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ASSOCIATIONS
• ULI (Urban Land Institute) Utah this year is launching UrbanPlan for Public Officials, a workshop series for local decision-makers who want to learn more about “the fundamental forces that shape and affect the built environment and the important leadership roles that elected and appointed officials play in the real estate development process.” ULI said the workshop will serve as an interactive dialogue about the challenging issues, varying private- and public-sector roles, complex tradeoffs and economics that are at play in land use in communities across the country. It is seeking planners, developers, real estate brokers and other industry experts to serve as volunteers to support the initiative. They can attend a meeting June 10, 11:30 a.m.-noon, at the Wasatch Front Regional Front, at 41 N. Rio Grande St., No. 103, at The Gateway in Salt Lake City. Volunteer training will be Aug. 6. Details are at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa4RSdHeYUs or by contacting rachel.mcillece@uli.org.
CONTESTS
• Nav, a Salt Lake City-based site and app company focusing on financing options and access to business credit scores for small-business owners, has opened another round of its Small Business Grant. It will award $10,000 to a U.S. small-business owner who needs capital to grow their business, plus a $2,000 for runner-up and $1,000 for second runner-up. The application deadline is Aug. 15. The contest is open to U.S.-based small businesses that have fewer than 99 employees and have been operating for six months or more. Details are at Nav.com/business-grant-contest. Since launching the grant in early 2018, Nav has awarded nearly $50,000 to businesses across the country.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Extra Space Storage Inc., Salt Lake City, has declared a quarterly dividend of 90 cents per share on the company’s common stock for the 2019 second quarter. The dividend is payable June 28 to stockholders of record June 14. Extra Space Storage is a real estate investment trust that owns and/or operates 1,696 self-storage properties. It is the second-largest owner and/or operator of self-storage properties in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the nation.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• Fifteen Weber State University graduates in management information systems are headed to Carnegie Mellon University, ranked as the nation’s No. 1 graduate program for information security and information management: nine to a master’s program and six to a summer internship. Randy Boyle, Weber State MIS associate professor and cybersecurity expert, has spearheaded a partnership where his MIS students compete for the limited spots in CMU’s Heinz College Master of Science in Information Security Policy & Management (MSISPM) and the Master of Information Systems Management (MISM) programs. The six WSU students participating in the summer internship will get a look at the rigors of graduate school through CMU’s cybersecurity summer fellowship called the IT Lab: Summer Security Intensive. During the seven-week fellowship, students study with leading experts in the field and work with real-world clients on applied projects. They are also enrolled in three intensive cybersecurity courses. CMU covers all fellowship costs including airfare, food, housing, tuition and a stipend. Students who finish the program and are admitted to a master’s program in CMU’s Heinz College automatically qualify for a scholarship covering at least half of tuition, a $55,000 value.
HEALTHCARE
• Frelii, a Lehi-based biotech company, has added two chief officers and an executive vice president. Board director Leslie M. Norris has been named chief operations officer. She will handle a dual role as head of marketing and brand and will serve as lead negotiator on new business and strategic partnership deals. Norris has decades of experience as a business growth strategist and in operations build-out, team development, channel programs, SOPs and compliance. Sandeep Uppal has been named chief administrative officer. He will be responsible for providing input on funding, finance, securities management, budgeting, strategic relationships and regulatory reporting. He has decades of experience as CFO for various insurance companies as well as experience in strategic financial planning, mergers and acquisitions, contract negotiations, and support of public registration companies. Yvan Aubin will serve as executive vice president of finance. He will oversee financial related matters including the direction of financing strategies, analysis, forecasting, as well as supporting budget management and regulatory reporting. He has more than 20 years of senior finance experience in the oil and gas and insurance industries and has experience in mergers and acquisitions, lending activities, risk management and treasury.
LAW
• Parsons Behle & Latimer, Salt Lake City, has added five attorneys in its Salt Lake City office: Thomas R. Barton, Thomas T. Billings, Alex B. Leeman, John A. Snow and Mark A. Wagner. They previously were with Prince Yeates and Geldzahler. Barton focuses his practice in the areas of commercial law, including matters related to employment, corporate disputes, tax, natural resources and real estate, contracts and professional liability cases. Billings specializes in banking and financial institutions, corporate reorganizations, real estate development and commercial transactions, government and legislative matters and commercial litigation. He earned his law degree from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. Leeman’s practice is focused in general business litigation, employment, real estate development, healthcare and professional defense, civil litigation, and banking and finance. His education includes a B.A. in public relations from Brigham Young University. Snow’s focus areas are in general civil litigation, including commercial, professional malpractice, construction and insurance coverage and defense. His education includes a B.A. from Brigham Young University. Wagner has extensive experience in all aspects of employment law; homeowners association law; and healthcare law, including the defense of medical providers and institutions. He earned a B.S. from the University of Utah and his law degree from the UofU’s S.J. Quinney College of Law. Parsons Behle & Latimer also announced that Kim Le has joined the firm as a legal secretary. During the past year, the firm has expanded its Boise, Idaho, office with five new attorneys; opened a new office in Lehi; moved its Idaho Falls office into a newly revitalized downtown urban development project to accommodate expansion of its practice; and is expanding its Salt Lake City office.
MILESTONES
• Ancestry, a Lehi-based family history and consumer genomics company, has announced that its consumer DNA network has reached over 15 million completed samples, allowing the company to provide customers with more DNA matches, further detailed ethnicity insights, and ultimately help more people around the globe discover their unique family story.
• HireVue, a Salt Lake City-based driven talent assessment suite and video interviewing solutions company, announced that it has hosted more than 8 million interviews, a 60 percent in the past year. Its more than 700 customers interview nearly a million people every 90 days in over 180 countries and in 32 languages. Over 40 percent of interviews are conducted on mobile devices and over 60 percent occur outside of business hours.
PHILANTHROPY
• Seventeen local Bank of Utah branches and mortgage offices from Tremonton to St. George collected more than two tons of food for the bank’s annual “Kick Childhood Hunger” statewide food drive in May. Bank employees, customers and friends dropped off non-perishable foods and the bank is delivering those donations to 11 local food pantries that help put food in children’s backpacks to ward off hunger at school and at home on the weekends: Cache Community Pantry, Logan; Tremonton Community Pantry, Tremonton; Box Elder Community Pantry, Brigham City; Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank, Ogden; Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP), Ogden; Bountiful Food Pantry, Bountiful; Crossroads Urban Center, Salt Lake City; Peace House, Heber City; Community Action Services and Food Bank, Provo; Carbon Caring for Kids, Price; and Switchpoint, St. George. Students from Summit Elementary School in Logan and Lakeview Elementary School in Brigham City collected food at the schools as part of the Kick Childhood Hunger effort.
RECOGNITIONS
• Lara Fritts, director of Salt Lake City’s Department of Economic Development, has been named to the 2019 list of “North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers,” selected by consulting agency Consultant Connect. The economic development professionals selected for this list were nominated by their colleagues in both the economic development industry and the site consultant community for excellent practices, innovation and success in building the communities they serve. Recipients will receive their award at Consultant Connect’s ECONOMIX event in Charleston, South Carolina, in December. The department was formed in 2016. The city says that under Fritts’ leadership, it has been instrumental in bringing over 9,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in capital investment to Salt Lake City.
• Steward Health Care recognized six emergency medical services providers at its first-ever “EMS Stewards of the Community” award ceremony in Sandy. Honored in celebration of National Emergency Medical Service (EMS) week were Steven Simpson, deputy, Davis County Sheriff’s Office; Jed Done, firefighter AEMT, Clinton City Fire; Chase Kanzee, firefighter paramedic, South Jordan City Fire; Nick Dodge, battalion chief and paramedic, West Valley City Fire; Mike Stevens, firefighter paramedic, Saratoga Springs Fire; and Jared Schreiner, firefighter paramedic, Salt Lake City Fire. They were recognized for going “above and beyond” in their interactions with patients at Davis Hospital and Medical Center, Jordan Valley Medical Center, Jordan Valley Medical Center West Valley Campus, Mountain Point Medical Center and Salt Lake Regional Medical Center. A committee of physicians and EMS directors selected recipients among current providers in communities served by Steward.
• Impartner, a Salt Lake City-based partner relationship management solutions company, has been named a 2019 Red Herring Top 100 North America winner. The awards recognize the continent’s most exciting and innovative private technology companies and are chosen from thousands of entrants. Companies were judged by industry experts, insiders and journalists on a wide variety of criteria, including financial performance, innovation, business strategy and market penetration.
RESTAURANTS
• Cocktail lounge Seabird Bar has opened at 7 S. 400 W. at The Gateway in Salt Lake City. The concept, first opened in Draper, combines classic and seasonal cocktails with craft beer, artisan cheeses, charcuterie and bar snacks, with classic turntables playing a curated list of music. Seabird Bar was founded by Jameel Gaskins, formerly of Ace Hotels and Pago Restaurant Group; Josh Rosenthal of La Barba and Creek Tea; and Asher Seevinck, formerly of Everyman.