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DIRECT SALES
• Nature’s Sunshine Products, a Lehi-based herbal and nutritional products company, has announced the launch of its revamped business model. It will feature new branding, launching a new website, and introducing a series of programs. The relaunch refocuses the company “on its core strength as herbal experts,” the company said.
ENERGY/NATURAL RESOURCES
• Chevron Corp., based in California, has announced that Jon Huntsman Jr. has been re-elected to its board of directors. He will serve on the Management Compensation Committee and the Public Policy Committee. Huntsman was a member of the Chevron board from 2014-17, serving on the Audit Committee, the Board Nominating and Governance Committee, and the Public Policy Committee during his tenure. He resigned to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia. Huntsman’s career has spanned business, politics, and diplomacy, including serving as chairman of the Atlantic Council and chairman of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, serving in the administrations of five presidents, being a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. president in 2011, serving as U.S. Ambassador to China, serving two consecutive terms as Utah governor, serving as U.S. ambassador to Singapore, and serving as deputy U.S. trade representative and deputy assistant secretary of commerce for Asia.
• D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI), a renewable energy producer in North America, has announced additional details regarding the signing of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the Rocket and Horseshoe Solar projects in Utah. The projects, which are expected to total 155 megawatts, will support Facebook Inc.’s Eagle Mountain Data Center, through PPAs with Rocky Mountain Power. Both projects are owned and being developed by DESRI. Rocket Solar is an 80-megawatt solar facility to be built outside of Corinne in Box Elder County. Horseshoe Solar is a 75-megawatt solar facility to be built outside of Grantsville in Tooele County. Both projects are scheduled to begin operations in 2022 to supply clean solar energy to Facebook. The facilities are expected to generate up to 200 construction jobs. Both projects were initially developed and permitted by Enyo Renewable Energy, a joint venture among affiliates of Enyo LLC and MAP Energy LLC. Funds managed by MAP Energy also retain a minority equity ownership interest in the projects.
• CleanSpark Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company focused on software and controls for microgrid and distributed energy resource management systems and innovative strategy and design services, has announced the deployment of the company’s mPulse software on its latest microgrid project in Central America. Located on an industrial equipment retail facility in San Jose, Costa Rica, the project utilizes CleanSpark’s patented mPulse controller to coordinate all aspects of the system and improve overall performance. The microgrid will consist of a 222-kilowatt PV solar system, and a Tesla 111-kilowatt/223-kilowatt-hour Powerpack provided by CleanSpark. CleanSpark also announced it has received a contract for multiple units of its intelligent switchgear equipment from a long-term energy development partner based in Houston. The two companies have now collaborated on over 100 unique microgrid projects for which CleanSpark has provided its custom intelligent switchgear. CleanSpark’s ATS solutions have previously been installed by the same partner to provide resilient microgrids for a large grocery store chain and for the world’s largest retailer. CleanSpark expects additional units to be ordered in the coming months in continued support of these end-use clients.
GOVERNMENT
• Melissa A. Holyoak has been named the state’s new solicitor general. Holyoak replaces Tyler Green, who left his job with the state to work in the private sector. Holyoak has extensive experience as a litigator, prosecutor and, most recently, president and general counsel of a Washington D.C.-based public interest law firm. Holyoak has argued in appeals courts across the country. She is a graduate of the University of Utah Law School.
• Layton City’s Community & Economic Development Department has announced its new website: LaytonEcon.org, a site targeted at businesses and site selectors and others looking to relocate to Layton. The website explains how Layton City is a well-connected community for manufacturing, low commute times, great neighborhoods, entertainment, recreation, retail, and everything needed to successfully run a business. Some pages highlight convenient access to transportation, Layton’s higher education opportunities, the city’s key access to Hill Air Force Base, and “quality of place” that demonstrates how residents and visitors alike enjoy a wide variety of shopping and dining options, and recreational offerings.
HEALTHCARE
• DiscGenics, a Salt Lake City-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing regenerative cell-based therapies that alleviate pain and restore function in patients with degenerative diseases of the spine, has appointed Jeff Poole as its first chief financial officer. Poole has more than 13 years of finance leadership experience in medical devices and significant experience in the spine market. Most recently, he was vice president of finance for Medtronic Spine and Biologics, a division of Medtronic PLC. Poole also has international experience, particularly in Asia Pacific, where he held various leadership positions with increasing levels of functional and strategic responsibilities and commercial exposure to developed and emerging markets.
INVESTMENTS
• Carketa, a Pleasant Grove-based developer of the Carketa “Recon” SaaS reconditioning app and Carketa “Condition Report,” has closed a $1,375,000 seed round financing led by Crosslink Capital, with additional funding from Hack VC. Carketa mission is to help independent and franchise car dealers sell more cars faster online. Founded in 2019, it was primarily marketed to Utah based independent car dealers.
MANUFACTURING
• Sarcos Robotics, a Salt Lake City-based producer of robots that augment humans to enhance productivity and safety, and its wholly owned subsidiary Sarcos Defense, has appointed retired Lt. Gen. Anthony “Tony” Ierardi to the Sarcos Strategic Advisory Board. Ierardi currently leads strategic partner engagement for Rebellion Defense, a Washington D.C.-based defense software products company, and serves as an adjunct senior Fellow in the defense program at the Center for a New American Security. Ierardi served in the U.S. military for more than 37 years.
• Malouf, a Logan-based the furniture and bedding producer, has hired Marlon Bateman as director of government relations. Bateman most recently served as chief of staff to the Office of Policy Planning at the Department of State in Washington, D.C. His role at Malouf will involve facilitating government relations, coordinating grants, and building awareness for the Malouf Foundation, which has the goal of ending child sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. His background includes serving in the U.S. Marine Corps infantry, overseeing media relations and public affairs for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and holding a position in communications at Oracle.
• Utah manufacturing received a C grade in an annual report from Ball State University in Indiana. The 2020 Manufacturing Scorecard from Ball State’s Center for Business and Economic Research analyzes how each state ranks among its peers in several areas of the economy that underlie the success of manufacturing and logistics. Utah maintained a C-minus for logistics, B for human capital, A for worker benefit costs, A for tax climate, A for expected fiscal liability, B for sector diversification, and a B for productivity and innovation. Utah rose from a C-plus to B for global reach.
• Purple Innovation Inc., a Lehi-based manufacturer of comfort products, has announced the pricing of an underwritten secondary public offering of more than 11.8 million shares of its Class A common stock sold by InnoHold LLC. The shares of Class A common stock were set to be sold at a price of $18.50 per share. The underwriter has a 30-day option period to purchase up to 1.77 million additional shares of Class A common stock from the selling stockholder at the same price per share. The offering was expected to close Sept. 14. The selling stockholder will receive all of the net proceeds from the offering. Purple is not selling any shares of Class A common stock in the offering and will not receive any proceeds from the offering, including from any exercise by the underwriter of its option to purchase additional shares from the selling stockholder.
PHILANTHROPY
• MarketStar, an Ogden-based company focused on customer engagement and outsourced business-to-business revenue acceleration, has announced the establishment of the MarketStar Foundation and committed 1 percent of its profits to the foundation. The foundation has operated on an informal basis for several years and was formalized in 2020 as a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation. Its ongoing mission is to connect MarketStar people and resources to expand educational opportunities, empower self-reliance, and build better communities where our people live and work.
• Smith’s Food & Drug Stores has donated $1 million to children’s hospitals in the Intermountain West to support charity healthcare programs for injured and sick children who are less fortunate. In addition, Smith’s associates will be delivering care packages to first responders, including healthcare workers, as a token of appreciation for their work on the front lines. Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City received $530,000 of the donation. Other hospitals received donations in major Smith’s markets in Nevada and New Mexico.
• Young Living, a Lehi-based producer of essential oils, has announced that donations from its third annual International Essential Oils Day on July 11 totaled $292,000. The money will go to the D. Gary Young Global Leadership Fund for Higher Education. The company had pledged to donate 5 percent of global sales that day to the foundation. The donation of $292,000 will help students from the Young Living Academy in Chongon, Ecuador — as well as leaders and students in other developing nations — pursue higher education opportunities at a university or trade school.
• Big O Tires Utah has donated $30,000 to Shriners Hospitals for Children — Salt Lake City to support the hospital’s annual “Walk for Love” event held virtually Sept. 12-19. The company pooled resources from its 42 stores from Logan to Beaver to make the donation. Shriners Hospitals for Children — Salt Lake City will direct Big O’s donation to further its mission of delivering orthopaedic care regardless of a family’s ability to pay.
• Kizik, a Vineyard-based hands-free footwear company, has made a donation to the Parkinson's Foundation, in the form of Kizik collaborating with the foundation to make Kizik shoes more available to those living with Parkinson's disease.
• Facebook has announced the new cycle of its Community Action Grants Program, with the Eagle Mountain Data Center participating for the first time. The grants benefit area nonprofits and schools. Grants are available to projects delivered in Utah County that address critical community needs by putting the power of technology to use for community benefit; connect people online or off; or improve local science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Eligibility guidelines are available at facebook.com/EagleMountainDataCenter. Applications are being accepted through Oct. 16.
REAL ESTATE
• TheOlive, a mixed-use multifamily project at 378 W. 300 S., Salt Lake City, has broken ground. Taylor Derrick Capital (TDC), Salt Lake City, and CW Urban announced the closing of a $28.5 million construction loan and groundbreaking for the project. The loan is part of the longstanding lending relationship between TDC and CW Urban to develop innovative urban and infill communities and master-planned communities along the Wasatch Front. TheOlive will be a six-story building located just north of Pioneer Park that will offer 120 for-sale condos ranging from studios, one- and two-bedroom flats and penthouse suites. Taylor Derrick Capital and CW Urban have partnered with the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency on the project. Other partners include Method Studio Architects, Steed Construction and McKinley Partners.
• The Parkwoods Apartments community at 120 Dan St., Ogden, has been sold by Crapse Building One LLC to Chicago-based Orchard Apartments LLC. Cushman & Wakefield said the sale price was for an amount near the list price of $3.3 million. Vicente Cantua, a multifamily specialist with Cushman & Wakefield in Utah, represented the seller in the transaction. The property consists of 20 two-bedroom units.
RESTAURANTS
• EverBowl, a San Diego-based craft food chain, has expanded to Utah with its first franchised location in Pleasant Grove. It is being opened by WAGS Capital.
RETAIL
• Bodybar Pilates has signed an agreement to open a new studio in Farmington. Bodybar focuses on strength, toning and modern movement with a spa-like environment. The new studio’s owner is Ashley Van Emmerik.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
• Impartner, a Salt Lake City-based partner relationship management and channel management platform provider, has appointed Bill Curran as chief revenue officer. Curran succeeds long-time CRO and former North American channel chief at Akamai, Mark Rogers, who assumes the role as senior vice president of alliances and strategic relationships. Curran has experience in SaaS and enterprise software and sales at companies including Cedar, Clarus, Synthio, Izenda and ExactTarget.
• LiveView Technologies, Orem, has appointed Dave Norton as chief revenue officer. LVT is an enterprise SaaS and platform-as-a-service solution for remote live video, safety surveillance, IoT, analytics gathering, processing and delivery. Norton is responsible for all revenue-generation strategy and execution worldwide. Norton has more than 20 years of experience building, growing and leading sales organizations. Most recently, he was the executive vice president of sales for MX. Previously, he was chief sales officer for Entrata and spent 13 years as a sales leader at Xactware.