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ASSOCIATIONS
• The Exit Planning Institute and a team of advisors and leaders from the Utah marketplace have launched a Utah chapter. The EPI Chapter Network provides an opportunity for exit planners of all backgrounds, including financial planners, CPAs, M&A professionals and others, to network and address the challenges that can arise when exit planning. The Utah chapter also will provide educational opportunities for business owners and professional advisors that build awareness and better prepare an owner for the successful exit of their business. Its first meeting will be June 28, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Toscano Restaurant, 11450 S. State St., Draper, and monthly meetings will follow. Rick J. Krebs is president of the Utah chapter. Details are at www.EPIUtah.com.
BANKING
• EnerBank, the home improvement lending division of Regions Bank, has opened new offices in the top three floors of 650 Main in Salt Lake City. Founded in 2002, EnerBank became part of Regions in October 2021. EnerBank provides point-of-sale financing options through a network of contractors nationwide. It currently works with over 8,000 contractors throughout the United States.
• LCA Bancorporation, a Park City-based, Utah-chartered industrial bank, and parent company Lease Corporation of America, have named Travis Betenson as chief financial officer. Betenson will lead finance, accounting and treasury management functions for both entities. He has been in the banking industry since 2010 and has held various roles in accounting, finance and treasury. He brings both regulatory and banking experience and was most recently with First Electronic Bank, where he oversaw the accounting, treasury and FP&A functions. He previously held treasury risk and financial reporting positions with Comenity Capital Bank in Salt Lake City. He earned an MBA from the University of Utah.
CONSTRUCTION
• Beecher Walker Architects, a Holladay-based commercial architectural firm, has named four people as senior associates: David Morris, Brad Beecher, Chad Beus and Dustin Glazer. Morris is a senior associate in interior design. He has 27 years of experience, 12 with Beecher Walker. He oversees the company’s interior design department and mentors upcoming designers. He has a particular specialty in commercial office and hospitality. Morris received his bachelor of interior design degree from Utah State University. Beecher is a senior associate in architectural management. He has 14 years of experience, 12 of those at Beecher Walker. Beecher has experience in multifamily, assisted living/senior housing, entertainment and hospitality. A licensed architect, he earned a bachelor’s and master’s in architecture from University of Utah. Beus is a senior associate in architectural management. He has 10 years of experience in the industry, eight with Beecher Walker. Beus is the architect-in-charge of the newly opened St. George office. He has experience in multifamily and assisted living/senior housing. A licensed architect, Beus earned a bachelor’s and master’s of architecture from the University of Utah. Glazer is a senior associate in architectural management. He has 14 years of architectural design experience and six years of construction experience, including six years with Beecher Walker. He has worked in a variety of areas, from commercial office to hospitality to ski resorts to retail.
CORPORATE
• Athletic Republic, a Park City-based company focused on individualized, sport-specific training backed by data and science, has announced plans to expand nationally through franchising. It has more than 80 locations nationwide that have helped nearly 2 million athletes of all ages. It plans to surpass 100 locations by year-end.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Extra Space Storage Inc., based in Salt Lake City, has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share on the common stock of the company for the second quarter 2022. The dividend is payable June 30 to stockholders of record June 15. The company is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns and/or operates 2,130 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 U.S.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Morgan County leads Utah counties on a list of the “most generous places” in the state, a list compiled by SmartAsset. It analyzed how much money people donate as a percentage of their net income, as well as the proportion of people in each county who make charitable donations. Morgan County was followed, in order, by Utah, Wasatch, Davis, Summit, Washington, Cache, Salt Lake, Rich and Juab counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/retirement/financial-advisor#Utah/mostGenerousPlaces-2.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 23 on a list of “2022’s Best Biking Cities in the U.S.,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on 24 key indicators of a cyclist-friendly lifestyle, such as access to bike lanes and bike rentals, the share of bike commuters, the presence of cycling clubs, and the number of bike races and tours. The top-ranked city is San Francisco. The No. 200 city is Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-biking-cities/.
GOVERNMENT
• The Biden-Harris administration has announced $33 million in infrastructure investment to address legacy pollution and spur high-paying jobs on public lands. The money will fund remediation of 277 orphaned oil and gas wells on public lands across the country. The projects include 14 wells on Moab field office Bureau of Land Management lands, plus an inventory and assessment of wells presented in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The allocation is part of a total of $250 million provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for cleaning up orphaned wells and well sites on federal public lands, national parks, national wildlife refuges and national forests.
HEALTHCARE
• Elevar Therapeutics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based biopharmaceutical company focused on treatment experiences and outcomes for patients who have limited or inadequate therapeutic options, has hired Paul Friel as chief commercial officer and named Michael Palucki as vice president of manufacturing. Friel has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including leadership positions in multinational corporations and biotech companies. He most recently served as chief commercial officer at Beyond Spring Inc. and previously worked at TAP/Takeda, including as president and general manager at Takeda Canada. Friel has launched more than 20 products during his career, held early leadership positions in five startups and led business development for several large transitions and capital raises. Palucki is a pharmaceutical industry veteran with 25 years of experience, with direct experience in driving strategy and operational excellence spanning drug discovery, drug development, regulatory filing, product launch, commercialization and lifecycle management. He most recently was executive director of CMC product development and team leader for Venatorx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and previously worked at Merck & Co. in various roles.
INSURANCE
• PCF Insurance Services, a Lehi-based U.S. insurance brokerage firm, has completed a partnership with I-Connect Insurance Services, based in central California. Founded in 1967, principal William Ritchey leads the independent property and casualty insurance agency.
INVESTMENTS
• Clozd, a Salt Lake City-based provider of win-loss analysis technology for corporate sales teams, has raised $52 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Greycroft. Other investors include Madrona Venture Group and Album VC. In five years, Clozd has helped more than 150 B2B enterprises to deepen their understanding of their successes and failures across various business operations.
• Claravine, a Provo-based data integrity SaaS company, has announced a $16 million Series B funding round. It was led by Five Elms Capital, Kansas City, Missouri, with participation from Grayhawk Capital, Scottsdale, Arizona; Next Frontier Capital, Bozeman, Montana; Peninsula Ventures, San Mateo, California; Kickstart Fund, Cottonwood Heights; and Silverton Partners, Austin, Texas. Claravine said the funding will be used to grow its headcount. It hopes to double its current headcount of 60 plus employees in 2022. The company plans to hire key roles in product management, engineering, sales, customer success and marketing. It also plans to accelerate product development and invest in its integrations to automate data standards across digital experiences.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• Nexstar Media Inc., based in Texas, has named Mark Danielson to lead KTVX-TV, KUCW-TV, MTVX-TV and ABC4.com in Salt Lake City. Danielson worked in a variety of news, sales and production positions in Salt Lake City early in his career, including at KTVX-TV from 1990-1991. For the past 10 years, Danielson has served as the vice president and general manager of KEYT-TV, KKFX-CD and KSBB-CD in Santa Barbara, California. Danielson earned a degree in mass communication from the University of Utah.
MILESTONES
• Dramafy, a Park City-based company launched last July and offering audio drama, is nearing 1,000 subscribers streaming more than 1,500 episodes from 130 audio stories. The genres include science fiction, westerns, adventure, comedy, mystery and children’s stories.
PARTNERSHIPS
• Blackrock Neurotech, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on brain-computer interface technology, has announced a collaboration with AE Studio, a group of data scientists, developers and designers who specialize in launching products that increase human agency. AE Studio be involved in the MoveAgain program at Blackrock, which seeks to improve the lives of patients with paralysis, and will contribute to expanding on Blackrock’s patented MoveAgain BCI system with a focus on user-friendly interfaces for clinicians and care team members. Earlier this year, Blackrock announced its aim to release the first commercial BCI platform, MoveAgain, in 2023. MoveAgain will enable patients with spinal cord injuries to interact with digital devices simply by thinking.
• Lucid Software, a South Jordan-based provider of visual collaboration software, has announced a partnership with Loom, a video communication platform, to provide enhanced asynchronous collaboration experiences across Lucid products. As part of the partnership, Lucid has introduced a new integration that allows both Lucidspark and Lucidchart users to embed, play and create Loom video recordings directly in Lucid documents, allowing both Lucidchart and Lucidspark documents to act as a visual record for any-size project.
PHILANTHROPY
• Female employees at Ken Garff Downtown Luxury Group recently treated Salt Lake Rescue Mission women to a little pampering by shopping at Target for needed clothes, makeup and shoes to help them prepare for job interviews; taking them to lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Trolley Square; and finishing up the “Girls Day” with some hair and makeup at Mid-City-Salon, where these women were pampered with a private event. The mission’s Women’s Center is home to the New Life Program for women and provides homeless and low-income women access to emergency shelter, food, clothing, job placement and more.
REAL ESTATE
• The Calida Group, a developer, investor and operator of multifamily real estate properties in the western United States, has expanded its Elysian Living brand with Ely at American Fork. The 320-unit luxury community, designed by The Calida Group and in partnership with Castlewood Development, is currently leasing with an anticipated July opening. The Calida Group has acquired or built over 20,000 multifamily units since its inception in 2007.
• A two-property, 296-unit multifamily unit in Vernal, has been sold by DLP Capital to Seattle-based HB Management LLC for an undisclosed amount. Ashley Creek Village is a seven-building property containing 168 apartment homes. It was completed in two phases in 2013 and 2015. Willow Park is a six-building property containing 128 residences. It was built in 2013. The transaction was announced by CBRE. Eli Mills and Patrick Bodnar represented DLP in the transaction.
• Richmond American Homes of Utah Inc., a subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings Inc., has announced model home debuts at Drumore at Overlake and Anderson Farms, as well as the opening of its Jones Court community. Drumore at Overlake is at 191 E. Allister Court, Tooele. Anderson Farms is at 593 S. Chan Drive, Grantsville. Jones Court is at 1785 S. 100 E., Orem.
• NAI Excel, a commercial real estate brokerage and an independently owned firm in the NAI Global network of over 300 offices worldwide, has opened an office at 427 S. Main St., Suite 204, Cedar City. The company opened in St. George 20 years ago and expanded its offices to the Wasatch Front, Las Vegas and now Cedar City. With the opening, Twila Davis and Raelyn Loomis joined the Cedar City office. Davis, branch broker, has been practicing commercial real estate in Cedar City for more than two decades. In addition to representing clients in the sale and lease of commercial property, NAI Excel manages commercial real estate assets for its clients, which currently includes approximately 500 tenants from Salt Lake to Las Vegas.
• The Moab Resort, a WorldMark by Wyndham vacation club affiliate, has opened. It includes 150 vacation club suites of one to four bedrooms. Esa Paltanen has been appointed as general manager for The Moab Resort. Paltanen previously served as general manager for two Shell Vacations Club resorts, also managed by Wyndham Destinations. Gardiner Properties LLC developed the project, and Wyndham Destinations manages the sales and marketing of vacation ownership, resort operations, and timeshare homeowners’ association management. The two companies previously collaborated on the Club Wyndham Park City vacation ownership resort.
RETAIL
• Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., a West Jordan-based specialty outdoor retailer, has appointed Sherry Jane Love as senior vice president of merchandising. She will be responsible for leading the company’s omni-channel merchandising efforts and private brand development. Love has nearly 30 years of retail merchandising experience. Her expertise includes diversified product categories in several retail formats, including apparel, footwear, fashion accessories, pet solutions, and hard goods. Previously, she owned and operated her own retail consulting practice. Prior to this venture, Love held positions at PetSmart Inc., Payless ShoeSource and Lane Bryant.
SCHOLARSHIPS
• RPlus Energies, the developer of the Graphite Solar Project near Wellington, has announced a $75,000 scholarship program for the students of Carbon County. Under the inaugural program in its “Local First” Scholarship series, rPlus is joined by Greenbacker Renewable Energy Co. and Sundt Renewables, the owner and the engineering, procurement and construction contractor, respectively, for the Graphite Solar Project in Carbon County. It is the first solar project developed by rPlus Energies to reach the construction phase. The Local First Scholarship series will be available exclusively to students residing in counties where rPlus Energies constructs a namesake project and will provide full and partial tuition scholarships to local university certificate and degree programs. For the scholarship associated with the Graphite Solar project, rPlus Energies is partnering with Utah State University Eastern to provide a total of $75,000 to qualifying students.
SERVICES
• Crewe Advisors, a Salt Lake City-based investment advisory firm providing financial, estate, investment, tax, risk and philanthropic planning, has hired Nick Perry as a partner and advisor. He will work with clients to identify and prioritize their financial issues and solutions to meet their aspirations across investment management, business succession and estate planning. Perry has 15 years of industry experience, including managing portfolios for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients at JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and most recently as a senior vice president for Key Private Bank. His education includes an MBA from Brigham Young University.
• Fastsigns of Ogden/Roy, a locally owned and operated sign and graphics provider, has relocated to 5758 S. 1900 S., Roy. It is double the size of the company’s former location. It includes two wrap bays, and the company is planning to manufacture electrical signage in-house. Fastsigns has more than 750 centers in the U.S. and internationally.
TECHNOLOGY
• Quotient Technology Inc., a Salt Lake City-based digital media and promotions technology company, has appointed Kimberly Anstett to its board of directors. Anstett succeeds Steve Horowitz, who stepped down from the board for personal reasons, as a Class I director. Anstett is a technology executive with more than 25 years of experience, including expertise in developing and deploying innovative global products, leading cybersecurity programs and designing and leading strategic partnership programs. Since May 2019, she has served as executive vice president and chief technology officer at Iron Mountain. She previously was chief information officer for Nielsen.
• Utah State University’s North Logan-based Space Dynamics Laboratory has elected retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson to its board of directors. Thompson most recently served as the final commander of the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. He entered the Air Force in 1984 and served in various scientific, acquisition and logistics-oriented capacities, including staff assignments at Air Force Systems Command, Air Force Materiel Command, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition.
• Bitt, a Salt Lake City-based global fintech company, has appointed Baker Nanduru as chief product officer. Nanduru has entrepreneurial and executive leadership experience at companies including McAfee, Symantec, GoDaddy and startups. Most recently, he was a product executive at McAfee, where he managed a consumer product portfolio including security, identity, privacy, trust, and IoT solutions serving more than 100 million consumers globally.