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
• Elizabeth (Leeza) Evensenhas been elected as2017Commercial Real Estate Women(CREW) Utah president-elect. Her term as president begins January 2018. Evensen is a partner at the Salt Lake City office of Snell & Wilmer. Working in the real estate group, she concentrates her practice on real estate law. Evensen received her J.D. from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.
CONSTRUCTION
•Cache Valley Electric Co.(CVE) has appointedGeorge A. Huntas corporate risk manager. He will work at the company’s office in Salt Lake City. Hunt practiced for 17 years at Snow, Christensen & Martineau, where he served on its board of directors for 10 years. He then formed Williams & Hunt with several partners and friends and practiced there for more than 25 years before dissolving that firm and coming to CVE. Hunt graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. and certificate in international relations in 1971 and a J.D. degree in 1974.
CORPORATE
•Vista Outdoor, Farmington, has announced that its board of directors has approved a new repurchase program for up to $100 million of the company’s common stock. The timing, number and value of shares repurchased by Vista Outdoor under the program will be determined by management at its discretion and will depend on a number of factors. The program expires at the end of fiscal year 2018.
•Four Foods Group(FFG), an American Fork-based restaurant concept incubator and accelerator company, has announced it has completed the placement of over $35 million of growth capital to fund its expanding operations. The company has raised funds from various commercial and alternative sources, including $18 million fromOpus Bank, $12 million fromRed Bridge Capitaland over $7 million from other private capital providers. The funds will be used to expand FFG’s business operations and relationships. FFG has built and opened 43 Kneaders Bakery & Café restaurants throughout the western United States, with five additional units in development. FFG has more than 1,800 employees, including more than 100 at its American Fork corporate office.
DIVIDENDS
•Extra Space Storage Inc., Salt Lake City, announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 78 cents per share on the common stock of the company for the 2016 third quarter. Thedividend is payable Sept. 30 to stockholders of record Sept. 15.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
•Canvas Network, an open online education platform fromInstructure, Cottonwood Heights, announced it will host courses focusing on engaging girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives. The free online course series issues a call to action for educators, students and parents to prioritize STEM education for girls in elementary, middle and high school grades, as well as higher education. The massive online open courses (MOOCs) included in the series aim to provide a community for both girls and boys throughout the world to engage in STEM-related courses. The “Girls in STEM” series consists of six courses of various lengths. The first course will be released Sept. 12, with others following weekly through Oct. 10. Details are at http://stem.canvas.net.
EXPANSIONS
• V School, a Provo-based private company focused on adult technology education, has opened an office in Beirut, Lebanon — its first office outside of the United States. Syrian refugees make up half of the sold-out, 40-student Coding Bootcamp launched there. The 12-week bootcamp is in a partnership withAl-Makassed University in Beirut and provides 700 hours of hands-on instruction and training in JavaScript programming and development. Since launching its first program in the fall of 2013, V School has provided technology training to eight refugee populations in Utah through a partnership with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). The company has offices in Provo, Salt Lake City and Beirut.
•Vivint Solar, Lehi, has announced its expansion into Florida, with availability beginning in the Tampa Bay area. The company has hired approximately 40 employees in Florida and plans to continue to hire as it expands to new areas. Vivint Solar operates in 13 states and has more than 80,000 customers nationwide.
FINANCING
•QC Holdings Inc., based in Kansas, has completed a store swap transaction withCommunity Choice Financial Inc.in which QC acquired all of CCFI’s 33 branches in Utah and three other states and CCFI acquired all of QC’s 98 branches in five states. QC said the fair market value of the assets acquired or disposed of has not yet been determined.
HEALTHCARE
•HealthEquity Inc., Draper, recently had an open house for its new building at 38 E. Scenic Pointe Drive, Draper. The companyemploys 662 Utah-based employees, with 160 team members moving to the new building. The company has added 105 employees since announcing last year that it would hire about 200 people in Utah over the next six years. HealthEquity also announced that its board of directors has appointedAdrian T. Dillonto the board and to its Audit and Risk Committee. Dillon has more than 35 years of financial leadership and experience with business operations, corporate development and consumer financial technology. His experience includes holding finance roles, including chief financial and administrative officer at Skype Ltd., executive vice president over finance and administration and chief financial officer of Agilent Technologies, and executive vice president and chief financial and planning officer of Eaton Corp. Dillon serves as chairman of the board of WNS Holdings Ltd. and is a member of the board of directors and chair of the audit and finance committees of Williams-Sonoma Inc. He was a member of the board of directors and chair of the audit committee of Wonga.com and a member of the board and chair of the audit committee at NDS.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• TheUtah Department of Health(UDOH) has selectedPenna Powers, Salt Lake City, as its new agency of record for its Utah Cancer Control Program. The five-year contract coincides with the release of the UDOH and Utah Cancer Action Network’s Utah Comprehensive Cancer Prevention and Control Plan. Penna Powers’ Social Change department will be leading out on the education and action campaigns for “BeWise” disease prevention and health promotion; breast, cervical and comprehensive cancer; radon and lung cancer; and HPV immunization. Under the contract, Penna Powers will implement a statewide communication campaign consisting of broadcast, social, news, digital and outreach components to help Utahns locate and participate in the Utah Cancer Control Programs’ cancer prevention, screening and information services.
PHILANTHROPY
•KeyBank’s Utah market recently donated $25,000 to support theWestminster College Center for Entrepreneurshipin Salt Lake City. The center fosters and develops the skills critical to successful entrepreneurial leadership, including innovating, validating, planning, funding and launching new ventures. The KeyBank contribution will help fosteron-campus entrepreneurship opportunities that will help ensure that students who participate in the program are competitive members of the future workforce.
• Brighton Bankjoined withUnited Wayduring July and August to help provide school supplies for 11,000 local children. The “Stuff the Bus” campaign focuses on collecting school supplies for students that are served by United Way neighborhood centers, often located in local schools. The centers work with children and families daily to improve students’ academic achievement and overall success. Upon completion of the campaign, the school supplies are delivered, counted, separated and then stuffed into backpacks by volunteers and delivered to the students. This year, Brighton Bank was able to collect 9,903 school items valued at approximately $4,250.
RECOGNITIONS
•CRN, a brand ofThe Channel Co., has namedMatt Medeirosto its 2016 list of“Top 100 Executives.”Medeiros is chairman and chief executive officer of StorageCraft Technology Corp. The annual list recognizes leaders from the technology industry who have played an integral role in shaping today’s IT channel, whether by driving huge cultural shifts, creating rich new opportunities or forging innovative new routes to success. Medeiros also is listed as No. 1 in CRN’s“Top Innovators”category.
•O.C. Tanner,USANA Health SciencesandImpartnerearned honors in theBest in Biz Awards 2016 International. O.C. Tanner earned silver in the category ofCompany of the Yearfor large companies (1,000 or more employees). USANA earned silver inCompany of the Yearfor small and medium-sized companies (1-999 employees). O.C. Tanner earned gold in“Best Place to Work,”with USANA earning bronze. Impartner earned bronze in theBest New Product of the Year – Enterprisecategory for its flagship product, Impartner PRM, and the ability of its Velocity onboarding process to have companies up and running with a new “partner portal” in as few as 30 days. Winners were chosen from entrants spanning multiple industries and more than 30 countries and were judged by an international panel from news, business, finance and technology publications and media outlets.
•SecurityNational Mort-gage Co., Salt Lake City, has been named the“2016 Top Place to Work”in Utah, central Florida and Arizona. The award recognizes the best organizations as voted by their employees. In Arizona, SecurityNational was recognized as a Top Place to Work in the 1,000-plus Business category by theArizona Republic, AZcentral.com and BestCompaniesAZ. In central Florida, theOrlando Business Journalrecognized SecurityNational in the medium business category.The Salt Lake Tribunegave Security National Financial Corp., parent company of SecurityNational Mortgage, the 2016 Top Workplace award in the large business category. The awards program was conducted by Best Companies Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
•Converus, Lehi, has hiredMark Handleras director of professional services. Converus makes a lie detection technology called “EyeDetect.” Hander’s duties will include managing professional services, such as consulting and training, as well as technical product management. A former police officer and polygraph examiner, Handler started his credibility assessment career in 2003. He will retain his current roles as the American Association of Police Polygraphists’ research and information chairman, American Polygraph Association board member, and as an independent polygraph instructor.
ASSOCIATIONS
• Elizabeth (Leeza) Evensenhas been elected as2017Commercial Real Estate Women(CREW) Utah president-elect. Her term as president begins January 2018. Evensen is a partner at the Salt Lake City office of Snell & Wilmer. Working in the real estate group, she concentrates her practice on real estate law. Evensen received her J.D. from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.
CONSTRUCTION
•Cache Valley Electric Co.(CVE) has appointedGeorge A. Huntas corporate risk manager. He will work at the company’s office in Salt Lake City. Hunt practiced for 17 years at Snow, Christensen & Martineau, where he served on its board of directors for 10 years. He then formed Williams & Hunt with several partners and friends and practiced there for more than 25 years before dissolving that firm and coming to CVE. Hunt graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. and certificate in international relations in 1971 and a J.D. degree in 1974.
CORPORATE
•Vista Outdoor, Farmington, has announced that its board of directors has approved a new repurchase program for up to $100 million of the company’s common stock. The timing, number and value of shares repurchased by Vista Outdoor under the program will be determined by management at its discretion and will depend on a number of factors. The program expires at the end of fiscal year 2018.
•Four Foods Group(FFG), an American Fork-based restaurant concept incubator and accelerator company, has announced it has completed the placement of over $35 million of growth capital to fund its expanding operations. The company has raised funds from various commercial and alternative sources, including $18 million fromOpus Bank, $12 million fromRed Bridge Capitaland over $7 million from other private capital providers. The funds will be used to expand FFG’s business operations and relationships. FFG has built and opened 43 Kneaders Bakery & Café restaurants throughout the western United States, with five additional units in development. FFG has more than 1,800 employees, including more than 100 at its American Fork corporate office.
DIVIDENDS
•Extra Space Storage Inc., Salt Lake City, announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 78 cents per share on the common stock of the company for the 2016 third quarter. Thedividend is payable Sept. 30 to stockholders of record Sept. 15.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
•Canvas Network, an open online education platform fromInstructure, Cottonwood Heights, announced it will host courses focusing on engaging girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives. The free online course series issues a call to action for educators, students and parents to prioritize STEM education for girls in elementary, middle and high school grades, as well as higher education. The massive online open courses (MOOCs) included in the series aim to provide a community for both girls and boys throughout the world to engage in STEM-related courses. The “Girls in STEM” series consists of six courses of various lengths. The first course will be released Sept. 12, with others following weekly through Oct. 10. Details are at http://stem.canvas.net.
EXPANSIONS
• V School, a Provo-based private company focused on adult technology education, has opened an office in Beirut, Lebanon — its first office outside of the United States. Syrian refugees make up half of the sold-out, 40-student Coding Bootcamp launched there. The 12-week bootcamp is in a partnership withAl-Makassed University in Beirut and provides 700 hours of hands-on instruction and training in JavaScript programming and development. Since launching its first program in the fall of 2013, V School has provided technology training to eight refugee populations in Utah through a partnership with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). The company has offices in Provo, Salt Lake City and Beirut.
•Vivint Solar, Lehi, has announced its expansion into Florida, with availability beginning in the Tampa Bay area. The company has hired approximately 40 employees in Florida and plans to continue to hire as it expands to new areas. Vivint Solar operates in 13 states and has more than 80,000 customers nationwide.
FINANCING
•QC Holdings Inc., based in Kansas, has completed a store swap transaction withCommunity Choice Financial Inc.in which QC acquired all of CCFI’s 33 branches in Utah and three other states and CCFI acquired all of QC’s 98 branches in five states. QC said the fair market value of the assets acquired or disposed of has not yet been determined.
HEALTHCARE
•HealthEquity Inc., Draper, recently had an open house for its new building at 38 E. Scenic Pointe Drive, Draper. The companyemploys 662 Utah-based employees, with 160 team members moving to the new building. The company has added 105 employees since announcing last year that it would hire about 200 people in Utah over the next six years. HealthEquity also announced that its board of directors has appointedAdrian T. Dillonto the board and to its Audit and Risk Committee. Dillon has more than 35 years of financial leadership and experience with business operations, corporate development and consumer financial technology. His experience includes holding finance roles, including chief financial and administrative officer at Skype Ltd., executive vice president over finance and administration and chief financial officer of Agilent Technologies, and executive vice president and chief financial and planning officer of Eaton Corp. Dillon serves as chairman of the board of WNS Holdings Ltd. and is a member of the board of directors and chair of the audit and finance committees of Williams-Sonoma Inc. He was a member of the board of directors and chair of the audit committee of Wonga.com and a member of the board and chair of the audit committee at NDS.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• TheUtah Department of Health(UDOH) has selectedPenna Powers, Salt Lake City, as its new agency of record for its Utah Cancer Control Program. The five-year contract coincides with the release of the UDOH and Utah Cancer Action Network’s Utah Comprehensive Cancer Prevention and Control Plan. Penna Powers’ Social Change department will be leading out on the education and action campaigns for “BeWise” disease prevention and health promotion; breast, cervical and comprehensive cancer; radon and lung cancer; and HPV immunization. Under the contract, Penna Powers will implement a statewide communication campaign consisting of broadcast, social, news, digital and outreach components to help Utahns locate and participate in the Utah Cancer Control Programs’ cancer prevention, screening and information services.
PHILANTHROPY
•KeyBank’s Utah market recently donated $25,000 to support theWestminster College Center for Entrepreneurshipin Salt Lake City. The center fosters and develops the skills critical to successful entrepreneurial leadership, including innovating, validating, planning, funding and launching new ventures. The KeyBank contribution will help fosteron-campus entrepreneurship opportunities that will help ensure that students who participate in the program are competitive members of the future workforce.
• Brighton Bankjoined withUnited Wayduring July and August to help provide school supplies for 11,000 local children. The “Stuff the Bus” campaign focuses on collecting school supplies for students that are served by United Way neighborhood centers, often located in local schools. The centers work with children and families daily to improve students’ academic achievement and overall success. Upon completion of the campaign, the school supplies are delivered, counted, separated and then stuffed into backpacks by volunteers and delivered to the students. This year, Brighton Bank was able to collect 9,903 school items valued at approximately $4,250.
RECOGNITIONS
•CRN, a brand ofThe Channel Co., has namedMatt Medeirosto its 2016 list of“Top 100 Executives.”Medeiros is chairman and chief executive officer of StorageCraft Technology Corp. The annual list recognizes leaders from the technology industry who have played an integral role in shaping today’s IT channel, whether by driving huge cultural shifts, creating rich new opportunities or forging innovative new routes to success. Medeiros also is listed as No. 1 in CRN’s“Top Innovators”category.
•O.C. Tanner,USANA Health SciencesandImpartnerearned honors in theBest in Biz Awards 2016 International. O.C. Tanner earned silver in the category ofCompany of the Yearfor large companies (1,000 or more employees). USANA earned silver inCompany of the Yearfor small and medium-sized companies (1-999 employees). O.C. Tanner earned gold in“Best Place to Work,”with USANA earning bronze. Impartner earned bronze in theBest New Product of the Year – Enterprisecategory for its flagship product, Impartner PRM, and the ability of its Velocity onboarding process to have companies up and running with a new “partner portal” in as few as 30 days. Winners were chosen from entrants spanning multiple industries and more than 30 countries and were judged by an international panel from news, business, finance and technology publications and media outlets.
•SecurityNational Mort-gage Co., Salt Lake City, has been named the“2016 Top Place to Work”in Utah, central Florida and Arizona. The award recognizes the best organizations as voted by their employees. In Arizona, SecurityNational was recognized as a Top Place to Work in the 1,000-plus Business category by theArizona Republic, AZcentral.com and BestCompaniesAZ. In central Florida, theOrlando Business Journalrecognized SecurityNational in the medium business category.The Salt Lake Tribunegave Security National Financial Corp., parent company of SecurityNational Mortgage, the 2016 Top Workplace award in the large business category. The awards program was conducted by Best Companies Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
TECHNOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES
•Converus, Lehi, has hiredMark Handleras director of professional services. Converus makes a lie detection technology called “EyeDetect.” Hander’s duties will include managing professional services, such as consulting and training, as well as technical product management. A former police officer and polygraph examiner, Handler started his credibility assessment career in 2003. He will retain his current roles as the American Association of Police Polygraphists’ research and information chairman, American Polygraph Association board member, and as an independent polygraph instructor.