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DIRECT SALES
• Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., Provo, has appointed Mark Lawrence as chief financial officer, effective March 27. Lawrence has 20 years of operational and financial experience. He recently served as the head of finance for Amazon-Lab126, and he has held senior financial leadership roles at Polycom, Brocade and Vivint Smart Home. His education includes a bachelor’s degree in political science from Brigham Young University. Lawrence will replace Ritch Wood, who will become the company’s chief executive officer.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Nutraceutical International Corp., Park City, has declared a quarterly cash dividend on the company’s common stock. The dividend of 12.5 cents per share is payable April 5 to stockholders of record March 20.
GOVERNMENT
• Val Hale, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), has appointed Benjamin Hart as deputy director. Hart previously served two years as managing director of urban and rural business services at GOED. With this new appointment, he will oversee corporate recruitment and international trade, along with several additional programs. Prior to GOED, Hart was director of employer support initiatives at the Utah Department of Workforce Services, served as economic development and community development block grant administrator at Layton City, and worked in business underwriting at Zions Bank. Hart received a Master of Science in Economics at the University of Utah.
HEALTHCARE
• Intermountain Healthcare has appointed Robert W. Allen as senior vice president and chief operating officer. He currently is vice president of clinical and outreach services. Beginning April 1, Allen will lead a team of regional vice presidents and key leaders focused on healthcare delivery across Intermountain. Allen has worked at Intermountain Healthcare for more than 22 years, with responsibilities including hospitals, outreach, TeleHealth, Life Flight, homecare, clinical support services and environment of care services. He also has held leadership positions at healthcare organizations in Colorado, Wyoming, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Allen received his bachelor’s degree in operations management from Brigham Young University and his MBA from Utah State University. He succeeds Laura S. Kaiser, who is leaving Intermountain to take the position of president and CEO of SSM Health in St. Louis, Missouri.
• Med One Capital, Sandy, has changed its name to Med One Group to “fully represent their unique services,” the company said. It also simplified its logo and launched a new website. The company has been in business nearly 30 years and has served over half of the nation’s acute care hospitals and other healthcare facilities with leasing, rental, sales and service solutions.
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE
• Auberge Resorts Collection, based in California, has been selected to manage The Lodge at Blue Sky, a contemporary luxury resort under development near Park City. The resort will be built at Blue Sky Utah, a 3,500-acre development. The Lodge at Blue Sky will have 46 rooms and suites and a camp with four luxury tents. Construction is expected to begin this month. Blue Sky is owned by Mike Phillips, founder of Phillips Edison & Co., and operations are led by Blue Sky COO Stuart Campbell.
INSURANCE
• NFP, an insurance broker and consultant, has hired Mark Brown as chief financial officer of the company’s western region. He will be responsible for overseeing and directing the fiscal functions of the region, including the development and monitoring of related metrics and controls, as well as be evaluating and developing internal and external reporting resources and systems. Brown previously was the vice president and CFO for Select Health. He holds a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from Brigham Young University.
INVESTMENTS
• Innovative Flexpack LLC, Springville, has been provided a new $13.4 million senior credit facility from MB Business Capital, a division of MB Financial Bank NA. The credit facility will be used to fund working capital needs to support continued growth of the business, MB said. Innovative Flexpack is the largest supplier of custom single-serve tear-top pouches.
MANUFACTURING
• ZAGG Inc., Salt Lake City, has appointed Chris Ahern as president of Mophie, the company’s mobile battery case brand. Ahern joined ZAGG as managing director for the international business unit in 2014, and was promoted to president of the international business unit in June 2016. He has more than 19 years of experience in sales leadership, sales operations and supply chain management in multinational environments. Prior to joining ZAGG, Ahern served as sales operations director for Dell Products Europe.
• Biomerics, a Salt Lake City-based medical device contract manufacturer, has launched a new Biomerics Advanced Extrusion division. It will be based in the company’s facility in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which already is home to Biomerics Advanced Catheter and Biomerics Advanced Laser. The new division will specialize in the creation of next-generation extrusion and braid solutions for the vascular, coronary, electrophysiology, CRM and interventional radiology medical device markets. The division will be led by Larry Alpert, who has more than 30 years of experience in medical extrusion.
OUTDOOR PRODUCTS/RECREATION/SPORTS
• Utah’s ski resorts have posted estimated closing dates for the 2016-17 season. They are March 19 for Nordic Valley; March 26 for Cherry Peak; April 2 for Eagle Point, Sundance and Beaver Mountain; April 9 for Powder Mountain; and April 16 for Brian Head, Snowbasin, Park City, Deer Valley, Solitude, Brighton and Alta. Snowbird has yet to set a closing date.
PHILANTHROPY
• “Love UT Give UT,” a 24-hour online giving event, is set for March 30. It is hosted by the Community Foundation of Utah and presented by Mark Miller Subaru. The goal is to raise $1.7 million for Utah nonprofits and schools. In its four years, the event has raised over $4.2 million for hundreds of Utah charities and schools. The web platform at www.loveUTgiveUT.org has opened for donations and culminates in a 24-hour day of giving March 30. Anyone donating through the web portal will be eligible to win a three-year lease on a 2017 Subaru Impreza.
• Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. (PRMI), Salt Lake City, recently hosted a local book drive in which 400 books were donated to the James R. Russell (JRR) Head Start center in Rose Park. In addition to the local book drive, PRMI employees volunteered to read with the children at JRR on National Read Across America Day on March 2. PRMI also gifted each of the 225 students a book to take home and provided the teachers at the Head Start center with new items for each of its classrooms.
• Gunnison Valley Hospital and Health Catalyst, Salt Lake City, have announced a partnership. The pro bono arrangement will start with labor and delivery improvement initiatives, with the goal of reducing the primary Cesarean delivery rate (births to women without a previous Cesarean) below the hospital’s average of 14 percent. The national average is 21.8 percent. The hospital also has a goal to decrease the composite neonatal complication rate. More outcomes improvement work will follow as those initial goals are accomplished.
• Sampleminded, Salt Lake City, has announced that Christina Goleman, vice president of business development, will travel on a 13-day humanitarian visit to South Africa as part of a partnership with South Africa Cares for Life, a South African-based nonprofit focused on “changing the destiny of South African children.” Goleman will travel to Pretoria as part of a six-person American team that will deliver children’s clothing and daily care items to SA Cares for Life’s ABBA House orphanage, as well as meet with local nonprofit and community leaders to develop strategies for increasing support for SA Cares for Life programs. Upon her return, Goleman will create communications and partnership strategies to expand the reach and resources for the humanitarian organization.
RECOGNITIONS
• Lesa Francis has been named to the 2017 Staffing Industry Analysts’ annual North American Staffing 100 list of notable influencers in the industry. Francis is president and chief executive officer of Supplemental Health Care, Park City. It is the fourth time for Francis to make the list, which is in its sixth year. Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) is a staffing and workforce solutions advisor.
• Seven Utahns have been named to the “Forces Under 40” list by Direct Selling News. The award recognizes leaders who have worked their way up the corporate ladder and are shaping the future of the direct sales industry. The Utahns are Jina Anson, director of brand management, LifeVantage; Ian Chandler, chief sales officer, ARIIX; Ryan Gagon, vice president of human resources, 4Life; Amy Haran, vice president of communications, USANA; Nick Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Nu Skin; Trevor Thatcher, corporate controller, LifeVantage; and Dan Whitney, vice president of ethics and market expansion, USANA.
• Cushman & Wakefield Commerce has announced that Kip Paul has received the firm’s annual President’s Award. Paul is executive director of investment sales in Salt Lake City. He joined the company nearly 30 years ago and has handled more than 1,000 transactions valued at more than $4 billion in his career.
• N-Hance Wood Refinishing, Logan, is ranked No. 57 in the Fastest-Growing Franchises list compiled by Entrepreneur magazine. The list features 100 companies with the greatest franchise unit growth in North America, based on data submitted for Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 ranking. The ranking is based on each company’s net franchise-unit growth in the U.S. and Canada from July 31, 2015, to July 31, 2016. N-Hance specializes in kitchen cabinet and hardwood floor refinishing.
RETAIL
• The Natural Grocers store at 10622 S. Redwood Road, South Jordan, will open March 15. The 15,000-square-foot store is the companies seventh store in Utah. Founded in Colorado in 1955, Natural Grocers has more than 3,000 employees and operates 133 stores in 19 states.
SERVICES
• ZRG Partners has hired Mark Cusick as president of Provo-based Orca Talent, which is focused on sales force hiring and productivity. Cusick has more than 25 years of sector experience. In addition to being one of the founding partners of ZRG Partners in 1999, he has founded several successful companies in commercial finance, real estate and the healthcare fields.
• Shannon & Wilson Inc. has hired Corbett Hansen as a geotechnical engineer and senior associate. He is based in Salt Lake City and will develop a branch office for the company in Utah. Corbett has more than 18 years of experience with geotechnical and geological projects ranging from small pavement designs to billion-dollar design-build highway projects. He has worked extensively on design-build proposal and project efforts for the Utah Department of Transportation.