Industry Briefs are provided as a free service to our readers. Company news information may be sent to brice@slenterprise.com. The submission deadline is one week before publication.
CONTESTS
• ChamberWest is accepting nominations until May 1 for its awards to be presented at its Annual Awards Gala, set for June 15. The awards are Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Best Place to Work, Volunteer of the Year and Best New Business of the Year. The nomination form and details are at https://chamberwest.com/gala.
CORPORATE
• Extra Space Storage Inc., a Salt Lake City-based owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the United States, has announced it would issue and sell 1.6 million shares of its common stock in a public offering expected to close last week. The gross proceeds would be approximately $207.7 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by Extra Space. Citigroup and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Extra Space will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 240,000 shares. The company intends to use the net proceeds of this offering to fund potential acquisition opportunities, to repay amounts outstanding from time to time under its lines of credit, and for other general corporate and working capital purposes.
• CleanSpark Inc., a Salt Lake City-based software, services, and bitcoin mining company, has closed its previously announced underwritten public offering of about 9 million shares of common stock at a public offering price of $22 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $200 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by the company. H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as the sole book-running manager for the offering. CleanSpark intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including infrastructure expansion, the acquisition of additional cryptocurrency miners and further development of its mVoult product lines, as well as acquisitions or strategic investments in complimentary businesses, products, services or technologies. Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP served as legal counsel to CleanSpark in connection with the offering, Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP also represented CleanSpark in respect of matters relating to the offering, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal counsel to H.C. Wainwright & Co.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Salt Lake City leads the nation in the biggest gains in net arrivals of new residents since the onset of the pandemic last April, according to a study by LinkedIn. It looked at 38 cities and considered members changing their location on their LinkedIn profiles. Salt Lake City’s rise was 12.3 percent. Only Jacksonville, Florida, at 10.8 percent, had a double-digit increase. At the bottom of the list are San Francisco and New York. Details are at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/migrations-new-map-florida-utah-win-favor-two-giant-metros-anders/?published=t
• Utah is ranked No. 9 on a list of “2021’s Most Innovative States,” compiled by personal finance website WalletHub. It compared states on data set ranges from share of STEM professionals to research and development spending per capita. In breakout lists, Utah is No. 8 for human capital and No. 12 for innovation environment. Utah also is No 4 for best eighth-grade math and science performance. The top-ranked overalls state is Massachusetts. At the bottom is Mississippi. Details are at https://wallethub.com/edu/most-innovative-states/31890
• Orderville, in Kane County, is the No. 6 travel destination in the U.S. for this spring and summer, according to Airbnb search data. Top-ranked is southern Maine, followed by Cape May, New Jersey; Round Top, Texas; Lake Powell, Arizona; and Cape San Blas, Florida. Details are at https://news.airbnb.com/the-great-outdoors-surge-for-spring-and-summer/
• Park City is the nation’s sixth-most-expensive short-term rental area, according to a study by BeyondPricing. Park City’s average price for a two-bedroom rental is $379.78. Utah’s average is $339.63, up from $312.83 a year earlier. Nationally, the average March rental price in the U.S. is $242.89, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier. Telluride, Colorado, has the highest average price, at $451.69. The least-expensive among the 250 largest U.S. rental markets is Dayton, Ohio, at $89.60. Salt Lake City is No. 11 among the least-expensive, at $110.37. Details are at https://blog.beyondpricing.com/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-spring-break-2021/
• Twenty-two states, including Utah, charge women more than men for car insurance, according to a study by The Zebra. It found that Utah women pay an average $1,361 annual premium, while men pay $1,313. In some states, women pay $118 more for the exact same insurance than men. Details are at https://www.thezebra.com/resources/research/gender-age-car-insurance-rates/
HOSPITALITY
• Garrett Parker has been appointed general manager of Hilton Salt Lake City. In his new role, Parker will be responsible for overseeing the guest experience and hotel operations of the 499-room property, located in the entertainment district of Salt Lake City and adjacent to the Salt Palace Convention Center. Parker has been in the hospitality industry for 15 years, previously serving as hotel manager at San Francisco Union Square. He began his career with Hilton in front office operations at DoubleTree Dallas Campbell Center and later held management positions at Hilton Baltimore, Capital Hilton and Washington Hilton before joining Embassy Suites DC Convention Center as assistant general manager in 2013. In 2016, Parker became hotel manager of Parc 55 in San Francisco. In 2018, he became hotel manager at Hilton San Francisco.
INVESTMENTS
• Swell, a Cottonwood Heights-based company offering a customer engagement platform for local businesses, has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by SkyLab Ventures, with support from Teamworthy and Swell's current investors, including Cultivation Capital. The company will use the funds to expand its leadership team, enter new verticals, and add features to the Swell platform. Benson Metcalf, who held executive positions at Pluralsight and SaltStack and currently serves as CEO of SkyLab Ventures, will advise Swell and represent SkyLab on the Swell board of directors.
• Skill Struck, a Provo-based company producing computer science curriculum and software to K-12 schools and districts, has closed an oversubscribed $1.3 million investment round from a variety of angel investors across the U.S. Most of the funds will be used to expand the sales team and marketing engine as the Skill Struck team aims to implement its products at schools in at least 15 states by the fall. Skill Struck was founded in 2017. In the fall of 2019, it created its first pilot programs for public schools in Utah, and has since expanded to reach students across North America.
LAW
• Armstrong Teasdale has added partner Loren Washburn to its office in Salt Lake City. Washburn is a trial lawyer focusing his practice in the areas of securities litigation, white-collar criminal defense, civil and criminal tax controversy and civil regulatory defense. He also has extensive experience in commercial litigation. Prior to joining Armstrong Teasdale, he spent nearly a decade in private practice with Salt Lake City law firms. Washburn has more than eight years of experience as a federal prosecutor. He is a former trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division’s Northern Criminal Enforcement Section and an assistant U.S. attorney and deputy chief of white-collar crime in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah. Washburn’s education includes a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University.
NONPROFITS
• Visit Salt Lake, a private, nonprofit corporation promoting Salt Lake as a convention and travel destination, has appointed Allison Chappell to the newly created position of director of research and analytics. In her new role, Chappell is responsible for the development, management and execution of all VSL databases, research and data analysis. Chappell has been with VSL since 1998 and has served in a variety of roles.
OUTDOOR PRODUCTS/RECREATION/SPORTS
• Locations have been announced for the Utah Outdoor Recreation Summit events taking place this fall. The first summit will be Sept. 22-23 in Logan, while the second will be Oct. 27-28 in Kanab. Details are at http://utahoutdoorsummit.com/
PHILANTHROPY
• Smithfield Foods Inc., the Utah Pork Producers Association and the Fredette Family Foundation recently delivered a nearly 40,000-pound truckload of protein to Utah Food Bank as part of a joint pledge to donate for every point scored during the 2020-2021 football season by Brigham Young University and Utah State University. The partnership is part of Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative, Helping Hungry Homes, which partners with Feeding America and its network of food banks across the U.S. to alleviate hunger year-round. The program has donated more than 212 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community outreach programs in all 50 states since 2008.
• The Malouf Foundation will host its inaugural Human Trafficking Policy and Education Summit on April 17, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., at the foundation, 1525 W. 2960 S., Logan. It is part of the foundation’s mission to provide education, promote healing and ensure justice for trafficking survivors. The keynote speaker is Ambassador Robert O’Brien, former U.S. national security advisor. Other speakers are trafficking survivors, elected officials and other leaders. Registration for the livestream of the event can be completed at malouffoundation.org/summit.
REAL ESTATE
• Century Communities Inc., a national homebuilder, has announced two new communities along the Wasatch Front: Ashton Springs at 905 S. 950 W., Springville, and Edgewater Park at 2708 W. 3230 S., Syracuse. Both offer single-family homes, and homebuyers and agents can tour furnished model homes showcasing floor plans available at each community. Ashton Springs has 27 homesites, while Edgewater Park has 49.
• Mountain West Commercial Real Estate, Salt Lake City, last year used its network, data and mapping technology to find and acquire land for 14 new 7-Eleven stores across the Wasatch Front. Agents Brett Palmer, broker and director, and Adam Hawkes have had a longstanding relationship with 7-Eleven. Mountain West Commercial Real Estate has worked with 7-Eleven for over 15 years and has helped open nearly 80 stores in Utah.
RECOGNITIONS
• KeyBank Utah has been named the 2020 KeyBank Market of the Year, an award recognizing the Utah market as the top performer among the 26 markets in the company’s footprint. This award was presented at KeyBank’s annual Chairman’s Awards virtual celebration in Cleveland in February. During 2020, the Utah market delivered balanced performance, growth and new client acquisition across all lines of business.
• Greg Ott, CEO at Nav, a Salt Lake City-based company offering a financing platform for small businesses, has been named the winner of the “Best FinTech Company CEO” in the fifth annual FinTech Breakthrough Awards program. Ott joined Nav in 2015 and became CEO in 2020. FinTech Breakthrough is an independent market intelligence organization, and its awards program recognizes the top companies, technologies and leaders in the global fintech market. The 2021 program attracted more than 3,850 nominations from around the world.
• Two Utah individuals have been recognized as “2021’s Pros to Know” by Supply & Demand Chain Executive, and one Utah team has been recognized on its list of “2021 Teams to Know.” Casey Adams, president of Visible Supply Chain Management, a Salt Lake City-based shipping, logistics and fulfillment services company, and Richard Parke, senior vice president of global supplier services at Orem-based supply chain management software company Avetta, made the list of individuals, and the Avetta Supply Chain Insights Team made the list “2021 Teams to Know.” Pros to Know recognizes executives and teams whose accomplishments offer a roadmap for other leaders looking to leverage the supply chain for competitive advantage.
• Entertainment Arts & Engineering (EAE), the video game development program at the University of Utah’s College of Engineering, has been ranked No. 1 in a list of “Top Public Game Design Schools and Colleges in the U.S. for 2021,” according to rankings from Animation Career Review. The rankings, which began in 2012, looked at 149 schools in a survey last September by evaluating each program based on academic reputation, admission selectivity, depth and breadth of the program faculty, value as it relates to tuition and indebtedness, graduation rate, geographic location and employment data. The UofU’s program also was ranked fourth in the country among all public and private institutions, according to Animation Career Review. Last year, it was ranked second in public schools and fifth overall. EAE is also one of the top-ranked game design school by The Princeton Review. In its latest list, EAE’s undergraduate program was ranked first in the country for public institutions and sixth in the country overall, while the graduate program was ranked second in the country for public schools and fifth overall. Entertainment Arts and Engineering was launched in 2007.
SERVICES
• Albion Financial Group, a Salt Lake City-based financial planning and investment management services company, has named Mason Woolf as chief operating officer. The COO role was created to oversee all company policies, processes, day-to-day management, coordination across teams, and organizational planning. Woolf has been with Albion since 2006 and has served on Albion’s investment team, and for the past decade has been director of trading. Woolf also serves as chief compliance officer. He has recently joined Albion’s board of directors and assists with setting the long-term vision of the organization. A 25-year veteran of the industry, Woolf spent his early career with Dean Witter, Arlington Value Management and Fidelity Investments. Woolf holds an MBA from the Gore School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in finance from Westminster College.
• SeniorLeaf, a Salt Lake City-based free service connecting older adults and their caregivers with resources and professionals in their local area through its online directory, call center and live events, has changed its name to Agibly. The company said the new name better encompasses their users and embodies their collective goal for the future: aging ably. The company also has a new logo featuring a blue umbrella.
SPORTS
• EoS Fitness has reopened a location at 1985 W. 5700 S., Roy, after nearly 15 months of renovations and the addition of 10,000-plus square feet of upgraded fitness space. The modernized gym now has more than 42,000 square feet and improved amenities. It will be among the first EoS Fitness locations in Utah to soon offer Black Box VR to its members. Black Box VR is an intense, full-body, virtual reality workout.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Impartner, a South Jordan-based channel management and partner relationship management technology company, has appointed T.C. Doyle to the newly created position of channel growth evangelist. Doyle also will manage the company’s Channel Chief Advisory Board, which works on developing best practices and thought leadership for channel executives spanning multiple industries and different geographies. Doyle is a journalist, book author and analyst with three decades of channels experience, including working for Cisco.