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.
BANKING
• TAB Bank, Ogden, has provided a chemical manufacturer in Texas with a $9 million asset-based credit facility consisting of a $6 million accounts receivable and inventory line plus a $2 million equipment loan with additional equipment funding available for future capital expenditure needs. The new facility is extended through a multi-year agreement and will provide for the company’s ongoing working capital needs. The company develops and manufactures chemicals for the energy and industrial markets. Products include corrosion inhibitors, surfactants and biocides.
CONSTRUCTION
• Sinc Constructors Co., Centerville, has hired Justin Allen as the heavy transport and logistics manager. He will oversee the topsoil screening and earth-moving operations at Sinc. Allen has more than 18 years of experience in management and logistics operations.
CONTESTS
• Applications are being accepted until Sept. 20 for the Silicon Slopes Startup Competition, created to give startups exposure to the public, investors, press and entrepreneur-friendly venture capital. Applications may be submitted at the Founder’s Hub website, https://foundershub.ceo.com/startupcompetition. The competition will consist of a number of rounds. In the final round, 10 teams will pitch live at the Silicon Slopes Summit, either on Oct. 13 or Oct. 14. The winner gets a $250K investment from Elevation Capital in the form of a convertible note, effective with the first round of funding with traditional terms.
• Boise Entrepreneur Week, one of the largest business conferences in the Pacific Northwest, is inviting Utah entrepreneurs to register for its annual pitch competitions in Boise from Oct. 18-22. Zions Bank is an event sponsor, and this year’s hybrid event (virtual and in-person) is being organized in partnership with Utah-based VentureCapital.org. It will provide over $100,000 in funding to entrepreneurs. The winner of the main pitch competition also will automatically qualify for the third season finals of Bloomberg Television Network’s “2 Minute Drill” to compete for an additional $50,000. Now in its sixth year, Boise Entrepreneur Week has provided more than $166,000 of funding to entrepreneurs. The main pitch competition allows early-stage entrepreneurs to compete for a chance at winning $20,000 in prize money, with $5,000 going to the runner-up. Applications for the main pitch competition are being accepted online until Sept. 7 at VentureCapital.org or boiseentrepreneurweek.org. The screening process will result in up to 10 finalists who will be paired with industry mentors to prepare for their final pitch. Boise Entrepreneur Week also hosts the Trailmix pitch competition to help food and beverage startups take their products from the farmers market to the supermarket. Applicants compete for a chance at winning $20,000 in prize money and shelf space at Albertsons, with $5,000 going to the runner-up. Trailmix applications are being accepted online until Sept. 10 at boiseentrepreneurweek.org. The screening process will result in five finalists who will be paired with industry mentors to prepare for their final pitch. Aside from the main pitch competition and Trailmix, several other pitch competitions will be held for startups and students.
• Mountain America Credit Union, Sandy, is accepting applications through Oct. 1 for its education grant opportunities to teachers and school leaders for the 2021-22 school year. Grants are given to support learning-based projects in K-12 classrooms. Up to $1,500 will be awarded to 10 grant recipients. Applicants must be members of Mountain America to be eligible. Details and application information are available at https://www.macu.com/grants. Since 2016, Mountain America has awarded more than 40 grants to teachers and school leaders to support classroom learning.
CORPORATE
• The board of directors of Overstock.com Inc., a Salt Lake City-based e-commerce home furnishings retailer, has approved a stock repurchase program of up to $100 million of its outstanding common stock. This repurchase program is designed to return value to Overstock stockholders and to help offset the dilutive impact of recent stock issuances and future employee restricted stock vesting, the company said. Overstock expects to fund repurchases through existing cash balances and cash generated from operations. The Repurchase Committee designated by the board will determine the timing and amount of any share repurchases. The repurchase program has a termination date of Dec. 31, 2023, and may be extended, suspended or discontinued at any time by the board.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., Provo, has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 38 cents per share. The dividend is payable Sept. 8 to shareholders of record Aug. 27. Nu Skin focuses on innovative consumer products, product manufacturing and controlled environment agriculture technology.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 23 on a list of places where it pays off to buy a long-term rental property, compiled by SmartAsset. It looked at data from the 120 U.S. cities with populations of 200,000 or more to gauge home investment favorability, home affordability and the health of the rental market in each. The top-ranked city is Port St. Lucie, Florida. Details are at https://smartasset.com/data-studies/where-it-pays-off-to-buy-a-long-term-rental-property-2021.
• Weber County leads all Utah counties where home values have risen the most, a list compiled by SmartAsset. It measured the change in home values in each county throughout a five-year period. Weber County was followed, in order, by Tooele, Box Elder, Davis, Salt Lake, Cache, Uintah, Juab, Washington and Sanpete counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/taxes/utah-property-tax-calculator#utah/homeValueGrowth-1.
• Residents of Morgan County are the most generous in Utah, according to SmartAsset. It measured how much money people donate as a percentage of their net income and the proportion of people in a given county who make charitable donations. Morgan County was followed, in order, by Utah, Wasatch, Summit, Davis, Washington, Cache, Salt Lake, Juab and Rich counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/retirement/financial-advisor#Utah.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 35 on a list of “Best Cities to Resell Clothes,” compiled by Lawn Love. It ranked nearly 180 of the biggest U.S. cities based on the number of consignment stores, flea markets and thrift stores, plus buyer interest based on Google search trends. Fort Lauderdale, Florida, topped the rankings. The 177th-ranked city is Anchorage, Alaska. Details are at https://lawnlove.com/blog/best-cities-resell-clothes/.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• Weber State University is offering several new degrees and programs starting this fall, including a new bachelor’s degree in energy engineering. Weber State offers more than 225 degrees and programs. The new courses of study include Master of Social Work; Bachelor of Science in Energy Engineering; Bachelor of Science in User Experience; emphasis areas in Stack Web Development and Design; Bachelor of Arts in Geography; Associate of Applied Science in Outdoor Leadership; Associate of Science in Sound Production/Recording; Associate of Applied Science in Physical Science; and five new certificates in business, engineering and cybersecurity.
• The Goldman Sachs “10,000 Small Businesses” program is accepting applications at www.10ksbapply.com through Sept. 10 for the program to begin in January 2022. The program teaches business owners how to confidently lead their business, identify growth opportunities, evaluate and measure return on investment, and create a growth plan designed to immediately grow the company. Applicants must have two-plus years in business, $150,000 in annual revenue, the equivalent of four employees (full time, part-time, contractors), and a desire to grow their company. Classes take place every other Thursday and two Fridays, with four evening clinics taking place on Tuesday evenings. Participants meet regularly with a business advisor and classmates six to eight times. More information is available by contacting Paul Wolford at paul.wolford@slcc.edu.
ENERGY
• Salt Lake County Facilities Management is installing seven electric vehicle charging stations at the Salt Lake County Government Center. The new stations will provide charging capacity for up to 14 vehicles.
HEALTHCARE
• Recursion, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on industrializing drug discovery, has appointed Jordan Christensen as vice president of engineering. In addition to leading all of Recursion’s software engineering efforts in Salt Lake City and Toronto, Christensen will act as the site leader at Recursion’s new Toronto office, which is slated to open this fall. Recursion aims to hire 50 people by the end of 2021 for its first multidisciplinary expansion and first expansion into Canada. Christensen has 20 years of experience as a technology and product leader building and scaling big data solutions, Internet software, web platforms and collaborative teams. He most recently was vice president of technology at Ecobee in Toronto. Prior experience includes serving as the head of engineering and data at WattPad, having previously held the position of head of data products, and serving as a founding team member at Kobo.
HOSPITALITY
• Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group, a Provo-based hotel operator, has been appointed to manage the AC Hotel by Marriott Seattle Bellevue/Downtown. It represents the fourth new hotel management contract for Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group this year. The hotel is seven stories and 234 rooms.
• Airbnb recently selected top roadside curiosities in the U.S., and the list includes the BedrocK Homestead Grand Staircase Escalante in Boulder. BedrocK is a private room located in a cave on a working farm.
INVESTMENTS
• Techcyte Inc., with offices in Orem and Luxembourg, has closed a $21 million funding round to accelerate commercialization of its digital clinical pathology platform. Investors in the round included Zoetis, ARUP Laboratories and investors from previous rounds. Techcyte was founded in 2013 with a mission to digitize and automate diagnostics. Proceeds from the round and revenue from its veterinary business will allow Techcyte to continue to grow its veterinary business and accelerate commercialization in the human market, completing multiple FDA 510ks and expanding the development team to further work with partners such as ARUP Laboratories.
• 401GO, West Jordan, has announced a $2.5 million funding round led by Impression Ventures, with additional contributions from Signal Peak Ventures and Stout Street Capital, and another $500,000 will come from angel investors. 401GO’s software platform enables small businesses to offer 401(k) plans to their employees in minutes, helping them be better prepared for retirement. Impression Ventures will be taking a 401GO board seat. The funding will help 401GO enhance its platform and allow for new and seamless integrations with other small-business services providers. It also will accelerate 401GO’s financial advisors partner program.
• Moises, a Salt Lake City-based music-tech startup, has raised an oversubscribed seed financing round of $1.6 million, led by Utah-based Kickstart Fund, with participation from Valutia, Verve Capital and others. The company sought the funding to focus on growth and marketing to support its goal of leading the future of artificial intelligence in the music industry. Since its launch in 2019, the company music creators. The company’s staff is located in five Brazilian cities.
• Traverse, the growth-stage fund of Cottonwood Heights-based Mercato Partners, has announced an investment in Chicago-based Klover, which is democratizing access to modern financial services by leveraging consumers’ permissioned data. Klover raised $60 million in new funding; Mercato Partners Traverse Fund led the Series A with participation from new and existing investors, including Lightbank, Core Innovation Capital and Starting Line. With this financing, Klover will expand the sales, marketing, engineering and product teams; grow its user base; and broaden services and value to consumers.
LAW
• Snow Jensen & Reece PC, St. George, has announced Devin Snow and Jeff Miles as its newest shareholders. Snow has experience in real estate and local government law and represents a number of municipalities in Southern Utah. He also provides legal counsel to several of the state’s top-tier real estate developers and has assisted with the creation of public infrastructure districts. Snow graduated from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School in 2012, the same year he began as an associate with Snow Jensen & Reece PC. Miles has been an associate with the firm since 2013. He represents both individuals and businesses and regularly engages in all aspects of litigation, with primary emphasis in business, commercial litigation, deceptive practices, negligence, real estate and construction issues, and insurance disputes. Prior to joining the firm, Miles worked as a Certified Public Accountant and auditor. Miles graduated from BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School in 2012.
PHILANTHROPY
• The Miracle of Agriculture Foundation’s “Farmers Feeding Utah” campaign held a “Miracle Project” and delivery of free food recently to benefit families and individuals in the Enoch and Cedar City harmed by recent flooding. It provided direct food donations to approximately 500 families. Additional donations and contributions for the project in Iron County were made from Smithfield Foods, Intermountain Farmers Association (IFA), Merril Financial, Cal-Maine Foods of Delta and DairyWest. The foundation is a nonprofit organization set up as the charitable arm of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. Logistical and in-kind support has come from several partners.
• The Employee Match Program at Mountain America Credit Union, Sandy, has raised $30,217 for Operation Warm, which will provide new winter coats and shoes to children in need in Utah and five other states. The funds will provide for more than 1,000 coats and shoes. Over the past two years, the Employee Match Program has raised over $50,000 for local charities. In 2020, this program provided over 104,000 meals to local food banks. Since 2019, Mountain America has gifted more than 4,000 coats and shoes through its partnership with Operation Warm.
• TruHearing, a Draper-based company focused on hearing benefits, has launched a companywide program to encourage employees to give back to their communities. The new TruTime initiative provides two paid days annually to support participation in charitable or community-based causes. As part of the program, TruHearing’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee will provide suggestions throughout the year for volunteer opportunities to help employees find new ways to serve their communities, celebrate diversity and foster inclusion.
REAL ESTATE
• Falls at Hunters Pointe, a 276-unit multifamily property at 11251 S. State St., Sandy, has been sold by The Wasatch Group to TruAmerica Multifamily. Financial terms were not disclosed. The property was built in 1994. The sale announcement was made by TruAmerica and Institutional Property Advisors (IPA). Danny Shin, IPA senior managing director, and Brock Zylstra, IPA first vice president, represented The Wasatch Group and procured the buyer.
• Parkway Village, a shopping center at 2255 N. University Parkway, Provo, has been sold by Denver-based Armstrong Capital Development (ACD), which acquired Parkway Village in August 2019. Terms were not disclosed. The 102,000-square-foot center is anchored by Walmart. Brad Lyons of CBRE was the transaction broker.
• GO Industrial, based in Phoenix, in partnership with Crow Holdings Capital, has purchased 28 acres of infill land in Salt Lake City’s California Avenue submarket for its debut industrial development, called 5600 Logistics. The two-building, 503,792-square-foot, fully speculative project will be at 560 West and California Avenue. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and be completed in July 2022. The project architect is AEUrbia. The general contractor is Layton Construction. Chris Liddell, CBRE vice president; Tom Dishman, senior vice president; and Matt McAffe, vice president, are the project’s exclusive leasing brokers.
• Ephriam Crossing, a mixed-use community in Ephraim, has expanded with the acquisition of 37 acres. Being developed by Las Vegas-based Camino Verde Group, the community now has 128 acres. As part of the expansion, Camino Verde Group also recently received approval to update the zoning of Ephraim Crossing from industrial to commercial. As a result, Camino Verde Group is planning to include housing, office and medical facilities at Ephraim Crossing. Groundbreaking took place recently. The first building planned for the business sector at Ephraim Crossing is a two-story, 32,000-square-foot tech office and co-working facility.
RECOGNITIONS
• Impartner, a South Jordan-based pure-play company in SaaS-based channel management and partner relationship management technology, has announced that Impartner Program Compliance Manager (PCM) has been awarded Gold for New Product or Service of the Year for Cloud Computing/SaaS/Internet in the 2021 American Best in Business Awards, part of the Globee Awards. The awards program is open to all organizations with at least one or more offices in the United States. The American Best in Business Awards recognize outstanding achievement among large-to-small organizations and startups in business, government and the nonprofit sector. The 2021 awards were selected from a panel comprised of more than 35 judges.
• Graduation Alliance, Salt Lake City, has been placed on the Certified B Corporation “Best For The World: List” for 2021 in the impact area of customers, placing it among the top 5 percent of similarly sized Certified B Corporations worldwide. Honored organizations are setting the standard for serving their customers, offering services that support the greater good, and often focused on underserved populations. Graduation Alliance, which focuses on creating opportunity through the power of education, earned the Certified B Corporation designation in February. Working with government and education entities, Graduation Alliance provides flexible pathways to high school graduation for youth and adults, fosters college and career exploration, and connects job-creators to skilled and ready workers.
• Method Communications, a global tech public relations firm, has been named to the Agency Elite Top 100 list by PRNEWS. The winning organizations exemplify exceptional work among PR agencies, as well as efforts related to building company culture, including diversity and inclusion, gender equality, career development, giving back to the community and work-life balance. The company has offices in Salt Lake City, San Francisco, New York City and London.
• JourneyTEAM, a Draper-based technology consultant, has achieved the Microsoft Business Applications 2021/2022 Inner Circle Award for outstanding sales achievement and innovation. Membership is based on sales achievements that rank JourneyTEAM in the top echelon of Microsoft’s Business Applications global network of partners.
RETAIL
• Hexeh, Salt Lake City, has opened its own location at The Gateway at 95 S. Rio Grande, Salt Lake City. It previously sold skincare and home fragrance products at the Gradient storefront. Hexeh began in 2016. It will regularly host on-site events in the new space that focus on and promote skincare, health and wellness.
SERVICES
• Dentist Advisors, a Salt Lake City-based dentist-focused financial advisory firm, has hired Amanda Bateman as a financial advisor. She will help educate and assist dental professionals on the practice of financial health. Bateman previously was a high-net-worth financial advisor, an ultra-high-net-worth relationship manager, and a client experience manager. She also worked at other top financial firms like Northwestern Mutual as an associate financial representative, Newell Rubbermaid as a customer service coordinator, and Trone Brand Energy as a junior account finance manager.
TECHNOLOGY
• Lucidpress, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on design and brand templating software, has hired Josh Penrod as chief experience officer and Dave Bascom as vice president of marketing. Penrod oversees the product and engineering teams. He has over 20 years of experience in product and user experience design and most recently worked as chief product officer at Podium. Prior to that, he was vice president of user experience at Ancestry. Bascom has over two decades of marketing and business leadership experience. Prior to joining Lucidpress, Dave led marketing for tech startups Jump and Homie. Much of his career has been spent running digital marketing agencies, including SEO.com and Fit Marketing.
• Canary Speech, a Provo-based company focused on real-time vocal analysis in the speech digital biomarker industry, has hired Jeremy McFadden as chief financial officer. McFadden spent the past six years as CFO of two medical technology startup companies, including Acessa Health, and 12 years at Philips Healthcare. He received a master’s degree of science in financial accounting from Brigham Young University and a bachelor’s degree of science in financial accounting.
• Entrata, a Lehi-based company focused on a technology platform for the multifamily industry, has appointed Jason Taylor as chief technology officer. Taylor has nearly three decades of technology experience building enterprise-level platforms. Previously, he was the CTO and CISO at Podium; played an integral role in building and growing the technology at Allegiance and later MaritzCX, where he was the senior vice president of engineering and CTO; led the engineering of products at Omniture, later acquired by Adobe; and managed development teams on three continents at Novell.
TRAVEL & TOURISM
• Visit Salt Lake (VSL), a private, nonprofit corporation promoting Salt Lake as a travel destination, is offering travel perks of free attraction and brewery passes with its new “West of Conventional” incentive travel campaign. When booking two or more nights in participating Salt Lake lodging properties, local regional and national travelers can select either two free two-day Visit Salt Lake Connect Passes or two free three-day Visit Salt Lake Brewery Passes. The former includes 16 offerings at 14 of Salt Lake’s popular urban and mountain attractions. The latter is designed to introduce beer lovers and drinkers to the area’s craft ales, lagers, porters and ciders at more than a dozen of Salt Lake’s breweries and brewpubs by offering a $5 credit toward the purchase food, beverage or merchandise at each of the participating breweries.