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BANKING
• D.L. Evans Bank has appointed Russ Fullmer as vice president commercial loan officer for its South Ogden branch. Fullmer has over 13 years of banking and financial experience. He earned a B.S. in business administration at Weber State University.
COMMUNICATIONS
• UTOPIA Fiber has announced a $23.5 million deal with Syracuse City, bringing its total to 17 cities in its fiber -to-the-home network. The Syracuse City Council voted to sign a contract between the city and UTOPIA Fiber’s sister agency, Utah Infrastructure Agency (UIA). Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2022. UTOPIA Fiber also provides business services in 50 cities. Created by a group of Utah cities, the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) is a community-owned fiber-optic network that uses the open-access model to promote competition by giving customers the freedom to choose which telecommunication services they want from competing providers.
CONSTRUCTION
• Big-D Construction, Salt Lake City, has appointed Holin Bilbanks as national account manager. Her role will encompass business development and account management, working with national accounts throughout the United States to promote the Big-D family of companies. Wilbanks has experience in all aspects of real estate including development, construction, engineering and local government. Most recently, she spent the past four years as Weber County’s director of economic development. She also took the lead on creating the Northern Utah Economic Alliance, an economic development partnership between Weber and Davis counties.
CONTESTS
• Nominations are being accepted until Sept. 18 for the annual BioUtah Awards. They will be presented for Entrepreneur of the Year, Executive of the Year, Friends of Industry, Innovation Impact Award and Lifetime Achievement Award. They will be announced Nov. 12 at the BioHive Utah Life Sciences Summit. Details are at https://bioutah.org/annual-bioutah-awards/.
CORPORATE
• The board of directors of Zions Bancorporation, Salt Lake City, has approved an additional common share repurchase for the third quarter of up to $200 million. The board had previously authorized $125 million for the third quarter. The total is now up to $325 million, or approximately 3.5 percent of the company’s current market capitalization. As of Aug. 24, Zions had repurchased $98 million, or 1.8 million of its common shares, in the third quarter.
DIVIDENDS
• The board of directors of Extra Space Storage Inc., Salt Lake City, has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.25 per share on the company stock of the company for the third quarter. The dividend is payable Sept. 30 to stockholders of record Sept. 15. It represents a 25 percent increase from the previous quarter. Extra Space Storage is a real estate investment trust that owns and/or operates 1,973 self-storage properties. It is the second-largest owner and/or operator of self-storage properties in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the nation.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Provo-Orem is No. 8 and Salt Lake City is No. 24 in a ranking of best places in the U.S. for career opportunities, compiled by SmartAsset. It analyzed 200 of the largest metro areas across seven metrics related to employment, income and access to professional development through higher education or career counseling. The top-ranked metro is Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana. Details are at https://smartasset.com/data-studies/best-places-for-career-opportunities-in-2021.
• Provo-Orem is ranked No. 7 nationally among metro areas that are the best-equipped for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, while Salt Lake City is No. 18, according to StorageCafe. San Jose had the highest amount of places where renters can charge their EVs, at 12.3 percent. Provo had 6.5 percent, with 119 public EV charging stations. Salt Lake City had 4.9 percent and more than 450 stations. Correlated with population Salt Lake City comes in fifth, with about 1.2 charging stations per 1,000 households, while Provo comes in 12th, with about 0.7 charging stations. Provo also has the seventh-highest percentage of apartment units (6.5 percent) fitted with charging stations, almost double the national average of 3.2 percent. Details are at https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/best-us-metros-for-electric-cars/.
• Residents of Summit County lead those of all Utah counties for receiving the largest average tax refunds, according to an analysis by SmartAsset. It measured the total amount of money refunded by the IRS to each county and divided it by the number of refunds given out in each county. Summit County was followed, in order, by Morgan, Wasatch, Uintah, Duchesne, San Juan, Utah, Davis, Juab and Rich counties. Details are at https://smartasset.com/taxes/tax-return-calculator#Utah/taxReturn.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 43 on a list of the best U.S. cities for outdoor movies, compiled by Lawn Love. It ranked 153 of the largest U.S. cities based on the number of drive-in theaters, other outdoor screening venues, and nice weather. For a good backyard watch party, it also considered big yards and access to A/V equipment rentals. The top-ranked city is Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The bottom-ranked city is Chicago. Details are at https://lawnlove.com/blog/best-cities-outdoor-movies/.
• Twenty-seven percent of Utah’s young adults (ages 18-35) have “boomeranged” back to their parent’s homes over the past year, according to a survey by ISoldMyHouse.com. The national average is 36 percent. The survey indicated that 29 percent of Utah parents feel burdened by that, and 15 percent say they have had to delay retirement plans in order to support their adult children. Increased housing costs are considered a main factor for the moving-back trend. Details are at https://www.isoldmyhouse.com/boomerang-generation/.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 2 among the “best cities for mental health,” a list compiled by CertaPet. It considered seven factors. The top-ranked city is Denver. The bottom-ranked city is Dallas. Salt Lake City also was ranked No. 10 for “best U.S. cities for access to mental health care,” a list topped by New York City. Details are at https://www.certapet.com/best-worst-cities-mental-health/.
ENERGY
• LGCY Power, a Lehi-based, private solar company, has added Chris Iglesias as vice president of operations; Adam Bohe as vice president of supply chain and asset management; and Brett Martin as director of field operations at its Utah headquarters to lead the expansion of its installation arm in Texas. The company obtained 16,000 square feet of office and warehouse space in Hurst, Texas, adding an additional business division to the national solar company. LGCY has been involved in more than 40,000 residential solar builds prior to entering Texas. The company was started in 2014 as a customer acquisition company for residential solar and worked exclusively in that capacity for six years. LGCY has since grown to a presence in 30 states.
HEALTHCARE
• Zenovate, Salt Lake City, has changed its name to Nivati “to reflect its expanded scope.” During the past year, the company has become involved in mental health for employers. It is a technology company whose platform provides an easy way to understand and manage employee mental health. The app provides on-demand teletherapy and proactive care for employees, and real-time employee well-being data to companies.
INVESTMENTS
• Aumni, a Salt Lake City-based company offering an investment analytics platform, has closed a $50 million Series B funding round led by J.P. Morgan. Pelion Venture Partners also participated in the funding alongside other new investors WndrCo, Citadel Securities, Invesco Private Capital, Vanderbilt University and Kera Capital. The new investors join existing investors SVB Financial Group, DLA Piper, Next Frontier Capital, Kickstart Fund, First Trust Capital Partners and Prelude, a Mercato Partners fund, who also participated in this Series B funding round. Aumni said it will use the funds to deepen its presence with investors in the private capital markets and expand its offering to limited partners, law firms and company founders. Since the launch of its flagship product in 2018, Aumni has analyzed more than 100,000 investment transactions.
• Known Medicine, Salt Lake City, has closed its seed round of funding of $7.2 million. The round was led by Caffeinated Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Cota Capital, Kickstart, Forward VC, OATV; as well as angel investors Chris Gibson, CEO and co-founder at Recursion Pharmaceuticals; Nish Bhat, previously co-founder and CTO at Color Genomics; and others. This funding will enable Known Medicine to grow its proprietary 3D cell culture data set for deployment in partnership with biopharmaceutical companies and in the clinical diagnostics space.
• PDQ.com, a South Salt Lake-based provider of IT asset management software for small and medium-sized businesses, is making an investment from TA Associates, a global growth private equity firm. Horizon Partners is serving as a financial advisor and Perkins Coie is providing legal counsel to PDQ. William Blair is serving as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis is providing legal counsel to TA. PDQ provides software for system administrators and IT professionals. It has more than 18,000 customers across a variety of industries, including education, technology, manufacturing and government. Founded in 2001, PDQ has 80 employees.
MANUFACTURING
• Purple Innovation Inc., a Lehi-based designer and manufacturer of comfort products, has appointed Bennett Nussbaum as interim chief financial officer. The previous CFO, Craig Phillips, and the company have separated. Nussbaum is a global financial executive and senior advisor with over 45 years of experience, including roles as CFO at Pepsi-Cola International, Burger King and FedEx Office.
• Flex, a diversified manufacturer, is launching a Salt Lake City facility near the Salt Lake City International Airport and is looking to fill more than 100 open positions, including those in engineering, operations, program management and human resources. Flex offers technology innovation, supply chain and manufacturing solutions to diverse industries and end markets, including automotive, communications, energy, healthcare and industrial. It has a total workforce of approximately 160,000 across 30 countries.
MEDIA/MARKETING
• Osmond Marketing, Provo, has hired Doug Fox as senior editor, overseeing the agency’s team of writers and mentoring new writers. He spent five years at The Spectrum in St. George and held several leadership positions before becoming managing editor. He spent 30 years at The Daily Herald in Provo, including producing its weekly entertainment section for 17 years. Fox graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
PHILANTHROPY
• ReadyWise, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on emergency food supplies, recently had a fundraiser for earthquake disaster relief in Haiti, in partnership with Team Rubicon, a California-based nonprofit organization serving communities by mobilizing veterans to continue their service, leveraging their skills and experience to help people prepare, respond, and recover from disasters. For a week in August, 20 percent of proceeds from customer purchases of a pair of 72-hour food kits went to the Team Rubicon Disaster Response Fund.
• Intermountain Healthcare has announced a partnership with Rocky Mountain Homes Fund to provide affordable, stable housing options in Weber County. A nonprofit, Rocky Mountain Homes Fund offers a first-of-its-kind intermediary step for low- to moderate-income families in Weber County that puts them on a path to homeownership. Participants are vetted to ensure the program is right for them. They are not required to make a down payment. Their monthly payments are based on affordable interest rates and are stable for up to 10 years, regardless of market fluctuations. As the families make their monthly payments and the home increases in value, they participate in the equity generated.
• USANA, Salt Lake City, has set a goal raising enough money to fund 30,000 garden towers in the next year to provide long-term food security to those in need around the world. Garden towers are a low-cost, self-sustaining method of planting multiple food crops in a single source, suited for all areas of the world. A donation of $20 covers the entire cost of the fabric for the tower, the soil, the seeds, and the training on how to use them. Details are at usanafoundation.org.
REAL ESTATE
• Colliers|U.S. has named Lana Howell as managing director and market leader for brokerage operations in Utah. Howell will oversee all brokerage operations and service lines in Utah, with a focus on new business development, service delivery, talent recruitment and retention. Howell most recently served as senior director of marketing and research for Colliers in Salt Lake City, overseeing all marketing, research and GIS service delivery for Utah brokerage operations. She previously served as head of research and a member of the industrial brokerage team at CBRE in Salt Lake City.
RECOGNITIONS
• Vestar, a Phoenix-based, privately held shopping center owner and manager in the western U.S., has earned seven Maxi awards from the International Council of Shopping Centers. The company owns The Gateway in Salt Lake City, which earned a silver Maxi for “2020 Last Hurrah” in the category of Experiential and Shopping Centers Over 500,001 Square Feet. Maxi awards are one of the industry’s highest honors, conferred by ICSC to recognize marketing excellence through innovative programs, events or technologies that add value to shopping centers in the United States and Canada.
• Harmons Neighborhood Grocer, West Valley City, has awarded $5,000 each to Rojas Farms, West Jordan; Mama Africa, West Valley City; and Solstice Chocolate, Salt Lake City, as part of its Local Supplier Development Grant initiative. The annual grants program, now in its sixth year, rewards local businesses for their dedication and effort in providing high-quality products to Harmons for its customers. Harmons partners with more than 350 local vendors.
RETAIL
• Batteries Plus, a Wisconsin-based battery, light bulb, key fob and repair franchise, has announced that existing multi-unit franchisee Danny Moos has signed to open 10 additional units in Utah and Nevada. The new Utah stores will be located in Cottonwood Heights/Sandy, Bountiful, Ogden, Spanish Form, Farmington, Tooele and Logan. Moos already owns six Batteries Plus stores in the Las Vegas area and a recently opened store in Prosper, Texas. Batteries Plus has more than 700 stores nationwide.
• Bodybar Pilates has opened a location at 180 N. Union Ave., Farmington, at Station Park. It is the company’s first Utah location and will be owned by Ashley Van Emmerik.
SCHOLARSHIPS
• Scorpion, a Salt Lake City-based company providing technology and services for local businesses, has announced its 2021 Scorpion Cares Scholarship recipients, awarding $10,000 scholarships to four college students pursuing dream careers in technology and business. Winners were selected based on accomplishments in the areas of academics, leadership, community service and extracurricular activities. The recipients are Scorpion’s Women in Technology Scholarship for women pursuing a career in technology, Sarah Schaefer, University of Southern California; Scorpion’s Future Designers Scholarship for those with dreams of being a web, product or brand designer, Lucy Chen, Columbia University; Scorpion’s Business Leadership Scholarship for black or African American students pursuing a business degree, Jammal Yarbrough, College of the Canyons, 2022; and Scorpion’s Community Impact Scholarship for students who have made a positive impact in their community or plan to make a positive impact in their community, Joselynn Castillo, Idaho State University.
TECHNOLOGY
• Entrata, a Lehi-based company offering property management software for the multifamily industry, has hired Chris Harrington as new chief revenue officer. Harrington previously was CEO of Xant. Prior to that, he was president and a member of the board of directors at Domo and vice president of Americas enterprise sales at Adobe following Omniture’s acquisition by Adobe. He led all all customer-facing operations at Omniture.
• Lightstream, Salt Lake City, has hired Denise Anderson as senior director of partner business development. The company offers full-service cloud, connectivity and security solutions to enterprises worldwide with a focus on managed services for all three, as well as cloud infrastructure implementation, security and support. Anderson will be responsible for owning the executive partner relationships and helping to drive joint growth strategies. She has over 20 years of experience in direct and indirect channel sales and service provider organizations. She has spent the last 10 years primarily focused in cybersecurity channel strategy and partner-to-partner business development. She has experience in developing, accelerating and operationalizing channel and partner go-to-market strategies.
• JobNimbus, a Lehi-based software company that serves contractors and business owners in the home services construction industry with its project management software, growth services and an innovative app, has hired Kat Fisher as director of growth services and Todd Abney as director of technical support. Fisher is an experienced customer success manager with particular expertise in the technical and telephony fields. Prior to joining JobNimbus, she has worked for Weave HQ in managerial and directorial roles and worked as a customer success manager at InsideSales.com (now called Xant) and PcCareSupport as a director of consumer relations. Abney has nearly 30 years of experience focused on customers and leadership. He comes to JobNimbus after working as the head of technical client services and technical support at Dealertrack and vice president of global customer support and success at Telogis, A Verizon Company.
• Weave, a company offering a communication platform for small and medium-sized businesses, recently hosted a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the grand opening of its new 180,000-square-foot headquarters at 1331 W. Powell Way, Lehi. The company has 800 employees. The new headquarters can accommodate up to 1,293 people.
TRAVEL & TOURISM
• Under Canvas has announced a new camp location, Under Canvas Bryce Canyon, set to open June 2, 2022. Located on 750 acres, it will be 15 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park and part of the company’s Grand Circle locations. It will offer 50 safari-style canvas tents on elevated decks at 7,600 feet in elevation. It will be equipped with upscale amenities. The inaugural season for the Bryce Canyon camp will run through Sept. 30, 2022, with its regular season running May through September.
• Rocky Mountaineer, based in British Columbia, Canada, has launched its route in the U.S. Southwest with a luxury train journey between Denver and Moab, with an overnight stay in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The “Rockies to the Red Rocks” route’s preview season runs through Nov. 19, with a seven-month season planned for 2022. The journey features glass-domed train coaches, onboard storytelling and cuisine and beverage options. Prices start at $1,250 per person. The company also offers three rail routes in western Canada.