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BANKING
• Bank of Utah, Ogden, has named Brady Fosmark, commercial lending team leader, as chief lending officer. Fosmark will oversee commercial lending operations and loan portfolios. He has been with Bank of Utah since 2006. Fosmark earned an MBA in business administration and a B.S. in physical education from Weber State University. Fosmark succeeds Taft Meyer, executive vice president, who will be transitioning his chief lending officer responsibilities to Fosmark over the next six months and is planning to retire in September. Meyer joined the bank in 2010. He has over 40 years banking experience, holding positions at Production Credit Association and Security Pacific National Bank in California; and First Security, Wells Fargo and Zions Bank in Utah. Meyer graduated from Utah State University in 1983.
• Piper Sandler, a Minnesota-based investment bank and financial services company, has added Alyson Blossom for its Special District Group as an investment banking associate in its Utah office. Blossom most recently was an associate in alternative investments and manager selection at Goldman Sachs, where she focused on long-only equities and worked with external investment managers. The Special District Group, which creates unique financing structures in partnership with local governments and real estate developers to fund the public infrastructure needs of growing communities, now has more than 30 members across Colorado and Utah.
COMMUNICATIONS
• Comcast is participating in the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and the $30-per-month benefit can be applied to any tier of Xfinity Internet service. Comcast has introduced two new ways for customers to connect through ACP and both are available to any customer who qualifies in all the company’s service areas. Customers can sign up for Internet Essentials Plus, which includes 100 Mbps download speeds, a cable modem, and Wi-Fi router, and is free after the government’s ACP credit is applied. Additionally, Xfinity Internet customers participating in ACP now can add mobile service through Xfinity Mobile. New and existing Xfinity Internet or Internet Essentials customers can visit www.xfinity.com/acp or call (844) 389-4681 for more information, to determine eligibility, and to sign up.
CORPORATE
• Extra Space Storage Inc., a Salt Lake City-based owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the United States, has announced that its operating partnership, Extra Space Storage LP, has priced a public offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 3.9 percent senior notes due 2029. The notes will mature on April 1, 2029. BofA Securities, Citigroup, TD Securities, J.P. Morgan, PNC Capital Markets LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, BMO Capital Markets and US Bancorp are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Truist Securities Inc., Regions Securities LLC, BOK Financial Securities, Inc., Fifth Third Securities, BNP PARIBAS, Zions Capital Markets and Ramirez & Co. Inc. are acting as the co-managers for the offering. The offering was expected to close on or about March 31. The operating partnership 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.
• Purple Innovation Inc., a Lehi-based based producer of comfort products, has announced it intends to sell $65 million of Class A common stock in an underwritten public offering. The underwriter has a 30-day option period to purchase up to 15 percent additional shares of Class A common stock from the company. After satisfying the conditions under a credit agreement, the company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, capital expenditures, other corporate expenses and acquisitions of complementary products, technologies or businesses.
DIRECT SALES
• ASEA, a Salt Lake City-based direct-sales health products company, has appointed Julia Ku as vice president of Asia. Ku will continue building ASEA’s presence in Asia, with particular emphasis on driving sales and field initiatives in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. She also will develop and lead strategies to increase the availability of ASEA products throughout Asia. Ku has more than 25 years of experience in the directing selling industry, most recently working in China overseeing 28 branch offices across the country and was responsible for sales strategy, incentive program development and execution, and training.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Utah is ranked No. 10 on a list of “2022’s Most Innovative States,” compiled by personal-finance website WalletHub. It compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 22 key metrics, including share of STEM professionals and research and development spending per capita. Utah was No. 8 for human capital and No. 11 for “innovation environment.” On a breakout list, Utah was No. 4 for best eighth-grade math and science performance. The District of Columbia is top-ranked overall. The bottom-ranked state is Mississippi. Details are at https://wallethub.com/edu/most-innovative-states/31890.
• Thirty-three percent of surveyed Utahns say they support stricter laws on the sale of alcohol, such as limiting sales to certain days of the week or times of the day, according to Desert Hope Treatment Center. The national average is 22 percent. The highest percentage was in New Mexico, at 48 percent. The lowest was 10 percent in Montana. Details are at https://deserthopetreatment.com/blog/partial-prohibition/.
• Utah is ranked No. 10 on a list of states and Canadian provinces with the highest share of Airbnb listings featuring swimming pools. Fifty-eight percent of Utah listings include pools. Hawaii leads the list, with 81 percent. Airbnb said that at the end of last year, searches on Airbnb for stays with pools for this summer increased by more than 50 percent in both the U.S. and Canada.
• Salt Lake City is tied for No. 15 with Kansas City, Missouri, on a list of “2022’s Best Cities for Brunch Lovers,” compiled by LawnStarter. New York was top-ranked. The No. 197 city is San Bernardino, California. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-brunch-lovers/.
• Utah smokers would accept no less than a $5,708 cash incentive from a federal program to quit, according to a study by alternative tobacco company Oklahoma Smokes. The national average is $9,080. It also found that 6 percent of Utah smokers feel shunned by society. Vermont smokers would accept a $1,694 incentive to quite, while those in Hawaii would require $16,500. Details are at https://itsoklahomas.com/blogs/blog/smokers-shunned.
ENERGY
• Palmetto, a South Carolina-based company offering a clean energy platform leveraging proprietary technology designed to drive the adoption of renewable energy like solar power, has expanded into Utah’s residential solar market.
ENVIRONMENT
• Recursion, a Salt Lake City-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, has released its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) report. Its long-term ESG commitments include net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030; equal gender representation by 2030; and redirecting 1 percent of its equity into the Recursion Foundation, the company’s nonprofit entity established in 2019.
• Gadget Guard, a North Salt Lake company offering telephone cases, screen protectors and an insurance program for screen repairs, has announced a partnership with Newaya to offer a program allowing customers to trade in their old or broken phones for up to $700. The program aims to increase the lifespan of devices and encourage proper device disposal to decrease e-waste and advance overall tech wellness. The program inspects, repairs, tests and resells mobile devices to small businesses in more than 20 countries.
GOVERNMENT
• The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) has named Natalie El-Deiry as the director of immigration and new American integration. El-Deiry will develop a statewide new Americans initiative and work in public-private partnerships to align relevant programs, emphasizing the integration of new Americans into Utah’s workforce. She will lead the newly created Utah Immigration Assistance Center. El-Deiry most recently was the executive director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where she was responsible for articulating and delivering on the IRC’s vision and mission to serve over 2,000 refugees and new Americans annually while leading a staff of more than 100 Utah workers. Some of her previous working roles include deputy director of development and strategic initiatives at IRC and grants and contracts manager at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
INVESTMENTS
• Learn In, a Salt Lake City-based company offering a platform that helps companies establish their own “talent academies,” has raised $10 million in Series A funding to provide companies solutions for helping employees build deeper skills aligned to company growth and success. The round was led by Firework Ventures and included new investor Kickstart Fund and existing investors GSV Ventures and Album Ventures. Learn In said it will use the new capital to expand its technology platform, go-to-market team and customer success capabilities.
• VentureCapital.Org has announced a WeROC (Women Entrepreneurs Realizing Opportunities for Capital) event will take place April 27, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., in Boise, Idaho. The organization has held WeROC events in Utah for several years. Up to eight women-led startups will pitch for investment capital, and panel discussions will feature “Elements of a Great Pitch” and “Finding the Right Capital at the Right Time.” Details are available at Eventbrite.com.
MANUFACTURING
• Purple Innovation Inc., a Lehi-based producer of comfort products, has appointed Jeff Hutchings as first-ever chief innovation officer. Hutchings will oversee strategy and operations of the company’s product solutions, playing a leading role in supporting Purple’s future growth plans and innovation acceleration. Hutchings has more than a decade of experience in innovation, research and development, new product introduction and quality assurance. He previously was chief product officer and vice president of product at Skullcandy Inc. and held various roles at Harman International. Hutchings earned a B.S. in computer engineering, electrical engineering, ASIC/FPGA design, computer science and software development from University of Utah.
NONPROFITS
• The Utah Women’s Giving Circle, a grassroots membership group formed in 2011 to change the statistics for women and girls in Utah, has awarded $15,000 across four initiatives targeting essential services and women returning to the workforce in the wake of the COVID pandemic. It is the group’s 11th round of grants, having invested more than $195,000 through 56 nonprofit projects. Grants of $4,000 were awarded to the Your Community Connection Family Crisis Center, to support domestic violence victims in becoming self-sufficient, such as fees for birth certificates, driver’s licenses and bank accounts; Family Support Center, to support reduced-cost mental health services to women and families who are uninsured, as low as $10 per visit; and Fight Against Domestic Violence, providing immediate, one-time help for domestic violence victims facing financial emergencies, such as help paying off utility bills or attorney costs for divorce proceedings. A grant of $3,000 was awarded to Project Read, supporting tutoring and small-group instruction, helping women improve their ability to read, write, compute and use technology to improve their opportunities in life. The Utah Women’s Giving Circle is fiscally sponsored by the Community Foundation of Utah.
RECOGNITIONS
• Atomic, a Salt Lake City-based provider of payroll connectivity, has been named the winner of the sixth annual FinTech Breakthrough Awards for “Best Banking Transaction Solution.” The awards program receives nominations from the best and brightest fintech companies around the world.
• Six finalists have been selected for the Startup Pitch competition that will take place in conjunction with the One Utah Summit in May. Nearly 50 entrepreneurs applied. The six are undergoing mentoring from VentureCapital.Org, and the top three will present at the May 10 summit. The finalists are Jipe, Fruit Heights, involved in HR/AI; Light Line Medical, Salt Lake City, medical device; Merit3D, Price, manufacturing; Poly, Vineyard, software; Purtek, South Ogden, consumer product; and Woobie, Lehi, fintech/AI.
• Weber State University’s Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) has honored Alexander Lancaster with the John A. Lindquist Award for 2022 for his research, commitment to the community and dedication to students. An associate professor in the Department of Communication, Lancaster directs the interpersonal and small-group communication courses. In collaboration with CCEL, students in those courses provide more than 5,600 hours of service each semester, helping community members experiencing a variety of social and access issues, including homelessness, food insecurity and the need for after-school childcare. In addition to his teaching, Lancaster is completing his fourth year as the faculty co-advisor to Weber State’s Social Issues Team, which offers undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct original research based on community partner needs. The CCEL also selected two students, Kaila Lemons and Maria Rios Cabrera, for the Ivory Prize, initiated in 2020 by the Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation to recognize a commitment to leadership and community engagement. Ivory Prize awardees receive a cash prize and a donation toward their cause, initiative and/or team. For two years, Lemons has served as Food Recovery Network president and Weber State’s first campus Zero Waste Coordinator. In these roles she has coordinated 50 volunteers who have collaborated with groups across campus to generate less waste and increase recycling. They have also collected and shared nearly 2,000 pounds of food, which otherwise would have gone to waste, with Lantern House, northern Utah’s largest homeless shelter. Lemons has also managed and recruited volunteers for a variety of sustainability events. Cabrera, a senior with a double major in mechanical engineering and economics and a minor in math, has a passion for helping students with learning disabilities. She serves as the student coordinator for the CATT (Creating Achievement Through Transition) program, in the Disability Services Center, which helps students with learning disabilities transition from high school to college. She and her team of mentors have provided support and information to students in 11 high schools in the Davis, Morgan and Weber school districts.
RETAIL
• Dillard’s has opened at University Place, a 112-acre mixed-use development in Orem. The newly constructed 160,000-square-foot department store will carry over 22,000 pairs of shoes and over 650 name brands. It is Dillard’s fifth store in Utah. It has 250 stores in 29 states. The store opening brings the size of retail shopping at University Place to approximately 1.2 million square feet, complementing the existing Class A office space and apartment residence.
SURVEYS
• The Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP), in partnership with the Women’s Business Center of Utah (WBCUtah), is encouraging Utah women 18 and older to participate in a study on women-owned businesses in the state. The survey can be completed through April 17 at https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bmbbocQG7CIPK18. The purpose of the research is to understand the status of women-owned businesses in Utah and the experiences of women who own those businesses. The survey will help Utah business, government, political, nonprofit and other types of entities, leaders and decision-makers better understand the status of women-owned businesses in the state and women’s experiences starting and operating their businesses.
TECHNOLOGY
• Swell, a Salt Lake City-based customer experience platform for local businesses, has named two senior vice presidents: Gary Gentry over sales and Tim Short over customer experience. Gentry began his technology career at Wildfire Interactive and has since led sales teams at LinkedIn and other high-growth startups. Short previously held executive leadership positions at Workfront, KeyedIn and ClickUp.
• SafeMoon, a Pleasant Grove-based company focused on technology and cryptocurrency, has hired Jake Hammock, Lynn Spraggs and Robert Spraggs for its senior leadership team. Hammock is vice president of research and development. He is a scientist and futurist, technology architect, and social/environment impact creator. Lynn Spraggs, director of cryptography, is owner of cybersecurity company Aegis Systems, Canada. Robert Spraggs, director of technology, is chief technology officer at Aegis. Privately held SafeMoon has a secondary presence in the U.K.
• DigiCert, a Lehi-based provider of technology security solutions, has named Christophe Bodin as chief revenue officer. Bodin has more than 25 years of experience in the software industry and is a leader of sales, marketing and customer success teams. He has held senior positions at Tradeshift, Anaplan, SBI Growth Advisory, IBM, Oracle and BEA Systems.