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.
ASSOCIATIONS
• The Utah Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction(NAWIC) has named Tracy Nation as chapter president. Nation succeeds Karla Steele-Hunter, who will finish her term as president later this month. Nation started her career at NAWIC in 1997 and has held the positions of treasurer and vice president. She also served as the chapter’s president from 2001-03. She works as a project administrator for Big-D Construction in Salt Lake City. NAWIC also announced the following changes: Jodi Simpson will serve as the chapter’s vice president, Patty Waldhouse will serve as secretary, and Paula Sorensen will serve as treasurer.
CONSTRUCTION
• Reaveley Engineers, a Salt Lake City-based structural engineering firm, has hired structural project engineers Tim Strickland and Catherine Tucker. Strickland has 10 years of prior experience and has, since joining the Reaveley team, contributed to projects such as the BYU Lavell Edwards Stadium mezzanine addition and the University of Utah Orthopaedic Center Skills Lab addition. Prior to joining the firm, Tucker worked as a project manager/project architect for eight years. She also has experience as an architect. Since starting with Reaveley, she has worked on projects such as the Holladay Library addition and renovation and the Capitol Theatre Phase 2 renovation. Her education includes a master’s degree in architecture and a master’s in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Utah. She is currently finishing her Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the UofU.
CORPORATE
• The board of directors of Security National Financial Corp., Salt Lake City, has adopted a stock repurchase program under which the company may repurchase up to 300,000 shares of its Class A common stock. The program permits the company to purchase the shares in the open market. The repurchased shares of will be held as treasury shares to be used as the company’s employer matching contribution to its employee 401(k) retirement savings plan.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
• JetBlue recently partnered with the Utah STEM Action Center and Atlantic Aviation to introduce young girls to aviation and STEM careers. The “Fly Like a Girl” event in Salt Lake City provided opportunities for girls ages 8-14 to learn firsthand about careers above the wing, below the wing and behind the scenes at an airline, directly from women working in aviation and STEM. The event was sponsored by JetBlue Equals, the airline’s diversity and inclusion platform; the JetBlue Foundation, a nonprofit focused on STEM education; and Women in Flight, one of the airline’s employee resource groups.
EXPANSIONS
• LifeVantage, a Salt Lake City-based dietary supplements and skin care products company, has expanded into Austria. Its operations there are open for both distributor enrollments and orders, as well as customer orders. Select LifeVantage products were made available in Austria and six other countries for the first time in April on a not-for-resale basis as part of LifeVantage’s new Global Customer Acquisition Program. LifeVantage now has a formal presence in 13 markets in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.
• Sundance, a Salt Lake City-based retailer of men’s and women’s clothing and other items, has opened a store in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of four stores to open across the country by year-end. The company currently has 10 other retail stores.
GOVERNMENT
• Salt Lake City is accepting applications through Oct. 4 for a few U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), designed to promote the development of viable urban communities by providing affordable housing, suitable living environments, and economic opportunities for persons of low and moderate income; Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), aimed at helping individuals and families regain housing stability after experiencing a housing or homelessness crisis; HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME), designed to create affordable housing opportunities for low-income households; and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), designed to provide housing assistance and related supportive services to persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families. An application resource guide is available at www.slc.gov/hand.
HEALTHCARE
• The National Institutes of Health has awarded a three-year grant totaling more than $270,000 to support the research of Weber State University engineering associate professor Larry Zeng, who has researched medical imaging for nearly 30 years. The grant will allow Zeng to expand his research, as well as train students to work with him. During his research, Zeng created an algorithm that uses geometry to rapidly detect and remove image distortions in CT scans. His work targets a growing safety concern among medical professionals and patients — while CT scans are a fast and efficient way to see inside the body, they expose patients to radiation, typically at a dose much higher than traditional X-rays.
INVESTMENT
• Sarcos Robotics, Salt Lake City, has secured $30 million in Series B funding from a group of investors co-led by DIG Investment and Alex. Brown & Sons. The company’s Series A investors also participated, including Caterpillar Ventures; Cottonwood Technology Fund; GE Ventures; Microsoft; Schlumberger; and Sarcos’ chairman and CEO, Ben Wolff. Sarcos develops robotic systems for use in the industrial, public safety and military sectors. It said it will use the funding to expand the company team; scale the production and deployment of its Guardian S inspection and surveillance robot; and prepare for the launch of the commercial versions of its Guardian XO product line in late 2019.
• CloudCherry, a Salt Lake City-based customer experience management platform company, has raised $9 million in Series A funding, led by Pelion Venture Partners, with additional funds coming from existing investors Cisco Investments, Vertex Ventures and IDG Ventures India. Donald Tucker, head of collaboration corporate development and venture investments at Cisco, and Brett Wingo, senior vice president of CX Platforms at Cisco, join the CloudCherry board of directors as observers. CloudCherry said it will use the capital to build on its early successes and grow its North American sales and marketing teams, build out its go-to-market capabilities, and expand its technological lead through a laser focus on data sciences for CX.
• MarketDial, Salt Lake City, has closed a $7.5 million Series A funding round led by Crosslink Capital. Also participating were Kickstart Seed Fund, Peterson Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank. The funding will be used to accelerate the progress and overall growth of the company and its product. The company provides brick-and-mortar retailers with software to bring online-quality tools to their offline businesses.
LAW
• Dorsey & Whitney LLP has added Matt Wells and Jim Kelly as partners in the firm’s Corporate Group in Salt Lake City. The firm also has added associates Kady Reese and Neela Pack and paralegal Tracey Jackson. Wells advises entrepreneurs, growth enterprises and their investors from entity start-up though exit and has expertise in venture capital, growth equity, private equity and M&A transactions. He also represents national and international clients making in-bound equity investments and middle-market acquisitions of private companies nationwide. Kelly advises a range of investment management firms, providing alternative investment managers and investors counsel regarding investment products. His experience includes advising hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds and venture capital funds. He also advises clients with respect to separate accounts and joint venture arrangements. Kelly assists clients with the structure and organization of investment funds and accounts and with regulatory compliance, operational and investment matters. He also provides counsel with respect to the formation and operation of sponsor and management entities and arrangements among firm principals.
OUTDOOR PRODUCTS/RECREATION/SPORTS
• Vista Outdoor Inc., Farmington, has named Kelly Reisdorf as vice president of investor relations. Reisdorf has been with Vista Outdoor for 11 years in various capacities, most recently serving as vice president of enterprise IT. Prior to Vista Outdoor, Reisdorf held various positions in strategic management consulting and financial systems.
RECOGNITIONS
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has released its list of finalists for the Dream Big Small Business of the Year Awards. Kaddas Enterprises of Salt Lake City is a finalist in the Green/Sustainable Business Achievement Award category. Campfire Industries of South Jordan is a finalist in the Young Entrepreneur Achievement Award category. The awards program recognizes excellence in six categories and reflect the leading businesses in each of the following areas: emerging, green/sustainable, minority-owned, veteran-owned, woman-owned, and young entrepreneur businesses. Award winners will be announced Oct. 3 in Washington, D.C., as part of the 2018 Small Business Summit.
• Greer’s Do It Best Hardware, Tremonton, has been named the 2018 Hardware All Star for Utah by Hardware + Building Supply Dealer, a publication covering the hardware industry. The magazine’s editors select their All Stars based on a range of business criteria, including longevity, growth, employee development and retention, creativity and local involvement.
• Nav, with offices in Salt Lake City and Silicon Valley, has named Chris Jones as the grand prize winner of its second $10,000 Small Business Grant. Nav is a free site and app for small-business owners to access their business credit scores and be matched to financing options. Jones is the owner and operator of CJ’s Bait & Tackle, the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s first mobile, solar-powered bait and tackle shop. To be considered for the Nav Small Business Grant, business owners were asked to share a challenge their business is facing.
SERVICES
• Technology repair brand uBreakiFix has opened a location at 506 N. 325 E., Harrisville. The company also has locations in Sandy and South Jordan. The Harrisville location is the second one for Caralyn and Rick Olson, who also own a store in Twin Falls, Idaho, and plan to open seven more locations in Utah, Idaho and Washington. The next location will open in Bountiful later this month. UBreakiFix specializes in same-day repair service of small electronics, repairing cracked screens, software issues, camera issues and other technical problems at its more than 430 stores across North America.
• U-Haul Company of Utah Inc. has announced that 3D Auto Sales LLC has signed on as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer to serve the Salt Lake City community. It is located at 958 S. State St., Salt Lake City, and will offer U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing equipment and moving supplies. 3D Auto Sales partners are Basit Syed and Rubina Basit.
SPORTS
• Weber State University has held a groundbreaking event for new athletic complex at the north end of Stewart Stadium. To be ready for the start of the 2019 football season, the complex will include a new plaza, ticket office, souvenir shop a strength-and-conditioning facility for all Wildcat student-athletes, football team locker rooms, equipment room, meeting rooms and football coaches’ offices.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Verisys Corp., South Jordan, has named Jamie A. Harper as chief operating officer. Harper has 22 years of experience, most recently serving as COO for Sorenson Media Inc. Verisys provides a cloud-based technology platform of data, analytics and services that supports enterprise-wide compliance in the U.S. healthcare industry.
• Control4 Corp., a Salt Lake City automation and networking systems company, has appointed Charlie Kindel as senior vice president of products and services. Kindel has 30 years of experience as a builder of consumer and developer products, platform technologies and partner ecosystems, including 21 years at Microsoft and five years at Amazon. Most recently, he created and led the Alexa and Echo Smart Home efforts at Amazon. At Microsoft, he served as general manager of the Windows phone developer experience. Kindel succeeds Eric Anderson, who announced his retirement plans earlier this year after serving as the company’s product and services executive since 2012.