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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
• The owners of The State Room, a 299-person-capacity live music venue, have announced the opening of The Commonwealth Room, a 700-person venue at 195 W. Commonwealth Ave. (2100 S.), Salt Lake City will take place May 5. Chris Mautz and Darin Piccoli say the new venue will provide live-music fans “an environment that will feature a custom sound system, audience platforms with clear sightlines and a separate lobby with a full bar.” Tickets will be sold via Ticketfly, the same vendor as The State Room.
DIRECT SALES
• Young Living Essential Oils LC, Lehi, has promoted Lori Burgher as its regional president of North America. Burgher has more than 23 years of sales and marketing experience. She joined the company in 2016 as director of marketing and communications and was general manager of Canada. Prior to joining Young Living, Burgher held several positions with Travel Alberta and creative agencies.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Provo-Orem is the sixth-worst place in a ranking of “2018’s Best and Worst Places to Start a Small Business,” compiled by RewardExpert, a free web service providing smart tools and features that enable users to make more better decisions. The company analyzed 177 metro areas based on 30 data indicators to determine which places across the country give small businesses and startups the best chance to succeed and which ones will present most challenges. RewardExpert said Provo-Orem has an exceptionally low five-year startup survival rate of 45.49 percent. Small-business density and business ownership rates are low, with only 0.06 percent of residents owning a business.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• The University of Utah College of Science recently celebrated the opening of the Gary and Ann Crocker Science Center on Presidents Circle. Housed in the historic and newly renovated George Thomas Building, the Crocker Science Center will be the new home to the Henry Eyring Center for Cell and Genome Science, the Center for Science and Math Education, modern classrooms and laboratories for interdisciplinary science and math education, and a technology incubator space. Gary and Ann Crocker provided a personal lead gift of $10 million toward the renovation and expansion of the George Thomas Building. The project also received $34 million from the state of Utah and donations from additional benefactors. University classes started in the Crocker Science Center on Jan. 8 for the spring semester. The building now contains 10 flexible classrooms, including two large teaching spaces in the historic Great Hall. Each of the Great Hall classrooms can accommodate more than 100 students. In addition, a total of seven new teaching laboratories are available to students.
• Seven students from Weber State University’s John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics have been accepted to a cybersecurity summer fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University, filling nearly half of the estimated 20 spots available in the program. The fellowship, called the “IT Lab: Summer Security Intensive,” is a paid, seven-week internship for students interested in pursuing graduate degrees or careers in information security.
GOVERNMENT
• The Utah Department of Commerce has announced that Thomas A. Brady has been selected as the new director of the Division of Securities and Jacob Hart has been promoted to deputy director of the Department of Commerce from the Division of Consumer Protection. Brady has served as Commerce deputy director for the past five years and was previously with the Utah Division of Securities for over three years, both as a securities analyst and as director of enforcement. He has been an expert witness in multiple securities cases, been designated as a special prosecutor, and has served as an administrative law judge for various boards within the Department of Commerce. His education includes an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University with a bachelor of arts in political science. Brady succeeds outgoing director Keith Woodwell, who served over nine years with the Division of Securities and has accepted an attorney position with Clyde, Snow and Sessions. Hart has been a legal analyst with the Division of Consumer Protection since August 2015. He graduated from BYU with a bachelor of science degree in economics and earned his Juris Doctor from BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.
• The West Jordan City Council has named Kent G. Anderson as the city’s economic development director and Rob Wall as the new city attorney. Andersen succeeds David Oka as economic development director. Oka retired in December. Andersen comes from Layton City, where he served as the economic development manager and the deputy director of community and economic development for the past six years. Prior to that, he was the city planner in Syracuse. His education includes a bachelor of science degree in environmental studied from Utah State University. Wall succeeds David R. Brickey, who was appointed city manager in January. Wall worked as the city attorney for Sandy City; assistant city manager and general counsel for South Jordan City; and deputy city attorney and risk manager for West Valley City. Wall also taught for 27 years for the Utah Department of Public Safety and for the Utah Department of Corrections. His education includes a bachelor of arts degree from Brigham Young University.
• The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is urging heavy-construction employers in 10 metropolitan Utah counties to participate in a wage survey to help establish prevailing wage rates as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. WHD is collecting data on wages paid to workers on all heavy construction projects active from Aug. 1, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2017. The survey is not limited to federally funded projects. Without a high level of survey participation, the state’s wage rates will not reflect actual wages, preventing accurate wage determinations and leading to increased requests for additional classifications, it said. Wage data should be submitted for all projects meeting the criteria, regardless of how they are funded. The 10 counties included in the survey are Salt Lake, Tooele, Box Elder, Davis, Morgan, Weber, Cache, Juab, Utah and Washington. Participants may complete the survey online. All responses must be postmarked by Aug. 31 to be included.
MANUFACTURING
• Varex Imaging Corp., a Salt Lake City-based designer and manufacturer of X-ray imaging components, has appointed Walter M Rosebrough Jr. to its board of directors. Rosebrough is president and chief executive officer and a director of STERIS plc. He previously was president and CEO of Coastal Hydraulics Inc., where he continues to serve on its board of directors. Previously, Rosebrough spent nearly 20 years in the healthcare industry in various roles as a senior executive with Hill-Rom Holdings Inc., including president and CEO of Support Systems International and president and CEO of Hill-Rom.
PRODUCTS/RECREATION/SPORTS
• Snowbasin Resort has appointed Davy Ratchford as general manager. Ratchford succeeds retiring general manager John Loomis. Ratchford’s experience includes serving as the senior director of marketing and strategic alliance at Park City Mountain and as the director of marketing at Vail Mountain in Colorado and Northstar Resort in California. Ratchford attended the University of Utah.
• James Coleman, managing partner of Mountain Capital Partners, recently announced that his company is entering into an operating agreement with Skyline Mountain Base LLC to manage and operate Nordic Valley Ski Resort in Eden. Skyline Mountain Base is a group of U.S. and European investors.
PHILANTHROPY
• Smith’s Food & Drug Stores has donated 15 pallets of new apparel and shoes to several local nonprofit organizations in the Salt Lake Valley. The donation of reclamation clothing for children and adults supports the company’s visionary “Zero Hunger | Zero Waste” plan, aimed at ending hunger and eliminating waste across the company by 2025. The nonprofits include The Road Home, Catholic Community Services, Volunteers of America and Granite Education Foundation. The donation of 13,527 items of new clothing for men, women and children and 1,384 pairs of shoes from Smith’s has a retail value of $331,662 and will help meet the basic clothing needs of many homeless and impoverished people.
• Ivory Homes has announced an initiative to plant 30,000 trees in Utah. The announcement was made in conjunction with Earth Day. The initiative will include partnerships with TreeUtah, the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR), groups of Ivory homeowners and residents throughout the state. Ivory Homes is inviting people from across the state to submit ideas and proposals for significant planting projects and locations at www.ivorygreen.com. A total of 20,000 trees will be gifted to the community at large with an additional 10,000 trees planted in new and existing Ivory Homes’ communities. The first significant community planting will take place this October with approximately 1,500 trees. This will be in addition to the more than 1,000 trees that will be planted this year in Ivory Homes’ communities.
REAL ESTATE
• Primary Residential Mortgage Inc., Salt Lake City, has hired Ronnie Chinchilla as manager of the PRMI Giving Network. The network’s mission is to “help transform communities across the globe and to inspire and create real change through nutrition, service and education.” Chinchilla previously worked as a field coordinator for Habitat for Humanity-Guatemala. During his time there, he hosted a group of PRMI employees who volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.
RECOGNITIONS
• Phil Thompson, chairman of the board of Industrial Supply Co., Salt Lake City, recently was presented the John J. Buckley Lifetime Achievement Award by the Industrial Supply Association (ISA). The award was presented at the 2018 American Eagle Awards at the ISA convention in Baltimore. The award is presented to recognize people in the maintenance, repair, operations, and production (MROP) channel for longstanding service in the industrial supply industry. Thompson spent his entire business career working for Industrial Supply Co., nearly 50 years in total. He started in the warehouse and held a variety of jobs, from driver to sales team manager. Eventually he became president and CEO, positions he held from 1979-2008.
• The Utah Manufacturers Association and Utah Mining Association recently presented companies with safety awards. Recipients of the Utah Manufacturers Association’s 2018 Workplace/Worksafe Safety Awards of Excellence, for outstanding performance in creating a safe workplace environment, are Cleasby Manufacturing of Utah, Futura Industries, Hunt Electric, Mechanical Service & Systems Inc., MityLite, Owens Corning’s Nephi Plant, Post Consumer Brands, Sleep Number, SnugZ USA Inc., Spring Works Utah, Treehouse Foods (Lofthouse) and Valley View Granite. The Utah Mining Association’s 2018 Safety Awards for 2017 Performance were presented to American Gilsonite, Canyon Fuel Co. (Dugout Canyon Mine and Castle Valley Prep. Plant), Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc., Garymont (Cricket Mountain), Lisbon Valley Mining Co. (Lisbon Valley Mine and Processing Group) and Materion Natural Resources. Service Companies receiving honors are Bodell Construction, Brahma Group Inc., Komatsu Equipment Co., Norwest Corp., Strata Worldwide, W.W. Clyde & Co. and Wheeler Machinery Co.
• Health Catalyst, a Salt Lake City-based data analytics, decision support and outcomes improvement company, is one of 39 companies to receive the 2018 Gallup Great Workplace Award, which recognizes organizations for their ability to “create engaged workplace cultures that drive business outcomes.” First named to the list in 2016, Health Catalyst remains the only healthcare technology company and one of the few technology companies of any kind to win the award, which premiered in 2007.
• HyPerComp Engineering and S&S Worldwide recently were presented the Vanguard in International Business Award at the Cache Valley Business Summit. The awards were presented by World Trade Center Utah in partnership with the Department of Workforce Services based on the companies’ success in international exporting within Box Elder, Rich or Cache counties. HyPerComp Engineering designs and fabricates composite-wrapped, high-pressure vessels. It exports to Germany, the United Kingdom, Thailand and Japan, with 10 percent to 30 percent of its business generated internationally. S&S Worldwide, which just opened a new facility in April, manufactures vertical and family thrill rides.
• Salt Lake Mayor Jackie Biskupski recently announced the winners of the Mayor’s Artists Awards, which will be presented in conjunction with the Utah Arts Festival on June 22 at Washington Square. This award was created more than 25 years ago to honor individuals and organizations who have made a positive impact to the creative community of Salt Lake City. Recipients are Ann Poore, Literary Arts; Utah Arts Alliance, Service to the Arts (Organization), Kerri Hopkins, Service to the Arts (Individual); and Joe Marotta, Arts Education.
• Peak Capital Partners, a Provo-based apartment investment and management company, has been named by the National Multifamily Housing Council to the 2018 NMHC 50, the annual ranking of the nation’s largest apartment owners. The company started with a single acquisition in 2009 and now provides affordable housing to more than 21,000 families across the U.S. NMHC partnered with Kingsley Associates, a real estate research and consulting firm, in determining rankings of the 2018 NMHC 50. Apartment owners were ranked based on their portfolio holdings as of Jan. 1, 2018.
SERVICES
• NACM Business Credit Services, Salt Lake City, has named Rebecca Mullins of Ferguson Enterprises as the chairperson of its board of directors. Other new board officers are DeAnna Leahy, Sunroc Corp., vice chairperson, and D’Ann Johnson, Roofers Supply, as treasurer. Newly elected board members are Kelly Passey, Plastic Specialties, and Whitney Davidson, Sunroc Building Materials. NACM Business Credit Services is an affiliate of the National Association of Credit Management (NACM) and is an advocate for business credit and financial management professionals.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Control4 Corp., Salt Lake City, has promoted JD Ellis to general counsel. Ellis joined the company in 2009 and has years of in-house legal experience, representing and providing legal counsel to technology and emerging growth companies. Prior to the promotion, he was assistant general counsel. Ellis previously was legal counsel to Ivanti (formerly LANDesk Software). His education includes a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brigham Young University. Greg Bishop, who previously served as general counsel for Control4, has decided to leave the company to pursue other endeavors.