Industry Briefs are provided as a free service to our readers. Company news information may be sent to brice@slenterprise.com. The submission deadline is one week before publication.
AGRICULTURE
• Salt Lake City has announced that a second round of funding is open for local farmers through the Local Food Microgrant Program. First announced in February, the program is a partnership with Urban Food Connections of Utah and offers support to area farmers who want to expand their operations with sustainability in mind. The grants can help them access technology, education, tools and equipment to grow more produce and do so more sustainably. In the first grant cycle, 33 applicants requested a total of $131,668 in funding. The program will accept applications until Aug. 25. Details are at http://www.slcfarmersmarket.org/programs-events/local-food-microgrant-program.
BANKING
• KeyBank will expand its mortgage operations in Salt Lake City to accommodate increasing demand for KeyBank Mortgage residential mortgage products and services. The expansion will double the size of the operation center’s original footprint and will provide office space for an additional 45 employees, which the company plans to hire over the next two years. The center opened in the summer of 2016. Its Salt Lake mortgage operations center is at Gateway Tower West, where the bank has a 10-year agreement to lease 17,500 square feet on the eighth floor. The center is designed to provide service for mortgage customers in the Mountain, Pacific and Alaska time zones, and to provide a complete in-house fulfillment center with mortgage underwriters, processors and closers. KeyBank operates 34 branches in Utah.
CONSTRUCTION
• Big-D Construction, Salt Lake City, has named Will Hopkins as vice president of the company office in Jackson, Wyoming. Hopkins’ focus will include managing/developing new customer bases for Big-D’s Signature Group, a division of the company that focuses on the construction of high-end residential and resort projects. He will also support existing relationships, and manage and assemble internal management teams to provide processes for existing and new customers' building needs. Hopkins has 30 years of industry experience, starting as a laborer and then as a carpenter apprentice. Most recently, he served as a vice president at Big-D Construction’s headquarters.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• Gov. Gary Herbert has appointed Lori Chillingworth, Linda Luchetti and Brady Southwick to serve on the Salt Lake Community College Board of Trustees. Shawn Newell represents the SLCC Alumni Association and SLCC Student Association President Aynoa Rincon represents the student body on the board. Chillingworth is Zions Bancorporation’s director of enterprise retail banking. She served on the SLCC Foundation Board from 2005-13. Luchetti is vice president of basketball operations for the Utah Jazz. Before joining the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies in 2005, she handled public relations for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City as well as press and media positions with 2004 Paralympic Games, 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Southwick is senior vice president of field operations at Vivint Smart Home, which specializes in security systems. He served as president of Cummins Rocky Mountain and was instrumental in developing the current Utah Diesel Technology Pathway program that connects high school students to workforce training at SLCC and ultimately careers in the diesel industry. Newell is vice president of business development for Industrial Supply Co. and has been with the company more than 20 years. Newell started a scholarship for SLCC marketing students and is an alum of SLCC. Rincon is an international student double-majoring in political science and economics. After finishing at SLCC next spring she plans to transfer to the University of Utah and obtain a degree in international relations.
ENERGY/NATURAL RESOURCES
• BoreSight Minerals LLC, Salt Lake City, has announced the seating of four new board members and an additional mining consultant. New to the board are Tracy Smith, former mine manager and senior geologist at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Mine; Stuart Burgess, a specialist in exploration and mining property development; Arthur Mendenhall, a geologist with over 35 years in exploration and development, including nine years at Kennecott Utah Copper Corp.; and Chris Summers, a senior finance professional with extensive experience in mining and exploration. Also, Abani Ranjan Samal, an expert in mineral evaluation and advanced geostatistical appreciation in mining, has been named consultant to BoreSight. He also was with Rio Tinto’s Kennecott operation.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., Provo, has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 36 cents per share. The dividend will be paid Sept. 13 to stockholders of record Aug. 25.
HEALTHCARE
• Ogden Clinic is adding sports medicine to its list of specialties, making it the 21st specialty offered. It has opened at the Professional Center South location, 4700 Harrison Blvd., Ogden. The clinic’s specialists will provide treatment for sports injuries, arthritis, neck pain, back pain, concussions and joint stiffness. The sports medicine specialty will be directed by Ogden Clinic physician Dr. Brett Martindale. After receiving his undergraduate education from Brigham Young University, Martindale went on to the Ohio State University to obtain his doctorate in medicine. He returned to Utah to complete a residency at McKay-Dee Hospital followed by a fellowship in sports medicine at Utah Valley Hospital.
• Q Therapeutics Inc., Salt Lake City, has appointed Tom Parks as an independent member of the company’s board of directors. Parks also has agreed to serve on the board’s Nominating and Governance Committee. Parks has more than 30 years of experience in life science research and its translation into therapeutic products. He began work as a faculty member in the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1978, including serving as chair of the department from 1992-2007. He was a co-founder of NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. and served on its board from 1986-2006. From 2008-2016, Parks was vice president for research and president of the Research Foundation for the University of Utah. He currently serves on the boards of Navigen Pharmaceuticals Inc., SentrX Animal Care Inc. and ConusRx Inc.
• Fresenius Kidney Care, will have open house Aug. 29, 4:30-7 p.m., at its new facility in Taylorsville. The newly relocated clinic, called Fresenius Kidney Care Oquirrh, is an expansion of the first-ever dialysis location in the Salt Lake area. It is located at 5320 S. 2700 W., Taylorsville. Fresenius Kidney Care is a dialysis division of Fresenius Medical Care North America.
LAW
• Snell & Wilmer has hired four attorneys for its Salt Lake City office: James R. Farmer, AJ Pepper, Paul Roberts and Richard C. Robinson. Farmer focuses his practice in intellectual property law, including drafting and prosecuting patent applications for clients in the aerospace industry. He has almost 20 years of experience representing clients in complex intellectual property and commercial disputes. He held post-doctoral fellowships at Princeton and Brigham Young University, specializing in engineering physics, fluid mechanics and applied mathematics. He received his J.D. from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. Pepper is a commercial real estate attorney focusing on mixed-use, transit-oriented, office, retail, condominium, hotel and resort projects, as well as multifamily residences, subdivisions and master planned communities. His education includes a B.S. in geography (urban, rural and environmental planning) from Brigham Young University. Roberts’ practice is centered in commercial finance. Prior to joining Snell & Wilmer, Roberts practiced commercial, real property and employment law. Roberts received his B.S. from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management and his J.D. from BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. Robinson focuses his practice in commercial finance and assists lenders on various real estate-secured and portfolio lending transactions. Prior to joining Snell & Wilmer, Robinson worked as in-house counsel for a publically traded software company in Salt Lake City. Robinson received his B.A. from the University of Utah and his J.D. from BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.
RECOGNITIONS
• Nine Utahns competed last week in the 80th annual National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships in Orlando, Florida. American Trucking Associations welcomed 428 professional driver competitors to the events. They represented 97 companies and competed for honors in eight different classes. Utah competitors were Judd Adams, XOP Logistics Inc., in the straight truck category; Randall D. Briggs, YRC Freight, four-axle; Steven Clark, FedEx Ground, three-axle; L. Barry Geck, Walmart Transportation LLC, five-axle; Eric Hein, Thatcher Co., tank truck; Alvin T. Kippen, Walmart Transportation LLC, flatbed; Troy Pribbanow, Walmart Transportation LLC, sleeper berth; Jordan Tapu, Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., twins; and Dustin Wheeler, FedEx Express, step van.
SERVICES
• International Document Services Inc. (IDS), Salt Lake City, has promoted Beckie Santos to the newly created position of manager of new product development. She will work with the IDS development team as well as operations, quality assurance and compliance to help shape and guide future IDS solutions; oversee releases and updates; and act as the lender’s advocate throughout the process of product innovation. Santos previously was manager of development, a position she attained in 2010. She joined the company in 2004 as a developer.
SPORTS
• The Utah Olympic Park has added a free shuttle service for patrons using public transit to get to the park. The service runs from the Kimball Junction Transit Center (near the Summit County Library in Kimball Junction) to the Quinney Welcome Center. The shuttle will arrive at the Transit Center at the top and bottom of each hour, 8 a.m.-7 p.m., every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Gencomm Inc. has promoted Brandon Gramse to vice president of engineering and technology, overseeing the operations team for the company. Gramse has 21 years of experience in the audio visual/technology industry.