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ASSOCIATIONS

• The South Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce has announced changes to its executive committee for 2020. The committee consists of Gregg McDonough, Alphagraphics, chair; Juli Miller, Smart Smiles, vice chair; Rick Taggart, American Funds & Trusts, treasurer; Gina Harris, Cytozyme, secretary; Kristy Chambers, Columbus Community Center, past chair; and Gary Birdsall, president and CEO of the South Salt Lake Chamber. Directors are Anthony Bennett, BBSI; John Cameron, Cameron Construction; Jon Hertel, Hertel State Farm; Michael J. Holt, Brighton Bank; Mark Norton, Utah Grizzies and Maverik Center; Scot Olson, Les Olson Co.; Dan Starke, Alpine Promotions; Alexandra White, city of South Salt Lake; and Dick Taggart, American Funds and Trusts.

ENTERTAINMENT

• Splash Summit Waterpark has announced it is the new owner of the Seven Peaks Waterpark in Provo, which will be known as Splash Summit Waterpark. The waterslides at the 17-acre park will remain, along with the 500,000-gallon wave pool, eateries and more. Changes include the name, logo, tagline and the website www.splashsummit.com.

FITNESS

• Fit20 USA, based in Virginia, has announced today the signing of Alexander’s Fitness Co. LLC as regional developer for Utah. Jeff Alexander, owner of Alexander’s Print Advantage in Lindon, has joined with son, Charlie Alexander, and son-in-law Blake Rapier, who will lead the new venture. Rapier most recently was assistant medical director of Ardu Recovery Center in Orem. The fit20 concept features a 20-minute weekly session with a certified personal trainer. Fit20 has 152 studios worldwide.

HEALTHCARE

• RenalytixAI, a company focused on healthcare artificial intelligence, has announced a new clinical operation at University of Utah’s Research Park. The company said the commercial laboratory will enable a five-fold increase in maximum processing capacity for the company’s lead product, KidneyIntelX, which identifies individuals with chronic kidney disease who are at high risk of rapid kidney function decline and kidney failure. James McCullough, CEO, cited several reasons for the action, including world-class academic medicine, forward-looking municipal government, a friendly life sciences ecosystem, Salt Lake City’s outdoor lifestyle, low operation costs, a qualified pool of diagnostics personnel, and proximity to the Salt Lake City International Airport. The lab at 421 Wakara Way is expected to begin scaled operations in the second quarter. The 4,000-square-foot space will employ 20 to 25 people and brings an estimated capital expenditure of $500,000 in 2020 and 2021, with further investment in personnel and capital equipment expected as KidneyIntelX continues its national rollout. The Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development team and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah assisted the company in the project.

INVESTMENTS

• Pura, an Orem-based fragrance technology company, has closed a $4.4 million seed funding round. Kickstart Seed Fund led the round, with participation from James Harden, Jeff Levin, Break Trail Ventures, Manoel Amorim and Jeff Danley. The company said the investment will enable it to expand its already popular product line offering as well as broaden and accelerate product development and fragrance innovation.

LAW

• Parsons Behle & Latimer has hired Brent R. Baker, Jonathan D. Bletzacker and Aaron D. Lebenta as shareholders in the firm’s Salt Lake City office. Baker is a member of the firm’s litigation, securities and regulatory enforcement group. His practice concentrates on Securities Exchange Commission enforcement and regulatory defense, private securities litigation and government and independent investigations. Bletzacker is a member of the firm’s litigation, securities and regulatory enforcement group and assists clients in solving SEC-related issues and has successfully represented clients against the SEC in multiple federal district courts in the U.S. Bletzacker focuses his practice on representing and defending clients who include individuals, broker-dealers, investment advisors, compliance officers and registered representatives. Lebenta is a member of the firm’s litigation, securities and regulatory enforcement group and has represented clients in civil litigation, appellate work, internal investigations and defense of government and regulatory enforcement actions by the SEC, state and federal agencies for the past 15 years.

• Husch Blackwell has hired David R. Rudd as a partner in the firm’s Technology, Manufacturing & Transportation industry group at its newly opened Salt Lake City office. His practice focuses on complex corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and related financings for public and private companies and private investment funds. Rudd most recently was with Ballard Spahr. He has handled deals across an impressive range of transaction types, industries, and geographies, including the People’s Republic of China and numerous Latin American countries. Rudd has resided outside of the U.S. for much of his career, either on a full- or part-time basis, including over a decade’s residence in Mexico City. Rudd’s education includes a B.A. from Brigham Young University. He has served as a lecturer at the David Eccles Graduate School of Business at the University of Utah.

MEDIA/MARKETING

• KUER has named Elaine Clark as news director at KUER News and Andrew Becker as executive editor for special projects. The moves are among new leadership roles, new positions and a new investigative reporting initiative coming to KUER. The plan includes new staff for KUER News and external communications, as well as new responsibilities for the NPR member station’s current editorial leaders. Clark will oversee KUER’s daily newsroom, as well as the long-term vision and strategy for news coverage and platforms. She is currently the newsroom’s managing editor. From 2004-19, she was a producer on KUER’s flagship interview program “Radio West” with Doug Fabrizio. Becker will lead the development of a KUER-based investigative reporting initiative and expand the statewide bureau project he launched in 2019. As news director, he led an expansion of the KUER newsroom and opened two bureaus in southern Utah (a third will open in central Utah this summer). Prior to KUER, Becker worked for more than a decade as an investigative reporter with The Center for Investigative Reporting and the public radio program “Reveal.” KUER also announced that Ross Terrell joins KUER News as its new editor and Katherine Ellis is KUER’s new communications specialist. Terrell previously worked as a reporter and producer for Georgia Public Broadcasting, WABE Atlanta and Wisconsin Public Radio in Milwaukee. Ellis, with responsibilities for messaging the station’s news mission and initiatives to donors and listeners, has worked at the intersection of news and marketing for news analytics firm NewsWhip in New York and the American Press Institute in Washington, D.C. She graduated from the University of Utah.

NONPROFITS

• ETIM International and DDS (Distributor Data Solutions), Salt Lake City, have announced the relaunch of ETIM North America as a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit organization responsible for maintaining and promoting the adoption of ETIM standards in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in line with the worldwide data standards initiative. DDS, founding member of the ETIM North America association, is a technology and product content solution provider to the wholesale distribution industry. ETIM is the international data model for the standardization and classification of technical product data and is used by global manufacturers, distributors and end-users doing business in dozens of countries.

REAL ESTATE

• Parrish Square, 184 W. Parrish Lane, Centerville, has been sold by Tate Properties LLC to M Capital Partners, based in Los Angeles, for $4.35 million. The 27,469-square-foot, grocery-anchored shopping center is 100 percent leased. Bryce Blanchard, Newmark Knight Frank’s executive managing director of investment properties, represented Tate.

• Richmond American Homes of Utah Inc., a subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings Inc., has had the grand opening of Mira Bella, a community at 5866 W. Suffolk Lane, Herriman. The neighborhood offers nine ranch and two-story floor plans with two to seven bedrooms.

RECOGNITIONS

• The Salt Lake Chamber has announced that Jane Powers has been named the recipient of the second annual Lane Beattie Utah Community Builder Award. The award recognizes an inspirational individual who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to address a crucial community issue. Powers was selected by the Utah Community Builders Advisory Board, co-chaired by Clark Ivory, CEO of Ivory Homes; and Lisa Eccles, president and COO of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation. Powers’ experience includes working as an ER nurse at Intermountain Medical Center, co-founding Utah Hope Clinic (where she is clinical director) and opening the Maliheh Free Clinic. She will be recognized during the Giant in Our City event March 26 at the Grand America Hotel where Gov. Gary Herbert will be honored as the 41st Giant in Our City.

• The Utah Chapter of CCIM has announced that Vasilios Priskos has been named the 2020 Excellence Awards Hall of Fame recipient. The awards program honors professionals within Utah’s commercial real estate industry who exemplify the highest degree of business excellence. The event recognizes individuals spanning more than 15 specialties within the industry, the pinnacle award being the Hall of Fame, which highlights an institution or individual that has had a dramatic and valuable impact on the Utah commercial real estate market. Priskos, who died in 2017, was the founder of InterNet Properties Inc. and a real estate icon in downtown Salt Lake City. Upon earning a finance degree from the University of Utah, he purchased a building on 400 South in the downtown Central Business District, which is where his company is located today. He followed that up with many additional investments and served on multiple civic and public boards. In January an 8-foot bronze statue of Priskos was dedicated near the Eccles Theater to honor his legacy.

• The Governor’s Rural Partnership Board awards were presented during the Governor’s Office of Economic Development “Rural Day on the Hill” event at the Utah Capitol. Recipients of the 2020 Friends of Rural Utah award are Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Salt Lake City; and Shirlee Silversmith. The Next Generation Leader award was presented to Paul Hill.

• The Small Business Development Center program recognized its small-business clients of the year during the Governor’s Office of Economic Development “Rural Day on the Hill” event at the Utah Capitol. Award winners are Export Computer Exchange, Cedar City (a client of the SBDC at Southern Utah University); Soapcreek Natural Skin Products, Ephraim (Snow College); Traverse Tours & Travel, Kaysville (Davis Technical College); Lifestyle Homes, Logan (Utah State University Extension); Café Italiano, Moab (USU Moab); Therapeutix Mind & Body Inc., Ogden (Weber State University); NectarHR, Orem (Utah Valley University); Ponderosa Grill, Price (USU Extension); Puddle Jumpers Learning Center, Richfield (Snow College); Teaching It Right, Salt Lake City (Salt Lake Community College); Splash City Adventure Park, St. George (Dixie Technical College); Hometown Tire & Auto, Tooele (Tooele Technical College); and Papa John’s Pizza, Vernal (USU Extension).

• Montage Deer Valley in Park City is the only property in Utah to receive the AAA Five Diamond designation, which it has attained each year since 2013. The Five Diamond designation was awarded to 119 hotels and 67 restaurants in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. To earn the AAA Five Diamond designation, hotels and restaurants must pass an evaluation that includes unannounced, in-person inspections; anonymous overnight stays for hotels; and review by a panel of experts. Utah also had eight hotels and five restaurants receive the Four Diamond designation. The hotels are Blue Boar Inn, Midway; Hoodoo Moab, Curio Collection by Hilton, Moab; Goldener Hirsch Inn, Park City; Hotel Park City, Autograph Collection, Park City; St. Regis Deer Valley, Park City; Washington School House, A Luxury Boutique Hotel, Park City; The Inn at Entrada, St. George; Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City; and Kimpton Hotel Monaco, Salt Lake City. The Four Diamond restaurants are Apex Restaurant, Park City; Edge Steakhouse, Park City; Goldener Hirsch Restaurant, Park City; J&G Grill at St. Regis Deer Valley, Park City; and Riverhorse on Main, Park City.

• Two Utah companies are ranked on the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, compiled by Fortune: No. 51 Pluralsight, Farmington; and No. 73, CHG Healthcare, Midvale. Rankings are based on employees’ feedback. To determine the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, people analytics and consulting firm Great Place to Work analyzed responses from more than 650,000 employees at organizations across the country.

RETAIL

• The board of directors of Overstock.com Inc., a Salt Lake City-based online retailer, has appointed Robert Shapiro to the board. Shapiro replaces Kamelia Aryafar, who has resigned from her seat on the board and her executive role with the company. Aryafar’s executive duties have been absorbed by other members of Overstock’s leadership. Shapiro is the chairman and founder of Sonecon LLC, a firm advising businesses, governments and nonprofit organizations on economic and security-related matters. He also is a member of the boards of directors of Medici Ventures, Overstock’s wholly owned blockchain accelerator, and Medici Land Governance.

TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES

• Entrata, a Lehi-based real estate technology company, has announced it will fill more than 100 jobs openings in the 2020 first quarter. Departments with new and open positions include engineering, customer success, project management and marketing. Entrata serves more than 20,000 apartment communities across the U.S.

• Eden, a San Francisco-based workplace management platform company, has chosen Ogden as the location to build its new inside sales team. The company said it selected Ogden because of its access to a large talent pool, including graduates from Weber State University, as well as Ogden’s high quality of life, unique atmosphere and historic downtown. The company was assisted by the Economic Development Corporation of Utah on the project.