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CONSTRUCTION
- Suntec Concrete, based in Salt Lake City, has named Doug Archibald as director of business development and construction. Based in Salt Lake City, Archibald will lead the business development efforts for the company and also work closely with the preconstruction teams and be a resource for clients. He has been in the construction industry for more than two decades, getting his start as an electrician apprentice. For the past decade, Archibald worked for a building materials manufacturer as director of business development. Archibald earned a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in construction management from Brigham Young University-Idaho.
- System Pavers, a California-based outdoor living design and installation company, has named Aaron Foresman of Provo as director of field marketing. Foresman is responsible for building, developing and growing the team of door-to-door brand ambassadors across all System Pavers offices nationwide. Foresman will help establish new teams as well as grow the existing ones across all System Pavers locations. Foresman has 16 years’ experience as a sales operator with companies in multiple industries. Most recently, he was a senior director of sales operations for a residential clean energy company.
- Utah construction and design firms teamed up April 12 to engage and inspire local high school students during the inaugural Builders’ Day at Salt Lake Community College’s Taylorsville Redwood Campus for a hands-on event exploring careers in construction. The event brought together more than 45 construction and design companies and more than 600 students. Event partners included Big-D Cos., Destination Homes, Henry Walker Homes, Hensel Phelps, Layton Construction, Mortenson and Okland Construction.
CONTESTS
- Nominations are being accepted through May 15 for the second annual SALT Awards, presented by Visit Salt Lake, a private, nonprofit corporation promoting Salt Lake as a convention and travel destination, for excellence in the hospitality industry. Nominees must embody one or more of the four award pillars: service, accomplishment, leadership or tenacity. Awards will be presented in categories in the lodging and dining industries as well as an award that encompasses those involved with attractions, venues, caterers and transportation. New this year will also be a “Best Boss” award for general managers, owners or executive-level positions. Each award recipient will be recognized with an engraved SALT crystal award and $1,000 ($1,000 donated to the charity of their choice for the Best Boss awardee). The awards ceremony will be June 15 at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre. Nominations can be made at https://www.visitsaltlake.com/salt-award/nomination-form/.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
- Utah is ranked No. 2 on a list of “Best States for Working from Home,” compiled by personal-finance website WalletHub. It compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics, including the share of workers working from home, Internet cost and cybersecurity, as well as how large and how crowded homes are in the state. Utah is ranked No. 6 for work environment and No. 4 for living environment. On breakout lists, Utah is No. 4 for share of population working from home, No. 13 for household Internet access, No. 8 for average home square footage, No. 6 for average retail price of electricity, and No. 17 for median square footage per average number of people in a household. The top-ranked state overall is Delaware. The bottom-ranked state is Alaska. Details are at https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-working-from-home/72801.
• Utah is No. 6 in the “Employment Ranking 2023,” a list showing the best states for job opportunities, compiled by Scholaroo. The rankings examine employment conditions, determining the benefits and opportunities a worker would have in each state. It indicates that people in Utah have significantly increased their salary income in the last quarter of 2022, with the change of 6.8 percent. Utah was ranked No. 1 for affordability, No. 17 for 17 for job market, No. 4 for state economy, No. 25 for business-friendliness and No. 46 for quality of life. The highest salary income change happened in Colorado. The least was in Mississippi. Details are at https://scholaroo.com/report/jobs-by-state/. - The average Utah believes they reach their peak fitness at age 34, according to a study by The Fitness Tribe, an online community of wellness enthusiasts. The majority say they feel younger than their chronological age, and 58 percent said they would run a marathon if it guaranteed an extra year of life. The national average for peak fitness is 34. The highest number is in North Dakota, at 43. The lowest is in Wyoming, at 21. Details are at https://thefitnesstribe.com/peak-fitness/.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
- Western Governors University’s Michael O. Leavitt School of Health, an institution for nurse education, has expanded its Nursing Prelicensure Program to meet demand for new registered nurses. Student enrollment opened in March with rolling start dates and clinical opportunities in 11 states, including Utah. The program aims to add more than 4,800 newly qualified nursing graduates to the workforce by 2027. More than 20,000 nursing students are currently enrolled at the Leavitt School of Health and more than 120,000 have graduated.
- Adam and Charlee Ruben, franchisees of children’s STEAM brand Snapology in Lehi, have acquired three existing and five new Premier Martial Arts locations in the state, becoming multi-brand owners with Unleashed Brands, a youth enrichment franchise platform company. Premier Martial Arts helps children and adults develop valuable life skills through karate, krav maga and kickboxing instruction. Their Premier Martial Arts operations also include Adam Ruben’s sister and brother-in-law, Rachel and Rich Poulsen, in the ownership team. Prior to becoming franchise owners, Adam Ruben worked full-time in the tech industry while Charlee Ruben was a stay-at-home mom. They opened the first location in Utah in 2019. Their Premier Martial Arts locations in Utah that the Rubens now own and operate are in Riverton, Draper and Pleasant Grove. They plan to develop new territories in Oquirrh, Erda, Alpine, Springville and Daybreak.
ENTERTAINMENT
- Sky Zone, a California-based indoor entertainment company offering a mix of attractions for children, will open its first Utah park in Saratoga Springs under franchisees and siblings, Katherine, Dalton and Myreya Paspuel. Sky Zone owns, operates and franchises parks across the U.S. and Canada.
EVENTS
- ULI (Urban Land Institute) Utah has announced that its annual Trends Conference will take place Oct. 24 at the Hyatt Regency in Salt Lake City. The conference focuses on state and national real estate trends, with a focus on what to expect in the future. Presentations will be made by more than 30 industry experts. The event typically attracts over 500 of Utah’s top leaders from business, government and the community from both the private and public sector.
- The Utah Sports Commission, Tony Hawk Inc. and X Games have announced that a weekend of skateboarding featuring “Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert” will take place June 23-24 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. The Vert Alert will now be a direct qualifying event leading to X Games 2023. The free-to-the-public event will begin with preliminary rounds of both the men’s and women’s pro vert contests and a “Legends Demo.” The June 24 activities include a combined field of 16 competitors. Ten skaters will compete in the popular “Best Trick Contest.” The skaters will all be competing for a combined purse of $75,000.
EXPANSIONS
- Biomerics, a Salt Lake City-based medical device contract manufacturer, has completed a 24,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing operations in Athens, Texas. The expansion includes 8,500 square feet of production space and the expansion of Biomerics' Center of Excellence for Balloons & Balloon Catheters with a 4,900-square-foot engineering laboratory adjacent to a CNC-machining (computer numerical control machining) tool shop. The expansion increases the Athens campus to approximately 100,000 square feet and includes an exterior refresh, additional engineering and lab space, manufacturing space and an employee break room. The Biomerics Balloons and Interventional Advanced Catheter business operates out of three locations: Texas, Minnesota and Costa Rica.
GOVERNMENT
- Gov. Spencer Cox has appointed Marvin Dodge as executive director of the Utah Department of Government Operations. Dodge serves as chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration at Southern Utah University, a position he’s held since 2014. He also served as vice president for finance and administrative services at Snow College. Prior to that, Dodge’s experience included serving as deputy director of the Utah Department of Administrative Services, chief financial officer and director of the Administrative Support Division of the Department of Workforce Services, and deputy director and manager of budget and policy analysis for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s of public administration with an emphasis in government management and finance, both from Brigham Young University.
HOSPITALITY
- Under Canvas, focused on outdoor hospitality experiences, has opened the first location of ULUM near Moab. ULUM is a safari-inspired, luxury outdoor resort brand. Located on 200 acres, ULUM Moab features a lobby with floor-to-ceiling glass windows with views of nearby Looking Glass Arch and Canyonlands National Park beyond. The resort offers 360-square-foot “Suite Tents.” Its inaugural season runs through Oct. 23. Under Canvas operates 11 locations nationwide.
INVESTMENTS
- Patri, a Springville-based company providing AI-powered revenue intelligence for companies, has raised a $2.4 million funding round. It was led by Kickstart Fund, with participation by Summit Capital, Capital Eleven, Peak Capital, Mucker Capital, Luxstone Group and Luv Holdings.
OUTDOOR RECREATION
- Alyeska Resort in Alaska has joined the Ikon Pass community, bringing the location to Ikon Pass holders for the winter 2023-24 season. Ikon Pass offers access to 56 global destinations and spring skiing at select destinations across North America. Ikon Pass resorts in Utah are Deer Valley Resort, Solitude Mountain Resort, Brighton Resort, Alta Ski Area, Snowbird and Snowbasin.
RECOGNITIONS
- SecurityMetrics, an Orem-based company focused on data security and compliance, has earned three honors in the 2023 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, presented by Cybersecurity Insiders: “Compliance Program Management” for the SecurityMetrics PCI Program, “Cybersecurity Audit Team of the Year” for the SecurityMetrics Audit Team, and “Best Cybersecurity Book” for the SecurityMetrics Guide to HIPAA Compliance.
RETAIL
- Better Butter, Salt Lake City, has announced that three of its craft butters are available in local Walmart stores: Garlic Herb Craft Butter, Honey Craft Butter and Steakhouse Craft Butter.