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CONTESTS
• Nominations are being accepted through May 31 for the 2018 Women Tech Awards, to be presented Oct. 24 by the Women Tech Council. In its 11th year, the awards program recognizes women across all technology disciplines who are trailblazing new paths; leading and founding technology companies; and building innovative tools, technologies and experiences. Women of all technology and STEM backgrounds are eligible. Judges will include some of Silicon Slopes’ top tech industry leaders. A link to the nomination document can be found at http://www.womentechcouncil.com/. Over the past 10 years, the awards have recognized over 160 finalists and 20 student finalists.
• Applications for the 2018 MWCN Utah 100 Awards are being accepted until June 30. MountainWest Capital Network annually honors growing and exciting companies in Utah. The awards will recognize Utah’s 15 largest revenue companies, 100 fastest-growing companies, and a list of “Emerging Elite Companies.” An awards luncheon is set for Oct. 30. To qualify for consideration, a company must be a Utah-based, for-profit entity. Details are at www.mwcn.org/Utah-100.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Utah Medical Products Inc., Salt Lake City, has approved a quarterly cash dividend of 27 cents per share of common stock. The dividend is payable July 6 to shareholders of record June 15. It is a 2 percent increase over the dividend declared in the same quarter of the prior year.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• A total of 49 students from Alpine, Canyons, Davis, Granite, Jordan and Tooele school districts recently gathered at the Capitol to receive their Medical Innovations Certificate, following completion of the Medical Innovations Pathways (MIP) program. Students who enroll in the MIP program choose either a medical device manufacturing or laboratory track. Both tracks require students to complete special classroom studies and time in the field completing job shadows with experienced industry professionals. Upon completion of the certificate, students are guaranteed a job interview with participating companies. The MIP program, launched in 2016, is one of the pathway programs under the state’s Talent Ready Utah initiative.
ENGINEERING
• Calder Richards Consulting Engineers has hired Parker Syndergaard as an engineer-in-training. He will assist the firm’s senior staff in designing commercial and institutional building projects. He has a master’s in civil engineering (structural) from Utah State University.
EXPANSIONS
• PrinterLogic, a St. George-based enterprise print-management software company, has opened its first East Coast office in Cary, North Carolina. Cary is part of the greater Research Triangle Park (RTP) area.
HEALTHCARE
• Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Salt Lake City, has hired Kevin Lynch as chief business officer. He joins the company after 22 years at AbbVie. He most recently served as the vice president of search and evaluation, prior to which he served as director of licensing and business development. Recursion combines artificial intelligence (AI), experimental biology, and automation to discover drugs at scale.
• Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah has hired Doug Boudreaux as vice president of sales. Boudreaux previously was vice president of marketing at MountainStar Healthcare. He also was regional director of sales and marketing for IASIS Healthcare Corp., with operational responsibilities spanning Utah, Nevada and Arizona. He also worked for several years for Shriners Hospitals and University of Utah Health Sciences Center. He also has served as associate instructor and adjunct professor at University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College. Boudreaux received his bachelor’s degree from Utah State University, and his master’s in public health and health services administration from University of Utah.
INVESTMENTS
• Owlet Baby Care, Lehi, has closed on a $24 million Series B investment. The round was led by Trilogy Equity Partners, with participation from existing investors, including Eclipse Ventures, Broadway Angels and Enfield Ventures, and the addition of Pelion Venture Partners. The additional funding will enable the company to accelerate its growth through the launch of additional products, continued international expansion, and help make the product accessible to more families. In connection with the financing, Amy McCullough, managing director at Trilogy Equity Partners, will join Owlet’s board of directors. Owlet is a startup best known for its flagship product, the Smart Sock baby monitor, which uses pulse oximetry to track a baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels while sleeping.
• Divvy, a Lehi-based expense management solution company, has announced a $10.5 million funding round led by Pelion Ventures and including personal investors Josh James, CEO of Domo; Aaron Skonnard, CEO of Pluralsight; and Jeremy Andrus, CEO of Traeger Grills. Divvy launched in January.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• KUER 90.1 has hired Andrew Becker as news director. Becker spent more than a decade covering border, homeland and national security issues, most recently for The Center for Investigative Reporting + Reveal in the San Francisco Bay Area.
PHILANTHROPY
• The DoTerra Healing Hands Foundation, in partnership with 3Strands Global Foundation, have introduced the “PROTECT” project in Utah schools. The “PRevention Organization To Educate Children on Trafficking” is a human trafficking prevention education and training program that aims to lower children’s vulnerability to being trafficked by educating groups about possible dangers of human trafficking and the reality of the problem. Through PROTECT, teachers and students learn about red flags, response protocols, and ways to prevent exploitation through an online, grade-specific curriculum. The DoTerra Healing Hands Foundation is taking part in the project by helping to coordinate statewide implementation, with its first rollout in the Alpine School District where the company’s corporate headquarters are located. The program is expected to serve approximately 800 high school students from the Alpine School District by the end of 2017-2018 school year. Discussions to enlarge the program are currently being held with the Utah State Board of Education as well as various school districts throughout the state.
REAL ESTATE
• Richmond American Homes of Utah Inc., a subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MDC), has opened Layton Shores, a new community at 3200 W. 695 N., Layton. It offers ranch-style homes with two to six bedrooms and up to approximately 5,400 square feet. Each floor plan comes with a three-car garage standard, with up to five-car garages available.
RECOGNITIONS
• Direct Selling News has presented D. Gary Young with its inaugural Bravo Legacy Award. Young is founder and chairman of the board of Lehi-based Young Living Essential Oils. The award recognizes an individual who has made extraordinary professional contributions to the direct selling community “that will be felt for generations to come.” Direct Selling News is the magazine of the Direct Selling Association. Young Living has surpassed $1 billion in sales in each of the last three years and exceeded $1.5 billion in 2017. Its revenues have grown 800 percent over the last five years, and it is in the midst of a 34-percent increase in revenue in 2018 year-to-date. The company has more than 3,000 global employees, 4 million members since its founding, 16 corporate and partner farms around the world, 13 offices operating in 22 markets, and products shipping to 133 countries.
• Mark Bouchard recently was presented the “Partner in Education Award” during the inaugural Utah’s Partner in Education gala in Salt Lake City. The event honored teachers, administrators, students and advocates of the state’s education system. Bouchard is senior managing director at CBRE. The award recognized Bouchard’s service over the past decade to improve public education for all students throughout the state. Mark was the founding chair of Utah’s “Prosperity 2020” initiative, a coalition of business leaders committed to increasing investment in public education; was the founding chair of Gov. Gary Herbert’s Education Commission; and was the founding chair of United Way’s statewide initiative (PPRC) to improve access to educational opportunities while improving the depth, breadth and relevance of high school and post-secondary education. Also honored during the gala were Educator of the Year, presented to Will Pettit of Granite Park Junior High; Administrator of the Year, presented to Kim Schaefer of Whitehorse High School; and Student of the Year, presented to Jorge Luis Tlasmanteco Vasquez of Treasure Mountain Junior High School.
• Six Utah companies are ranked in the “25 Highest Rated Public Cloud Computing Companies to Work For” and the “50 Highest Rated Private Cloud Computing Companies to Work For,” compiled by global investment firm Battery Ventures and job and recruiting site Glassdoor. Among private companies are No. 3 Canopy, No. 10 Health Catalyst, No. 11 Lucid Software, No. 12 Podium and No. 25 HireVue. Among public companies is No. 6 Instructure. The rankings are based on employee satisfaction, as measured by employee feedback shared on Glassdoor.
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently named all six members of Utah’s congressional delegation as “Spirit of Enterprise Award” winners for their support of pro-growth, pro-jobs policies during the first session of the 115th Congress. The awards are presented annually to members of Congress based on their votes on business legislation as outlined in the chamber’s “How They Voted 2017” scorecard. Members who supported the Chamber’s position on at least 70 percent of those votes qualify to receive the award. Sen. Orrin Hatch had an 86 percent voting record, and Sen. Mike Lee had 71 percent. All of Utah’s members of the House of Representatives had a voting record of 93 percent. Rep. John Curtis, who was sworn in as Utah’s newest member of Congress in November, had a voting record of 100 percent.
RESTAURANTS
• The Square Kitchen, a culinary incubator kitchen offering commercial kitchen space to food entrepreneurs, has opened at 751 W. 800 S. in Salt Lake City’s Poplar Grove neighborhood. The Square Kitchen also supplies regulatory, marketing and business resources for future restauranteurs, wholesalers and retailers. The Square Kitchen received $375,000 in grant funds from Salt Lake City and a $250,000 loan from the Sustainability Department as seed funding. Details are at www.squarekitchenslc.com.
• David Heiblim, owner of Este Pizza in Salt Lake City, has opened The Dispensary at 54 W. 1700 S., Salt Lake City. Heiblim said the concept for the restaurant is like a pharmacy. Diners will order and pay at one window, pick up your food at the second window and return your dishes at the third. The eatery has 986 square feet. The $140,000 project will employ 15 people.
RETAIL
• IFA Country Stores has opened a 25,000-square-foot store at 898 S. University Av., Provo. The original Provo store was in another location for over 90 years. The new location has 30 employers, up from seven at the prior location. IFA operates 23 stores in Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho and New Mexico, and will officially open another new store in Draper in June.
SCHOLARSHIPS
• Visit Salt Lake (VSL) recently recognized Kensey Baker as the recipient of the 12th annual Dianne Nelson Binger Scholarship. The scholarship honors VSL’s former President and CEO and her legacy to the Salt Lake hospitality community. The scholarship is bestowed annually to a female student at the University of Utah in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism of the College of Health. Kensey is currently a master’s student in the department, researching the effects of smartphone technology on place attachment in Pacific Crest Trail through-hikers. She also is a graduate assistant at PEAK Health and Fitness, where she provides leisure consultations and creates and leads new recreation trips for faculty and staff at the university.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Owlet Baby Care, Lehi, recently announced the addition of three people to its board of directors and executive team. Woody Scal has joined the company as a board member. He is the former chief business officer at Fitbit. Mike Abbott has joined as chief financial officer. He has been a CFO and executive at top consumer brands. Dr. Milena Adamian is vice president of health affairs. Adamian is a cardiologist and clinical research expert. Owlet is a startup best known for its flagship product, the Smart Sock baby monitor, which uses pulse oximetry to track a baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels while sleeping.