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BANKING
• Bank of Utah, Ogden, has announced changes regarding branch management, affecting five of the bank’s 17 full-service branches throughout Utah. Bank of Utah’s Logan branch manager of one year, Greg Carter, will now take on additional responsibility to also serve as branch manager for the bank’s Brigham City branch. Carter, a 2012 Utah State University graduate, worked in management for Walgreens and Hertz car rental, and as a personal banker for KeyBank, before coming to Bank of Utah. Dave Kuhni, a 33-year banking veteran who has worked as assistant vice president/branch manager for Bank of Utah’s Lindon Branch since its opening in December 2018, will now also serve as branch manager for the bank’s full-service branch in Orem. Kuhni started his banking career as a teller for Far West Bank and worked his way up to branch assistant manager before moving to AmBank, where he served in branch management positions in Provo and Lindon. Kuhni studied business management at the former Utah Valley Community College. Melissa Bernson has been appointed to serve as branch manager for Bank of Utah’s main branch at 2605 Washington Blvd., Ogden. Bernson most recently worked as branch manager in Brigham City for the bank. She has worked in the financial industry for 11 years, including at Bank of Utah, KeyBank, US Bank and Wells Fargo. Her experience includes training and customer service operations, opening new accounts, processing customer requests, cash management and overseeing daily branch operations.
DIRECT SALES
• Young Living, a Lehi-based producer of essential oils, has hired Je Tae Wood in Japan as head of the company’s science division in the APAC region. Woo will partner with Michael Buch, chief science officer at Young Living, to oversee product science and new product strategy for APAC. One of Woo’s first projects will be to create and launch the new Young Living Okinawa Blue Zone line of products featuring a series of Okinawa grown ingredients backed by science-based evidence for their efficacy. Woo is considered an expert in natural resources especially in native herbal plants unique to Okinawa. He is as president and part-owner of Okinawa Research Center and is a professor at Chubu University in Kasugai, Japan.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Utah is No. 13 in a ranking of least affordable states to buy a home in 2020, according to a study by ReFiGuide.org. The study used the most recent United States Census data on income and Zillow’s 2020 Market Estimates report. Rankings were determined by measuring median household income as a percentage of home prices. Utah has average income covering 19.6 percent of what it would cost for a resident to buy a home. Mississippi was the No. 1 most affordable, with income covering 65.5 percent. The last-ranked state is Hawaii.
• Morgan County has the lowest poverty rate among Utah counties, according to a ranking by Stacker. Morgan’s rate is 3 percent. In second place is Daggett County, at 4.7 percent. Third is Davis County, at 5.5 percent. Utah has 309,904 people living below the poverty line, or 10.3 percent of the state’s population. That ranks Utah No. 45 among states. San Juan County has the highest poverty rate in Utah, at 26.6 percent, followed by Iron County, 19.6 percent, and Garfield County, 17.8 percent. Stacker used the most recent five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau to create the rankings.
ENERGY
• Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp., based in Seattle, has established a new facility in Salt Lake City to support the development of the company’s proprietary fully ceramic micro-encapsulated (FCM) fuel. Materials developed at the new facility will be used in Ultra Safe Nuclear’s micro-modular reactors (MMR) and other nuclear reactors, including gas-cooled reactors, light water reactors, CANDU reactors, and molten salt cooled reactors. The company said it selected Salt Lake City because of the region’s well-established infrastructure, knowledgeable workforce, and status as a technology growth hub. The region is home to significant ceramics and materials expertise, central to the manufacturing of FCM fuel. FCM fuel will be first used in a 15-megawatt reactor currently in advanced licensing stage at the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s Chalk River Laboratories campus in Ontario, Canada, in collaboration with Ontario Power Generation through the jointly owned Global First Power Limited Partnership.
• Pacific Power Reps (PPR), a manufacturer representative company for the electric utility, municipality, commercial and industrial industries, has expanded its territory from California and Nevada to eight other states, including Utah. Pacific Power Reps provide products to electrical utilities, municipalities and commercial and industrial entities to address the industry’s biggest concerns surrounding fire hardening, grid hardening, linemen safety, and operational efficiencies, both in the field and direct to consumers. Energy grid expert Tim Lish is servicing the Utah territory, along with Wyoming and southern Nevada. PPR launched in 2013. It recently added three manufacturers to its profile of more than two dozen with the expansion of the 10 states they now work in.
• Weber State University’s Empower Northern Utah program is helping Weber and Davis county residents to be more energy efficient by offering steep discounts on the Nest Thermostat E while also providing free LED light bulbs in exchange for old, inefficient bulbs. The sustainability team at WSU, in a partnership with Utah Clean Air Partnership, the Lawrence T. and Janet T. Dee Foundation, Futures Through Training HEAT Program and others, is able to offer the Nest Thermostat E for under $60, a savings of approximately $110, and to provide thousands of new LED light bulbs for exchange. Pre-registration is required for both the smart thermostats and LED light bulbs. Registration opens Sept. 16 at noon at weber.edu/empower. The program is offering 3,000 LED bulbs split between two exchange events, Sept. 23 and Sept. 26, at the Weber County Library Main Branch, 2464 Jefferson Ave., Ogden. The program is also offering 200 Nest E smart thermostats, which successful registrants will be able to pick up Oct. 3 at the WSU Ogden campus.
• CleanSpark Inc., a Salt Lake City-based software and services company serving the microgrid and distributed energy resource management systems, has completed its acquisition of GridFabric LLC, which creates software solutions that help power utilities and IoT (Internet of Things) products that manage energy loads. With the acquisition, Ben Dupont and Matt Hale will be joining the CleanSpark team.
GOVERNMENT
• Five Utah airports will receive safety and infrastructure grants through the Federal Aviation Administration, part of more than $1.2 billion to be awarded to 405 airports in 50 states and six U.S. territories. They include $1,052,631 for Cedar City Regional Airport to install airport beacons, reconstruct a taxiway and seal apron surface pavement and joints; $691,500 for Wendover Airport to improve drainage, reconstruct runway lighting and repair the runway; $403,642 for Logan-Cache Airport to acquire land for approaches; $88,243 for Spanish Fork Airport/Springville-Woodhouse Field to install weather-reporting equipment; and $57,508 for Roosevelt Municipal Airport to reconstruct the runway.
HEALTHCARE
• Forum Health LLC, a Salt Lake City-based personalized healthcare company, has acquired LifeStream Health Centre & Med Spa, a functional healthcare practice based in Coppell, Texas. Financial terms were not disclosed. Forum Health unites practitioners nationwide who share a functional, integrative root-cause approach to personalized healthcare. Member benefits include year-round provider consultations, health coaching, and access to a virtual network of collaborative specialists.
INSURANCE
• Cottonwood Title Insurance Agency Inc., Salt Lake City, has appointed Greg Holbrook as senior underwriter and counsel. Holbrook has more than 30 years of experience in the title insurance industry, including the past 24 years at First American Title Insurance Co., where he held several leadership positions, including underwriting counsel.
• Certified Insurance, Cedar City, has changed its name to Beehive Insurance Agency, its parent company. Certified Insurance was established in 1991 in Cedar City. Soon after, it expanded with a second location in St. George. In May 2018, Certified Insurance was acquired by Salt Lake City-based Beehive Insurance Agency, a subsidiary of Clyde Companies Inc.
INTERNATIONAL
• World Trade Center Utah has hired Aaron Starks as vice president of growth services. Starks will work to accelerate the growth of Utah companies by refining, marketing and delivering WTC Utah’s trade and investment services. Starks will also collaborate with WTC Utah’s public and private partners to develop integrated consulting services and execute new strategies, delivering the organization’s technical services and grant programs to Utah businesses. Starks previously worked seven years for FranklinCovey, overseeing business operations throughout Asia. Among his public and community positions, he served as elected vice chair of the Utah Republican Party.
INVESTMENTS
• Sarcos Robotics, a Salt Lake City-based producer of robots that augment humans to enhance productivity and safety, has raised $40 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing round. The Series C round was led by Rotor Capital, with most of the company’s existing investors participating in the financing. Sarcos said the funding will be used to begin commercial production of the company’s Guardian XO industrial exoskeleton, set for commercial release in 2021. It has been under development for more than 20 years. In connection with the round, Sarcos has appointed Brian Finn and Cecilia Prieto to its board of directors. Finn is a partner at Rotor Capital. He is a 35-plus-year veteran of the financial services industry. He retired as chairman and CEO of Asset Management Finance Corp. and senior advisor to Credit Suisse in 2013. Finn is also chairman of Covr Financial Technologies, an investment partner at Nyca Partners, chairman of Star Mountain Capital, and a member of the boards of Scotts Miracle-Gro and Owl Rock Capital, along with several early-stage companies. Prieto has more than 20 years of experience in engineering, project management and operational roles. She currently is responsible for all land operations for Schlumberger in the Americas for the oilfield services and product sales businesses in well construction operations. She spent her first 10 years at Schlumberger developing electro-mechanical drilling systems that can communicate and be powered with only fluidic power. She then took on several assignments in the R&D and technology organization. Most recently, she was in charge of drilling operations for North Sea Scandinavia after an assignment as vice president of manufacturing overseeing 30-plus manufacturing centers worldwide.
MANUFACTURING
• Purple Innovation Inc., a Lehi-based comfort products manufacturer, has executed a new five-year, $100 million senior secured credit facility with a group of financial institutions led by KeyBanc Capital Markets. The credit facility consists of a $45 million term loan and a $55 million revolving line of credit. Proceeds from the term loan, which was fully drawn at closing, were used to retire all indebtedness related to the company’s existing credit agreement. KeyBanc Capital Markets acted as the joint lead arranger and will be the administrative agent for the financing. Funding will be provided through a syndicate of banks, including Keybank, Bank of Montreal, Fifth Third Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Truist, Wells Fargo, Raymond James and Arvest Bank.
• Varex Imaging Corp., a Salt Lake City-based designer and manufacturer of X-ray imaging components, has named Timothy E. Guertin to its board of directors. Guertin is a member of the board of directors at Teradyne Inc. and chair of the Global Access to Cancer Care foundation, which works to expand the availability of modern cancer care in developing countries. He is the former chief executive officer of Varian Medical Systems Inc., where during his more than 35 year tenure with the company he held a number of senior management positions, including executive vice president and chief operating officer, as well as president of Varian’s oncology business unit. Guertin served on the Varian board from 2005-20 and on the board of KCI Holdings Inc. until it was purchased by 3M in 2019. He has served as vice chair of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and as treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the Radiation Oncology Institute.
NONPROFITS
• The board of directors of the Maliheh Free Clinic, a Salt Lake City-based, nonprofit clinic that provides free healthcare to the vulnerable and underserved, has named Mary Ann Lucero as executive director. Lucero succeeds Jeanie Ashby, the clinic’s executive director since 2010. Lucero recently moved back to the Salt Lake area after serving as the CEO of the Emergency Food Bank of Stockton and San Joaquin County in California. Prior to moving to California, she served for a number of years as the statewide executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Utah.
REAL ESTATE
• A medical office building called 4100 Bangerter, located in West Valley City, has been sold. Marty Plunkett, Vickey Walker, Craig Thomas and Melissa McIntyre of CBRE represented the seller, a California-based real estate investment trust, in the transaction. The former site of Granger Medical Clinic, the building has a total of 108,456 square feet and sits on 7.13 acres. Having recently been vacated by the previous tenant, the new owner has plans to convert the building into a series of condominiums equipped for medical, lab and office space. The building was vacant at the time of the sale.
• The Deseret West Region of Lincoln Property Co. has entered the Utah market with the purchase of the three-building Access Park industrial project at 505 N. Kays Drive, within the Kaysville Business Park, from Access Park LLC. Financial terms were not disclosed. At 212,950 square feet, Access Park totals three fully occupied industrial buildings, including two newly built distribution facilities, each totaling 69,101 square feet, and one Class A, 74,784-square-foot industrial and manufacturing building that has been under the same ownership since its delivery in 1995. Kip Paul, Rhett Bue and Jorgi Paul of Cushman & Wakefield represented Access Park LLC in the transaction. LPC Desert West will provide property management services for Access Park.
RECOGNITIONS
• Qualtrics, a Salt Lake City-based customer experience management company, has been named one of the top 10 most innovative companies from more than 800 listed in the Greenbook Research Industry Trends (GRIT) 2020 report. Qualtrics CoreXM ranked No. 7, up one place from last year, on the top 50 list for companies that have contributed value to insights professionals. Qualtrics was also named a leader in the Data Analytics, Full Field Service, Qualitative Research, Strategic Consultancies, and Technology subcategories.
• Chad Waddoups, vice president of wealth management and business services at Mountain America Investment Services, located at Mountain America Credit Union in Sandy, has been recognized as one of the Top 30 Program Managers in the country by Bank Investment Consultant (BIC), a leading information source for bank and credit union financial advisors. According to BIC, the list recognizes investment program managers located in banks and credit unions based on several qualifying criteria, including the number of advisors they oversee, team assets under management, percentage growth in team production, and production per advisor.
• The Human Rights Campaign has recognized five Intermountain Healthcare hospitals as equity leaders for their caregiver’s dedication to LGBTQ+ inclusion. The five Intermountain hospitals earning HRC recognition this year received the highest score of 100. They include Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Alta View Hospital in Sandy, Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Riverton Hospital and LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. The HRC uses a scoring system called the Healthcare Equality Index that looks at four categories: patient-centered care, patient services and support, employee benefits and policy, and patient and community engagement.
RESTAURANTS
• Tucanos Brazilian Grill has opened its third Utah location, at the base of the Hyatt Place Hotel in Station Park in Farmington. It is looking to fill 125 full- and part-time positions. The 8,455-square-foot restaurant offers a “churrascaria” grilling experience, served in an atmosphere inspired by the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
RETAIL
• Curaleaf Holdings Inc., a Massachusetts-based cannabis operator, has opened the company’s first retail location in the Utah market with a new pharmacy at 3633 N. Thanksgiving Way, Lehi. It is the company’s 90th retail location nationwide. Curaleaf UT LLC was awarded one of the state’s 14 licenses in Utah in 2019. The pharmacy will offer medical cannabis products, consumption formats and national brands. Curaleaf is also completing construction on its state-of-the-art processing operation in North Salt Lake City, which is scheduled to open in mid-September.
SCHOLARSHIPS
• My529, Salt Lake City, has announced the 11th annual “Make Your Mark” contest, in which students’ artistry can win them a $1,000 scholarship. “Make Your Mark,” sponsored by my529 and the Utah System of Higher Education, raises awareness of saving for future educational expenses. The contest lets Utah students exhibit their talents by creating an original bookmark design for a chance to win the college savings scholarship. Eight K-12 students will each receive a $1,000 college savings scholarship for their winning bookmark designs. The contest through Sept. 30. Details and the entry form are at my529.org.
SERVICES
• Wasatch I.T., Murray, is opening a branch office serving southern Utah. While already serving with remote support through the Murray headquarters, this branch will expand on-site technical support businesses in St. George; Cedar City; and Mesquite, Nevada. Opening Oct. 1, the branch will be managed by Jordan Taylor, who has been with the company for three years.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Canopy, a Lehi-based cloud-based practice management platform company serving accounting professionals, has appointed Brian Crofts to its board of directors. Crofts has more than 15 years of experience driving product development and roadmap execution for organizations in the accounting, human resources and technology industries. Crofts currently is chief product officer at Pendo. He spent over 10 years at Intuit, helping define the product direction for offerings including Quickbooks.
• CourseTune, a Sandy-based curriculum blueprinting and learning design collaboration tool company, has named Charlie Robinson as vice president of sales. Robinson has nearly 30 years of experience in curriculum, professional development, learning management systems and emerging technology in education. He has worked with and served educational leaders at the national, state, university and school district levels to help implement programs that specifically benefit underprivileged students as well as train teachers around the world.