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AGRICULTURE
• The Downtown Farmers Market at Pioneer Park has opened for its 27th season, which will continue every Saturday through Oct. 20. A project of Urban Food Connections of Utah, the market seeks to help communities incorporate more local and whole foods into their daily menus while supporting regional farmers and food producers. The market has more than 200 food vendors and 100 arts and crafts vendors. A full vendor list is at slcfarmersmarket.org.
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
• The Utah Arts & Cultural Coalition (UACC) have announced new board members who will help drive its mission to increase awareness about arts and cultural opportunities in Utah. The newly elected members are Kristin Beck, director of urban activation and managing director of Cultural Core with Downtown SLC Presents; Kathy Cieslewicz, Sears Art Museum director/curator at Dixie State University; Debbie Ditton, owner of Debbie Ditton Voice Studio; Laura Durham, community engagement coordinator at KUED Channel 7; Beyley Hedglin, Utah State University Monticello Campus site supervisor and executive director of the San Juan County Chamber of Commerce; Michael Ori, founder/owner of Ori Media and Studio Elevn; and Bryn Ramjoue, director of communications at Red Butte Gardens.
• The Utah State Fairpark has named mediaRif, Kaysville, as its creative advertising agency of record. The Fairpark is home to the Utah State Fair and plays host to hundreds of other public and private events each year. MediaRif is a digital creative agency with expertise in film/video, animation, web/software and live event production. The principals have been the creative agency of record for the Utah State Fair for the past five years.
BANKING
• America First Credit Union has named Tiana Beck as service center manager of the South Jordan Harmons branch. Beck began her career at America First in 2014 as a teller at the South Jordan 10400 South branch and, for two years, she worked her way up through the ranks as a backup lead teller and eventually lead teller. In 2016, Beck transitioned to the Kearns Harmons branch as the service center lead teller and was then promoted to assistant branch manager of the West Valley branch in February of 2017. Beck has since been serving members as the market branch assistant manager of the Taylorsville branch until her promotion to service center manager at America First’s South Jordan Harmons branch.
DIRECT SALES
• Young Living Essential Oils, Lehi, has appointed Lee Bowen as chief financial officer. He will be responsible for all aspects of the company's financial condition, as well as overseeing the accounting, tax, finance, commission services and human resources departments. Bowen has over 20 years of experience in financial operations, strategy development and leadership. He joined Young Living in 2014 as director of finance and was later promoted to senior director of finance, vice president of finance and most recently to senior vice president of finance. Prior to joining Young Living, he worked at Intel Corp. as regional director of finance at Hilti as an expatriate in Panama, and as the director of financial planning and analysis at Nature’s Sunshine. His education includes a B.S. in accounting from Brigham Young University.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• The board of directors of the proposed Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (NCOM), Provo, has appointed John J. Dougherty as founding dean and chief academic officer. He will shepherd the college through the accreditation process and identify and recruit a team of professionals. Dougherty most recently served as dean for the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Touro University Nevada. Dougherty has 26 years of experience in osteopathic medicine, with significant experience in College of Osteopathic Medicine leadership and graduate medical education.
• Women Tech Council, in partnership with Peak Ventures, Lehi, has launched the Tech Entrepreneurship Apprenticeship program. The four-week program for high school juniors and seniors teaches technology and entrepreneurship skills from industry entrepreneurs and leaders and provides hands-on experiences in careers that align with student interests, ultimately beginning students on a path to enter and lead the technology workforce and pursue their passions. The first program cohort of 30 students are from 20 high schools. They are experiencing twice-weekly hands-on workshops taught by industry professionals. The 2018 program will run Mondays and Wednesday through June 27. Details are at www.womentechcouncil.com/entrepreneur-apprenticeship-program.
ENERGY
• Vivint Solar Inc., Lehi, has announced the closing and funding of $811 million aggregate principal amount of debt financing comprised of two separate transactions. The first is a capital markets issuance by its wholly owned subsidiary, Vivint Solar Financing V LLC of $466 million aggregate principal amount of solar asset-backed notes. The offering was upsized from the original offering size of $355 million to become the largest securitization of residential solar power purchase agreements and leases to date, Vivint said. In addition, Vivint Solar Financing IV LLC issued, in a private placement, $345 million aggregate principal amount of solar asset-backed notes. Vivint said the proceeds from the two financings will be used to repay in full, or reduce the outstanding balance of, certain existing debt facilities of Vivint Solar Inc. and its subsidiaries and for general corporate purposes.
ENVIRONMENT
• Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski has been selected as chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Alliance for a Sustainable Future. She has held the position of vice chair since the fall of 2016 when the alliance was created. The U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions formed the Alliance for a Sustainable Future to provide a platform for the public and private sectors to advance carbon reduction programs and sustainable development. Biskupski is also serving as co-chair of the Sierra Club’s Mayors for 100 Percent Clean Energy.
GOVERNMENT
• Utah Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Executive Director Mike Styler has named Jeff Rasmussen, deputy director of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation, as the division’s new director. Rasmussen served as the division’s interim director since March. He has more than 25 years’ experience with state parks and has served as the division’s deputy director since 2012. He began his state parks career in 1992 as a park ranger at Antelope Island State Park. He was later assigned to Palisade State Park, where he served as park ranger for five years. In 1998 he became the assistant park manager at Yuba State Park and was later promoted to park manager in 2002. Prior to his assignment as deputy director, Rasmussen served as manager of the North Region, overseeing the parks in that area. Rasmussen earned his B.S. degree in geography from Brigham Young University.
INVESTMENT
• Podium, a Lehi-based customer communication platform for local businesses, has raise $60 million in a Series B growth round led by IVP, with participating from Accel, Summit Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Y Combinator. Podium said the funding will allow it to double the size of its engineering team and expand product offerings. It has more than 300 employees and plans to add 100 by year-end.
LAW
• Workman Nydegger has announced the opening of a new office location at 2972 W. Maple Loop Drive, Suite 101-A, Lehi. The firm offers a range of intellectual property legal services, serving the needs of the Wasatch Front and Utah County for more than 30 years. Its main office will remain at 60 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City.
• Snell & Wilmer has hired Katherine R. Nichols and Rachael Motzkus for its Salt Lake City office. Nichols is a commercial litigator who represents clients in a wide variety of disputes, including professional malpractice litigation, contract disputes, eminent domain proceedings, consumer arbitrations and partnership disputes. Prior to joining Snell & Wilmer, Nichols practiced in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP. Motzkus’ practice is centered in commercial real estate. She received her BBA from the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business and her J.D. from the university’sS.J. Quinney College of Law.
• Snow Christensen & Martineau, Salt Lake City, has appointed Richard A. Van Wagoner as head of the firm’s Criminal Defense Practice Group. He succeeds Samuel Alba, who has served as head of the group since 2013. Van Wagoner’s practice focuses on criminal defense, primarily white-collar and some street crime; commercial litigation; and First Amendment law.
PHILANTHROPY
• Windermere Utah Real Estate recently held its annual Community Service Day at The Family Support Center in Midvale and presented a $15,000 check to the center. Nearly 200 Windermere Utah Realtors donated their time in improving the center’s LifeStar Village transitional housing program, which families and single-parents transition from homelessness. The check was made possible by local Windermere agents who donated a portion of every real estate commission to the Windermere Foundation.
• America First Credit Union recently raised $9,767 to benefit TreeUtah, a statewide nonprofit organization devoted to ensuring the health of the ecosystems in Utah. During April, America First asked its members to take advantage of electronic statements instead of paper statements and pledged to donate $1 for every paper statement canceled during the month to TreeUtah.
REAL ESTATE
• J. Fisher Cos., a Utah-based real estate firm, has broken ground at Moda Meadowbrook in Millcreek. A mixed-use, affordable apartment project of 145 units, Moda Meadowbrook will be the ninth development under J. Fisher Co.’s multifamily Moda brand. Designed by Tuttle and Associates Architecture, Moda Meadowbrook will include one- and two-bedroom options. Construction will take an estimated 21 months, with the first units scheduled for occupancy in the fall of 2019.
RECOGNITIONS
• The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) has received the Delmonte Award for Excellence, presented by the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineers North America (SAMPE NA), for the development of the Utah Aerospace Pathways program (UAP). UAP provides Utah students the opportunity to graduate high school with a certificate in aerospace manufacturing and begin an aerospace manufacturing career. Students engage in externships with participating aerospace companies where students receive work-based learning opportunities with industry experts. The collaboration between education and industry not only educates students, but helps fill the talent shortage in the aerospace industry. The Delmonte Award for Excellence was established in 1981 and is intended to encourage outstanding contributions in the field of materials and processes throughout the world; to acknowledge major achievements by honoring distinguished individuals in the field of materials and processes; and disseminate those technical achievements among the members of the materials and processes community.
• Desert Stream Inc. and Intermountain Farmers Association were presented the Vanguard in International Business Award, presented by World Trade Center Utah in partnership with the Department of Workforce Services, during the recent Central Utah International Business Forum. The companies were selected for the award based on their success in international exporting. Desert Stream is a contract manufacturer covering a wide range of nutritional supplements. Intermountain Farmers Association produces custom feed, farm supply, fertilizer and other associated products.
• Several Utah companies have earned Best Leadership Team Culture Awards for 2018 from company culture and career monitoring website Comparably. Workfront, Lehi, earned the No. 30 ranking. Boostability, Lehi, was No. 8 among small/mid-sized companies, which also included BambooHR, Lindon; and Lingotek, Lehi. The rankings reflect employee perspectives on leadership teams and their effectiveness.
SPORTS
• The eighth annual Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Big Mountain Jam, the state’s largest basketball tournament, will take place June 21-28 at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy. Jam On It, an AAU member club, will host the event. Players and coaches from across the U.S. and Canada will be on 36 full-sized basketball courts at the expo center. Over 6,000 spectators will watch 36 games played simultaneously with 250 scorekeepers and referees officiating 1,100 plus games. The economic impact to the area is expected to be over $1 million. For this year’s event, Jam On It has again partnered with Visit Salt Lake, modular athletic surfacing company SnapSports, the Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce and Sandy City.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Sarcos Robotics, a Salt Lake City-based producer of full-body exoskeleton robots for industrial and military applications, has announced that Lt. Gen. Stephen Lanza, former commanding general of the United States Army’s I Corps, has joined the company’s advisory board. Lanza served in the U.S. Army from 1980 through 2017 and held a wide variety of senior positions while commanding soldiers at all levels.
• MX, a Lehi-based financial data company, has announced that Ben Holzman is its new chief operating officer. Holzman has nearly 25 years of experience in high-tech management positions, including working as managing director at Bain Capital Ventures, vice president of sales operations at Iron Mountain, co-CEO and CFO at ObserveIT, and an outside board member at Rapid7.
• Skyworks Global Inc., a Salt Lake City-based gyronautics company, has announced that Deborah Wince-Smith will joint its strategic board of advisors. Wince-Smith is president and CEO of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. She spearheaded the 2004 National Innovation Initiative (NII) that played a pivotal role in creating a reinvigorated U.S. competitiveness movement and launched state and regional initiatives catalyzing a global focus on innovation driven growth. She served as the nation’s first Senate-confirmed assistant secretary of commerce for technology policy and led the creation of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC).
• Focus Universal Inc., a California-based universal smart instrumentation platform company, has added four members to its board of directors, including three with Utah ties: Carine Clark, Sean Warren and Michael Pope. Clark also will serve as chair of the compensation committee. Clark has served as president and chief executive officer of Allegiance, MartizCX and Banyan and has worked at Novell, Altiris and Symantec. She earned a bachelor's degree in organizational communications and an MBA from Brigham Young University. Pope served as president of Boxlight Corp. and previously was managing director of Vert Capital Corp. and chief financial officer and chief operating officer for the Taylor Family. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University. Warren has more than 25 years of experience in technology and enterprise technology systems, including serving as chief information officer at Mountain Medical, Veyo Medical, vice president of information technology at Larry Miller, and worked at Omniture and Adobe and as director of cloud operations at Domo.
TRAVEL & TOURISM
• Visit Salt Lake (VSL) has appointed Katie Van Riper as its Ski City brand marketing manager. It is a new position responsible for managing the marketing and promotional aspects of the organization’s winter brand, Ski City. Van Riper previously spent nearly two years as VSL’s social media and communications manager. Her background includes marketing and communication roles with Mountain Hub, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort and Boyne Resorts; and an industry relations position with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association.