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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

• Splash City Adventure Park is under construction as the first major water park of its kind in St. George. The park is expected to open its gates for the summer 2020 season. It will offer water slides, pools, a “lazy river,” a wave pool, play areas and splash pads, and free amenities. The park creator is Jim Mayoros.

ASSOCIATIONS

• Employers Council, offering human resource and employment law services for the business community, has added six members to its board of directors, including Donna Milavetz, CEO and chief medical officer of OnSite Care in Salt Lake City. Milavetz has more than 20 years of healthcare experience, including founding OnSite Care in 2007. The company operates on-premise primary care clinics that provide personalized, affordable medical care and wellness programming to employers and employees. Milavetz previously practiced internal medicine and served as the medical director of McKay-Dee Women’s Health Center, trained at a Harvard training hospital and has worked for the Mayo Clinic.

BANKING

• TAB Bank, Ogden, has hired Rocky Lozano for its business development team as vice president and business development officer. He will be based in Dallas and be responsible for sourcing new business opportunities by providing asset-based and factoring working capital facilities to commercial entities in the southwestern United States with annual revenues of $2 million to $150 million. Lozano has worked as a business development officer in the accounts receivable and asset-based lending space for many years. He worked for 10 years with Bank of America before diving into the consulting world as a project manager.

CONSTRUCTION

• Stantec, an engineering, architecture and consulting firm, is consolidating Salt Lake City-area employees from three offices into an existing location at 2890 E. Cottonwood Parkway, Salt Lake City. More than 100 employees from the firm’s water, mining, environmental services and community development business lines will occupy approximately 20,000 square feet in Suite 300.

• Sundt Construction Inc. has hired Jasen Bennie as the Intermountain Area manager for the Transportation Group, working out of Sundt’s Salt Lake City office. Bennie has more than 19 years of construction and senior management experience in both the private and public sectors. He has held multiple positions in his career, including project engineer, estimator, project manager, senior project manager and area manager.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

• Salt Lake City was recently ranked No. 2 in the nation, behind only Austin, in a list of the “50 Best Places in America for Starting a Business,” compiled by Inc. Startup Genome analyzed the data and scored cities on seven indicators, from early-stage funding metrics to job creation. “Mormons, skiing, and a herd of tech unicorns have colonized Silicon Slopes, the region with the greatest volume of high-growth companies,” the report said. Following Salt Lake City in the top five were Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville; and San Francisco.

• Utah is ranked No. 2 among states for spending the least money on healthcare annually. The rankings were made by TheSeniorList, using the most recent data from the Healthcare Cost Institute. Utah residents spend an average of $4,499 per year on healthcare, which is below the national average of $5,640.78. Hawaii residents spend the least, at $3,626 per person. The study indicates that healthcare spending in the U.S. has increased by 17 percent since 2013; Americans spend $3.5 trillion annually on healthcare, which accounts for 18 percent of GDP; and spending on prescription drugs nationally has increased 29 percent since 2013.

• Utah is the No. 7 best state for journalists to live and work, according to a study by SafeHome.org, using data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Zillow and U.S. Free Press Tracker. The rankings were determined by factoring in the latest statistics and trends in employment opportunities, median salary, cost of a living and safety concerns including attacks on media members. Utah statistics include an annual median wage of $40,960 and median monthly rent of $1,235. The best state for journalists is Oklahoma. The worst is Oregon. The best city is Washington, D.C. The worst is San Jose.

EDUCATION/TRAINING

• Talent Ready Utah has launched the Utah Rotor Pathway program with Southern Utah University, Alpine and Iron county school districts, Helicopter Association International and 12 local helicopter companies. A system of stackable credentials that begins in high school and continues through college supports the Utah Rotor Pathway. It is designed for students interested in helicopter aviation and who want to become pilots or technicians. Utah Rotor Pathway will begin this fall.

ENVIRONMENT

• UCAIR, the Utah Clean Air Partnership, has elected and inducted a new executive committee for the 2020-2021 term. Amanda Smith was elected as board chair. She is the vice president of public policy and senior counsel at S Power and previously was the executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Prior to being named chair, she served as the board secretary. The executive committee includes Dr. Liz Joy, Intermountain Healthcare medical director of community health and clinical nutrition and chair of Intermountain’s Air Quality and Health Committee, chair-elect; Scott Baird, interim executive director of the DEQ, secretary; and Paul Hacking, president of Tooele Technical College, treasurer. The executive board works with UCAIR’s executive director, Thom Carter, to set the direction of the organization.

GOVERNMENT

• The Utah Department of Workforce Services has selected Melisa Stark as the new commissioner of apprenticeship programs. Stark will be responsible for working with industry and education leadership to expand apprenticeship opportunities throughout the state. Stark has more than 23 years of experience at Workforce Services, including as an industry lead, grants specialist and leading the department’s employment initiatives program. Since 2013, Stark has led Utah’s efforts in building education and industry partnerships through the Utah Cluster Acceleration Partnership and Talent Ready Utah grants.

HEALTHCARE

• Forum Health LLC, a Salt Lake City-based provider of personalized healthcare, has acquired HealthSpringMD, based in Fort Worth, Texas, and Advanced Integrative Healthcare, based in Bloomingdale, Illinois. Both are functional and integrative medical practices. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• ProLung Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company focused on reducing the time to diagnosis for lung cancer patients, has appointed Leavitt Partners to its board of directors, with Rich McKeown acting as its designee. McKeown, co-founder and chairman of Leavitt Partners, served on the ProLung board from 2014-2017. In previous roles, McKeown served as chief of staff for Mike Leavitt at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), served as senior counselor and chief of staff to Administrator Mike Leavitt at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), served as chief of staff to Gov. Mike Leavitt and as commissioner of the Utah State Tax Commission. McKeown’s education includes a juris doctorate from the University of Utah.

INVESTMENTS

• Inside Real Estate, a Draper-based real estate software company, has reached an agreement in which Lovell Minnick Partners, a private equity firm focused on investments in the global financial services industry, including related technology and business service companies, will become the company’s new primary financial investor, backing its long-term strategy and vision. Financial terms were not disclosed. Inside Real Estate said the investment will fuel its continued growth, provide financing for future acquisition opportunities and help create an environment to attract, develop and retain top talent. GCA acted as an exclusive financial advisor to Inside Real Estate in the transaction. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius served as legal counsel to LMP, while Parr Brown Gee & Loveless served as counsel to Inside Real Estate.

• Finch, a Salt Lake City-based paid media automation platform company, has received investment funding from private equity firm Boathouse Capital. The amount was not disclosed. Finch launched in 2009 and now has more than 750 customers and offices worldwide. This is the first outside funding for the company, which plans to use the funds to grow its software development, marketing and sales initiatives.

LAW

• Eli Milne has rejoined Durham Jones & Pinegar as a shareholder in St. George. Milne most recently had a clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer. Milne is a member of the firm’s litigation section. His practice primarily focuses on helping clients resolve legal issues related to contracts, business transactions, land, intellectual property, civil rights and white-collar crime.

MANUFACTURING

• Merit Medical Systems Inc., a South Jordan-based manufacturer and marketer of disposable medical devices, has appointed Lynne N. Ward to serve as an independent director of the company. Ward is the executive director of my529 (formerly Utah Educational Savings Plan), the nation’s largest state-run college savings plan offering municipal fund securities. Ward, a Certified Public Accountant, served as a senior leader and advisor to Govs. Olene S. Walker and Michael O. Leavitt. She has extensive for-profit and nonprofit board experience, which includes at Stampin’ Up Inc., Blue Healthcare Bank, the University of Utah Investment Advisory Committee and the Utah Chapter National Association of Corporate Directors.

NONPROFITS

• Operation Warm, a national nonprofit that creates brand-new, high-quality coats for children, has a new team member in Salt Lake City. Michael Andrews is manager of corporate partnerships, Intermountain West, at Operation Warm and his office is located at Impact Hub Salt Lake, 150 S. State S., Salt Lake City. Andrews is responsible for driving new business development opportunities, with a focus on strategies to generate and keep partnerships in the Midwest markets for Operation Warm. Andrews’ experience includes serving as manager of youth and family programs for Mayor DeeDee Corradini, including raising the necessary funds to build what is now called the Sorenson Multicultural Center while working closely with James Levoy Sorenson; working in Florida as a consultant with organizations to help underserved communities; working as the development director on the Walmart account for Children’s Miracle Network; and serving as COO for the YMCA. Andrews graduated from the University of Utah.

PHILANTHROPY

• American Express in Salt Lake City recently providing a community grant of $10,000 to Needs Beyond Medicine. The grant will help combat cancer during 2019 with current cancer patients’ non-medical expenses while in treatment. Needs Beyond Medicine’s Relief Program is the cornerstone of the organization and will be funded through the donation.

 

RECOGNITIONS

• Mountain America Credit Union has been named the 2019 Best-In-State Credit Union for Utah by Forbes. In partnership with Statista, a market research firm, Forbes surveyed more than 25,000 U.S. residents to determine credit union members’ satisfaction. Survey participants ranked their general satisfaction and recommendation, focusing on five areas; trust, terms and conditions, branch services, digital services, and financial advice.

 

RETAIL

• The Store, an independent chain of specialty grocery stores, has opened a location at 90 S. Rio Grande St. at The Gateway in Salt Lake City. The 9,000-square-foot store also offers a seating area.

SERVICES

• PPS Data LLC, a Murray-based payment reconciliation service company for pharmacies, has rebranded to a new name, Procuity. Earlier this year PPS Data, announced the sale of its reconciliation product, ProviderPay, and the pending rebranding. The company said the new name pays homage to its original ProviderPay name and that “cuity” comes from “acuity,” defined as “sharpness or keenness of thought, vision, or hearing.”