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ASSOCIATIONS
• The Utah Apartment Association, a nonprofit trade association, has changed its name to the Rental Housing Association of Utah. It represents and advocates for more than 3,500 rental operators in the state. It noted that while apartment communities are the leading component of Utah rentals, more than one-third of Utah rental units are single-family homes. The change “emphasizes that we serve not only apartment operators, but also rental housing operators of all types,” said Paul Smith, executive director.
BANKING
• WebBank, a Salt Lake City-based industrial bank, has appointed Eraj Asadi as senior vice president and head of asset finance. He will be responsible for leading the asset finance team in the expansion, management and strategy of the bank’s asset finance platform. Asadi joined WebBank in May 2022. He has more than 30 years of both sell- and buy-side asset and structured finance experience. Before joining WebBank, he worked at firms including Perella, Weinberg Partners, Brevet Capital, Rabobank, Lehman Brothers and CS First Boston.
DIVIDENDS
• GSBS Architects, Salt Lake City, has designated Soonju Kwon and Nicholas Palluth as principals. Both will participate in managing and growing GSBS and in mentoring the firm’s emerging professionals. A native of South Korea, Kwon joined the firm in 2009. She plays a pivotal role as a lead designer and helps manage the firm’s design resources. Her education includes a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Utah, where she also is an adjunct professor of architecture. Palluth is a project manager who joined GSBS in 2012. His projects range from municipal complexes to large office and manufacturing facilities.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Zions Bancorporation NA, Salt Lake City, has authorized a share repurchase for the first quarter of 2023 of up to $50 million and declared a regular quarterly dividend of 41 cents per common share. The dividend is payable Feb. 23 to shareholders of record Feb. 16. The board also declared regular quarterly cash dividends on the company’s various perpetual preferred shares. The dividend on series A, G and J shares are payable March 15 to shareholders of record March 1. The dividend on the Series I shares is payable June 15 to shareholders of record June 1.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• The average Utah traveler would opt to drive for six hours and 44 minutes rather than take a one-hour flight, according to a study by FamilyDestinationsGuide.com. It studied how far travelers across the country would be prepared to drive to avoid airports chaos. Almost half of those surveyed nationally say they have put off air travel until the current disruptions have been sorted. Seventy-four percent said they are more likely to roadtrip this summer, rather than fly to a typical vacation destination. Details are at https://familydestinationsguide.com/driving-vs-delays-survey/.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 70 on a list of “Dirtiest Cities in America,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared over 150 of the biggest U.S. cities across four categories: pollution, living conditions, infrastructure, and consumer satisfaction. The top-ranked city is Houston. The No. 152 city is Virginia Beach, Virginia. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/dirtiest-cities-in-united-states/.
• Utah is listed among the states with the best policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use, according to the American Lung Association’s 21st annual “State of Tobacco Control” report. The study evaluates state and federal policies on actions taken to eliminate tobacco use and recommends tobacco control laws and policies designed to save lives. Utah received “A” grades for funding for state tobacco prevention programs and strength of smoke-free workplace laws; a “B” grade for coverage and access to services to quit tobacco; and “” grades for level of state tobacco taxes and ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products. The association said Utah policymakers to focus on increasing tobacco taxes. Utah has not significantly increased its taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products since 2010 and should increase its tax by at least $1 per pack, it said.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• Registrations are being accepted until 5 p.m. March 17 (or until the cohort is full) for the Salt Lake Chamber’s Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Training Series spring 2023 cohort. The series, sponsored by Zions Bank and the Semnani Family Foundation, aims to provide newly designated or seasoned professionals in the field of diversity and inclusion access to thought leadership and program development. The training will be at the chamber from 3-5 p.m. on six Wednesdays from March 22 to May 31. The cost is $299. Questions may be directed to Melanie Budge at mbudge@slchamber.com or (801) 916-9239.
• Applications are being accepted until Feb. 10 for “Banking on Women,” a program providing women entrepreneurs with training, mentoring and microloans to start and build their businesses. It is offered by the Utah Microloan Fund, in partnership with Westminster College and Synchrony Bank. The next cohort begins Feb. 28 and continues on Tuesday nights through May 25, 6-9 p.m., at Westminster College. Details are available at https://www.utahmicroloanfund.org/bankingonwomen.html.
• Earnest, a San Francisco-based financial technology company aiming to make higher education accessible and affordable for everyone, has named Leanne Loveday-Smith as chief people officer and Meetesh Karia as chief technology officer. They help lead the company’s Salt Lake City office. Loveday-Smith has nearly 20 years of global human resources experience, including serving in senior talent management roles at Oura, Mixpanel, Acumen LLC and Appian Corp. Karia has more than 25 years of technology and product development experience, including 10 years at The Zebra as both the chief technology officer and the chief data officer.
ENERGY
• Young Living Essential Oils, Lehi, has announced that its distribution center in Spanish Fork has joined the SharedSolar project from RenewChoice, a Manti-based company working to make renewable energy more accessible and affordable for homes and businesses. Young Living said it will offset 80 percent of its power use at its distribution center with solar while also supporting local enterprise.
• RPlus Hydro LLLP, a Salt Lake City-based developer of large-scale pumped storage hydro projects, has announced the submission of a Final License Application to FERC for its 900-megawatt Seminoe Pumped Storage project in Carbon County, Wyoming. This is a milestone that only six pumped storage projects have reached in the United States since the year 2000, the company said. The project is expected to provide 10 hours of full-output energy storage capacity. The estimated construction cost is roughly $2.5 billion.
HEALTHCARE
• Nomi Health, an Orem-based direct healthcare company, has expanded its testing services in Utah to include ABC Test (influenza A/B and COVID-19) in one test at its Utah COVID testing sites. The services are available certain days at Ogden Regional Medical Center, 5475 S. 500 E., Ogden; Centennial Park, 5405 W. 3100 S., West Valley City; and Provo Towne Centre Mall, 1200 Towne Centre Blvd., Provo. The clinic also will continue to provide COVID-19 PCR and Antigen testing. Appointments can be made at https://patient.nomihealth.com/signup/7?referrer=nomi_lp_ut. Each location will also be providing tests without an appointment on a first-come, first-served basis.
• DiscGenics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on helping patients with degenerative diseases of the spine, has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to Injectable Disc Cell Therapy (IDCT). The RMAT designation is based on positive two-year clinical data from DiscGenics’s first-in-human study of IDCT, which is a single-injection discogenic progenitor cell therapy for the treatment of symptomatic lumbar degenerative disc disease. It is the only product intended for spine care to receive this distinction. The RMAT designation is a dedicated program designed to expedite the drug development and review processes for promising pipeline products, including cell therapies. The study demonstrated IDCT’s potential to safely increase disc volume and provide rapid, durable improvements in low back pain, function, quality of life and pain medication usage out to two years post-injection in patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease.
• Intermountain Layton Hospital recently had a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new ambulatory surgery center designed to enhance efficient and affordable out-patient surgical care in Davis County. Such centers specialize in surgical procedures that do not require overnight stays. The Intermountain Layton Hospital center will be nearly 18,000 square feet and include four out-patient operating rooms. The facility is designed to add two extra operating rooms in the future as need expands. Each out-patient operating room can handle 1,200 surgeries annually. The surgery center is scheduled to open in early 2024.
INVESTLMENT
• RET Ventures, a Park City-based venture capital firm focused on technologies for the multifamily, single-family rental and broader real estate asset classes, has appointed Monte Jones as platform partner and added three people to its investment team: Melissa Fagan, Jaymie Fung Bingham and Julia Lambert. Jones has nearly two decades of experience in the multifamily industry. For four years, he served as president of On-Site.com and was chief experience officer at RealPage. Fagan, an RET vice president, previously served as an investment associate for KSL Capital Partners and a private equity associate at Goldman Sachs. Bingham, an RET associate, previously was a private equity and venture capital associate at Ensign Peak Advisors. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University. Lambert, an RET association, previously was an investment associate at The Carlyle Group and Hanover Real Estate Investors (now Pacific Urban Investors).
LAW
• Mayer Brown has announced that Spencer Glende has joined its Salt Lake City office as a partner and a member of the firm’s Technology & IP Transactions practice and Emerging Companies & Venture Capital practice. Glende has extensive experience structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements, technology development agreements and strategic transactions. He also manages the intellectual property aspects of significant corporate transactions such as mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.
OUTDOOR RECREATION
• The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has announced that the 2023 Utah Outdoor Recreation Summit will take place Sept. 6-7 at Weber State University in Ogden. The event will include outdoor activities, a kickoff dinner, educational and inspiring content, an outdoor market, a stewardship project and networking opportunities. Early-bird registration is open until Feb. 19. The summit theme is “Outdoors: In Session.” Details are at utahoutdoorsummit.com.
PARTNERSHIPS
• Moxo, a California-based company offering client interaction workflow solutions, has announced a partnership with Filevine, a Salt Lake City-based company offering a legal work platform. The partnership aims to enhance customer experience through streamlined interactions and legal case management for law firms and their clients. Jointly, the companies will provide benefits to legal firms that include increased operational efficiency in client onboarding and servicing, exceptional client service experiences, and complete management oversight of case interactions that encompasses full visibility of all client activity related to a legal case.
• The Utah Jazz has announced a multi-year partnership with Aptive Environmental, a Provo-based pest control company, that will entail an Aptive-branded, upper-level premium club at Vivint Arena and branding throughout other spaces and during Jazz game broadcasts this season. Aptive also becomes the official pest control provider for the home to the Utah Jazz. Aptive provides pest control services to customers in 34 states.
• Real Salt Lake has partnered with commerce technology provider Shift4 to power payments at America First Field and Zions Bank Stadium. Shift4’s payment solution will enable guests to pay for all transactions within the stadiums using a single account, personalize offers and experiences, and provide multiple payment options. Shift4 will also power payments for event ticketing through a direct integration with SeatGeek.
• Clyde Companies, an Orem-based provider of construction products, services and land development in the Intermountain West, has partnered with SIS to implement Construct 365 in a continued effort to transform and modernize its business operations. SIS is a Microsoft Business Solutions partner and implementation consultant of digital solutions for commercial construction organizations.
• Medline, an Illinois-based healthcare manufacturer, distributor and solutions provider, and CareXM, Lehi, have announced an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement to service the home health and hospice industry. The partnership is focused on leveraging technology to relieve everyday challenges of patient triage to help reduce staff burnout. CareXM’s CXM Care Coordination Platform lets field nurses note if they’re available to take a patient call or if they’re busy with their current patient. CXM instantly routes the call to the provider’s next available nurse or to one of CareXM’s on-demand triage nurses to help the patient. Medline customers will receive preferred pricing on CareXM’s product offerings.
• Awardco, a Lehi-based company focused on recognition and rewards, has announced a partnership with inHealth Strategies, a California-based company focused on value-based healthcare, designed to encourage health initiatives within organizations and to incentivize and reward employees for participating in health and wellness programs. The partnership will provide Awardco clients the ability to easily create and manage data-driven health and wellness programs through inHealth, all while incentivizing and rewarding employees through the Awardco platform.
REAL ESTATE
• 1031 Crowdfunding, a real estate investing platform, has acquired two memory care and assisted living facilities in Lindon and St. George, representing the company’s first senior housing portfolio in Utah. Combined, they have 178 units totaling 156,473 square feet across 5.85 acres. Spring Gardens Lindon was built in 2016. Spring Gardens St. George was built in 2011. Both are operated by Avista Senior Living, which has 16 properties across five states under its management. 1031 CF has senior housing facilities in seven states.
• Dalfen Industrial, based in Dallas, has acquired a three-building, 183,792-square-foot industrial park in West Jordan known as the Desert Peak Logistics Center. Financial terms were not disclosed.
• Richmond American Homes of Utah Inc. has announced the grand opening of the two-story Wilshire model home at Black Ridge Cove in St. George. The Wilshire is one of two floor plans available at Black Ridge Cove.
• Ironwood Square, a 105,406-square-foot shopping center in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, has been sold by Ironwood Partners LLC to EMES Ironwood LLC. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction was announced by commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap. Kobe Furqueron, of Marcus & Millichap’s Salt Lake City office, represented the seller. Allan Friedman of Westlake Associates procured the buyer.
RECOGNITIONS
• Eleven Utah restaurants and chefs have been named semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation’s 2023 awards. The foundation is a nonprofit organization that celebrates and supports America’s food culture and advocates for high standards in dining. The semifinalists across 23 categories include Outstanding Restaurant, Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm, Boulder; Outstanding Bakery, Normal Ice Cream, Salt Lake City; Outstanding Hospitality, Manoli’s, Salt Lake City; Outstanding Bar, Post Office Place, Salt Lake City; Best Chef, Mountain Region, Paul Chamberlain and Logen Crew of SLC Eatery, Salt Lake City; Andrew Fuller of Oquirrh, Salt Lake City; Briar Handly of Handle, Park City; Young-Ho Kang and Peter Kim of The Angry Korean, South Jordan; and Ali Sabbah of Mazza, Salt Lake City. Winners will be announced June 5 in Chicago.
• Angel Studios, a Provo-based company that offers a platform enabling crowdfunding, creation and distribution of films and TV series, has been nominated for four 2023 Movieguide Awards. Nominations are for Epiphany Prize for both Most Inspiring Movie and Best Movie for Families (“The Chosen” Season 3, Episodes 1 and 2); Best Television for Families (The Wingfeather Saga,” Chapter 1); and Grace Prize for Most Inspiring Performance for TV (Jonathan Roumie, “The Chosen,” Episode 3.3). Winners will be announced Feb. 10 in Hollywood and will air on UPtv on Feb. 26.
RESTAURANTS
• Slapfish has announced a partnership with The Culinary Edge, a San Francisco-based food and beverage innovation consultancy, to bring Slapfish’s seafood kitchen concept to three of its restaurants in the Salt Lake City market. Those restaurants opened Jan. 30 at 10431 S. State St., Sandy; 3320 N. Digital Drive, Suite 130, Lehi; and 254 N. University Drive, Suite Q-010, Farmington. Slapfish was founded in 2011 and was acquired by Houston-based Mac Haik Enterprises in October 2022.
SERVICES
• Two Men and a Truck, a Michigan-based national franchised moving company, has opened an office at 4095 S. 3500 W., West Haven. Franchisee Kyle Norcutt’s location will offer local and long-distance moving as well as packing services. Norcutt is a multi-unit franchisee who joined Two Men and a Truck at age 23, opening his first location in Raleigh, N.C., in January 1998 before developing locations in Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Michigan and Salt Lake City. Currently, there are more than 405 locations and 3,000 trucks operating in 47 U.S. states in addition to Canada, Ireland and the U.K.
TECHNOLOGY
• Quotient Technology Inc., a Salt Lake City-based digital promotions and media technology company, has appointed Allison Metcalfe as chief revenue officer. Metcalfe has over 15 years of leadership experience in the advertising technology industry, most recently serving as chief revenue officer of Demandbase. Prior to that, she spent seven years at LiveRamp, most recently serving as senior vice president of go-to-market strategy, partnerships and productivity. She also held customer success roles at Jigsaw (acquired by Salesforce) and Equilar. The company also announced that Scott Raskin is stepping down as president and will remain in his role until March 31 to ensure a smooth transition. The company said it does not intend to fill the role of president at this time and will eliminate the role as part of the its continued business transformation.
• Weber State University is using 3D printing to advance its research on composite materials that support Northern Utah’s aerospace and defense ecosystem. The university’s Miller Advanced Research and Solutions Center near Hill Air Force Base recently upgraded and installed the Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing system, or CBAM-2, produced by 3D printer and materials company Impossible Objects. The machine prints composite materials that can then be used to design parts for a range of high-tech applications. The MARS Center opened in August, and the printer is among the first advanced manufacturing technologies to be installed and used at the new facility.
• Domo, an American Fork-based company offering a low-code data app platform for business intelligence and analytics, has announced that its Domopalooza 2023 customer event will take place virtually on March 29. In its ninth year, the event will include inspiring main-stage speakers, live roundtable discussions, workshops and in-depth Domo training sessions.