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COMMUNICATIONS
• AT&T announced it has invested nearly $200 million in its Utah wireless networks during 2014-16. The investments involve a wide range of upgrades to reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for residents and businesses. They also improve critical services that support public safety and first responders. In 2016, the company made 452 wireless network upgrades in the state, adding new cell sites, boosting network capacity and adding wireless high-speed Internet connections.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Extra Space Storage Inc., Salt Lake City, has declared a quarterly dividend of 78 cents per share on the company’s common stock for the 2017 second quarter. The dividend is payable June 30 to stockholders of record June 15.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• The Utah Board of Regents has unanimously selected Harris Simmons to serve as vice chair. Simmons was appointed to the board in 2012. He is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Zions Bancorporation. His education includes a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Utah. Simmons replaces France Davis, who has been vice chair since 2014 and whose term expires this year. Davis has been a Regent since 2008. He has served as pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City for 40 years. His education includes degrees from Westminster College and the University of Utah. Other Regents who are leaving are John Zenger, appointed in 2007, is finishing his tenth year on the board, and non-voting members Laura Belnap and Spencer Stokes, both representing the Utah State Board of Education, and Steven Moore, representing the Utah College of Applied Technology, will no longer be serving because a recent state statute change eliminated the board’s non-voting positions. Zenger is the co-founder of consulting firm Zenger Folkman. The board will hold elections for the position of chair and vice chair in summer 2018 for the full two-year term.
• Twelve Iron County high school students are the first students in the area to graduate from the Utah Aerospace Pathways (UAP) program. The students from Cedar City and Canyonview high schools have earned a certificate in aerospace manufacturing that enables them to pursue high-skill, high-paying careers in the aerospace industry.
EXPANSIONS
• Auric Solar, a West Valley City-based provider of residential and commercial solar power in the western U.S., has opened an office in Tualatin, Oregon. The office will employ 12. The company now has operations in three states.
HEALTHCARE
• The LASIK Vision Institute (LVI) has opened a facility at 898 N. 1200 W., Suite 103, Orem. It is the second LVI facility in Utah. It will offer solutions for a myriad of vision problems, including nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.
• Solutionreach, Lehi, has announced several promotions. The company has appointed Brent Checketts to vice president of engineering, Otto Silva to vice president of information technology, James Wilson to vice president of inside sales, and Gail Mainiero to vice president of territory sales. Checketts previously worked at Mozy and Dell EMC. Silva has 20 years of experience in information technology at software companies. Wilson began his career at Solutionreach as an inside sales manager in 2013 and quickly moved up to director. Mainiero will oversee a team of approximately 100 territory managers and sales representatives across the United States. She is a former dental hygienist and Solutionreach territory representative, manager and director since 2014.
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE
• Red Mountain Resort, St. George, has appointed Martha Jevsevar as director of outdoor operations. Jevsevar was hired as a trail guide in 2014. Her experience includes serving as a business manager for The Atlantic Magazine.
LAW
• Mark O. Morris has been elected to the Utah State Bar Board of Bar Commissioners, Third Division. He will serve a three-year term starting in late July. As a bar commissioner, Morris’ responsibilities include, but are not limited to, establishing policies to fulfill obligations of the Utah State Bar; serving on various commission committees; and acting as a liaison between sections, committee and local bars. Morris is a partner in Snell & Wilmer’s Salt Lake City office. He has more than 30 years of experience in general commercial litigation. He received his J.D. from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.
REAL ESTATE
• Newmark Grubb ACRES has hired Callie Snow as industrial researcher in the firm’s downtown Salt Lake City office. Snow will work directly with agents, creating reports and presentation materials, and ensuring the company database is comprehensive and complete. She joins Newmark from Coldwell Banker Commercial Advisors, where she spent three years as their office researcher. The company also has promoted Sara Tharen to copywriter. She has been with Newmark since 2012. Tharen has nine years of commercial real estate experience. Her education includes a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Utah.
RECOGNITIONS
• Salt Lake City is the best place in the U.S. to start a career, according to a survey by WalletHub. The ranking is based on 23 metrics that range from the availability of entry-level jobs to average starting salary and workforce diversity. Salt Lake City was ranked first in both “professional opportunities” and “quality of life.” It tied first with Orlando, Florida, for most entry-level jobs per 100,000 working-age population.
• The Women Tech Council announced several awards related to hiring and retaining talented women at the recent 2017 Talent Innovation Summit. The Leadership Award went to Vivint Smart Home for its work with involving women on every level. The Career Development Award was presented to Adobe for its involvement of women in technology roles and including women in major company roles. The Innovative Recruiting Award was presented to Domo for its commitment to finding qualified women and providing flexible scheduling, maternity leave and onboarding programs for women who are returning to work. The Emerging Leadership honor was presented to Chatbooks for its focus on developing a company that includes and values women from the start.
• Twelve Salt Lake City-based CEOs have been named Top Rated CEOs by Owler. The rankings of CEO likeability were derived from thousands of CEO reviews from sit users. They are Brad Hansen, GoEngineer; Martin Senn, Davinci; David Petersen, O.C. Tanner; Dan Burton, Health Catalyst; Mark C. Capone, Myriad Genetics; Kevin Lathrop, Unishippers; Andrew Joiner, InMoment; Jonathan Beckstrand, MasterControl; Vinod Muthukrishnan, CloudCherry; Jeff Hudson, Venafi; Josh Coates, Instructure; and Zee Hakimoglu, ClearOne. The top-rated group consists of the top 0.6 percent of the 167,000 CEOs on Owler. Owler said Salt Lake City’s CEOs had an average score ranked No. 18 in the U.S., about the middle of the pack of the nation’s CEOs.
• Western Governors University (WGU), Salt Lake City, has been recognized as a “Best Value School” by University Research & Review. It is the fourth consecutive year for WGU to attain the designation. An organization designated a “Best Value School” has met certain criteria based on URR findings, including affordability, assessment by current and former students, unique qualities, debt levels upon graduation, time required to graduate, and job prospects, among other characteristics.
• TalentTeam, a Salt Lake City-based recruiting and staffing firm, has been named a winner of Inavero’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent awards for providing superior service to its clients and job-seekers. The awards are presented in partnership with CareerBuilder. TalentTeam received satisfaction scores of nine or 10 out of 10 from 72 percent of its clients and 89 percent of its talent.
• Salt Lake City has been honored by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) with the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its current city budget. In conjunction with the award, John Vuyk, city budget manager, and his team have received a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation from the organization. Salt Lake City has been recognized for its thorough and professional budget presentation by the GFAO in this way for three decades. To be recognized, budget documents must be rated “proficient” in four categories, and in 14 mandatory criteria within those categories. Chicago-based GFOA is the premier professional association serving the needs of more than 19,000 appointed and elected municipal and state government finance practitioners. The organization provides training, products, and publications for government employees who serve their constituents with finance policy and management.
RESTAURANTS
• MidiCi, The Neapolitan Pizza Company, will place a location at The Gateway, Salt Lake City, later this year. MidiCi offers Neapolitan thin-crust pizza baked in handmade wood-fired ovens. The new location will be part of The Gateway’s new “restaurant row,” on the south end of the property.
TRANSPORTATION
• England Logistics, Salt Lake City, has hired Ryan Davis as director of agent recruiting. He will lead the company’s freight agent recruiting efforts and enhancement of the agent pipeline.
TRAVEL & TOURISM
• Hess Corporate Travel has hired Gregory Ross as vice president of business development and client services. Ross will oversee sales and customer care activities for Hess Travel’s clients nationwide. He has more than 25 years of experience in the travel management industry.