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ASSOCIATIONS
• BioUtah, a trade association serving the state’s life sciences community, has announced Erin Barry as its new board chair and Andrew Hemmert as vice chair, effective Jan. 1. Immediate past chair is Mark Paul, executive director of the University of Utah Center for Medical Innovation. Paul remains on the board and will also serve as a member of the executive committee. Barry is vice president of government affairs for Merit Medical Systems. She oversees all the company’s local, state and federal government relations in jurisdictions in which the company has manufacturing facilities or sales offices. She also directs all state and federal lobbying efforts on key issues. Prior to joining Merit in 2015, Barry was deputy director of government affairs for the National Air Traffic Controllers. Before that, she was vice president of government affairs for technology startup Unspam. Hemmert is senior vice president of molecular research and development for bioMérieux, leading global teams focused on the creation of easy-to-use, rapid and comprehensive molecular diagnostics. Hemmert is also an active contributor to the scientific community through multiple publications, grants and patents. New BioUtah board members are Jim Fitzgerald, CEO of ATL Technology; Dr. Tracy George, chief scientific officer and president of the Innovation Business Unit at ARUP Laboratories; and Chris Lowe, CEO of Nusano. Fitzgerald joined ATL Technology as CEO in March 2025 and has more than 15 years of executive leadership experience at sponsor-owned medical device and packaging companies. Previous roles include CEO and senior leadership positions at Flexan, MRP Solutions, ITxM, Vesta and Cardinal Health. George is also a professor of pathology at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah. George is board-certified in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology and hematology by the American Board of Pathology. She has extensive experience in laboratory diagnostics and clinical trials at ARUP. Lowe has more than 30 years’ experience, the past 20 of which have been in C-suite and executive-level roles in health care and finance. He has expertise in licensing, financing and acquisitions. Prior to Nusano, Lowe served as chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Cortexyme Inc., a biotech company focused on Alzheimer’s and neurodegenerative diseases. BioUtah noted that two board members have completed their terms of service: Jay Muse, president and CEO of Piper Access, and Michael Olson, corporate banking portfolio manager at Zions Bank. Dr. Myles Greenberg, who has served on the executive committee as immediate past chair, will remain a board member but conclude his service on the executive committee.
• The Park City Chamber & Visitors Bureau has hired John Kennedy as national sales manager for the West. Kennedy has over 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including eight years at Hyatt in
Park City.
BANKING
• Bank of Utah, based in Ogden, has announced the retirement of two longtime leaders: Frank Browning and Jon Browning. The brothers will step down from their day-to-day roles at year-end but both will continue to serve on the bank’s board of directors in their current capacities. Both have been with Bank of Utah for about 50 years. Frank Browning’s career took him through nearly every department of the bank and his service as chairman has been marked by financial expertise, strategic insight and deep respect for the people he leads. He also has decades of community service as a Boy Scout leader and serving on several boards with connections to education, the arts, health care and community development. He also has contributed to the banking industry through roles with the American Bankers Association and Utah Bankers Association. Jon Browning began working for the bank as a senior in high school, delivering cash and coins to branches across Northern Utah. After serving a mission, he returned as a teller while attending Weber State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in economics. He worked in several departments throughout his career, including Collections and Audit, before becoming the bank’s appraiser. He held that position for more than 25 years, managing the internal appraisal department and its outside partners. For more than 20 years, he has also served as secretary to the board of directors, a role he will continue. Jon Browning’s service also includes volunteering for many years with YCC Family Crisis Center, serving as secretary, treasurer, board president and a member of the finance committee. He has also been active in church service and Scouts.
GOVERNMENT
• Gov. Spencer Cox has appointed Judd Cook to serve on the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity board, and his appointment was confirmed by the Utah Senate. Cook is vice president and general manager of Enbridge Gas. He has nearly 28 years of experience in energy delivery and infrastructure reliability. He began his career with Questar Gas, now part of Dominion Energy’s western gas distribution system, in 1997 and has since held leadership roles in operations, strategic planning, regulatory affairs and system reliability across the western U.S. He now oversees natural gas operations serving more than 1.2 million customers in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. The GOEO board includes up to nine members appointed by the governor to four-year terms.