Industry Briefs 12-11-23

Industry Briefs are provided as a free service to our readers. Company news information may be sent to brice.w@thecityjournals.com. The submission deadline is one week before publication.

ACCOUNTING

• Tanner LLC, a Salt Lake City-based accounting and business advisory firm, has launched its Cloud FinOps practice, a service developed in collaboration with Wasatch Air LLC. The service is designed to help cloud users better manage their ever-growing cloud spend. The practice will offer cloud analysis and reporting, cloud cost optimization and cloud governance. The Tanner practice leader is Todd McKinnon.

AGRICULTURE

• Members of the Utah Farm Bureau, the largest general farm and ranch organization in Utah and with more than 35,000 member families, recently elected leaders at its annual convention in Provo. Delegates elected Cache County farmer Valjay Rigby as President of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. Rigby is a fifth-generation farmer from Newton, Cache County, farming on land that was part of an original family homestead. Valjay farms alongside his brother and his children, growing approximately 1,500 acres of alfalfa, safflower and small grains, as well as a beef cattle herd. Rigby has a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in information systems, both from Utah State University. He has also served as the Cache County Farm Bureau president, in addition to his local planning and zoning committee, local water company boards, and as a volunteer firefighter. Logan Wilde, a sheep rancher from Croydon, Morgan County, was elected to the state board of directors for District 2, representing Morgan, Summit and Weber counties. Wilde is a former state legislator and commissioner for the Utah Department of Agriculture & Food. Also elected to the state board of directors was Russ Kohler, a dairy farmer and cheesemaker from Midway, Wasatch County, for District 4 (Juab, Utah and Wasatch counties). Trevor Barnson, a rancher from Junction, Piute County was re-elected to a two-year term on the Utah Farm Bureau board of directors for District 6 (Garfield, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier and Wayne counties). Dot Jensen of Box Elder County was re-elected to the board of directors in her role as chair of the State Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee. Also re-elected were Stacey Wangsgard of Cache County for District 1 (Box Elder, Cache, and Rich counties); Delaney Nalder of Davis County for District 3 (Davis, Salt Lake and Tooele counties); Tiffany McConkie of Duchesne County for District 5 (Carbon, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, Grand, San Juan and Uintah counties), and Jennifer Marshall of Beaver County for District 7 (Beaver, Iron, Kane, Millard and Washington counties). Newly elected to the Utah Farm Bureau Promotions & Education Committee for two-year terms were Justin and Amanda Norr of Box Elder County for District 1; and Dustin Cox of Kane County for District 7. Ray and Mandy Smalley of Weber County were elected to a one-year term for District 2. Paige Norton of Salt Lake County (District 3) and Lacey Branson of Uintah County (District 5) were re-elected to the State P&E Committee. Brady and Amanda Spackman of Cache County were elected as the new chairs for the state Young Farmer & Rancher Committee. Brady Spackman was also selected to serve one term on the Utah Farm Bureau board of directors as YF&R chair. Four new couples were elected to serve on the State YF&R Committee: Jared and Reganne Briggs of Rich County for District 1, Melvin and Jessica Pearson of Tooele County for District 3, Lee and Jayla Hanberg of Uintah County for District 5, and Andrew and Maryann Blake of Washington County for District 7.

BANKING

• Brighton Bank has named John Briggs as vice president and branch manager and hired Russ Fullmer as senior vice president and chief credit officer. Briggs oversees operations as the Small Business Administration and commercial loan officer for the Cottonwood Heights office. He has 21 years of commercial and real estate banking experience. Fullmer has 15 years of banking experience.

CONSTRUCTION

• Big-D Signature, Storied Development and Swaback Architects+Planners have announced the competition of the $18 million Base Camp at Tuhaye. The 25,000-square-foot hospitality lodge in Kamas is a multi-use facility adjacent to the existing Tuhaye Clubhouse and offers several upscale amenities, including casual dining and a soda bar, golf and game simulators, bowling lanes, and basketball and pickleball courts. It also offers STEM programming called “Dream Lab,” dedicated to fostering creativity and education, where people of all ages can explore robotics, lasers, and 3D printing.
• PulteGroup Inc., an Atlanta-based homebuilder, has announced plans to re-enter the Salt Lake City market. Beginning with two new construction communities under its Pulte Homes brand, the company will offer single-family homes and townhomes in Jordanelle Ridge, a new master-planned community in Heber. Both communities are expected to have grand openings in early 2024. The Deep Creek at Jordanelle Ridge communities will feature 64 single-family homes and 114 townhomes at build-out.

CORPORATE

• Extra Space Storage Inc., a Salt Lake City-based owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the U.S., has announced that its operating partnership, Extra Space Storage LP, priced a public offering of $600 million aggregate principal amount of 5.9 percent senior notes due 2031. The notes were priced at 99.712 percent of the principal amount and will mature in January 2031. The offering is expected to close on or about Dec. 1. The operating partnership intends to use approximately half of the net proceeds from the offering to repay a portion of its term loan under its third amended and restated credit agreement, dated as of June 22, and use the remainder of the net proceeds to repay amounts outstanding from time to time under its lines of credit, and for other general corporate and working capital purposes, including funding potential acquisition opportunities. J.P. Morgan, PNC Capital Markets LLC, Truist Securities, BMO Capital Markets, TD Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, BofA Securities and US Bancorp acted as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Regions Securities LLC, BOK Financial Securities Inc., Huntington Capital Markets, Scotiabank, Zions Capital Markets, Citigroup, Fifth Third Securities, Academy Securities and Ramirez & Co. Inc. were co-managers for the offering.

DIRECT SALES

• The board of directors of LifeVantage Corp., a Salt Lake City-based health and wellness products company, has appointed Raymond Greer as chairman of the board. He succeeds Garry Mauro, who will continue to serve as a board member. Greer has been an independent director of LifeVantage since 2017 and has over 35 years of experience in global operations and technology.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• The Economic Development Corporation of Utah has announced Greta Hepworth as investor engagement manager, effective Jan. 1. The new position is intended to enhance EDCUtah’s investor program and identify new opportunities for investors to engage with both its mission and each other. Hepworth has served as EDCUtah’s events manager since 2022.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

• Utah is ranked No. 27 on a list of states most affected by retail crime, compiled by Forbes Advisor. It analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia to find which areas are the most and least affected by retail crime. It analyzed six metrics, including retail theft relative to population, the total value of stolen goods, and larceny-theft rates. The state most affected by retail crime is Washington. The least-affected is Wyoming. The state with the highest average total value of stolen goods per capita ($430) is Pennsylvania. Details are at https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business-insurance/impact-retail-theft-on-small-businesses/.
• Utah is ranked No. 4 among states for Generation Z, a list compiled by HubScore. It analyzed public data to compare the 50 states across quality of life, affordability, work and education opportunities, and wellness. Utah is ranked No. 2 for wellness, No. 3 for work and education, No. 29 for affordability, and No. 38 for quality of life. The top-ranked state overall is New Hampshire. The bottom-ranked state is Mississippi. Details are at https://hubscore.co/ranking/best-states-for-gen-z.

EDUCATION

• Western Governors University, a Salt Lake City-based online, nonprofit entity, has appointed Robert Sullivan as senior director of alumni engagement and development. Sullivan most recently served as the vice president of marketing at REDX in Orem. Prior to that, he served as the alumni relations director at Brigham Young University and before that, Robert successfully executed initiatives at Brigham Young University-Idaho.

EXPANSIONS

• Novva Data Centers, West Jordan, has acquired a 7.5-acre campus in South San Francisco and plans to build a data center through an investment of over $500 million. It will feature innovative and sustainable data center design elements, including Novva’s water-free air-cooling system, a proprietary electrical delivery system, and generators that run on hydro-treated vegetable oil. The first phase of 9 megawatts will launch in the summer of 2026. The company also has operations in West Jordan; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Reno, Nevada; and Las Vegas.
• Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., a Provo-based personal care, nutrition and anti-aging products company, has opened a new manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China. Nu Skin has invested approximately $55 million in the new facility over the past few years, which the company said will increase production capacity and supply chain responsiveness for the company in China and its other Asian markets. The company completed its China headquarters in 2014. The 440,000-square-foot manufacturing facility quadruples the production capacity for Nu Skin in China. Nu Skin also has manufacturing facilities in the United States as part of its Rhyz Inc. subsidiary.

GOVERNMENT

• The Utah Department of Corrections has named Kristen Keisel as warden at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. She succeeds Bart Mortensen, who was named the warden of the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. Keisel is the first female warden of a full prison operation for the Utah Department of Corrections. Keisel’s career with UDC began in 2006. She started as a correctional officer at CUCF and later served as a correctional case manager in maximum security, worked in the HOPE program as a lieutenant, and collaborated with county jails on correctional standards before being named deputy warden at CUCF in 2021. She has an associate degree in criminal justice and has completed the Certified Public Manager program. CUCF opened in Gunnison in 1989. It houses up to 1,800 male inmates and has approximately 500 employees.
• Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson has named Carlos Artiles Fortun as communications specialist. Artiles Fortun most recently was the producer for “KSL at Night” on KSL NewsRadio. He earned a degree in journalism from the University of Utah.

HEALTHCARE

• Seek Labs, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on innovative molecular diagnostic systems and pharmaceuticals, has completed an expansion at its headquarters. It quadruples the size of the office space to a total of over 21,000 square feet, new laboratory space, and introduces new facilities to support employee well-being. The expansion, which began in July 2023 and ended in November.

INDOOR RECREATION

• Sky Zone, a Provo-based company offering indoor active entertainment, has appointed Yogi Jashnani as chief revenue officer. He will oversee all aspects of sales and revenue management. Jashnani’s career includes 11 years in marketing and sales leadership roles at Capital One, and for two years he served as chief marketing officer and senior vice president for Advance Auto Parts. Most recently, he served as chief commercial officer at Ideal Image MedSpa. Sky Zone owns, operates and franchises over 250 parks across the U.S. and Canada.

OUTDOOR RECREATION

• Solitude Mountain Resort has named Scott Cherry to its leadership team as vice president of mountain operations. Cherry will oversee ski patrol, grooming, snowmaking, lift operations, fleet maintenance and base area operations. He succeeds Nate Lee, who retired from the position this summer after 28 years with Solitude. Cherry comes to Solitude from Mammoth Mountain, where he was the director of slope maintenance. In addition to his mountain operations experience spread across 18 years in the industry, Cherry has been directly involved with several key terrain park projects.

PHILANTHROPY

• Mountain America Credit Union and the Mountain America Foundation have donated a total of $28,000 to 26 nonprofit organizations across the credit union’s six-state footprint. The donation is part of its 2023 “GivingTuesday” initiative. The foundation started the campaign Oct. 23 by asking the community to vote on nominated local nonprofits to receive the surprise $1,000 donations.

REAL ESTATE

• Nuveen Real Estate has sold Sandy Commerce Park to Alturas Capital Partners LLC, based in Boise. Financial terms were not disclosed. Completed in 2017, Sandy Commerce Park is a five-story, Class A, creative office asset totalling 121,197 square feet at 9490 S. 300 W. The property is fully leased to eight tenants. JLL Capital Markets announced the sale. It represented Nuveen and worked on behalf of Alturas to secure the five-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan through a life insurance company. The JLL investment sales and advisory team representing Nuveen was led by Senior Director Phil Brierley and Director Cole Macadaeg. The Nuveen real estate team was led by Ines Olesen, U.S. head of workplace, retail and mixed-use dispositions; and Nichole Wiley, director of asset management. JLL’s debt advisory team representing the borrower was led by Managing Director Mark Root and Director Will Haass.

RECOGNITIONS

• Domo, an American Fork-based business software company, has announced Utah State University students Brigham Cook, Christopher Harris, Oliver Heady and Rylie Swanson as the winners of Domo’s High Education Student Case Competition, which included over 35 teams from colleges and universities from across the U.S. The USU students won $30,000 in prizes for developing exceptional data experiences that can help solve unique problems in the healthcare industry. The second-place team, also from Utah State University, earned $15,000 in prizes and the third-place team from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University earned $5,000 in prizes. Students were judged on several criteria, including Domo knowledge, use of Domo tools, overall presentation, and meeting case study objectives. Ten finalist teams comprised of undergraduate and graduate students from colleges and universities across the country were given current, real-world challenges from Domo customer Regional One Health. The student teams were instructed to use the Domo platform and Regional One’s information to develop innovative solutions for some of the most pressing problems in healthcare.

RETAIL

• Beyond Inc., the Midvale-based parent company of online furniture and home furnishings retailer Bed Bath & Beyond, formerly known as Overstock, has announced that Allison H. Abraham and Marcus Lemonis will serve as co-chairs of the company’s board of directors. Abraham was appointed chairwoman of the Overstock Inc. board of directors in 2017 and has served as a director on the board since 2002. She currently serves as chairwoman of the audit committee. Abraham is the president and founder of The Newton School, a private, nonprofit school serving grades K-8, located in Virginia. She previously managed her own consulting business; served as a director of privately held Precision Imaging Inc.; and was president and director of LifeMinders Inc., an online direct marketing company, until its acquisition by Cross Media Marketing Corp. in October 2001. Before joining LifeMinders, she served as chief operating officer of iVillage Inc.; and as president, chief operating officer and director of Shoppers Express. Lemonis’ career includes leading Camping World and being a motivational speaker. On television, he hosted “The Profit” on CNBC for eight seasons.
• Intermountain Farmers Association has introduced a new e-commerce website, www.ifa.coop. It allows co-op members and patrons to access and purchase IFA’s brands and products online for pick-up at IFA Country Store locations. In addition, online shoppers will be able to explore more than 30,000 IFA products, have access to online sales and receive other exclusive offers.

SERVICES

• GBS Retire, based in Salt Lake City and an affiliate of national brokerage firm Leavitt Group, has hired David Todd as a financial advisor. Based in Virginia, BTJ Insurance has been a Leavitt Group affiliate since 2021. Todd will be focused on helping clients with all aspects of their financial needs and brings 17 years of experience in the financial industry.

TECHNOLOGY

• Squire Technology LLC, a Salt Lake City-based provider of software products and related services and a wholly owned subsidiary of Squire & Company PC, has launched a cloud financial management offering. The offering is the result of a collaboration with Wasatch Air LLC, a provider of Cloud FinOps practice development services to accounting and business advisory firms. Squire Tech’s Cloud FinOps offering is designed to help clients optimize their overall cloud spend and enhance cloud reporting and governance. The offering will focus on cloud analysis and reporting, cloud cost optimization and cloud governance.

TRANSPORTATION

• Hawaiian Airlines has begun sales for new daily nonstop service between Salt Lake City International Airport and Honolulu. The service begins May 15 using 189-seat Airbus A321neo aircraft. Salt Lake City becomes Hawaiian’s 16th gateway city in the continental U.S. The airline also offers approximately 150 daily flights within the Hawaiian Islands and also service connecting Honolulu and American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Tahiti.
• Breeze Airways, based in Cottonwood Heights, has announced it will begin offering service between Ogden-Hinckley Airport and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on Feb. 21. It will have four weekly flights (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) on Airbus A220-300 aircraft. Breeze also offers service to Provo.
• The Cottonwood Connect ski shuttle has returned for a second season. The reservation-only shuttle service will run from Dec. 22 through April 14. The program goal is to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and enhance the visitor experience. The shuttle will run daily through Jan. 1, then on Fridays through Sundays and holidays from Jan. 5 through April 14. Reservations for rides to Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude are being accepted. Details are at visitsaltlake.com/cottonwoodconnect. Passengers will pay $10 one-way or $20 for a round-trip service and reservations will be required through the online booking portal. The public-private partnership was established in part by Salt Lake County, Visit Salt Lake, Utah Transit Authority and Utah Department of Transportation, with supplemental support from Ski ‘N’ See. Areas served by Cottonwood Connect include Midvale, Cottonwood Heights and Sandy, with stops at area hotels and public park-and-ride lots. The Driver Provider was selected as the service provider after a request for proposal process by Visit Salt Lake.