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ECONOMIC INDICATORS
- Salt Lake City is ranked No. 1 on a list of “Top 25 Best Places to Live in the West,” compiled by Livability.com. Salt Lake City bested Fort Collins, Colorado; Olympia, Washington; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Roseville, California. The rankings were influenced by a conducted by Livability.com in partnership with Ipsos. Also making the Top 25 list are No. 10 Sandy, No. 13 Logan and No. 21 Orem. On a Livability.com list of the “Top 100 Best Places in Live in the U.S.,” Salt Lake City is No. 8, Sandy is No. 22, Orem is No. 60 and Provo is No. 87. The top-ranked city nationally is Madison, Wisconsin. Details are at https://livability.com/topics/where-to-live-now/top-25-best-places-to-live-out-west/.
- Salt Lake City is ranked No. 24 and West Valley City is No. 143 on a list of “Most Sustainable Cities,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on five sustainability categories, including the number of zero-energy buildings, alternative fuel stations and greenhouse-gas emissions, among 26 total metrics. The top-ranked city is San Francisco. The No. 200 city is Mesquite, Texas. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/most-sustainable-cities/.
- Thirty-four percent of Utah drivers admit to stockpiling gasoline in order to lock in lower prices, according to a survey commissioned by Gunther Volvo Delray Beach and carried out by QuestionPro. Among surveyed Utahns, 45 percent admit to buying more gas than they currently need. The lowest percentage of stockpilers overall was in Arizona, at 17 percent. Oklahoma had the highest, at 71, followed by Kansas, at 49 percent. Details are at https://www.gunthervolvo.com/gas-hoarding.htm.
- Salt Lake City is ranked No. 50 and West Valley City is No. 199 (next-to-last) on a list of “Best Cities for Book Lovers,” compiled by Lawn Love. It compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on five categories, looking at access to bookstores, literary festivals and Little Free Libraries, among 15 total metrics. The top-ranked city is New York City. The bottom-ranked city is Brownsville, Texas. Details are at https://lawnlove.com/blog/best-cities-for-book-lovers/.
EDUCATION
- Utah Tech University recently opened its Center for Precision Medicine & Functional Genomics and unveiled its Variant Science Training Program with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony. University President Richard B. Williams said the new center includes a state-of-the-art lab and opportunities for students to participate in cutting-edge programs. Students participating in the program can obtain a Functional Genomics Certificate as well as certificates in bioinformatics, protein characterizations, genetic sequencing and variant science. Howard McLeod was introduced as center director. McLeod previously was head of Intermountain Precision Genomics, where he served as executive clinical director of Precision Health. Prior to that, he served as chair of the Department of Individualized Cancer Management at the Moffit Cancer Institute in Tampa, Florida. McLeod is also a co-founder of Clarified Precision Medicine.
ENVIRONMENT
- Air quality across the Salt Lake City region has gotten worse on average since last year, according to the American Lung Association’s 2023 “State of the Air” report. Salt Lake City experienced more unhealthy air pollution in all three categories that appear in the report: ozone, short-term particle pollution, and annual particle pollution. Salt Lake City ranked among the nation’s most polluted cities for both ozone (10th) and short-term particle pollution (19th), while Logan ranked 17th for most short-term particle pollution. Nationally, the report found that nearly 120 million people, or more than one in three, in the U.S. live in counties that had unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. St. Georgewas No. 7 among the cleanest cities for annual particle pollution levels but dropped off the cleanest cities list for short-term particle pollution.
ESG
- Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., a Provo-based beauty and wellness product company, has released its 2022 Social Impact and Sustainability Report, outlining progress on the company’s environmental, social and governance priorities. Among the report highlights are the reduction of more than 82 tons of plastic and 23 tons of paper as a result of environmental initiatives, publication of its first carbon footprint as an appendix to the 2021 Social Impact and Sustainability report, the joining of the EcoBeautyScore Consortium to develop an industry-wide standard for product environmental impact assessment and scoring, conducting a pay equity analysis and implementing appropriate adjustments, conducting global service projects with more than 2,400 volunteers to benefit more than 25,000 people, donating more than $6.7 million globally to causes around the world, and purchasing and donating 43 million meals to children in more than 65 counties.
GOVERNMENT
- Americans for Prosperity, focused on policy reform at the local, state and federal levels, has named Kevin Greene as director of Americans for Prosperity-Utah. Greene joined AFP-UT in 2018 as policy director and most recently served as deputy state director.
- The University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute has named Timothy Shriver as an Impact Scholar. Shriver is Special Olympics chairman, bestselling author and producer of numerous Hollywood films. Before joining the Special Olympics in 1996, Shriver co-founded and currently chairs the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the leading school reform organization in the field of social and emotional learning. Shriver also is the chair and co-founder of UNITE, an initiative to promote national unity and solidarity across differences. Shriver will spend several days each semester over the next three years participating in guest lectures, participating in roundtable discussions with state and local officials, and consulting with university and community leaders. He has also been named the 2023 University of Utah General Commencement speaker.
HEALTHCARE
- Metrodora, a Salt Lake City-based multidisciplinary institute with clinicians, scientists and engineers focused on better human health outcomes, has opened a medical and research center dedicated to advancing care and accelerating the path to improved diagnostics, therapeutics and cures for patients living with neuroimmune axis disorders. The center is in Salt Lake City. The Metrodora Foundation, the institute’s nonprofit research arm, will fund and further the scientific discovery needed to accelerate novel treatments and cures. The institute also features dedicated collaboration spaces and holds weekly case conferences that bring experts from all specialties together with their scientific team to collaborate on complex patient cases. Metrodora’s state-of-the-art research and pathology laboratories are also co-located within its medical center.
HOSPITALITY
- LivAway Suites, a Salt Lake City-based economy extended-stay hotel brand, has broken ground at its second location at 7372 S. Campus View Drive, West Jordan.
INVESTMENTS
- Agency VA, a Lehi-based virtual assistance platform for insurance agencies, has received a $12 million investment from Maddix Capital. It is the first institutional capital raised by Agency VA. Jesse Silva, founder and general partner, and Jake Gubler, director, will both advise and support Agency VA as a board director and board observer, respectively.
- Xenocor, a Salt Lake City-based company that has created the Saberscope laparoscope, has announced a $10 million Series A funding, led by GenHenn Venture Fund I. Other participants were Baranco Investments Inc., Barvest Ventures Inc. and Patel Family Investments. Xenocor said it will use the capital for the 2023 launch of the Saberscope and to continue innovation. Michael J. Hennessy Jr. of GenHenn Capital will join the Xenocor board of directors.
LAW
- Tanner LLC has announced a new practice, the Integrated Global Solutions Practice focused on international tax, transfer pricing and accounting services. The practice will be led by Derek Drysdale, Mark Madrian and Nancy Voth, who will base the global practice in Salt Lake City. The service will advise multinational companies on a wide range of transfer pricing, cross-border tax and valuation issues. Madrian has more than 25 years of transfer pricing experience, having worked in both consulting and in-house transfer pricing roles at Ernst & Young, KPMG and Procter & Gamble Corp. His education includes earning an undergraduate degree in public policy and economics from Brigham Young University. Voth served as managing director of global transfer pricing and valuation at a boutique consulting firm. She also worked as a director of transfer pricing at a Seattle-based travel company and as a senior manager in transfer pricing at Deloitte Tax.
MANUFACTURING
- Nusano Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company focused on cancer-fighting radioisotopes, has announced that its production facility in West Valley City will open in the first quarter of 2025. The 170,000-square-foot facility will create and supply rare isotopes to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry to support patient care and enable the next generation of radiotherapeutics, it said. Radioisotopes serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients in radiopharmaceuticals used to diagnose and treat cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and other diseases.
- McWane Poles, part of Alabama-based McWane Inc., has officially opened its newest ductile iron utility poles facility. The $18.5 million Provo facility will produce ductile iron utility poles designed to be impervious to rot, insects and woodpeckers; are highly fire resistant; and can withstand significant wind loads. The 54,000-square-foot facility was constructed over a 21-month period and produces poles that vary in length between 30 and 110 feet, with a cycle time for a baseline pole of less than 12 minutes. McWane ductile iron poles are installed in 42 states and used by over 450 utilities.
PHILANTHROPY
- The Sundt Foundation, funded primarily by contributions from Sundt Construction Inc. employees, recently awarded $10,000 in grants to two Salt Lake City charities. Wolf Creek Foundation received $5,000 for their support of military families. Through a partnership with Hill Air Force Base, the Wolf Creek Foundation sponsors weekend retreats twice a year. The grant provides help with meals, lodging and entertainment, along with programming for adults and children. Salt Lake Education Foundation was awarded $5,000 in support of its work to build bridges between schools and community agencies and organizations. It engages students and families and works with the district to ensure that high school students are ready for college, careers and life. The Sundt Foundation awards quarterly grants to local Salt Lake City charities that support the disadvantaged members of the community. Nonprofits are selected through an application and review process led by a committee of local Sundt employee-owners.
RECOGNITIONS
- SoundPass earned the grand prize in the 13th annual Bench To Bedside Competition, hosted by the University of Utah’s Center for Medical Innovation and showcasing next-generation medical device projects. Bench to Bedside annually challenges students to identify and address potential improvements in the current health care market. Interdisciplinary student teams collaborate with practicing health care professionals and industry experts on novel solutions to common problems. SoundPass received $20,000 in milestone funding. Comprised of second- and third-year medical students from the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the UofU, the SoundPass team focused on improving the process of placing a catheter into the left ventricle of the brain for patients suffering from traumatic brain injury. Twenty-seven student teams participated in this year’s competition. Other winners were OcuGuide, runner-up ($10,000) for its LED-based gaze fixation device that directs the patient’s eye movements and stabilizes fixation during surgery; LaparoVision from Bloom Surgical, Legacy Grand Prize ($15,000) for an in-abdomen, rapid-response scope lens cleaning tool; Exocranio, Best in Business ($5,000), for a medical device that covers the vulnerable operation site after a decompressive craniectomy while protecting the brain; VaddiPax, Best in Medicine ($5,000), for a carrying device for left ventricular assist device (LVAD) external components; ReSense by TAKTIL, Best in Engineering ($5,000), for a device designed to help patients rehabilitating after stroke, specifically with hand sensorimotor function; Benefactor, Best in Digital Health ($5,000), for a portable and flexible technology tool designed to make the first Social Security Disability application as likely to succeed as possible; Pegasus Safety Breakaway System, Patient Safety Technology Challenge Award ($10,000), for a system that elevates the universal utility of common medical tubing; Nala Diagnostics, Eccles & Marriott Libraries Award ($5,000), working to prevent neonatal Group B streptococcal infections; and UV Sense, Consumer’s Choice Award ($2,500), for a wearable sensor to help people stay informed of their sun exposure.
SPORTS
- PickUp USA Fitness has opened a basketball gym franchise in Woods Cross. Ryan Michaelis the owner of the Woods Cross PickUp USA franchise. The concept caters to youth and adult basketball players, including private basketball training, group basketball skills training and youth basketball development leagues for youngsters, and weight rooms and daily sessions of PickUp basketball with referees for adults. Founded in Los Angeles, PickUp USA now has 22 locations open or under construction.
TECHNOLOGY
- Consensus Sales Inc., a Lehi-based company focused on demo automation for pre-sales teams, has appointed John Cookas vice president of marketing. Cook previously was the company’s director of communications. For the past four years, he has been searching out the thought leaders in the pre-sales space, conducting original research, and working to elevate the B2B software space through buyer enablement.