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ACCOUNTING
• Tanner LLC has launched an information security practice and is offering free external vulnerability assessments to companies along the Wasatch Front. This local security service provides organizations with analysis and preventive measures to safe guard from network cyber threats. Tanner performs assessments on an organization’s network from the perspective of an external cyber-criminal, identifying known vulnerabilities and then providing a prioritized path to mitigate the identified risks. Other security services offered by Tanner include network vulnerability assessments, network penetration testing, compliance testing, social engineering testing and employee security training.
BANKING
• Town & Country Bank, St. George, has hired Catherine Arik, Sarah Holmes and Kelly Westas vice presidents in the bank’s loan department. Arik has 16 years of experience providing credit to businesses ranging from publicly traded companies to developing enterprises. She will focus on commercial lending along the northern end of the Wasatch Front and is assigned to Town & Country’s loan production office in Sandy. Holmes has helped Utah business owners and entrepreneurs obtain financing as a commercial lender for the past nine years. She is also assigned to Town & Country’s loan office in Sandy and will focus on borrowers in Utah County. West has been a commercial loan officer and relationship manager for nearly 10 years, working in St. George and Provo. He will be assigned to Town & Country’s flagship office in St. George.
• Bank of American Fork has announced the retirements of a pair of longtime employees. Richard Grayis retiring after 44 years at the bank. Most recently, he was a senior vice president and manager of Bank of American Fork’s SBA (Small Business Administration) department. His experience includes serving as a branch manager at Barclays American Financial; manager of the SBA departments at Valley Bank and Trust, Key Bank and Draper Bank and Trust; and manager of Bank of American Fork’s commercial lending group and SBA department. Sandra Worthen is retiring after 31 years at the bank, mostly recently as the assistant vice president and assistant operations manager of the American Fork main office. She started in 1985 as an on-call employee at both the American Fork and Alpine offices. Her first full-time responsibility was to prepare daily bank statements by running checks through the proof machine. She continued on to work as a teller, in the bankcard department soon after the bank began offering credit cards, and in the statement preparation department. She later transferred to help open the bank’s Lehi branch and helped in the Murray branch’s opening as the operations manager before eventually returning to American Fork as the assistant operations manager.
CORPORATE
• Franklin Covey Co., Salt Lake City, has appointed Anne H. Chow to its board of directors. Chow is president of integrator solutions at AT&T Business. Since 2000, she has held a variety of leadership positions at AT&T, including senior vice president of global solutions and sales operations and senior vice president of Premier Client Group.
GOVERNMENT
• Nikki Taylor has been named director of event sales at the Salt Palace Convention Center. She will be responsible for overseeing client relations and developing the process of integrating the sales and events departments into one. Taylor has been with the convention center for more than 10 years and has worked in a variety of departments, including the business center, event services, events and sales. Most recently she was senior sales manager for the past year. Taylor graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
• Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams has selected, and the County Council has confirmed, Karen Hale to be the new associate chief administrative officer. The position was created after the 2015 departure of former deputy mayor and CAO Nichole Dunn during her tenure at Salt Lake County but had remained unfilled. Hale most recently served as director of community relations and senior advisor to former Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker. She has also served as a Utah state senator for eight years. Hale is a former publisher and editor ofParent Express, a news and resource magazine for Utah families.
HEALTHCARE
• Curve Dental, Orem, has hired Mike Heynfor a newly created position of director of sales. Heyn has more than 23 years of sales management experience in the dental profession with varied organizations. He began his career with Dentrix Dental Systems, and then Henry Schein Inc. as an area sales manager and general manager for Dentrix and Easy Dental, respectively. He later joined Aribex Inc. Most recently, he was the NOMAD business unit director worldwide for the Kavo Kerr Group.
NONPROFITS
• The Utah 1033 Foundation has elected David Edmunds to the governing board of directors and hired Lynn Suksdorf as director of development. Edmunds is the foundation’s fifth member and has been a member of the foundation’s advisory board since its inception. He is chief executive officer of Stone Security and has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, including serving as a three-term sheriff of Summit County. His education includes a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Utah. Suksdorf has experience in business administration and business strategy, including work as an educator and as a business professional in both for-profit and nonprofit work. The foundation is a nonprofit honoring Utah’s fallen officers by providing immediate financial support to their families and presenting college scholarships to the children of active Utah law enforcement officers.
OUTDOOR PRODUCTS/RECREATION/SPORTS
• Vista Outdoor recently had a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for its new global headquarters, at 262 N. University Ave., Farmington.
PHILANTHROPY
• Ski Utah and STEM Utahrecently had a Passport Appreciation Day in which participating students learned the science of snow, the importance of fitness and hydration, and about the features of the Wasatch Mountains. Activities took place at the Moonbeam Base Area of Solitude Mountain Resort. Solitude offered free skiing/riding to fifth- and sixth-grade passport holders.
• Playworks Utah recently partnered with Game Gearand the Utah Grizzliesto bring together more than 250 fourth- and fifth-graders at the Maverik Center for a day of fun and development. The students, called Junior Coaches, were already leaders in their school communities, teaching fair play and positive conflict resolution to their peers. At the Junior Coach Conference, the students further developed their leadership skills, participated in team-building activities, created SMART goals, and met coaches from other schools throughout the greater Salt Lake area. Playworks Utah hosted a community recess before the Grizzlies game that night. Playworks is a national nonprofit leveraging the power of play to transform children’s social and emotional health, serving more than 900 schools in 23 U.S. cities.
RECOGNITIONS
• The Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) recently presented theMary Jo Hanover Awardto Jeff Edwards, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. The presentation occurred at the council’s spring meeting in New Orleans. The Mary Jo Hanover Award honors economic developers who exemplify the spirit of IAMC through several criteria, including upholding the highest standards of ethics and integrity in their profession, strongly believing in and giving back to their industry, mentoring within their profession, and working to make the world a better place.
• The University of Utah’s Entertainment Arts & Engineering (EAE) program has been ranked the top undergraduate school for studying game design, according to the Princeton Review. The EAE graduate program is ranked third. EAE is an interdisciplinary program launched in 2007 and represents work between the University of Utah’s College of Engineering and the College of Fine Arts. The undergraduate program is part of the College of Engineering’s School of Computing. The undergraduate program has been ranked in Princeton Review’s top three since 2011, previously earning a No. 1 ranking in 2013. Similarly, the graduate program has been in the top five since 2013, earning the top spot last year. Last year, EAE students published nine games, and they plan to publish 12 more games this year.
• The Web Marketing Associationhas named Town & Country Bank, St. George, as recipient of itsc2016 Internet Advertising Competition “Best Online Newsletter”award. The bank was among 14 international winners for outstanding achievement in various aspects of online advertising.TheTown Crieris edited entirely by Town & Country Bank on a bi-monthly basis, with content, photos and images sent for formatting to Image Thirteen, a St. George firm specializing in graphic design. The newsletter is one of the first items seen on the bank’s home page.
• Ski Utah has recognized several local media members for their support of the Utah ski and snowboard industry. The Local Media Member Award, presented to the individual who best shares their passion for Utah winter sports through their work, was presented to Harriet Wallis, a freelance journalist. The Weather Enthusiast of the Year, presented to the person who best celebrates Utah’s winter weather and encourages their audience to embrace “The Greatest Snow on Earth,” was presented to Evan Thayer with Wasatch Snow Forecast. The Social Media Influencer of the Year, for someone who best represents Ski Utah’s core values on all social platforms, was presented toTyler Tatefrom 120 Sports. Other nominees for the Media Member award were Jared Hargrave, Utah Outside; Melissa Gibbs, KUTV2; Leia Larson,Standard-Examiner; Tim Hughes, KSL Radio; and Jason Nguyen, ABC4. Other nominees for the Weather award were Dan Guthrie, KSL; Allison Croghan, Fox13; and Alana Brophy, ABC4. Other Social Media award nominees were freelancer Erme Catino; Kerri Johnson, Dishing Park City; and Faith Jolley, KSL.com.
• Jan Fritz, internal services manager at Salt Lake County’s Facilities Division, has been awarded the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve’s Patriot Award. The honor recognizes employers who support Guard and Reserve employees and their families. Fritz was supervisor of Brittany Howell, a county employee and the wife of a Utah Guardsman deployed to Afghanistan. Fritz gave Howell flexibility in her work schedule in the weeks leading up to her husband’s departure so that they could be together and then attended the troops’ send-off. Fritz was recognized recently by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and the Salt Lake County Council.
SERVICES
• Aon Risk Solutions has appointed Ronald Juddas senior vice president in the Salt Lake City office. Judd is responsible for the development and implementation of innovative risk management solutions to provide value to clients and grow the Aon presence in the Utah market. Prior to joining Aon, Judd held numerous senior leadership positions throughout the industry, including in London and Tokyo, focusing on international business. Judd earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah in finance and Japanese and his MBA from Brigham Young University in international business.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Great Basin Scientific, Salt Lake City, has hired Mike Blitzas vice president of U.S. sales and promoted Sandra Nielsento senior vice president of sales and marketing. Blitz has more than two decades of experience in building and leading sales teams, including 19 years at Meridian Bioscience, where he was director of regional sales and North American sales development. He also served as west region sales manager at Nanosphere. Nielsen joined Great Basin as vice president of marketing in 2010 and has since accepted leadership over the customer support and human resource functions. In 2014 she was appointed acting vice president of sales.
• Demo Chimp, American Fork, has rebranded as Consensus. The company, which provides B2B demo automation software, said the new identity “crystallizes the company’s strategy to provide automated stakeholder engagement and analytics tools to drive agreement among diverse internal buyers and close more sales more rapidly.” As part of the rebranding, Consensus has completed a $4.2 million Series A funding round to support expansion of its mission, led byPeak Ventures with participation from CEB and angel Nobutaka Mutaguchi. The round brings the total amount Consensus has raised to $7 million. The funds will be used to expand adoption of its buying consensus solution among mid-market and enterprise companies, and for additional product innovation.