergy.org/scholarship-funds.
TECHNOLOGY
• Lucidpress, a Salt Lake City-based provider of design and brand templating software for businesses, has hired Mike Wille as head of growth and Lauren Hamberg as head of product marketing. Wille will spearhead optimizing the product experience for current and future customers. He has years of experience in marketing and growth in startups, including Localfluence and Capshare (now Morgan Stanley). Hamberg will refine the go-to-market strategy while being the voice of the market in the product and the voice of the product in the market. She has many years of product marketing experience, most recently serving as a director of product marketing at Pluralsight.
• ClickUp, a San Diego-based productivity platform company, has opened an office in Salt Lake City. It is the company’s second U.S. location and fourth in the world. ClickUp plans to add more than 250 employees to its Salt Lake City division over the next three years across sales, customer service, marketing and engineering. The office will be led by Howard Baik, a former executive at Instructure, InsideSales.com and Ivanti with more than a decade of experience in the Silicon Slopes.
• Max Connect Digital, Draper, has promoted three people to senior vice president: Jeff Pearson, Kelly Holladay and Ryan Roblyer. Pearson, senior vice president of healthcare and retail, has more than 20 years of experience leading national retailers such as Lids Sports Group with brick-and-mortar and e-commerce success. Holladay, senior vice president of homebuilding and higher education, has more than seven years of specialization experience within his assigned industries. Roblyer, senior vice president of automotive, has been instrumental in positioning Max Connect among automotive dealerships.
• Impartner, a Salt Lake City-based channel management platform and partner relationship management provider, has promoted Brad Pace, currently the vice president of operations, to chief operating officer. He will oversee general operations, including customer success, customer support, implementation and project management, IT, and training and documentation. Pace has been with Impartner for six years and has been accountable for ensuring that Impartner customers benefit from Impartner’s channel management solutions, sales operations and acquisition integration. Before joining Impartner, Pace held executive sales, customer service and analytics roles at EMC, most recently serving as vice president of sales operations and vice president of support operations for one of EMC’s global operating units. Pace has also held leadership positions in the management consulting industry for A.T. Kearney. Pace’s education includes a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah.
TRAVEL & TOURISM
• Royal Caribbean Group, based in Florida, has announced the appointment of former Utah Gov. Michael O. Leavitt to its board of directors. Leavitt is a three-time elected governor of Utah and former secretary of health and human services during President George W. Bush’s administration. Leavitt co-chaired the Healthy Sail Panel, a group of experts across disciplines tasked with collaboratively developing recommendations for cruise lines to advance their public health response to COVID-19, improve safety, and return to a safe resumption of operations. The recommendations were adopted by the entire cruise industry and submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in response to a CDC request for public comment to inform future public health guidance and preventative measures relating to travel on cruise ships. Leavitt is the co-chairman of Health Management Associates, a healthcare consulting firm, and chairman of Leavitt Equity Partners, a private equity fund. His experience also includes serving as chief executive of The Leavitt Group and serving as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He currently serves on the board of directors of American Express. Royal Caribbean Group has a fleet of 61 ships traveling to more than 800 destinations around the world.