ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

• Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, and National Geographic Cinema Ventures announced an agreement making Thanksgiving Point’s Mammoth Screen Theatre, hosted at the Museum of Ancient Life, Utah’s first National Geographic Experience Theater. The new multi-year agreement makes the Mammoth Screen Theatre the first theater in Utah, and one of the first of many in the United States, with the National Geographic Theater branding distinction. As part of the agreement, National Geographic will supply multiple films each year for viewing at the Mammoth Screen Theatre, as well as provide marketing support for the theater. National Geographic films currently screening at Thanksgiving Point include “Flying Monsters 3D” and “Meerkats 3D.” Upcoming titles include “Invisible Worlds,” a film that will showcase the new technologies — such as nanotechnology — that actually make the invisible visible in the world around us, and James Cameron’s “Deepsea Challenge,” a chronicle of the filmmaker’s ocean exploration adventures that culminated in his historic and record-breaking dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

 

BANKING

• Mountain America Credit Union has been honored with two Excellence Awards from the Credit Union National Association HR/TD Council, which recognizes outstanding human resource/training and development achievements in the credit union industry. Mountain America won in the council’s Employee Engagement category for its “8 Pillars Personal Finance” program, which fosters employees’ confidence in their ability to handle personal financial matters. This confidence positively affects how they serve and advise members who come to them for financial assistance. Mountain America also won the HR/TD Management Practices award for its “Online Branch Member Training Tutorials,” which provide training for members and employees concerning the credit union’s new online banking system. These tools are a resource for employees as they teach new and existing members about Online Branch.

 

COMMUNICATIONS

• TriTel Networks president Jay Brown has been invited by Technology Assurance Group, an international organization representing nearly $350 million in products and services in the industry, to share his vision on the future of unified communications with some of the industry’s top manufacturers, vendors, suppliers and resellers at TAG’s national convention. The 12th Annual TAG Convention will be held in New Orleans Sept. 9-12. TriTel Networks, located in Murray, is a telephone and data communications firm.

 

COMPUTERS/SOFTWARE

• Grow America Springboard Competition Winner knowonder!, a publisher of children’s literature and learning resources, has launched a new app aimed at improving child literacy by providing new, daily content to parents’ smartphones for free. Knowonder! received the third place award in the start-up category of Grow America’s Springboard business competition on May 21. The app and website offer original fiction stories, nonfiction articles, puzzles and more. The app is available for download through the Apple App Store, http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/knowonder!/id329348255?mt=8.

• After analyzing online transactions such as credit applications and e-commerce purchases, Portland, Ore.-based iovation, whose goal is to protect online businesses from fraud and abuse, found the University of California at San Francisco to be the university where the lowest percentage of fraudulent transactions originated. The University of Utah ranked No. 9. Iovation examined transactions from about a billion devices, from computers to tablet computers to mobile phones, to determine if a transaction was originating from a university and if so, whether or not it was fraudulent. Out of universities in the top ten, iovation found 0.18 percent of all transactions were fraudulent compared to an overall rate of 0.8 percent amongst schools worldwide.

• i.t.NOW, a Sandy-based provider of managed information technology services, recently donated computer hardware and technical assistance to the American Red Cross with its Time for Techs program. The value of the donated time and hardware was $6,000. i.t.NOW’s staff migrated the Red Cross’ Utah offices to hosted exchange. The firm also deployed 35 new workstations to the Red Cross’ locations in Provo, Salt Lake and Ogden, and handled all support calls and other I.T. issues.

• American Fork-based Domo has introduced CEO.com, a free service designed to help busy executives stay up to date with what’s happening at the leadership level across top industries, as well as stay armed with the latest business strategies and best practices from the world’s most interesting CEOs. CEO.com was founded by Josh James, founder of Omniture, before he launched Domo. CEO.com will showcase dozens of interviews by James of fellow CEOs. Content also includes infographics, CEO lists and original features. In addition, CEO.com’s editorial team scours hundreds of publications each day to find content for and about the world’s most interesting CEOs and deliver it to qualified subscribers in an easy-to-consume newsletter. CEO.com plans to add new services and features for its community over time, including customizable alerts, which readers will be able to set to help them stay on top of breaking news related to topics and leaders they care about. 

• Allegiance, a South Jordan-based provider of “voice of customer intelligence” technology and services, has hired Mike Chasteen as executive vice president of sales and client services. Chasteen brings more than 25 years of high-technology sales and executive management experience to Allegiance. Before joining Allegiance, Chasteen was vice president of North American and regional sales at GXS Worldwide Inc., the world’s largest provider of business-to-business integration in the cloud, where he helped more than 40,000 companies exchange electronic transactions with trading partners. Prior to GXS, he held executive sales leadership roles at Click Commerce, i2, Logility, EXE and Peak Technologies.

 

CONSTRUCTION

• Patrick James has joined BHB Consulting Engineers, Salt Lake City, as a project engineer. James received both his M.S. and B.S. in civil engineering from Utah State University, completing his M.S. in May 2012.

• Staker Parson Companies, local provider of construction materials and services, is in the process of consolidating five offices to a new, leased office space located at 89 W. 13490 S. in Draper, where 85 people will be employed. The move is designed to streamline the business. Staker Parson’s ready mix dispatch and customer service center has been relocated to the company’s Beck Street office. In Draper, Staker Parson is leasing 29,000 square feet of a 34,000 square-foot building owned by developer Rockworks LLC. The other tenant in the building will be Farmers Insurance. An open house will be held later this summer once the move has been completed. Staker Parson is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

• Utah OSHA Consultation Program representatives will be visiting residential construction sites statewide through Sept. 30, providing information to employers and promoting injury prevention by helping identify and eliminate the four major causes of injuries in construction sites, which are falls from elevations such as floors, platforms, roofs; getting struck by falling objects, vehicles or equipment; getting caught in/between excavation/trench cave-ins; unguarded machinery and equipment; and safety regarding electrical overhead power lines, power tools, cords, outlets and temporary wiring. The Utah OSHA Consultation Program provides no-cost, on-site safety and health services that are 100 percent confidential, available by request and at no charge to small employers in the construction industry. For more information, visit http://laborcommission.utah.gov or call Kate McNeill, (801) 530- 6855.

• Lochner, a Salt Lake City firm that provides planning environmental, design, and construction management services for roadway and rail transportation facilities nationwide, has promoted three vice presidents. Laynee Jones, P.E. joined Lochner in 2007 and serves in a senior project management role on planning and environmental Utah Transit Authority Utah Department of Transportation and various municipality projects. She also oversees the Salt Lake City office’s planning, environmental and public involvement disciplines. H.G. Kunzler, P.E. joined Lochner in 1991 and currently serves in the role of senior project manager and St. George office manager. He also leads the Career Development Program for both the Salt Lake City and St. George offices. Jason Phillips, P.E. joined Lochner in 1994 and serves as a senior project manager. Over the past 10 years, he has held leadership roles on several high profile alternative delivery projects, including UDOT’s recent Mountain View Corridor CM/GC Design.

• Big-D Construction, Salt Lake City, has been selected as the contractor for the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law’s new 155,000 gross square foot building. The new College of Law building is tentatively scheduled to break ground in the summer of 2013, and is currently scheduled to open during the 2014-2015 academic year.

 

EDUCATION/TRAINING

• The John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics at Weber State University, Ogden, now has a strategic plan to build five programs capable of attracting national attention. To identify the programs, the school turned to its faculty and asked them where they thought the Goddard School had a competitive advantage, and where they wanted to focus to better prepare students for careers in business. Faculty identified five areas or programs of emphasis: supply chain management, entrepreneurism, the Master of Taxation, international business and sustainability. 

 

FINANCE 

• The Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP), Utah’s official nonprofit 529 college savings program, receives a “5-Cap Rating” for both Utah and non-Utah resident college savers by Savingforcollege.com, an independent website informing families and financial advisers about 529 plans. Savingforcollege.com’s 5-Cap Rating system — one cap being least attractive and five caps being most attractive — evaluates more than 100 of the nation’s 529 plans. Programs awarded five caps are recognized as offering outstanding flexibility, attractive investments and economic benefits that provide a substantial boost to an account owner’s savings. Plans are given two ratings: one for how they treat in-state participants and one for how they treat participants from outside their state. Besides UESP, only seven other plans received a 5-Cap Rating for both.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES

• The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that the latest duration rate for Utahns receiving unemployment insurance for the fiscal year ended March 31 was 14.4 weeks, which is the 49th lowest in the nation. The Department of Workforce Services reports that Utah will pay out less than $4 million in regular unemployment insurance benefits the week ended June 2, 2012. The last time the department paid less than $4 million in unemployment benefits was November 2008. The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which Utah employers contribute to fund the payment of UI benefits, is recovering to a healthy level, making it possible for Gov. Herbert to initiate a UI tax rate reduction for 2012 for all Utah employers. The Utah UI trust fund currently stands at over $430 million.     

• Despite the uncertainty in the country’s current employment situation, many American workers who identify themselves as top performers are thinking about changing jobs. In line with research showing the recent uptick of voluntary quits in the workplace, the 2012 Aflac WorkForces Report revealed nearly half of U.S. workers (49 percent) are at least somewhat likely to look for a job this year. More troubling for employers, a majority of those who say they are extremely or very likely to leave their jobs describe themselves as the kind of workers companies need to retain to remain competitive in a tight economy.

 

INSURANCE

• Michigan-based Burns & Wilcox, the largest privately held independent wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager, has purchased W.C. Mills Insurance Inc., Riverton. W.C. Mills provides a broad range of transportation and inland marine products. It specializes in trucking and non-trucking auto liability, physical damage, motor truck cargo, and general liability and excess/umbrella. Bill Mills, who founded W.C. Mills in 2001, and his entire team, will join the Burns & Wilcox office in Sandy. Mills will serve as director of transportation. 

• The Workers Compen-sation Fund has honored several employers for exceptional safety efforts. Recipients of the 2012 WCF Charles A. Caine Workplace Safety Awards are Advanced Health Care Corp., Devoge Electric, DP Curtis, Graymont Western, Interstate Rock Products, Langford Roofing, Palmer Christiansen Co., Petersen Inc., Reid Ashman Manufacturing, Roofers Supply, Structural Steel & Plate Fabrication, Tooele County, Triple T Heating & Cooling and Wasatch Distributing. 

• Chicago-based Atlas Financial Holdings Inc. has begun selling its core commercial automobile insurance products in Utah. Atlas’ insurance subsidiaries American Country Insurance Co. and American Service Insurance Co. Inc. distribute their specialty insurance products focused on “light” commercial auto industries (taxi cabs, non-emergency paratransit, limousine/livery and business auto) through a network of retail independent agents. Together, American Country and American Service are licensed to write property and casualty insurance in 47 states.

• Wells Fargo Insurance Services’ managing director Stuart Young, CPCU, CIC, has been chosen the president of the Utah chapter of the CPCU Society. Young is a third generation insurance professional. Young was previously the managing director of the Utah offices of Wells Fargo Insurance Services since 1994. Replacing Young at Wells Fargo is David Headden. He is an insurance professional with more than 25 years of experience. For the past seven years Headden has been the regional business development officer for the Southwest and West regions.  Young will remain with the Wells Fargo team as a sales executive.

 

LAW

• Retiring United States Magistrate Judge Samuel Alba will join Snow, Christensen & Martineau in July. He will be a shareholder with the firm and co-chair the White Collar Defense practice group, along with Max Wheeler. Alba has presided over many complex criminal and civil matters for 20 years. Before taking the bench, he was a trial lawyer. Alba has been a United States Magistrate Judge since August 1992, and was Chief Magistrate Judge from 2003 to 2008. From 1987 to 1992 he was a shareholder at another local firm, and focused on commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense. From 1980 to 1987 he was an Assistant United States Attorney. He started his career trying cases in the Federal Public Defenders’ office in Phoenix. As a Magistrate Judge, Alba handled high-profile cases including the pretrial matters in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case, the Four Corners Artifacts Trafficking case, and the 2010 Bugman Pest and Lawn matter.

• Parr Brown Gee & Loveless has hired Michael Anderson as an associate lawyer in the firm. Anderson joins Parr Brown full-time after completing two terms as a summer associate with the firm and receiving his juris doctor from Columbia University. While at Columbia, he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, articles editor for the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law and a member and director of Columbia’s national American Constitutional Society Moot Court Team. Anderson joins the commercial litigation group at Parr Brown with an emphasis in media and First Amendment and international law. 

 

MANUFACTURING

• In celebration of 75 years as a part of the Salt Lake City community, Cache Valley Dairy is hitting the open road this summer and taking its cheese and butter to the people in the form of a grilled cheese sandwich. On June 7 the firm unveiled its new food truck, dubbed the “Melt Mobile.” It will serve grilled cheese samples throughout Salt Lake City and surrounding communities. The truck will make scheduled stops throughout select summer weekends at community and sporting events, local attractions and grocery stores, as well as some lunch-time visits to area business districts. For a schedule, visit facebook.com/cachevalleydairy.com.

• Lehi-based Millenniata has entered a manufacturing and license agreement with RITEK Corp., a leading manufacturer of optical storage media, to manufacture M-DISC optical discs. RITEK, based in Taiwan, will begin manufacturing M-DISCs utilizing the technology and specifications of Millenniata. The RITEK manufactured M-DISCs will be available through Millenniata’s global sales and distribution channels. M-DISC, according to Millenniata, provides permanent storage by literally etching data into a rock-like material. The M-DISC will not degrade over time and is usable on a daily basis. The disc’s technology is patented.

 

REAL ESTATE

• Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has launched a new design for its marketing and listing materials. The goal of the new look is to enhance the marketing of its clients’ homes with more simplistic, unique and contemporary design elements. Clients will notice a more progressive design in the marketing of their home with the use of large, custom photography, minimal copy and an overall cleaner look to their property flyers, postcards and online marketing pieces. Their agent will be working with newly redesigned listing presentations, custom iPad/Tablet presentations, business cards, stationery and other key marketing tools. The current redesign will be followed by a new look and several enhancements for the firm’s Coldwell Banker Previews International luxury home marketing system.  

 

RESTAURANTS

• The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation awarded more than $7,400 in much-needed equipment to the City of Orem and more than $14,800 in equipment to the Cottonwood Heights Police Department June 5. Since 2005, Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has donated more than $52,000 to public safety entities in Utah.

• The fourth annual Brewfest is returning to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort this year with a new Brewer Dinner, where representatives from local breweries will assist with food and beer pairings. Snowbird chefs will create brew-inspired food for the Brewer Dinner, paired with beer from Ruby River, Hoppers, Uinta, Epic, Wasatch, Squatters and Bohemian breweries. Each attendee will receive a Snowbird Aerial Tram foot passenger ticket and a Brewfest mug. The Brewer Dinner will be served buffet-style on the Atrium patio at The Cliff Lodge on June 16 from 6 to 10 p.m. Dinner and beer will cost $49 per person; both dinner and a night at The Cliff Lodge go for $99 per person.

 

RETAIL

• The Second Annual Edible Wasatch Treasure Hunt for Local Food, a bicycle-based event dedicated to celebrating locally and sustainability produced food and the businesses that bring it to market, will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 16 beginning at Reservoir Park, 42 S. University S., Salt Lake City. The event is presented by Edible Wasatch magazine and sponsored by Utah’s Own and the City of Salt Lake. The treasure hunt will benefit USEE-The Utah Society for Environmental Education. The event is also made possible by the support of Harmons Grocery, Whole Foods Market Sugar House, Uinta Brewing and dozens of other local businesses. Registered participants will receive a “clue card” to begin their hunt throughout Salt Lake City. Riders pre-register for one of three routes. Space is limited and registration closes on June 12. Details at are at edibleWasatch.com.

• The Second Annual Urban Flea Market will be held the second Sunday of every month through October 2012 in downtown Salt Lake City. There will be 10’x17’ booth spaces for up to 70 vendors to rent. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Urban Flea Market has a larger new location this year at 400 South and State Street in the northeast corner parking lot. Sponsors include Salt Lake City, Downtown Alliance, Now & Again, Catalyst magazine, City Weekly, Edible Wasatch magazine, Metro Display, Molding Box, Our Store, Q Salt Lake and SLUG magazine. Event information is available at www.fleamarketslc.com.

 

SERVICES

• Florida-based European Wax Center, a body waxing franchise, will open its first Utah location in Draper by late June. To be located at 213 E. 12300 S., the franchise will be owned and operated by locals Treena and Shane Jones and Jared McDougal. The group will celebrating the grand opening by offering first-time visitors a free body wax of their choice with no purchase necessary. Visitors can also receive $5 off their next visit by referring a friend, even if they just come in for the free wax offer. European Wax Center is known for its exclusive four-step Comfort Wax system which features wax made from 100 percent natural beeswax formulated in Paris. the group has plans to open a location in Midvale by the end of the year. European Wax Center was named No. 1 fastest-growing franchise and No. 82 fastest-growing private company in Inc. magazine’s annual Inc. 500 ranking.