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BANKING
• Bank of Utah, Ogden, has appointed Carlos A. Lopez as a mortgage consultant based in the bank’s Orem branch. Lopez has worked as a mortgage consultant for 12 years in Arizona, Idaho and Utah. He holds a degree in international studies from Brigham Young University.
DIRECT SALES
• USANA, Salt Lake City, has created a clinical sciences team that will be led by Dr. Rolando Maddela and Jessie Johnson. The team is charged with the design, and overall strategy of USANA clinical studies. Mark Levy will continue his role of working with the research and development department on clinical studies. Lawry Han is a new addition to the department and brings experience in designing and conducting human clinical studies.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Extra Space Storage Inc., Salt Lake City, has declared a quarterly dividend of 86 cents per share on the company’s common stock for the second quarter. The dividend will be paid June 29 to stockholders of record June 15. It is a 10.3 percent increase over the previously quarterly dividend.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, has created WGU Advancement, a new nonprofit fund-raising organization focused on building financial support for initiatives that support the university’s commitment to reinvigorating the promise of higher education for all. WGU Advancement will work with foundations, corporations, associations and individual donors to build a dedicated funding source for scholarships, new programs, new learning models and educational technologies that will expand access and improve student outcomes. Headquartered in Indiana, WGU Advancement will be led by Allison Barber, who has served as chancellor for WGU Indiana since its launch in 2010.
ENVIRONMENT
• Utah Clean Energy, Rocky Mountain Power and the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) are offering the second year of the “Live Electric” EV discount program, which extends discounts on the three models of the 2018 Nissan Leaf to Rocky Mountain Power utility customers and state of Utah employees. The discount is available through June 30. The program aims to improve air quality and community health both today and for future generations. Rocky Mountain Power partnered with Utah Clean Energy, a nonprofit, public interest organization that works to drive the transition to a clean energy future. UCAIR provided additional support from to expand this program to state of Utah employees who are not served by Rocky Mountain Power.
EXPANSIONS
• GearLaunch, an e-commerce platform, has announced it is expanding beyond San Francisco with the opening of a sales and development center in the Clift Building Salt Lake City. The center will include sales, marketing and software design staff. Cory Rich is the new office’s head of sales.
• InMoment, a Sandy-based customer experience intelligence platform company, has announced an expansion into Australia and New Zealand with the acquisition of boutique customer experience agency brandXP. Melbourne will be the company’s fifth international base, with a New Zealand office part of the expansion. The Asia Pacific efforts will be led by Claire Fastier. She previously held global senior executive roles at Hewlett-Packard.
GOVERNMENT
• Utah will receive $804,018 in historic preservation grant funds, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service announced. It is part of $48.9 million awarded to states, territories and partnering nations. The agencies also announced $11.4 million for historic preservation grants were awarded to 175 tribal historic preservation offices. Administered by the National Park Service, the funds are appropriated annually by Congress from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). Since its inception in 1977, the HPF has provided more than$1.8 billion in grants to states, tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Funding is supported by Outer Continental Shelf oil lease revenues — not tax dollars — with intent to mitigate the loss of a non-renewable resource to benefit the preservation of other irreplaceable resources.
MANUFACTURING
• Swire Coca-Cola USA, Draper, has announced changes to executive leadership team. Paul Lukanowski will move from his current position as senior vice president and general manager to become Swire’s first chief operating officer. Effective July 1, Rob Gehring will assume Lukanowski’s previous role as senior vice president and general manager. Lukanowski has been with the company for 22 years. In his new role, he will lead current business priorities while exploring new opportunities for development and investment. He will also assess and build upon the company’s capabilities. Gehring will be responsible for all aspects of the company’s sales operations and capabilities, food service on-premise, customer relationships, revenue growth management, and marketing. He more than more than 25 years of experience in consumer product goods and joins Swire Coca-Cola after serving as global chief sales officer for The Hershey Co. He also previously served as president of the Walmart Global Team, leading the global customer team managing the relationship with Walmart and Sam’s Club and the respective Coca-Cola franchise bottlers in 28 countries. Gehring had held several other roles within the Coca-Cola system, including vice president of sales in the Canadian and western U.S. business units.
RECOGNITIONS
• CoreBrace LLC, West Jordan, recently received the President’s “E” Award, the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. The company received the award from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in which 43 companies and organizations were honored. Ross said the awards committee was impressed with CoreBrace’s more than 300 percent increase in employment supported by exports. The company produces Buckling Restraining Braces, a seismic performance system and lateral bracing system for new construction and seismic retrofit projects. CoreBrace is the first Utah company to receive the award. U.S. companies are nominated through the Department of Commerce’s U.S. Commercial Service, located within the department’s International Trade Administration. Criteria is based on four years of successive export growth and case studies that demonstrate valuable support to exporters resulting in increased exports for the companies’ clients.
• The Downtown Alliance has announced that four Downtown Achievement Awards for 2018 will be presented as part of the annual State of Downtown, set for June 27 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. Recipients are the Vestar Corp., Cultural Core: Salt Lake City and County Partnership, The Salt Lake Tribune and Vasilios Priskos. The event also will feature the release of the annual Economic Benchmark Report. Compiled in partnership with CBRE, the report evaluates the state of downtown’s economy by examining the development, employment, office leases, residential, hospitality, retail, culture, transportation and quality of life.
• Seven Utah companies are among the “Best Workplaces for 2018,” a list compiled by Inc. Magazine. The rankings feature U.S. companies that have created exceptional workplaces through vibrant cultures, deep employee engagement and stellar benefits. The Utah companies are Health Catalyst, in the Extra-Large Company category (500 or more employees); HireVue, Malouf and Podium, all in the Large Company category (250-499 employees); and Jane.com, Simplifile and Xyngular, all in the Medium-Large Company category (100-249 employees). Three hundred companies are part of the list. All companies had to have a minimum of 10 employees and be U.S.-based, privately held and independent.
SCHOLARSHIPS
• The Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce recently awards seven female high school seniors $1,000 scholarships through the chamber’s Junior WIB Scholarship Program. The seniors are selected for their outstanding achievements in education and the community, the chamber said. Scholarships winners are Annie Banks, Brighton High School; Ashley Woodmansee, CTEC; Gillian Leonard, Alta High School; Josie Taylor, Jordan High School; Kaitlyn Curtis, Corner Canyon High School; Katheryn Jacox, Juan Diego High School; and Lillian Willis, Hillcrest High School. Requirements of the scholarship include attending monthly Sandy Area Chamber Women in Business luncheons, participating in the Canyon School District job shadow program, attending a portion of the legislative session, participating in a service project directed by the chamber, participating in Canyon School District Women in Business Club, and actively engaging with their assigned Women in Business mentor.
SERVICES
• Foresight Wealth Management, a Draper-based wealth management and financial services company, has hired Chris Light as a partner and wealth advisor. Light will focus on providing private wealth management services to individuals and businesses, as well as on building sophisticated retirement income plans. Prior to joining Foresight, Light served as senior vice president and wealth advisor for Lefavi Wealth Management for 13 years.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• JJUMPP Software, Lehi, has hired Dave Bascom as head of marketing. Bascom has two decades of business experience at startup companies and marketing agencies, most recently serving two years as vice president of marketing at real estate tech startup Homie. His experience includes leadership roles at Fit Marketing, Utah.com and SEO.com, a digital marketing company he founded.