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CORPORATE
• PolarityTE Inc., a Salt Lake City-based biotechnology company, has entered into a securities purchase agreement with a single healthcare-focused institutional investor to sell more than 3,000 shares of Series A convertible preferred stock and more than 2,000 shares of Series B convertible preferred stock and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 16,393,445 shares of common stock. The investor was not identified. Each share of Series A and Series B preferred stock has a stated value of $1,000 per share and a conversion price of 30.5 cents per share. The warrants have an exercise price of 35 cents per share and will become exercisable six months following the date of issuance, and will expire two years following the original issuance date. Total gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting the placement agent’s fees and other estimated offering expenses, is approximately $5 million. H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering. PolarityTE said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• The University of Utah leads a list of “Best Value Colleges” in Utah, compiled by SmartAsset. It compared institutions across five metrics: scholarships, starting salary, tuition, living costs and retention rate. The UofU was followed, in order, by Utah State University, Weber State University, Southern Utah University and Westminster College. Details are at https://smartasset.com/student-loans/student-loan-calculator#Utah.
GOVERNMENT
• Submissions will be accepted at grants.gov through April 11 for continuation of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s “Boots to Business” training program. Eligible nonprofit organizations, state and local government agencies, private-sector firms and institutions of higher learning may submit proposals to provide synchronous online entrepreneurship training to transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses. The entrepreneurship training shall be a continuation of the training participants receive as part “Boots to Business.” The SBA’s Utah District Office has been providing the training at Hill Air Force Base for over a decade.
• The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) board, at its March meeting, voted to disburse of up to $500,000 to existing organizations that conduct mentorship programs for young entrepreneurs. No more than $250,000 will be available to any one entity. The board also approved a grant of up to $300,000 for Wasatch Business Finance Inc., a certified development corporation involved in U.S. Small Business Administration underwriting. Both amounts come from the Industrial Assistance Account.
HEALTHCARE
• Co-Diagnostics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based molecular diagnostic tests company, has added Dr. Carl Wittwer as chairman and Dr. Karen C. Carroll, Noriko Kusukawa and Anne Wyllie to its Scientific Advisory Board. Wittwer, cofounder and chief scientific officer of Idaho Technology/BioFire since 1990 and board chairman of BioFire during its acquisition by bioMerieux in 2014, is professor emeritus of pathology at the University of Utah. Carroll is a professor of pathology and director of the Division of Medical Microbiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the College of American Pathologists. Kusukawa is a 35-year veteran of biotech and healthcare industries and has worked in the United States and Japan directing strategic investments in new technology. Most recently, she served as vice president for ARUP Laboratories (University of Utah) and as adjunct associate professor of pathology. Wyllie is a research scientist and principal investigator of SalivaDirect at Yale University. She has worked with saliva as a clinical specimen for bacterial detection for almost 10 years.
HOSPITALITY
• Durbano Properties, a Layton-based owner/development company, is developing a 92-room Candlewood Suites hotel expected to be completed in early 2023 near Hill Air Force Base. The extended-stay prototype hotel is expected to bring at least a dozen new jobs to the area, three to four of them in management. Durbano is a real estate development firm specializing in hotels, multi-family housing, commercial and residential projects.
INVESTMENTS
• Sorenson Ventures, with offices in Lehi and California, has raised $150 million for its second fund, Sorenson Ventures II. The fundraise was oversubscribed and limited partners include foundations; endowments; fund of funds; a reinsurance company; a pension fund; and corporate, family office and individual technology investors. Founded in 2017, Sorenson Ventures has invested in over 30 early-stage companies. Sorenson Ventures is a partner firm of Sorenson Capital, a Lehi-based growth equity firm focused on enterprise software and security investments. While each firm raises its own funds and invests independently, the teams collaborate on investment theses; go-to-market analysis; and building extensive customer, partner and expert networks.
• IsoTruss Inc., a Springville-based engineering, design and manufacturing services provider, has raised $4.5 million in a Series A funding round. It was led by the S.G. Koenig Trust and follows a $3 million seed investment round led by the Sojitz Corp. of Japan in October 2020. The funds will be used to scale up operations and accelerate production of the company’s IsoTruss carbon fiber cell towers in support of 5G rollout by telecom infrastructure providers. The company will open its second manufacturing facility, in Pampanga, Philippines, this quarter to further ramp up production of IsoTruss towers. The new facility will allow the enterprise to meet increasing demand for 5G in the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia.
LAW
• Dorsey & Whitney LLP has hired Catherine Parrish Lake as a partner in its Trademark Practice Group in Salt Lake City. Her practice focuses on advising clients on acquiring, registering, maintaining and enforcing trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. She most recently was a partner in the technology and intellectual property group at Stoel Rives in Salt Lake City. Her education includes a B.A. from the University of Utah.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• BrandHive Inc., a branding, marketing and advertising agency with locations in Salt Lake City and two other locations, has appointed Laura Guthrie as vice president of marketing. Based in the company’s Utah offices, Guthrie joins BrandHive with a background that includes business leadership, marketing and sales development positions at Summit Hill Foods, JMH Premium, Red Mat Media, and multiple national and international health and wellness companies.
NONPROFITS
• Clark Planetarium, Salt Lake City, has selected Durand “Duke” Johnson as executive director. Johnson has more than 30 years of experience as a leader, educator and exhibits expert, including working for Clark Planetarium for 18 years and had served as associate director starting in 2017. He has worked and collaborated with planetariums and science centers throughout the country. Johnson was an adjunct astronomy professor for nearly 10 years, and he is an accomplished writer and award-winning photographer specializing in astrophotography. After a year of teaching, Johnson joined the museum-education field as an intern astronomer with Buehler Planetarium in Davie, Florida and was later hired as the director of SciWorks Planetarium in Salem, North Carolina, where he worked for 10 years until relocating to Utah for a position with Clark Planetarium in 2003.
• The American Land Title Association (ALTA) Good Deeds Foundation, a nonprofit, has awarded $6,000 to Family Promise Salt Lake in Salt Lake City. John Stewart, IT manager at Vanguard Title in Murray, nominated the nonprofit to receive the grant because of the organization’s efforts in homelessness prevention. Family Promise Salt Lake is one of 21 nonprofit organizations across the United States that received a grant in March from the foundation. To date, the foundation has awarded $423,000 to 69 organizations. The foundation was launched in 2020. It awards grants every year in March and October.
PARTNERSHIPS
• Suazo Business Center, in a partnership with the Mexican Consulate of Salt Lake City, Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, has incorporated DreamBuilder into its Ella Women’s Program, to help women convert dreams into enterprises that enrich families, communities and nations. DreamBuilder is an entrepreneurship training program started by Freeport-McMoRan in a partnership with the Thunderbird School of Global Management to create an effective curriculum that teaches women the fundamentals of owning their own business. Suazo Business Center is a business resource committed to the development and empowerment of the Latino/Hispanic and other underserved communities.
PHILANTHROPY
• The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and other agencies recently had Utah’s 36th Annual Scouting for Food Drive, which took place Jan. 31-Feb. 18. Utahns donated an estimated 98,312 pounds of food to help feed hungry families across the state. Four hundred BSA Cub Scout packs, Scouts BSA troops and Venturing Crews, 26 community food pantries and food banks, 37 Arctic Circle Restaurants, 20 Bank of Utah locations, 13 Red Hanger locations and 20 Young Automotive locations distributed 100,000 Scouting for Food bags in communities throughout Utah. Bank of Utah, Red Hanger Cleaners, Arctic Circle and Young Automotive locations served as donation sites throughout the food drive, and more than 50 local Smith’s Food & Drug stores allowed Scouts to collect donations from shoppers on Scouting for Food Day on Feb. 12.
REAL ESTATE
• The Kimball on Main Street in Park City has been sold by Columbus Pacific, based in southern California, to Stanton Road Capital LLC for an undisclosed amount. The Kimball on Main Street, at 639 Main St., is a 25,410-square-foot, fully leased, mixed-use retail asset with event and office space. JLL Capital Markets announced the sale and arranged acquisition financing. Its JLL Retail Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by senior managing directors Chris Gerard, managing director Geoff Tranchina, senior director Phil Brierley, and analysts Robby Westerfield and Beth Copeland. The JLL Debt Advisory team representing the new owner included managing director Chris McColpin and managing director Mark Root.
• An affiliate of Livingston Street Capital, a boutique private equity firm focused on commercial real estate investments throughout the U.S., has sold two medical office properties totaling 31,500 square feet to AEI Net Lease Portfolio 19 DST for a total of $14.4 million. One is a 16,500-square-foot building at 781 Heritage Park Blvd., Layton. Both are 100 percent leased to BioLife Plasma Services LP, involved in the collection of plasma that is processed into plasma-based therapies.
• CenterCal Properties, a California-based mixed-use developer and operator, has expanded its new Redevelopment & Advisory services division. CenterCal properties include Station Park in Farmington, Canyon Corners in Park City and Mountain View Village in Riverton (unveiling Phase II soon). CenterCal’s third-party services division partners with real estate owners and investors and supports them in revitalizing their existing retail centers. CenterCal recently hired prominent international real estate and entertainment official Paul Kurzawa as chief operating officer.
RECOGNITIONS
• Bill Decker of Park City has been induced into the Hall of Fame of ShelterBox USA, a nonprofit global humanitarian disaster and conflict relief organization. During his years of service, Decker raised more than $100,000. Decker is a ShelterBox ambassador and member of the ShelterBox Response Team, a group of trained volunteers who are often among the first to deploy following disasters. He is also a former member of the ShelterBox USA board of directors. Raising $100,000 qualifies an ambassador to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Decker has raised more than $109,000, making him the 42nd ambassador to reach that milestone.
RESTAURANTS
• The newest of Arctic Circle’s 70-plus locations, at 13990 S. 2700 W., Bluffdale, will feature a first for the chain: a double drive-through. The restaurant also will feature seating for 42 inside the building. The new location will employ 40 people. West Jordan-based Arctic Circle has locations in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming.
RETAIL
• Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., a West Jordan-based outdoor specialty retailer, has appointed Riley Timmer as vice president of investor relations and corporate development. Timmer will be responsible for leading the company’s investor-related activities, growing market opportunities for outdoor use, and leading Sportsman’s ES&G initiatives. Timmer has more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive in finance, operations and IR roles, across both public and private companies in the e-commerce and direct sales industries. Prior to joining Sportsman’s Warehouse, he was the global head of investor relations at NewAge Inc. Before that, he was a founder and chief operating officer of ARIIX, where he served in that role for over nine years, and served in several roles for USANA Health Sciences, including vice president of finance and investor relations. Timmer earned a B.S. in economics from the University of Utah.
TECHNOLOGY
• Vivint, a Provo-based smart home company, has named Ron Davies as its first chief insurance officer. Davies is a 25-year industry veteran, most recently serving as president, CEO and director of Safe Auto Insurance Group, where he spent nine years. Prior to SafeAuto, Davies held executive and leadership positions with insurance brands, including Allstate and Progressive Insurance, as well as smaller, more-specialized companies.
• BambooHR, a Lindon-based human resources software provider, has appointed Anita Grantham as head of human resources. Grantham spent the last five years as chief people officer of Pluralsight Inc. In 2021, BambooHR hired 600 people to reach more than 1,000 employees.
• TCN Inc., a St. George-based provider of a cloud-based call center platform, has appointed Scott Brownlee as director of product training and customer engagement. He will work with the product development teams and the executive team, and serve as a liaison between clients and TCN development. Brownlee is a 30-year veteran of the ARM industry, especially in the healthcare space, most recently serving as the vice president of operational strategy at the Arcadia Recovery Bureau. His experience includes running a high-volume call center in a new business vertical at a near-shore contact center. He also has held senior positions at Dorado Systems Inc., Grimley Financial Corp., Sallie Mae, Florida Hospital, AllianceOne and RSI Enterprises.
• Several technology firms have joined together to launch the Security First Initiative, designed to address the increased importance of transparency between vendors and their customers. Group members will share their security information proactively with their customers using a Whistic Profile. Pleasant Grove-based Whistic is the network for assessing, publishing and sharing vendor security information. Founding Security First Initiative members include Okta, Airbnb, Zendesk, Asana, Atlassian, Snap, Notion, TripActions, G2 and Whistic. More than 40,000 Profiles are available on-demand in the Whistic Vendor Security Networ and every month thousands of buyers accept a Whistic Profile in lieu of requesting a questionnaire to satisfy their vendor assessment requirements.
TRANSPORTATION
• Breeze Airways, a new Cottonwood Heights-based low-fare airline, has unveiled its Breeze Training Academy in Salt Lake City for initial and recurrent training for its pilots, flight attendants and technical operations teams. The center has offices, training classrooms and briefing rooms and, for pilot training, an Embraer 190 flight simulator. Breeze will add an Airbus A220 flight simulator this summer. The facility can accommodate up to 200 pilots, flight attendants, and technical operations teams, and instructors daily. Breeze has partnered with ATP Flight School to provide ATP graduates with a streamlined pathway to a First Officer position with the airline. Breeze will more than double its fleet this year, from 13 to 30 aircraft.