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ASSOCIATIONS
• The Utah Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau has changed its name to Explore Utah Valley. The organization said the name melds “the accessibility of Utah’s stunning natural beauty with the vibrancy of an eclectic urban community.” Utah Valley’s travel economy generated more than $500 million in taxable sales in 2017, resulting in $17.2 million city and county tourism taxes.
BANKING
• America First Credit Union, Riverdale, has selected Justin Garrett as the new service center manager of the Bountiful Smith’s branch. Garrett began his career with America First in 2012 as a teller at the Bountiful Dick’s branch and was promoted to the backup lead teller one year later at the North Salt Lake Winegar’s branch. He later served as the service center lead teller, and in May 2015, Garrett transferred to the Clearfield Kent’s branch. Garrett had been serving as the market branch assistant manager of the Bountiful branch since March 2016.
• MonitorBase, a Murray-based provider of direct-marketing and client-retention solutions for the mortgage banking industry, has hired Rick Webster as chief revenue officer. Webster has more than two decades of experience in contributor and leadership positions, including working at E-Trade Mortgage, NationPoint-First Franklin, Merrill Lynch Bank and Trust, and Doorway Home Loans. From 2008-16, Webster started and co-led Neudesic Media Group, a successful B2B digital advertising sales firm. He also worked as vice president of digital media sales for PriceSpider, and started his career working for Bargain Network.
CORPORATE
• Extra Space Storage Inc., Salt Lake City, has entered into a note purchase agreement with various investors, which provides for the private placement by the operating partnership of $300 million of 4.39 percent senior notes due July 17, 2028. The notes are expected to be issued on July 17, 2018, subject to customary closing conditions, at which time the purchasers will disburse the funds to the operating partnership. Upon issuance, the notes will pay interest semiannually until their maturity. Proceeds from the issuance of the notes will be used by the operating partnership to refinance existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.
GOVERNMENT
• The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) has named Rebecca Dilg as the rural program outreach manager. Dilg’s primary tasks include outreach and support of the governor’s 25k Jobs initiative, which aims to add 25,000 additional jobs in rural Utah counties by 2020. She will also be spearheading the Utah Broadband Outreach Center and the goal to provide broadband speeds to rural areas. Dilg previously was the economic development executive and coordinator for Box Elder County. She also served as the Composites & Aerospace of Northern Utah vice chair and organizer for One Million Cups, Ogden.
• Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski has appointed Lisa Burnette as the new director of the Salt Lake City 911 Bureau. Burnette has been serving as the bureau’s interim director since Jan. 3. She started as a front-line 911 dispatcher in 1992 and advanced to lead dispatcher, supervisor, deputy director and interim director. She helped create the SLC911 Training Academy, a development program for employees to better manage stress, improve operational efficiency and enhance customer service.
• Salt Lake City has announced it has cut the review time to get business permits from an average of 114 days in fiscal year 2015 to 59 days in fiscal 2017. Building and Licensing Services Director Orion Goff attributed the decrease to three factors: two additional full-time plans examiners at the permit counters to get many permits approved in one day, a modification to the city’s software that allows permits needed from six different departments to be processed concurrently, and the addition of a liaison to shepherd business owners and troubleshoot problems so they can open for business as soon as possible. Another upgrade of the electronic plan review will take place this summer.
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE
• JMH Premium, Salt Lake City, has appointed Amanda L. Bushong as its senior national accounts manager. JMH Premium helps chefs, culinary experts and food scientists get their products to food service industrial manufacturers and casinos throughout North America. Bushong’s primary focus will be to grow the relationships of JMH Premium national accounts in its industrial and institutional divisions. Bushong previously was the director of merchandising and product development for Kansas City Steaks.
INSURANCE
• The Dale Barton Agency, a Salt Lake City-based construction-specific insurance and surety bonds agency, has hired Mike Murphy as senior surety underwriting producer and Scott Bauman as chief financial officer. Murphy will help support current clients and build new relationships. He has more than 13 years of construction surety bond underwriting experience, including the past nine years as an underwriter at Travelers Surety in Salt Lake City, Prior to that, he worked in surety as Insurance Company of the West. He earned a B.S. in financial and MBA from the University of Utah. Bauman will oversee company accounting and finance along with human resources. He has more than 15 years of accounting and financial leadership experience, most recently at Workers Compensation Fund. His education includes an undergraduate degree in accountancy from the University of Utah.
MANUFACTURING
• Merit Medical Systems Inc., a South Jordan-based medical device manufacturer, has announced that Bernard Birkett has resigned as chief financial officer to pursue other business opportunities. Raul Parra, with Merit for more than eight years, has been appointed as Merit’s interim CFO. Parra worked in various audit positions for Deloitte & Touche prior to joining Merit. During his tenure at Merit, he has served in various roles, most recently as corporate controller and vice president of accounting.
• Biovation Labs, a Salt Lake City-based natural products and supplement contract manufacturer, has hired Ashantai Yungai as quality and compliance manager. Yungai previously was a synthetic organic chemist at Myriad Pharmaceuticals, which then became Myrexis Pharmaceuticals. His chemistry background has also been used in analytical testing, running tests such auto titration and loss on drying (LOD), and LC instrumentation at companies including Reckitt Benckiser (RB) and Teva Pharmaceuticals. His education includes a master of science degree from the University of Utah.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• Pure Broadcast, a Salt Lake City-based facilities provider to live sports broadcasting, has reached terms to acquire its first HD mobile broadcast unit. The acquisition of the 53-foot multiformat, high-definition unit marks the launch of Pure’s Mobile Broadcast Division, which will target live events in the sports, entertainment and corporate arenas in the western United States.
RECREATION/SPORTS
• Momentum Indoor Climbing has promoted Christopher Healy to general manager of Momentum Lehi, a bouldering gym that offers 20,000 square feet of climbing and a training center. Healy’s duties include overseeing Momentum Lehi’s business development, operations and programming. He has eight years of leadership experience, six of which are in the indoor rock climbing profession. Healy joined Momentum in June 2015 as a shift manager for the Lehi location and was quickly promoted to assistant manager. Before Momentum, Healy worked at the Washington City Community Center in Washington as a rock wall attendant, and in sales and customer support for Simply Mac in St. George. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Utah Valley University.
• U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has designed 19 national recreation trails in 17 states, including one in Utah. Corona Arch is a trail on Bureau of Land Management land leading to Corona Arch’s 140-by-105-foot opening and the adjacent Bow Tie Arch. Approximately 14 driving miles from Moab, the 1.5-mile out-and-back trail provides visitors with views of the Colorado River and a large slickrock canyon. The new designation adds more than 370 miles to the national recreation trails system of more than 1,000 trails in all 50 states. While national scenic trails and national historic trails may only be designated by an act of Congress, national recreation trails may be designated by the secretary of the Interior or the secretary of Agriculture in response to an application from the trail’s managing agency or organization. The National Recreation Trails Program is jointly administered by the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service, in conjunction with a number of federal and not-for-profit partners, notably American Trails, which hosts the National Recreation Trails website.
REAL ESTATE
• The Muller Co., a commercial real estate company, and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP, an alternative investing company, have announced the joint acquisition of Canyon Park Technology Center in Orem. Financial terms were not disclosed. The 924,634 square-foot office campus was built between 1988 and 1992 as the headquarters of WordPerfect Corp. and consists of 14 buildings on 85 acres. Spaces range from 100 square feet to 60,000 square feet. It is currently 54 percent leased. The Muller and Cerberus business plan includes investing capital to upgrade the common areas and grounds with new lobbies, restrooms and tenant amenities such as a dedicated amenity center featuring a lounge/game room, café and gym facilities.
• Evergreen Devco Inc., a retail and multifamily development company, has acquired 1.036 acres at 855 W. State Road, Pleasant Grove. The re-development of a three-tenant retail building will bring a Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style restaurant and a Beans & Brews Coffee House. Evergreen plans to break ground on the planned 5,500-square-foot property in mid-June, with an estimated completion date of November 2018. The multitenant retail development center is 77 percent leased. The future development site, which was sold by Utah County Properties LLC, will be Evergreen’s first project in Utah since the company expanded last year into Salt Lake City.
RECOGNITIONS
• American Biotech Labs LLC, American Fork, has received Total Health Magazine’s “Award of Excellence” for its Silver Biotics product line. Silver Biotics’ nano-silver technology can be found in its skin screams, skin gel, toothpaste and liquids. ABL is a health and wellness biotech company creating products for the medical and health industries.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Teem, a Salt Lake City-based meeting tools developer and workplace analytics company, has added Mandy Edwards as the company’s first independent director to the board and the company’s first female board member. Edwards is a technology and commercial real estate executive with 30 years of operating experience in management roles across engineering, IT and sales. Most recently, Edwards as the chief information officer at CBRE. Prior to her position at CBRE, Edwards was chief infrastructure officer at Sitel Corp. and also served as CIO and facilities manager for Wyndham Vacation Ownership.
UTILITIES
• The Utah Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved Dominion Energy Utah’s request to decrease natural gas rates by $97.2 million. The decrease will lower the typical residential customer’s monthly bill by $5.87 and annual bill by $70.38 beginning June 1, 2018. The company attributed the decrease to lower gas-production costs of company-owned supplies, tax reform savings and the lower cost of market gas purchases for Utah customers. At least twice yearly, Dominion Energy and the PSC use third-party forecasts of natural gas prices to estimate how much the utility’s rates should be adjusted to cover anticipated costs of buying natural gas for its customers. The costs are passed on to customers with no markup and have no impact on the utility’s profits.