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BENEFITS
• Benefitfocus Inc., a South Carolina-based benefits management platform and services provider, has relocated its Salt Lake City office. It established its presence in the city last year and is moving into a larger office space to support their expanding operations in the region. The new office is at the Industrious Coworking Office Space Salt Lake City, 10 W. Broadway, Suite 700, Salt Lake City. The company said it plans to more than double the number of customer success team members.
CONSTRUCTION
• Beecher Walker, a Holladay-based architectural firm, has promoted Anthony Lyman, Gary Gowers and Ryan Griffiths to junior partners at the firm, and Corey Middleton and David Vaughan to senior associate. Lyman is a licensed architect who started with the firm as an intern while still attending Alta High School. His particular expertise and interest lies in contemporary and sustainable design and systems and applying that in any type of architectural situation. Lyman received his Master and Bachelor of Architecture degrees from the University of Utah. Gowers was one of the first employees Beecher Walker hired and has years of experience on the front line for the firm. His strengths are project development, attention to detail and construction management. Gowers earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Utah. Griffiths has been with Beecher Walker for the past 13 years, with a particular expertise in designing and managing construction of assisted-living and skilled-nursing facilities throughout the Mountain West region. He also designs hotels and restaurant space for the firm. Griffiths earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design degree from Brigham Young University. Middleton, a licensed architect, has expertise in multifamily, assisted-living and office projects. He received his Master and Bachelor of Architecture degrees from the University of Utah. Vaughan is a licensed architect with vast knowledge and understanding of Revit, its applications and how it has changed architecture.
CONTESTS
• Pluralsight Inc., a Farmington-based enterprise technology learning platform, has created an awards program that will debut at Pluralsight Live 2018. The Create the Future Awards will recognize “changemakers who are creating the technology-based innovations that will lead the world into the future.” Entrepreneurs and small businesses can compete for a grand prize of $50,000 and a chance to pitch their technology solution or service to potential investors and buyers. To be judged by industry experts in technology, entries will be evaluated on creativity, functionality and market size. Finalists will pitch their idea to the judges Aug. 29 at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City in front of an audience of CIOs, CTOs and technologists. The winner will be announced that evening. Entries may be submitted through Aug. 1. Details are at www.pluralsight.com/awards.
ENERGY
• Vivint Solar, Lehi, has appointed Miranda Barnard as vice president of marketing. She will oversee Vivint Solar’s marketing activities and branding initiatives and seek to further raise the company’s profile in the residential solar industry. Barnard has over 15 years of experience specializing in content marketing and communications. Prior to joining Vivint Solar, she led external communications and media relations at Sorenson Media. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from Southern Utah University and an MBA from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management.
• Profire Energy Inc., Lindon, has completed a secondary public offering of more than 8.6 million shares of its common stock by some of its stockholders at a price to the public of $3.25 per share. The shares sold included all shares subject to the underwriters’ over-allotment option, which was exercised in full prior to closing. Profire Energy Inc. did not offer any shares of its common stock in the transaction and did not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares of its common stock by the selling stockholders. Roth Capital Partners acted as sole book-running manager for the offering. Lake Street Capital Markets and Chardan acted as co-managers for the offering. Profire Energy assists energy production companies in the production and transportation of oil and natural gas.
GOVERNMENT
• Salt Lake City has started a new SLC360 wellness program that offers more incentives for city employees and their spouses to use preventative healthcare. Employees and their spouses can earn up to $150 each during the plan year by participating in the new program. Incentives are given for completing various health challenges throughout the year, including biometric assessments, health risk assessments, preventative screenings, educational courses, stress reduction, work/life balance and financial education.
INVESTMENTS
• Inertial Sense, Salem, has closed a $2 million round of seed funding led by DataTribe and supported by Atomic Ventures. Inertial Sense will used the funds to advance development of additional micro-navigation solutions and 3D motion sensors. Inertial Sense designs and manufactures GPS sensors for autonomous vehicle applications. Inertial Sense is the recipient of DataTribe’s inaugural DataTribe Challenge competition, announced in March.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• A. Cory Maloy has opened Maloy PR LLC, a full-service public relations firm, in Lehi. Maloy has more than 20 years of experience at PR firms and corporations. Maloy graduated from Brigham Young University and serves in the Utah House of Representatives.
PHILANTHROPY
• First Step House is launching a new employment program in collaboration with KeyBank Foundation and Salt Lake County Housing and Community Development. The Employment Preparation and Placement (EPP) program is designed to improve hiring opportunities for people managing a substance use disorder and co-occurring behavior health condition. The EPP program targets people with a substance use disorder who have experienced homelessness and have a history of criminal involvement. The foundation has committed a $200,000 foundational community impact grant, delivered over three years, to enable the program launch. Salt Lake County awarded a $47,424 Community Development Block Grant to provide startup assistance.
RECOGNITIONS
• NAIOP, a commercial real estate development association, has selected St. John Properties as its 2018 Developer of the Year, the association’s highest honor, powered in part by a 62-acre development of Valley Grove in Pleasant Grove. Since 1979, the Developer of the Year award has been presented to a development company that best exemplifies leadership and innovation. Over the life of the $300 million project, Valley Grove is expected to generate over $800 million in tax revenue to the state, county and city, while hosting more than 7,000 employees. The award will be presented Oct. 17 at NAIOP’s CRE.Converge conference in Washington, D.C.
• Several Utah individuals and one company earned honors recently from CEO World. Receiving “Gold” honors under the CEO Achievement of the Year category are Joe Wang of Impartner for the development of Impartner SmartContent and Impartner SegmentAI, Randall Hales of ZAGG Inc. for the “Mophie acquisition and turnaround from near-bankruptcy to profitability,” Dr. Wendell Gibby of Novarad for performing the first-ever augmented reality-assisted surgical operation, and Fred Cooper of ARIIX for “operational efficiency through the improvement of ARIIX’s infrastructure.” In the Executive of the Year category, earning “Bronze” was Paxton Gray, vice president of operations for 97th Floor. Impartner earned “Silver” for Best Products, Upgrades and Innovation of the Year. The CEO World Awards are an annual industry and peers recognition program honoring CEOs and organizations of all types and sizes in North America, Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin-America.
• Impartner, Salt Lake City, recently earned two honors at the IT World Awards. Impartner received “Gold” in the category of Best New Product and Services for its Impartner PRM product, which also earned a “Bronze” for Best IT Software. The IT World Awards from Network Products Guide honor achievements and recognitions in various facets of the IT industry. More than 80 judges from around the world participated and their average scores determined the 2018 award winners.
• AlphaGraphics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company with more than 250 franchisee locations, has 20 of its network business centers on the list of Top 100 Quick and Small Commercial Printers, compiled by Printing News. It is the largest percentage of any franchise network nominated to the list. The ranking criteria is based on the state of the industry and the overall sales performance and growth of the franchise in the preceding year. The publication also takes other factors into consideration, including financial stability and the extent to which the franchise has integrated emerging technologies into its operations.