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ASSOCIATIONS
• AARP recently announced the recipients of its 2018 AARP Community Challenge grants, including two in Utah. A total of $1.3 million will be distributed to fund 129 “quick action” projects across the country, helping communities make immediate improvements and jumpstart long-term progress to support residents of all ages. Nearly 1,600 applications were received from nonprofits and government entities for the program, now in its second year. One Utah recipient is Habitat for Humanity, which will receive funds to organize 700 volunteers to work on 100 homes in the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Revitalization Program. They will be painting homes, cleaning up yards, planting, building ramps for disabled veterans and seniors, and training residents on carpenter skills, as well as cleaning up nearby community centers, playgrounds, and parks. The other Utah recipient is Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services, which will receive a grant to develop a community garden for older adult refugees at the Taylorsville Senior Center in Salt Lake County. Refugee seniors will be recruited to participate in the project, which includes building garden beds and planting and tending the gardens as they grow.
COMMUNICATIONS
• CallTower, a South Jordan-based cloud-based, enterprise-class unified communications solutions provider, has appointed Adam Pottorff as channel director for the Southwest and Mountain region. Pottorff has more than 10 years of channel experience and previously held key channel roles at Arkadin and PGi.
CONSTRUCTION
• ABC Supply Co. Inc., a Wisconsin-based building products distributor, has promoted Kyle Hebdon, manager of its location at 1070 W. 21st St., Ogden, to managing partner, which is the highest level of achievement among branch managers. To be selected as a managing partner, Hebdon met rigorous requirements in the areas of customer satisfaction, associate development, branch performance, safety compliance and excellence in overall business practices. As a managing partner, Hebdon joins ABC Supply’s National Branch Advisory Board, which advises senior management on various topics. Hebdon has managed the Ogden branch since 2016.
CORPORATE
• Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., Midvale, has announced that its stockholders, Seidler Equity Partners III LP and SK Capital Holdings LP, have agreed to sell more than 2.8 million shares of the company’s common stock in a registered underwritten public offering. The company will not sell any shares of common stock in the offering and will not receive any of the net proceeds from the offering. D.A. Davidson & Co. is acting as the sole underwriter for the offering.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, has created the Center for Applied Learning Science (CALS), a nonprofit innovation lab focused on improving student outcomes by combining technology, design thinking and rigorous research methods. CALS will tackle both academic and psychological obstacles to learning. CALS has already begun partnering with other academic institutions and research organizations, collaborating on research, design, and student testing. Jason Levin, WGU’s current vice president of institutional research, is leading CALS as its executive director.
• The Utah STEM Action Center, in its regional partnership with Code.org, recently held a weeklong Computer Science Principles workshop for teachers from rural and urban Utah schools. Each day featured a different core focus area. One day, for example, the theme centered on equitable classrooms. Dell EMC donated workshop space for the entire weeklong clinic. Code.org is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities.
GOVERNMENT
• Jason Sterzer has been appointed as the new director of the Utah Division of Corporations and Uniform Commercial Code. Sterzer succeeds Kathy Berg, who is retiring after 28 years of public service with the state. Sterzer previously held securities analyst and securities examiner positions with the Division of Securities. Before his tenure in state government, he was a contract attorney with Ray, Quinney & Nebeker. Sterzer graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in political science and earned his Juris Doctor from Southern Illinois University School of Law. Berg served as director of the Division of Corporations and Uniform Commercial Code since 2001. Previously, she was a budget officer with the Utah State Board of Education, a budget and accounting officer with the Utah Department of Commerce, assistant director of the Utah Division of Corporations, and customer service agent with the Division of Corporations and Uniform Commercial Code.
• The Utah Department of Commerce and the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs have announced Utah’s participation in a joint campaign with the Federal Trade Commission called “Operation Donate with Honor,” reminding Utah consumers who wish to support military veterans through charitable giving to donate wisely. The Utah state agencies are joining the FTC, law enforcement officials and charity regulators from every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico in announcing the new donor education campaign. Some charities that promise to deliver needed help and services to veterans and service members attract donations by lying about help and support not actually delivered. The new campaign is designed to help consumers recognize charitable solicitation fraud and identify legitimate charities. It includes a video at https://commerce.utah.gov/video-veteran-charities.html that highlights tips on how to research charities on giving wisely to veterans organizations.
LAW
• Hepworth & Associates LLC, Bountiful, has hired Christopher G. Young as managing attorney. Young has years of experience managing a national litigation portfolio for a large Salt Lake City law firm, as well as handling compliance matters for a national mortgage servicer.
• Dorsey & Whitney LLP has hired Troy Keller as of counsel in the Corporate Group in Salt Lake City. He also will spend time in the firm’s New York office. Keller most recently worked at Huntsman Corp. as vice president of government affairs and associate general counsel since 2015. From 2008-15, he served at Huntsman as vice president, associate general counsel and assistant secretary and from 2005-08 as senior corporate counsel and assistant secretary. Prior to joining Huntsman, he was an attorney at Qwest Communications International and an associate at the law firms of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP and Brown & Wood LLP. Keller’s education includes a B.A. from Brigham Young University.
OUTDOOR PRODUCTS/RECREATION/SPORTS
• Ski Utah has hired Caitlin Furin as communications director. Furin’s background includes work in public relations, media relations and corporate communications. She most recently worked as communications manager and press officer at U.S. Ski & Snowboard and attended the 2018 Olympic Winter Games this past February.
REAL ESTATE
• Overstock.com Inc., a Salt Lake City-based online retailer, has announced its entry into the real estate market with its launch of the newly remodeled property management site Houserie. The site provides landlords and property managers services for managing single-home properties or multi-home complexes, including potential tenant screening; communication with renters; organization of resident information; and rent payment management, which will quickly follow the launch. Houserie was founded in May 2013 and was purchased by Overstock in February. The property management site release marks the first phase of Overstock’s O Real Estate initiatives focused on using its advanced search technology to assist customers with real estate needs. The O Real Estate site is scheduled to launch in September.
• A subsidiary of Alpha Wave Investors LLC, a private equity investment firm based in Southern California, has acquired Park Station Apartments, a 94-unit multifamily property in Midvale, from a Northern California-based private investor in an off-market transaction. Financial terms were not disclosed. The firm plans to invest about $1.5 million in property upgrades, including the addition of a pool, fitness center and leasing office. Alpha Wave will also address deferred maintenance and renovate exteriors and interiors, including adding washers and dryers to each unit. Park Station Apartments, at 7155 High Tech Drive, No. 3, was built in 1974. Brock Zylstra and Danny Shin of Marcus and Millichap represented both the buyer and seller in this transaction. David Walkin of Meridian Capital Group arranged acquisition financing for Alpha Wave. The loan was provided by Texas-based ReadyCap.
• Richmond American Homes of Utah Inc., a subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings Inc., has announced the grand opening of model homes at The Village of Hawks Estates at 102 W. Swainson Ave., Saratoga Springs. The development will feature ranch and two-story homes with two to six bedrooms.
RECOGNITIONS
• Steve Larson, an employee at Salt Lake City-based Alsco Inc., is the 2018 recipient of the TRSA Operator Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a linen, uniform and facility service industry professional. TRSA represents companies that supply, launder and maintain linens and uniforms. Larson was recognized for exceptional service to both the industry and TRSA as a corporate leader and association enthusiast. Larson heads Alsco’s North American division. He is a past board member of TRSA and past president of the Western Textile Services Association.
• Utah Diversity Connections and Utah SHRM recently named the winners of their 2018 Business Diversity Awards. Clearlink was the winner in the “large company” category. Ballard Spahr was the winner in the “small companies” category. Utah Diversity Connections is a group of employers working to assist Utah businesses in building diverse workforces and with diverse employees seeking supportive employers. The awards recognize Utah employers who are passionate and dedicated to supporting and promoting inclusion and diversity in their organization and community. The awards are co-sponsored by Utah Diversity Connections and Utah SHRM, the state affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management. They will be presented during a luncheon Sept. 19 at Utah SHRM's 2018 Utah Crossroads Conference.
• Ivanti, a Salt Lake City-based company that unifies information technology and security operations to better manage and secure the digital workplace, has been named a winner in the 2018 “Top 10 Best Web Support Sites” by the Association for Support Professionals (ASP). Recognized on the annual list for the fourth consecutive year, Ivanti also joins ASP’s list of “Hall of Fame” winners. Selected by a panel of judges with experience in web support design and implementation, winners in the top-10 list are evaluated through a scoring system based on 25 separate performance criteria.
RESTAURANTS
• Vitality Bowls, a “superfood café,” has signed an agreement with local entrepreneurs Daniel Fuentes and Carmela Sannuto to open the company’s first café in Salt Lake City. The owners are working toward a signed lease for a set location and plan to have a fall opening. Following this opening, they are planning to open additional locations in the Salt Lake City area. Launched in 2011, the Vitality Bowls brand began franchising and now has more than 100 locations open or in development across the U.S.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Clearent Software Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Louis-based payments solutions provider Clearent, has completed the purchase of Maine-based Compassmax, a developer of dry-cleaning point-of-sale software. The deal marks Clearent’s second acquisition in the dry-cleaning space, following the company’s purchase of Draper-based SPOT Business Systems earlier this year. Clearent said it will combine Compassmax with SPOT over time, focusing all software development and innovation on the SPOT platform. The combined company will operate as SPOT, with the headquarters in Draper, and will continue to fully support the Compassmax software solution with ongoing service, maintenance and technical support as customers are transitioned to the SPOT platform. Compassmax’s Maine offices will remain open, and Clearent has committed to retaining all Compassmax employees.
• Central Logic, a Sandy-based transfer center software solutions company, has appointed Jodie Hubler and Dr. Dennis Weaver as independent members of its board of directors. Hubler is managing director of Lemhi Ventures, leading a $335 million healthcare services venture capital fund involved with all phases of the investment cycle encompassing a broad range of companies across the health services ecosystem. Weaver is chief clinical officer at Oscar Health. He has more than 25 years of healthcare and management experience. Weaver has served in a variety of other executive and medical positions with numerous organizations, including executive vice president and chief medical officer for The Advisory Board Co. Earlier in his career, he practiced medicine (OB/GYN) and oversaw medical staff at Scott Medical Health Center and Whiteman Hospital.