Industry Briefs - 5-20-24

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.

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

• In an effort to retain the Sundance Film Festival in 2027 and beyond, the Sundance Film Festival Host Committee includes Gov. Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz, Senate President Stuart Adams, Park City Mayor Nann Worel, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, Visit Park City’s Jennifer Wesselhoff, Visit Salt Lake’s Kaitlin Eskelson, Utah Film Commission’s Virginia Pearce, the Utah Office of Tourism’s Natalie Randall, Zions Bank CEO Scott Anderson, Larry H. Miller Co. CEO Steve Starks, University of Utah President Taylor Randall and Donna Law of the Department of Cultural and Community Engagement. Community Partners are Dee Brewer, Downtown Alliance; Derek Miller, Salt Lake Chamber; Michele Corigliano, Salt Lake Area Restaurant Association; Malena Stevens, Summit County Council chair; Dallin Koecher, Visit Heber Valley; Celina Sinclair, Utah Tourism Industry Association; the Historic Park City Alliance; Ginger Wicks, Park City Lodging and Restaurant Association; Todd Bennett, Deer Valley Resort; and Deirdra Walsh, Park City Mountain Resort.
• The Salt Lake City Arts Council has announced the Glendale Regional Park as the site for an upcoming iconic public art installation. Integrating an iconic public art installation into Glendale Regional Park’s Phase II plans will begin later this year through a call for artists. The location decision followed online surveys, in-person interactions and a community conversation event that involved nearly 300 westside stakeholders providing insights and ideas.

ASSOCIATIONS

• Clay Partain, executive director of Sports Salt Lake, has been elected secretary/treasurer for the board of directors for Sports ETA, a trade association for the sports events and tourism industry in the U.S. Partain has served Visit Salt Lake in a number of leadership roles for nearly a decade. He previously worked in the hotel and hospitality industry with Marriott. Sports Salt Lake is a division of VSL with a focus of attracting and managing youth and amateur sports events. Partain recently was named VSL’s chief sports officer.

BANKING

• Fortis Bank, a commercial bank serving small- to medium-sized privately held businesses in Colorado and Utah, has hired Michele Sauk as market president for the Utah market. Sauk has over two decades of experience, with expertise in strategic planning, team leadership and client relationship management.
• Sunwest Bank, based in Sandy, has hired Kevin Cutteras its senior vice president and regional president lading its Arizona Commercial Banking Division. Prior to joining Sunwest Bank, Cutter was the chief lending officer at Bank 34, where he led the bank’s commercial lending division and managed all special asset credits in the bank’s troubled and/or distressed commercial, commercial real estate, and consumer credit portfolios. Prior to that role, Cutter was the regional president at Pacific Premier Bank and also held roles at City National Bank.
• TAB Bank, based in Ogden, has reported it closed more than $41 million in major credit facilities in the first quarter of 2024. Deal sizes ranged from under $1 million to $10 million from companies across the United States in the paper products, food, trucking and shipping, retail, construction and marketing industries.

COMMUNICATIONS

• UTOPIA Fiber, a community-owned open access network, has added three residential Internet service providers. The UTOPIA Open Access Marketplace now offers Utah communities a choice of 18 residential providers. The new ISPs are WiFi Pros, Bountiful; ETS, Layton; and Fusion Networks, Salem. UTOPIA Fiber is an inter-local agency providing fiber-to-the-home services in 21 Utah cities and in 50 cities for business-class service.

CONTESTS

• Nominations are being accepted until May 31 for the Women Tech Council’s annual Women Tech Awards. The program recognizes the technology-focused women in the tech ecosystem who are driving innovation, creating new technologies, impacting companies and inspiring the tech community. The Women Tech Awards ceremony takes place Oct. 3. Details are at https://womentechcouncil.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0cgqdN5QP5HdGu2.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

• Thirty-six percent of Utah small-business owners feel trapped in their own businesses, according to a survey by Latenode.com. One in five say they are unable to exit at a profitable price. Nearly one in five say they have little work/life balance. Nationally, the “trapped” figure is 45 percent. The highest figure is in Oklahoma, at 65 percent. The lowest is in Iowa, at 22 percent. Details are at https://latenode.com/blog/nearly-half-of-entrepreneurs-feel-trapped-in-their-own-businesses-study-shows.
• Sixty-three percent of indebted Utah consumers would be willing to surrender their lifetime browsing data in exchange for instant debt relief, according to a survey by CardRates.com. One-third of respondents also said they would have no contact with friends or family for a year, if their credit card debt were canceled. The study indicated the average credit card debt in the U.S. is $6,295. The highest browsing-data-for-debt-relief figure was in Colorado and Louisiana, at 68 percent. The lowest was about 20 percent in New Hampshire. Details are at https://www.cardrates.com/news/digital-privacy-for-debt-relief-survey/.
• An estimated 233,658 Utahns are “credit-invisible,” meaning they have a credit history so limited that they do not even have a credit score, according to a study by BadCredit.org. Nearly one-third of those surveyed said they had to resort to high-interest options because they couldn’t access traditional credit. The study indicated that 25 million Americans are dealing with the issue. Maryland has the highest proportion of credit-invisible residents, at 746,480 people, while Idaho has the lowest at 43,450. Details are at https://www.badcredit.org/studies/25-million-americans-struggle-with-credit-invisibility/.
• Utah is ranked No. 5 on a list for the most expensive places to learn to drive, compiled by international driver’s education company Zutobi. The average cost in Utah is $1,200, which includes $200 for theory classes and $100 per hour for practical lessons. The average cost nationwide is $937 ($217 for theory and $72 per hour for practical lessons). The highest total cost is in New Hampshire, at $1,575. Details are at https://zutobi.com/us/driver-guides/driving-school-costs-report-the-cheapest-and-most-expensive-states.
• Utah has three locations that are among the most popular outdoor workout locations in the U.S., according to a poll by Lift Vault. They are No. 19 Arches National Park, No. 109 Zion National Park and No. 133 Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Lift Vault polled 3,000 fitness enthusiasts for outdoor workout destinations that offer more than just exercise; they promise an enhanced fitness experience through their natural beauty. The top location overall is Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado. Details are at https://liftvault.com/scenic-sweats/.
• Salt Lake City, at No. 152, is the top-ranked Utah city on a list of “Best Cities for Urban Gardening,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared the 500 biggest U.S. cities on factors including room for gardening, accessible gardening supplies, ideal climates and gardening clubs. The top-ranked city is Atlanta. The No. 497 city is Dearborn, Michigan. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-urban-gardening/.
• Orem, at No. 178, is the highest-ranked city in a ranking of “Worst Cities for Grass Allergies This Summer,” compiled by Lawn Love. It compared nearly 380 of the biggest U.S. cities based on allergy risk, exacerbators, and access to detection and treatment resources. The worst city is Washington, D.C. The best is Fort Myers, Florida. Details are at https://lawnlove.com/blog/worst-best-places-to-live-with-grass-allergies/.

EXPANSIONS

• Oka, a Park City-based U.S. carbon-credit insurer, has expanded to Australia through a customer agreement with Clima, an Australian carbon solutions platform. Clima connects companies with a range of carbon credits in Australia, as well as to high-integrity global projects. PSC Paragon (Australia) is the insurance broker working with Oka and Clima to provide the insurance.

GOVERNMENT

• The Utah Department of Health and Human Services has welcomed Dr. Deirdre Amaro as the state’s medical examiner. Amaro is a quadruple board-certified pathologist. She will begin full-time in-person work for the Office of the Medical Examiner on July 1. She succeeds Dr. Erik Christensen, who retired from state employment after spending nearly 16 years with the medical examiner’s office, first as a deputy and then as the chief medical examiner beginning in 2016.
• The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has $1 million available for local food and agriculture businesses through the Utah Food Security Processing Grant, and applications will be accepted through May 31. The grant program aims to increase the security of Utah’s food supply chain by increasing the in-state processing of agricultural products grown and raised in Utah. During the program’s first two years, $2 million in grant awards ranging from $1,900 to $150,000 were awarded to 38 businesses across the state. This year, grant awards will be capped at $200,000. There is no minimum award, and $20,000 will be held for microgrants of $5,000 or less. At least $500,000 will be awarded to meat and poultry businesses. Eligible entities include for-profit, nonprofit, producer co-op, and state and local governments. All grant-funded activities must result in the sale of processed products (ineligible activities include homesteading, research, land purchases and payroll, among others). Details are at ag.utah.gov/foodsecuritygrant/ or by emailing aross@utah.gov.

INVESTMENTS

• Canopy, a South Jordan-based operating system for accountants, has raised $35 million in an oversubscribed round. The round was led by Ten Coves Capital and Ankona Capital, with participation from Pelion Venture Partners, Tenaya Capital and NewView Capital. Canopy said the investment will be used to advance its vision for leveraging AI to make firms exponentially more efficient.
• Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals, a Salt Lake City-based geothermal exploration company, has closed a $30 million funding round led by Obvious Ventures. The round included participation by previous investors, including Munich Re Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Safar Partners and First Star Ventures, plus newcomer Clearvision Ventures. The company said the funding will enable it to scale its AI-led exploration technology to develop new geothermal resources.

OUTDOOR PRODUCTS/

RECREATION

• Kent Outdoors, a group of outdoor brands offering personal flotation devices, wakeboards, water skis, towable tubes, snowboards and more, has hired Dave D’Angelo as chief supply chain officer. D’Angelo has over 25 years of leadership experience in manufacturing, global operations and supply chain optimization, including executive positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Staples, and Reebok.
• Rainbow Ryders Hot Air Balloon Ride Co.will begin offering daily sunrise flights in Utah starting June 1 and ending Sept. 23. The flights of 45 minutes to an hour will start just north of Park City, near Kimball Junction. The company offers daily hot air balloon rides in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. It has 40 balloons in its fleet.

PARTNERSHIPS

• Weber County has partnered with Qnergy to install a methane destruction system at the closed county landfill near the Weber County Archery Park. The methane harvested will be used for carbon credits that will fund the project and generate revenue and, in turn, help protect the environment from potent greenhouse gas. In August 2023, the county and Qnergy kicked off a pilot program to convert the methane emitted from the closed landfill into on-site electricity. Because of the pilot program’s success, they have expanded the project to abate more than 95 percent of methane emissions from the closed landfill. The county is working with cities to expand the project to other closed landfills and is looking to possibly install solar panels on the county’s closed landfill.
• Just Ingredients, Orem, has announced new partnerships with the Salt Lake Bees and the Utah Royals FC. The partnership with the Bees includes being the presenting sponsor of the suite level and the Party Patio, and having the brand featured throughout the stadium, including on dugout tops, concourse areas and the Vista Deck. The partnership with the Utah Royals FC includes having the brand displayed as the “Proud Partner of the Utah Royals FC” on digital signage during all home game matches and involvement in radio and TV spots.

PHILANTHROPY

• Utah Food Bank and local letter carriers teamed up May 11 for their annual “Stamp Out Hunger” campaign, with residents across the state filling blue bags with nonperishable food and leaving it near their mailboxes. Local letter carriers collected and delivered food donations to Utah Food Bank and its statewide network of 245 partner agencies. All donations will be distributed to food pantries located in the community where the donation was made. The 32nd annual food drive is sponsored nationally by the National Association of Letter Carriers in conjunction with the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association and United States Postal Service.

REAL ESTATE

• Salt Lake City and the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Council recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Marmalade Plaza, a new half-acre open space located in the center of the 500 North and 300 West block, directly adjacent to the Marmalade Branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library. Marmalade Plaza came to life through the partnership between the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City and the city’s Engineering Division, Public Lands Department and Salt Lake Arts Council. It was designed by Loci and constructed by Cal Wadsworth Construction. Other elements of the block are the Marmalade Library, 12 owner-occupied townhomes, and 252-unit residential rental units and ground-floor retail spaces.

RECOGNITIONS

• Several Utahns are among finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Mountain West Award, presented by Ernst & Young LLP. The Mountain West program celebrates entrepreneurs from Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. It is presented to leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize industries and have a transformational impact on lives. Forty finalists were selected. They include Daniel Neeleman and Hannah Neeleman, Ballerina Farm LLC, Kamas; Adam Fife, CenCore Group, Springville; Tyler Howells, Cozy Earth, Bluffdale; Lance Platt, Groove Technology Solutions, Midvale; Aaron Frost, HeroDevs Inc., Sandy; Madeline Hamilton, Whitney Smith and Natasha Thomas, Ivy City Co., Riverton; Ben Hodson, JobNimbus, Lehi; Jeff Byers and Erica Good, Momentous, Park City; Jeremy Barker, Murphy Door, West Haven; Adam Paul, NextCentury, Providence; Curtis Anderson, Nursa, Murray; Mike Linton, VLCM, Salt Lake City; Brandon Newman, Xevant, Lehi; and Shawn Moon, Zerorez Inc.; American Fork. Regional award winners will be announced June 15 and then then be considered by the national independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, presented in November.
• The Utah Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Initiative has selected Andy Buffmire as the recipient of the 2024 UAMMI Foundational Support for Advanced Manufacturing Award. This award is presented each year to an individual who has made significant contributions to the success of UAMMI and Utah’s advanced materials and advanced manufacturing industry. Buffmire was one of the founders of UAMMI in 2015. He connected Utah’s research community and industry while at University of Utah and Utah State University; brought 5G technology grants to Utah; contributed a blend of economics and law; served as a technology executive, legal counsel, and business and strategy advisor; offered legal and private-sector experience to UAMMI; and remained on the UAMMI board of directors until his retirement in 2024. He brought up the idea of setting up UAMMI not as a state agency but as a nonprofit corporation that could be funded from a wide variety of sources, both public and private.
• Several Utah hospitals are on various lists compiled by PINC AI and Fortune. The Fortune rankings analyzed publicly available data from more than 2,600 hospitals across the nation to determine top performers in clinical outcomes, patient experience, operational efficiency and financial health. Intermountain Medical Center, Murray, is ranked No. 1 for major teaching hospitals. No. 8 is University of Utah Hospital, Salt Lake City. No. 4 on a list of teaching hospitals is McKay-Dee Hospital, Ogden. St. George Regional Hospital is No. 2 among large community hospitals. In the medium community hospitals category are No. 2 Logan Regional Hospital, No. 6 Ogden Regional Medical Center, and No. 19 Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem. In the small community hospitals category are No. 1 Lone Peak Hospital, Draper; No. 2 Cedar City Hospital; No. 3 Layton Hospital; No. 4 American Fork Hospital; No. 6 Lakeview Hospital, Bountiful; No. 8 Riverton Hospital; No. 10 Alta View Hospital, Sandy; No. 11 Ashley Regional Medical Center, Vernal; No. 13 Brigham City Community Hospital; and No. 14 Park City Hospital. Details are at https://www.aol.com/fortune-pinc-ai-100-top-110000624.html.

RETAIL

• Beyond Inc., a Midvale-based owner of online retail companies Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock and Zulily, has made several executive changes. They include appointing Steph Whitacre to senior vice president and general manager at Zulily; appointing Jennifer Evans to senior vice president of marketing at Beyond Inc.; hiring Alexis Callahan as vice president of investor relations and public relations; and hiring Chris Peake as director of merchandising at Zulily. Whitacre previously was vice president of marketing. Prior to joining Beyond, she held leadership merchandising positions at Saks Off Fifth, Bloomingdale’s and Burberry, and started her career at Bergdorf Goodman. Evans’ new role includes overseeing Overstock and Zulily marketing as well as content and brand partnerships for Beyond Inc. She previously was vice president of integrated marketing. She spent nine years at legacy Bed Bath & Beyond after holding sales and marketing leadership positions at Time Warner and The Walt Disney Co. Callahan is rejoining Beyond Inc., having spearheaded development of the IR program at Overstock in 2020, and since implemented strategic investor relations programs at Tupperware Brands and Esperion Therapeutics. She spent the previous 15-plus years in roles in investor relations and investment banking. Peake brings almost three years of experience from legacy Zulily where he was most recently merchandise director. Before that, he spent 16 years at Zappos, and began his career in merchandising and operations at Lombardi Sports.
• Walmart is investing in remodels at several Utah stores. They are the Salt Lake City Supercenter, 350 Hope Ave., Salt Lake City; the Hurricane Supercenter, 180 N. 3400 W., Hurricane; and the Harrisville Supercenter, 534 N. Harrisville Road, Harrisville. Customers can continue to shop while construction work on major renovations and upgrades takes place after-hours. Celebrations of the new features and amenities will take place this summer. The remodels include expansion of grocery pickup and delivery, an updated pharmacy, a new “Grab & Go” section, an expanded deli and produce, a new community focused food and merchandise offerings, a renovated apparel section, and enhanced lighting and signage. Walmart has 59 retail units in Utah with 20,350 employees.

SERVICES

• The Elements Massage, a Denver-based massage therapy concept, has signed an area double-digit unit agreement to be developed across Utah and Colorado. The agreement is with a franchise operating group within the quick service restaurant space that also has other business ventures. Through the agreement, the group will be acquiring eight existing Elements Massage studios in Utah and Colorado while also adding 14 new studios across those markets. The Elements Massage brand currently has nearly 250 studios. The brand is a part of the WellBiz Brands portfolio. WellBiz Brands also manages the Drybar, Radiant Waxing, Fitness Together and Amazing Lash Studio brands. Colorado-based WellBiz Brands has nearly 900 locations.

TECHNOLOGY

• Pluralsight, a Draper-based technology workforce development company, has appointed Chris McClellenas chief product officer. He will be responsible for driving innovation across the Pluralsight platform. McClellen has more than 19 years of experience in digital transformation, growth strategy initiatives and executive leadership. Before joining Pluralsight, McClellen was chief technology officer at Avantax (formerly Blucora) and BoomTown, which included leading the product teams. He also was the senior vice president, digital technology officer and senior vice president of systems engineering at the Weather Channel.
• Strider Technologies Inc., a Salt Lake City-based provider of strategic intelligence, has announced that retired Canadian Vice Admiral Paul Maddison is joining the company as an advisor to help guide the company’s growth in Australia and Canada. Maddison served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 38 years and retired in 2013 from his final military appointment as vice admiral and commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. After a brief private-sector stint, he returned to public service in 2015 and served as high commissioner of Canada for Australia. Between 2019 and 2023, Maddison served as the inaugural director of the University of New South Wales Defence Research Institute in Sydney and Canberra. In January 2023, he was appointed executive director of Security & Defence PLuS, an alliance of Arizona State University, King’s College London and the University of New South Wales.