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BANKING

• Continental Bank, a Salt Lake City-based commercial bank, has appointed Kelly Barnett to its board of directors and as chairman of its Strategic Partnership committee. Barnett also entered into a long-term consulting contract to help the bank build and manage a premier strategic partner bank sponsorship business. Barnett has more than 20 years of strategic partnership experience, including working at Transportation Alliance Bank (TAB) and serving as COO at Galileo. He joined WebBank in early 2006 as CFO and later became president.

CONSTRUCTION

• The Big-D Family of Companies, Salt Lake City, promoted Michael Kerby to chief operating officer within the Big-D Signature Group and the Big-D Family of Companies. Kerby will remain president of Signature, officing in Park City, in addition to acting in his new role of COO. Kerby also sits on Big-D’s executive board. Kerby joined Big-D in 2015 after starting his construction career working for Morrison Knudsen and Micron and then becoming a partner with RCI Construction Group.

DIVIDENDS

• The board of directors of Zions Bancorporation NA, based in Salt Lake City, has declared a regular quarterly dividend of 41 cents per common share. The dividend is payable May 25 to shareholders of record May 18. The board also declared regular quarterly cash dividends on the company’s various perpetual preferred shares. The dividend on series A, G and I are payable June 15 to shareholders of record June 1. The dividend on the Series J shares is payable Sept. 15 to shareholders of record Sept. 1.
• The board of directors of Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., based in Provo, has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 39 cents per share. The dividend will be paid June 7 to shareholders of record May 26. Nu Skin offers personal care, nutrition and anti-aging products.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

• South Jordan is ranked No. 1, Salt Lake City is No. 15 and Sandy is No. 18 on a list of “top zoom towns” in the U.S., compiled by SmartAsset. It analyzed data for almost 300 places across a variety of metrics, including the percentage of residents working from home, housing growth and cost of living. It reported that in South Jordan, about 29 percent of workers do so remotely – up 19 percentage points between 2019 and 2021. Details are at https://smartasset.com/data-studies/best-zoom-towns-in-the-u-s-2023.
  
• Utah is ranked No. 33 on a list of “Cheapest States to Live In in the U.S.” compiled by Scholaroo. It examined the cost of living in all 50 states across 31 metrics. Utah was ranked No. 31 for living expenses ($1,437 average monthly expense for rent, groceries, utilities, etc.); No. 36 for personal expenses ($172 average monthly expense for things such as gyms, manicures, haircuts, etc.); No. 37 for income ($79,133 average annual income); No. 24 for health cost ($881 average monthly expense); No. 17 for insurance cost ($2,868 average cost), No. 44 for loans and credit card bill ($2,036 average cost per month), No. 36 for telecommunications cost ($361 average cost per month). The cheapest state overall is South Dakota. The most expensive is California. Details are at https://scholaroo.com/report/cheapest-states-to-live-in-the-us/.
• Utahns can tolerate a work week of 44.7 hours, according to a study by law firm Bisnar Chase. It commissioned QuestionPro to survey employees to determine their willingness to work longer hours. The national average is 44.4 hours. The highest threshold is in Delaware, at 47.5 hours. The lowest is in Montana, at 41 hours. Details are at https://www.bestattorney.com/working-hours-threshold/.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 27 and West Valley City is No. 197 on a list of “Best Cities for Gluten-Free Food,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on five categories, including looking at access to vendors with gluten-free options, celiac disease healthcare practitioners, and gluten intolerance support groups. The top-ranked city is New York City. The No. 200 city is Fontana, California. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-gluten-free-food/.
• Morgan County leads all places in Utah where residents donate the most money to charitable causes, according to a study by SmartAsset. The study measured how much people donate as a percentage of their net income and the proportion of people in each county who make charitable donations. Morgan was followed, in order, by Utah, Wasatch, Summit, Davis, Washington, Cache, Salt Lake, Juab and Box Elder counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/retirement/financial-advisor#Utah.
• One in five Utahns describe their most recent dentist visit as “traumatic,” according to research by NextSmile.com, a resource focused on dentures and oral health. One-fourth of those surveyed have delayed or put off procedures entirely. Residents of Arkansas appear to have had the worst experiences, with 37 percent of those surveyed describing their dental visit as “traumatic.” The figure was lowest in Vermont, at 16 percent.

ENTERTAINMENT

• Top Trumps USA has announced a Park City edition of Hasbro’s Monopoly board game. It will debut in the winter of 2023. The Park City edition will replace the game’s Atlantic City squares with representations of Park City historic landmarks, natural destinations and local favorites. The board also will come with customized Community Chest and Chance playing cards that pay homage to the region. Through June 20, people can share which locations they would like to see featured on the board by emailing parkcity@toptrumps.com.

EXPANSIONS

• Novva Data Centers, a West Jordan-based data center company, has announced it will open a new data center in Storey County, Nevada, in late 2024. The 20-acre campus will be next to other major tech firms in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center outside of Reno. Construction will begin soon on the 300,000-square-foot, 60 megawatt data center. It will become Novva’s fourth location.

GOVERNMENT

• Gov. Spencer Cox has appointed Brian Redd as executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections. For the past two years, Redd has been vice president and manager in the Compliance Division of Goldman Sachs, overseeing the PWM U.S. Surveillance Team and involved with the Firmwide Insider Threat Team. Prior to that, he served for 21 years in the Utah Department of Public Safety, working up through the ranks from trooper to agent, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and chief special agent. During his service, Redd served as director of the State Bureau of Investigation and the Statewide Information and Analysis Center. Redd has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an Executive MPA from Brigham Young University.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced that Utah Transit Authority will be awarded $60 million for its Light Rail Vehicle Replacement Project as part of the Federal Transit Authority’s Rail Vehicle Replacement program. The FTA program was designed to help transit agencies replace aging rail rolling stock, which would improve the reliability, safety and accessibility of rail transit systems. The $60 million in federal funding will help UTA replace 20 older high-floor TRAX cars with new low-floor cars, which will make TRAX more accessible to those with disabilities and will make safety and modernization improvements in anticipation of another Olympic Games in Utah.
• The Salt Lake County Council is providing funding to 17 projects that will build affordable housing within the county. This funding assures that more than 1,500 affordable units will be preserved and/or newly constructed by the end of 2026. The funding was made possible through the American Rescue Plan Act. Recipients include projects that were recommended by the Housing Trust Fund Selection Committee. Salt Lake City projects include 515 Tower (Phase I), 9Ten West, Alliance House, Citizens West 2-4, Liberty Corner 4% and 9%, New City Plaza Apartments, Platform 1500, Project Open 3, Recovery Housing Project and Silos Affordable. Other projects are East 72 in Midvale, The Howick in Millcreek, and MODA Griffin Apartments in Midvale.
• The Central Wasatch Commission, an inter-governmental entity that seeks to engage the public, build consensus and coordinate the actions in the Central Wasatch Mountains, has approved the final Big Cottonwood Canyon Mobility Action Plan. The approval was the culmination of seven months of study for a comprehensive mobility action plan in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The plan makes recommendations specific to infrastructure and transit in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Recommendations include restriping Big Cottonwood Canyon Park & Ride lot; implementing a supplementary shuttle in Big Cottonwood Canyon; enhancing bus service with a dedicated transit lane with resort mobility hubs; improving the intersection between Fort Union Boulevard and Wasatch Boulevard; tolling, restricting canyon on-road parking, and incentivizing bus options; and year-round bus service featuring canyon trailhead stops.

HOSPITALITY

• AutoCamp Hospitality Group, based in California, has opened the first location of its new lodging brand, Field Station, at 889 N. Main St., Moab. The property features 139 rooms. It also includes a gear shop, a pool and deck, group meeting spaces, curated programming, workshops and demo days.

HOUSING

• Housing instability and homelessness threaten the economic well-being of at least 40,000 extremely low-income renter households in Utah, according to recent analysis by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. The households have annual incomes of less than $24,000 and must devote at least half of their income to housing and utilities. Details are at https://gardner.utah.edu/.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has allocated $382 million through the nation’s Housing Trust Fund, with Utah allocated $3 million from the fund to increase and preserve the supply of decent, safe and sanitary affordable housing for extremely low- and very low-income households, including families experiencing homelessness. State affordable housing planners will use these funds for real property acquisition, site improvements and development hard costs, related soft costs, demolition, financing costs, relocation assistance, operating cost assistance for rental housing (up to 30 percent of each grant), and reasonable administrative and planning costs.

MANUFACTURING

• Ultradent Products Inc., a South Jordan-based developer and manufacturer of dental materials and equipment, has unveiled a new 168,000-square-foot facility on its South Jordan campus. It will house injection molding, equipment manufacturing, repair facilities and more, and it will support Ultradent’s 24/7 operations. PGA&W Architecture led the structure’s design, and Layton Construction led the contracting work.

MENTAL HEALTH

• Amare Global, a Lehi-based company focused on holistic mental wellness solutions, has promoted Kent Wood to chief operating officer. He will be responsible for overseeing all global operations of the company, including finance, supply chain, IT and legal. He will continue fulfilling the responsibilities of chief financial officer. Wood has over 30 years of experience leading network marketing companies. Prior to joining Amare, he founded, invested in and served on the boards of four direct selling companies. He joined Amare as CFO in 2019.

PHILANTHROPY

• Centura Health has announced the expansion of its annual Health Equity & Advancement Fund to the north-central region of Utah. The $5 million community grant program focuses on community-based organizations committed to advancing social justice and health equity across Colorado, western Kansas and, for the first time, Utah. CommonSpirit Health, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Catholic Health Initiatives Colorado, recently announced it had completed the acquisition of five Utah-based hospitals, more than 35 medical group clinics, and a clinically integrated network of care providers. Centura Health will manage the hospitals and clinics. The Health Equity & Advancement Fund launched in 2021 and funded 19 organizations. In 2022, the number of organizations supported expanded to 61. The grant application process opened May 15 and the deadline to submit is June 11 at https://www.centura.org/community-impact.

POLICY

• Sutherland Institute, a Salt Lake City-based nonpartisan policy and educational think tank, has announced that Hal Anderson, co-founder of Soltis Investment Advisors, has accepted a seat on its board of directors and added Peter Reichard as chief development officer. Anderson has decades of economic and investment experience in the Utah community. He has served in various key capacities at Soltis since its inception in 1993, including president and CEO, executive vice president, and chief financial officer. He currently chairs the board of managers and the alternative investment team for Soltis. Anderson also is an adjunct instructor in the finance department at Utah Tech University, where he teaches portfolio management. Reichard’s experience includes nonprofit management, public policy efforts and journalism. He most recently served as an executive with the national Center for Independent Employees and is a former Utah Foundation president.

REAL ESTATE

• The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority has hired Don Willie as director of operations to help manage development at The Point. He replaces outgoing director of operations and chief operating officer for The Point, Scott Cuthbertson, who recently accepted a position as the president and CEO for the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. In his role as director of operations, Willie will oversee the authority’s budgeting and audits, public financing, interlocal agreements, grant applications, committee management, stakeholder facilitation and more. Willie has worked in both the public and private sectors, most recently serving as the chief operating officer and vice president of marketing for the South Valley Chamber of Commerce. He also served as the president and CEO of the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce. He also has worked as an entrepreneur and small-business owner and was founding executive director of the Atwood Innovation Plaza at Utah Tech University. Willie earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Utah.
• Colliers, a commercial real estate services provider, has added Industrial Property Group, led by Michael Jeppesen and Jeremy Jensen. Jeppesen has over three decades of experience and an extensive background in owner and tenant representation, institutional portfolio sales, leasing and development consultation. Michael started his career with CBRE in 1992 until founding Industrial Property Group in 2005. Jensen has over 25 years of experience in real estate management, investment, development, and brokerage services for institutional and private clients. He has experience as a broker and a principal in development and investment transactions.

RECOGNITIONS

• Quivers, a Salt Lake City-based company offering a toolkit for specialty brands, retailers and ambassadors, has been named winner of the Offline/Online RetailTech Solution of the Year award in the RetailTech Breakthrough Awards. The awards recognize companies and technologies that are driving innovation in the retail industry. Quivers collected the award for its Omnichannel Toolkit, which gives specialty brands complete control of their commerce operations.
• The South Valley Chamber of Commerce has announced the winners of its recent “Shark Tank” competition, which involved the winners of high school business competitions across the state. First place went to Therma (Maelynn Fidler, Isaac Horton, and Joshua Lee). Second place went to Inixiate (Aditi Vandanapu). Third place went to Get Out (Rowan Hancock, Ty Mason and Evan Powell). Other contestants were Apex Go Karting, Webfork, Lettermans of Love and Gainz.

SCHOLARSHIPS

• Impact Magazine and technology education institution V School have partnered to offer full-ride UX/UI scholarship to a black woman and $500,000 in partial scholarships for other aspiring tech professionals. The full-ride scholarship will cover tuition fees for V School’s UX/UI Design program. The partial scholarships are each worth $2,000. Details are at https://bit.ly/impact-full-ride.
• Havenpark Communities, an Orem-based operator and developer of manufactured home communities, has awarded academic scholarships to 38 residents from communities across the nation. The students, from 20 different Havenpark communities, will receive up to $10,000 annually to cover college, university, trade and vocational school expenses. Four previous scholarship recipients will receive their degrees this year, the first graduates from Havenpark’s education program. Havenpark has pledged at least $500,000 annually to its Education Success Program, which includes scholarships, mentoring and other initiatives to increase education access and opportunity for residents. The scholarship program has expanded dramatically from the pilot in 2021 when two residents won awards.

TECHNOLOGY

• Clozd, a Lehi-based provider of win-low analysis software, has appointed Libby Duane Adams to its board of directors. Adams is the co-founder and chief advocacy officer of Alteryx. She co-founded Alteryx in 1997. In her current role as chief advocacy officer, she leads Alteryx’s SparkED program, which facilitates the upskilling of data literacy in education and the commercial sector.