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BANKING
• KeyBank has named Cameron Cole as Key Private Bank team leader for the bank’s Utah market. Cole will lead the efforts of the private bank in Utah to provide comprehensive, integrated investment, trust, banking and planning solutions for high-net-worth clients and their families. He will also help drive collaboration with Key business partners to generate revenue growth. Cole worked at Zions First National Bank before joining Key Private Bank. He also held positions at TD Ameritrade and Bernstein Global Wealth Management. His education includes an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business.
• Bank of Utah, Ogden, has hired Matthew Linford as relationship manager on the bank’s treasury management team at its corporate Ogden branch at 2605 Washington Blvd. For the past five years, Linford worked in business development for Bank of the West, where he partnered with the bank’s commercial and construction lenders to service his clients. Prior to his career in banking, Linford spent eight years as a full-time soccer coach for youth ranging from ages 6 to college age. He also directed a youth soccer club and continues to coach in his spare time. Linford graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in business administration (marketing) from Weber State University.
CORPORATE
• Purple Innovation Inc., a Lehi-based manufacturer of comfort products, has withdrawn its full-year 2020 revenue and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) guidance “due to the heightened uncertainty related to the full potential impact arising from the COVID-19 outbreak.” Joe Megibow, CEO, noted that several states have mandated that all non-essential businesses close temporarily to slow the spread of the virus, and, as a result, more than half of Purple’s wholesale doors were closed and more may close over the coming weeks.
HOSPITALITY
• DCC, a Provo-based hotel developer and asset manager, has appointed Ryan Phelps as chief investment officer. He will lead the execution of the company’s overall investment strategy, which includes the acquisition, development, construction and disposition of DCC’s portfolio of assets. Phelps most recently was vice president of investments at T2 Hospitality. Before that, he held roles at Lehman Brothers and worked for AEW Capital Management’s opportunity fund.
INVESTMENTS
• Zenerchi LLC, a private biotech company based in Salt Lake City and Vietnam, has expanded its initial round of $1.2 million in seed funding from private accredited investors to $1.775 million. The company said it is preparing for a $5 million funding round later this year with institutional investors and has secured its first paying customer. The company also announced a third outside member of the company board. Brandon Fugal is Utah chairman of real estate company Colliers International. Zenerchi specializes in life extension and biomedical simulation and visualization AI.
MANUFACTURING
• Perfectly Posh, a Salt Lake City-based manufacturer of beauty products, has announced that Jennifer Harmon has been selected as vice president of business development. Harmon has extensive experience in direct sales, both in the field and at the corporate level. She spent 14 years as a consultant in recruiting with Pampered Chef. In 2011she became director of business development at Jamberry Nails. In 2015, she left to start her own corporate consulting business.
PHILANTHROPY
• The Sallie Mae Fund, the charitable arm of Sallie Mae, has donated $200,000 to the Utah Food Bank to support people affected by COVID-19. The fund is contributing $1 million to five food banks where nearly 2,000 Sallie Mae employees live, work and serve. Also, Sallie Mae customers who are experiencing hardship due to COVID-19 can request to temporarily postpone payments for three months.
• Walker Edison, a Salt Lake City-based e-commerce furniture company, Recently donated more than 500 desks to individuals and families. The company had issued a call for nominations for those whose budgets were tight but in need of a desk to successfully work and teach their kids remotely.
• StateFoodSafety, Orem, has launched a free online food safety training course for charitable feeding and disaster relief volunteers. The 22-minute course provides volunteers with a basic understanding of vital food safety principles. Topics covered include how to safely serve food to highly susceptible populations, proper food worker health and hygiene, and how to keep food safe during transportation, receiving, storage, and preparation. The course can be used to help train volunteers for charitable feeding programs as well as for disaster relief operations. Along with the disaster relief training course, StateFoodSafety offers other free resources that are intended to help in times of need, including multiple food safety posters, handwashing stickers, and handwashing videos. The course does not replace a food handler card or a food protection manager certification. Details are at https://www.statefoodsafety.com.
REAL ESTATE
• EnerBank USA has become the first company to sign an office lease at the 650 Main project in Salt Lake City. The tower at the corner of Main Street and 600 South is a 10-story, 326,000-square foot Class A office building. EnerBank will occupy 88,900 square feet on the top three floors of the building starting in early 2022. The action was announced by a development venture consisting of Patrinely Group and USAA Real Estate. Dennis Tarro of Patrinely Group and Aaron Jones, Todd McLachlan and Roman Bernardo of Newmark Knight Frank represented the landlord in the transaction.
• Interpointe Shopping Center at 300 W. 2100 S., Salt Lake City, has been sold by PMJ Cos. to DBA Midtown National Group LP. The announcement was made by Mountain West Commercial Real Estate (MW). The sale included approximately 100,000 square feet of leasable space and seven acres of land. MW also was able to broker the 3,399-square-foot sale of the Carl’s Jr. pad located on the same property. MW broker Chris Monson represented PMJ. DBA Midtown was represented by MW broker Lance Pendleton on both transactions.
RECOGNITIONS
• Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., Provo, has received a Communitas Award for outstanding corporate social responsibility, ethical and environmental responsibility, and green initiatives. The Communitas Awards program is an international effort to recognize the spirit of communitas, or people helping people for the benefit of their community. The award recognizes Nu Skin’s sustainability initiatives during the past year, including holding a global sales conference that was energy-neutral across multiple facilities, announcing several new commitments and tracking the progress, and taking additional steps at its global facilities to reduce waste. The awards are an outgrowth of the pro bono recognition program of the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP).
• Reese & Co. won the People’s Choice Prize in the 2020 Utah Entrepreneur Challenge, and Pocket Change won the People’s Choice Award in 2020 High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. Reese & Co. is a bag accessory company from Southern Utah University. The 2020 Utah Entrepreneur Challenge is a statewide business model competition managed by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a division of the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, and the high school version is a business-idea competition. Reese & Co. won after collecting 880 of 3,906 total votes during several weeks of public online voting. This year, students from universities and colleges in Utah submitted more than 150 applications for the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. More than 40 judges with diverse industry expertise reviewed the submitted applications. The second-place team in the People’s Choice competition was Parq from the University of Utah, which is developing a platform that allows home and business owners to rent their parking spots to the public. The third-place team was BidMyCrib from Utah Valley University, which created a website that allows students and young professionals to list their partial housing contracts for sale. In the high school competition, Pocket Change, a team from Murray High School, won 69 out of 3,757 total votes. Pocket Change is an app that enables students to investigate educational and career options, acquire professional skills, and enter the workforce with confidence in their selected career. This year, students from over 40 high schools submitted more than 350 applications competition. The top 20 teams in both the college and high school competitions advance to the final judging, showcase and awards event.
• Qualtrics, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on customer experience, has announced that its platform CoreXM was named a 2020 gold winner by the Edison Awards in the Applied Technology category. Each year, the Edison Awards recognize and honor the best innovations and innovators in the world. Among the nomination entries comprising the best products, services and businesses in innovation for the year 2020, Qualtrics CoreXM was chosen as a winner by a panel of over 3,000 business executives from around the world.
SERVICES
• Mckinney Trailer Rentals, a California-based provider of trailer rentals and leases, has opened a branch at 3215 W. 500 S., Salt Lake City. Justin (JT) Touchette will be branch manager. Mckinney has 16 branch locations.