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ASSOCIATIONS
• The Salt Lake Chamber has announced several staff changes. In its public policy team, Abby Osborne has been promoted to vice president of government relations and Michael Parker to vice president of public policy. On its marketing and communication team, the chamber has hired Kimberly Flores as director of public relations and communication and promoted Marisa Bomis to marketing and communication manager. Osborne has been serving as a director of both public policy and government relations since 2015. She will continue in her role as executive director of the Utah Transportation Coalition. Parker, who joined the chamber in 2013, has been serving as its director of public policy for the past two years. Flores has experience in the media industry as a television news reporter, having spent the past five years at ABC4 Utah. Bomis has served as communication coordinator for the chamber since June 2015.
• Mountain States Employers Council, involved in human resource and employment law services for the business community, has appointed three new members to its board of directors, including Jeffrey Clyde, president of W.W. Clyde & Co. Each will serve a three-year term on the 34-member board. Utah-based Clyde has more than 30 years of business and construction industry experience and serves as president of W.W. Clyde & Co. He is actively involved in several industry associations and multi-employer trusts, including serving as a national director for the American Road Builders and Transportation Association, the Associated General Contractors committees and as a board member of the Utah Construction Service Industry Commission.
• AAA Utah recently had the grand opening of its new location and newly designed branch office at 1067 W. Grand Ave., Suite 101, Farmington. AAA Farmington is a full-service branch office staffed with AAA insurance agents providing life, auto and home insurance. AAA memberships will also be available, and the branch will offer maps and tour books free of charge to all members.
• The Utah Task Force of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing has announced that Dawn Duran will lead the initiative, with the guidance of the Utah Association of the Deaf. The task force is designed to ensure that all state and local regulations are being upheld and that the deaf and hard of hearing community is being served. Duran will continue with her position as vice president for ASL Communication while she conducts her role on the task force.
BANKING
• Bank of Utah, Ogden, will open a new full-service branch in mid-May at 100 S. 500 W., Bountiful. Tiffany Andrew will be the branch deposit manager. She has 10 years of banking experience. Spencer Richins will serve as the commercial lending team lead. He has been with Bank of Utah for seven of his 12 years in banking. Jared Taylor will join him as a portfolio manager. Taylor joined the bank in 2014 and has five years of lending experience. The loan secretary for the team will be Cecilia Millan, who has been with the bank for nearly 12 years. Teri Rio will serve as mortgage manager and mortgage loan officer in Bountiful. Stacey Carbine-Hill has been hired to serve as an account manager. Bank of Utah also announced the appointment of Kevin Bales as a mortgage loan officer for the bank’s mortgage office in St. George. Bales has more than 28 years of experience, including serving as the regional manager at Stuart Rentals in St. George. Prior to that position, he was the mortgage loan officer at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Mesquite, Nevada. Earlier in his career, Bales served as a construction loan officer for First Security Bank in Salt Lake City and as a lending officer at Sun Capital Bank in St. George. Bales is a graduate of Brigham Young University.
DIVIDENDS
• EnviroTechnologies International Inc., Salt Lake City, has announced a 10 percent stock dividend for all shareholders of record as of April 21. After that date, shareholders may contact the company’s transfer agent to facilitate the issuance of the dividend shares. The company develops and markets green, natural and organic produces for diverse industries.
ENERGY/NATURAL RESOURCES
• Vivint Solar, Lehi, has named Maggie Heile as vice president of marketing. She will oversee the company’s marketing, communications and branding initiatives. Heile has 25 years of marketing experience. Prior to joining Vivint Solar, Heile led marketing for the Retailer Brands division of Sun Products Corp.. She previously served as a senior vice president and general manager at Saatchi & Saatchi X. She began her career at Procter & Gamble, working across a wide range of brands in the food, beverage and pet categories.
• Salt Lake City has expanded its electric vehicle (EV) public charging infrastructure with 28 new “smart” Level 2 EV charging ports. The ports are at 12 sites, both new and existing, across Salt Lake City and replace five older units. New locations include the International Peace Gardens, Sorenson Multicultural Center, Sunnyside Avenue near Hogle Zoo, Pioneer Park, and Forest Dale Golf Course. A Utah Division of Air Quality (DAQ) grant went toward hard costs, including purchasing the new stations. This money was combined with city funding to help pay for the overall investment. To support use of the new stations in the near term, Mayor Jackie Biskupski has transmitted to the City Council a proposal to waive fees through Jan. 31, 2018. While the council considers the waiver, a fee of $1 plus 10 cents per kilowatt-hour will be in effect, which covers the cost of electricity and other ongoing station costs.
HEALTHCARE
• HealthEquity Inc., Draper, has hired Bill Otten as executive vice president of sales and Gary Robinson as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Otten has more than 30 years of experience in building and leading sales and delivery teams in the human capital management and technology industries. Most recently, he was division vice president of sales for the Value Added Services of ADP and served in various other sales leadership roles with ADP over the last 14 years. Prior to joining ADP, he was a co-founder and CFO of Interlink Capital Inc. and held various sales leadership roles at Enterprise Fleet Services. Robinson has sales, marketing and product development experience. Most recently, he was executive vice president of sales and business development for HealthTap Inc. Prior to that, he was a founder and managing director of Sapient Health Services LLC and senior vice president of sales at WageWorks.
• Varex Imaging Corp., Salt Lake City, has announced that Dr. Jocelyn D. Chertoff has been appointed to the company’s board of directors. Chertoff chair of the Department of Radiology and professor of radiology and obstetrics and gynecology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She is also vice president of the regional radiology service line, director of gastrointestinal radiology, and assistant medical director for medical staff affairs. Chertoff will serve on the company’s Compensation and Management and Development Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. In connection with the appointment, the Varex board increased its size to seven directors.
• Solutionreach, Lehi, a provider of patient relationship management solutions, has appointed Paul Kocherhans as senior vice president of sales, Justin Everette as vice president of marketing, and Lance Rodela as vice president of product management. Kocherhans will oversee the development and execution of strategic sales approaches to sustain and amplify Solutionreach’s continued growth within the non-elective medical and other healthcare markets as well as be instrumental in leading the sales team when introducing new products and features into the market. Everette will be responsible for Solutionreach’s strategic positioning to support the company’s continued rapid expansion in the non-elective medical sector, as well as introducing new products and features to consumers. Rodela will drive advancements in Solutionreach’s patient relationship management platform.
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE
• The Grand Summit Hotel in Canyons Village will undergo a $15 million renovation this spring and subsequently be flagged as a RockResorts property. The property will close from April 17 through mid-summer for the renovations. The project will include an overhaul of all 212 suites, including new interior finishes, furnishings, soft goods, appliances, artwork and technology. The property’s communal spaces will also be incorporated into the renovation, including the lobby and front desk; full remodel of the on-site spa, café and general store; and a “refresh” of the conference and meeting spaces. RockResorts is a division of Vail Resorts and owns and operates a collection of premium properties, spas and dining options.
• Park Meadows Country Club (PMCC), Park City, recently appointed Damon Rodgers as general manager. Rodgers most recently worked at Glenwild Golf Club & Spa, where he served in various positions for 13 years. PMCC also has hired Alex Woodside as executive chef. Woodside will oversee staffing and training, purchasing and cost maintenance, as well as the final layout of the new kitchen facility. Woodside also comes to PMCC from Glenwild Golf Club & Spa, where he has served as executive chef since 2003. Prior to that, he was executive chef and main kitchen chef at Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort for nine years.
MANUFACTURING
• Dynatronics Corp., Cottonwood Heights, has appointed Cynthia L. McHenry as vice president of operations. She will be responsible for manufacturing, distribution and purchasing operations across the entire organization. For nearly 20 years, McHenry worked for St. Jude Medical (now Abbott). She was the senior director of global operations integration and site optimization from 2013-2015. Prior to that, she was the director of product development and director of engineering operations and services. Her predecessor at Dynatronics, Doug Sampson, has been appointed vice president of research, development and quality systems for Dynatronics.
RECOGNITIONS
• Forbes has listed Salt Lake City No. 1 among “2017’s Tech Meccas Looking to Overthrow Silicon Valley.” Also listed were No. 2 Denver, No. 3 Atlanta, No. 4 Portland and No. 5 Seattle. “For those in the know, the ranking wasn’t a big surprise,” Forbes said. “Three years ago, eBay took the lead by opening an enormous facility there. Venture capitalists have taken note, collectively offering hundreds of millions in seed money to Utah-based startups.”
• The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) has recognized the University of Utah Student Health Center as one of two recipients of the Bernard A. Kershner Innovations in Quality Improvement Award. The honor recognizes AAAHC-accredited organizations for exemplary quality improvement studies in areas of primary care and surgical/procedural care. In the primary care category, the University of Utah Student Health Center implemented a comprehensive improvement study to increase human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates among male college students through the use of electronic medical record (EMR) alerts.
• Two Utah companies are ranked on the first-ever “50 Companies That Care” list, chosen by People and Great Place to Work. O.C. Tanner, Salt Lake City, is ranked No. 17, while CHG Healthcare Services Inc., Salt Lake City, is ranked No. 46. The list was based on more than 368,000 surveys from individuals employed by U.S. businesses with 1,000 or more employees. The list also was based on the generosity of companies’ benefits and charitable work, as well as personal accounts of the incredible impact these organizations have made on the lives of their employees.
• The Asian Networkers Convention and Expo (ANCE) recently awarded USANA Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, with the Innovative Company of the Year award. USANA founder Dr. Myron Wentz was honored with the Vision Excellence Award. The Innovative Company of the Year honor is awarded to direct sales companies that have demonstrated innovations in the areas of patents, inventions, first-to-market developments, company culture and policies. The Vision Excellence Award is presented to the owner, CEO, COO or managing director of a direct selling company who has set a vision for the company, sought out to achieve it, and succeeded in accomplishing it. Also honored were three USNA associates: Duard and Rosanne Ricalde were awarded the Outstanding Couple Networker Award and Billy Dela Fuente was awarded the People’s Choice Rising Star Global Best Male Award.
• The Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneurs Academy’s 2016-17 Sandy Cohort winner is Oliva Berhan, chief executive officer of Kelali. She was awarded $4,000 to aid her in efforts to start her business. She will be traveling to Rochester, New York, in early May to compete against approximately 100 other businesses from across the nation in the regional and the national competitions, after which she will be traveling to Ethiopia to immediately begin following through on starting her business. Kelali’s first product is a swaddle blanket. Berhan was selected from among 13 business that presented at a “Shark Tank” investor panel. Other top winners were Brad Wilcox of Riverton and Ava Henderson of Sandy.
RESTAURANTS
• Four Foods Group (FFG), American Fork, has completed the placement of more than $32 million of growth capital to fund its restaurant services business. Four Foods Group is a restaurant development, investment and management company. CIT, a provider of commercial lending and leasing services, provided $22.7 million for acquisition financing, with the remaining approximately $10 million coming through private investors and current FFG shareholders. The funds will be used to expand FFG’s business operations and relationships across multiple brands. FFG has built and operates 44 Kneaders restaurants, with four additional units currently under construction. It also owns majority interests in the R&R Barbeque and Soda Shop brands.
SCHOLARSHIPS
• Visit Salt Lake (VSL) has recognized Rose Smith as recipient of the 11th annual Dianne Nelson Binger Scholarship. The scholarship honors VSL’s former president and chief executive officer and her legacy to the Salt Lake hospitality community. It is bestowed annually to a female student at the University of Utah in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism of the College of Health.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• TeamLogic IT, based in Mission Viejo, California, has opened an office in Draper. The business is owned by Jami Hughes, who has 18 years of experience in technology, operational risk/internal control, governance, auditing and information security. Her career started with Citigroup, where she served as information security officer and vice president of internal control. She then moved to the Compliance Merger & Acquisition team at Capital One, and most recently served as a vice president in technology at American Express. Hughes has a B.S. in business management from the University of Utah and an MBA from University of Phoenix. TeamLogic provides IT management services for business.
TRANSPORTATION
• Destination Express, a global aviation advisory group, has announced it will put its global headquarters in Ogden and hopes to secure office space at or near the Ogden-Hinckley Airport. Randy Hunt is one of the company’s founding partners. The other founding partner is Bruce Stratford, an Ogden resident and business executive. In addition to assisting communities with increased commercial air services, Destination Express often partners with those carriers to market their inventories to travel agencies, tour operators, corporations, universities, government agencies, and the general public.