Industry Briefs 9-2-24

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.

ADVISORY

• Diversify Advisor Network, a Sandy-based wealth management firm, has acquired Perspective Financial Services, a Phoenix-based, fee-only firm with $290 million in assets under management. Terms were not disclosed. Perspective was founded in 2003 by industry veteran Mike McCann, who has a team of seven advisors, most of whom have been with Perspective for over 15 years. They will join Diversify Wealth Management, Diversify’s W2/Partner RIA platform. In addition to Perspective, Diversify welcomed Jason Zivich, formally with WealthSource, to its independent RIA, Diversify Advisory Services. Zivich is based out of Manhattan Beach, California, and oversees $150 million in fee-based assets from ultra-high-net-worth investors.
• CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) has hired Brian Bevan as a senior wealth advisor in its Salt Lake City office. He works closely with a team of tax, accounting and advisory professionals to help individuals and businesses achieve their financial goals. Bevan has more than 16 years of wealth management experience as a Certified Financial Planner and has partnered with clients through major life events such as changing jobs, births, estate planning, sales of businesses, retirements and philanthropy. His experience includes helping clients as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Bevan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from the University of Utah.

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

• Salt Lake City has announced that its “Open Streets” activities will be in the Granary District every Friday and Saturday in September. The program will transform the district into a pedestrian promenade from 3-11 p.m. on 500 West between 700 and 800 South and feature live music, food and drink, street soccer and kids’ activities from 4-10 p.m. Also, on 500 West from 700 South to 900 South, a Green Loop demonstration will increase space for people walking and bicycling by narrowing the road. Parking and business access will remain open.

DIVIDENDS

• The board of directors of Extra Space Storage Inc., based in Salt Lake City, has declared a third quarter 2024 dividend of $1.62 per share on the common stock of the company. The dividend is payable Sept. 30 to stockholders of record Sept. 16. Extra Space Storage is a real estate investment trust that owns and/or operates 3,812 self-storage properties. It is the largest operator of self-storage properties in the United States.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

• A total of 526,590 Utahns, or 30 percent of the state’s workers, say they loathe their jobs, according to a survey by CardRates.com. Only 14 percent say they work in their dream jobs. The largest number of loathe-the-job workers is in California, at nearly 8 million. The lowest is in Vermont, at 104,933. The national figure is 38 percent, or 59 million people. Iowa has the lowest percentage, at 11 percent, while Mississippi and Nevada have 56 percent of the workforce that is unhappy. Details are at https://www.cardrates.com/studies/living-your-childhood-dream-job/.
• Utah is ranked No. 19 on a list of “Safest States for Outdoor Workers,” compiled by Lawn Love. It compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on factors including legislation protecting workers from extreme weather conditions, whistleblower retaliation rights employment benefits; the number of work-related injuries and fatalities; and climate. Among the factors, Utah is No. 10 among states for worker protection and safety, No. 24 for environmental stressors, No. 34 for medical access, No. 25 for employment and benefits, and No. 27 for safety. The top-ranked state is Washington. The bottom-ranked state is Arkansas. Details are at https://lawnlove.com/blog/safest-states-outdoor-jobs/.
• Utah is tied with five other states for the third-worst gains in broadband access over the past four years in the U.S., according to a study by HostingAdvice. It used data from County Health Rankings. In Utah, just 4 percent more households, equating to 121,758 households, have gained broadband access. Arkansas led the gains, at 9 percent. New Hampshire and Alaska had only 3 percent. In Utah, San Juan County led all counties, with an increase of 14 percent, or 670 households. Piute County was the worst-performing Utah county, seeing a decrease of 8 percent, second-worst among all U.S. counties. Details are at https://www.hostingadvice.com/blog/broadband-access-study/.
• Sixty-three percent of surveyed single-parent Utahns indicate they miss out on careers due to inflexible interview times, according to a study by outplacement and career development firm Careerminds. The national average is 44 percent. Nationally, childcare emerged as the main barrier to attending interviews, while 16 percent attributed it to school runs and after-school activities. In Utah, 40 percent of respondents said flexible scheduling would be a game-changer. Virtual interviews were favored by 20 percent, eliminating the need for childcare or travel. On-site childcare was another popular suggestion, with 31 percent seeing it as a potential solution. Details are at https://careerminds.com/blog/parent-pitfalls.
• Heber is ranked No. 36 and Park City is No. 73 on a list of “Top Choices for Vacation Home Buyers,” compiled by real estate resources website Agent Advice. The results are from a survey of 3,000 Americans. The top-ranked location overall is Aspen, Colorado. Details are at https://www.agentadvice.com/blog/cooler-vacation-destinations/.
• Three Utah locations are on a list of the “Most Pristine Streets in America,” compiled by Waste Removal USA. North Main Street in Cedar City is ranked No. 6, Main Street in Park City is No. 35 and North Main Street in Moab is No. 69. Waste Removal USA surveyed 3,000 travelers nationwide for the list. The top location overall is Broughton Street in Savannah, Georgia. Details are at https://wasteremovalusa.com/blog/top-100-cleanest-streets-in-america/.
• Salt Lake City is ranked No. 48 on a list of “Best Cities for Dog Lovers,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared the 500 biggest U.S. cities on factors including access to dog-friendly housing and businesses, friendliness of dog-related laws, and affordability of canine services like training and dog-sitting. Salt Lake City is the top-ranked Utah city, while West Valley City is the lowest-ranked, at No. 492. The top-ranked city is Scottsdale, Arizona. The No. 500 city is Waterbury, Connecticut. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-dog-lovers/.

EDUCATION

• Nineteen people graduated from the Master of Business Creation Online at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business following the summer 2024 semester. It is the second group to graduate from the online option and follows the May graduation of over 40 students from the MBC program. The post-summer group includes founders of 18 companies. One of the companies had two co-founders who enrolled in the program together.

EXPANSIONS

• Novva Data Centers, a West Jordan-based data center company, has announced it will build a 300-megawatt data center campus on 160 acres in Mesa, Arizona. Novva acquired the land through a state land auction in August 2023. The campus is Novva’s sixth site and its first entry into Arizona. The data center provider will invest more than $3 billion to build the campus in two phases over the next decade. The first phase of 96 megawatts is expected to launch in late 2026. When complete, the facility will feature five data halls, an office building and warehouse with a footprint of 1.3 million square feet and employ an estimated 200 people. Novva has campuses in West Jordan; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Reno, Nevada; Las Vegas; and San Francisco.

FOODS

• Southwind Foods recently held a grand opening event for its new seafood processing, storage and distribution facility at 4433 W. California Ave., Salt Lake City. The $30 million, 40,000-square-foot facility is expected to create economic growth in Utah, while reducing costs for customers, giving end consumers increased value, health benefits of seafood proteins. It also will create 35 new jobs over the next three years. The facility will serve over 1,000 customers across the Intermountain region, including Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.
• Beehive Meals, a Layton-based freezer meal prep delivery service, has announced a transition to begin shipping its slow-cooker freezer meals, beginning in September. The shift aims to enable Beehive Meals to serve potential customers far beyond its current delivery areas. Founded in late 2019, the company has prepped and delivered more than 2.5 million freezer meals to families across Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado and the Las Vegas Valley. The transition includes shipping statewide to customers in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and Idaho in the first phase, with Phase 2 featuring an expansion of its shipping services to California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and Nebraska.

GOVERNMENT

• Vic Hockett is the newest member of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity board, following his confirmation by the Utah Senate. The board consists of up to nine members appointed to four-year terms by the governor. Hockett currently oversees Talent Ready Utah, a legislative center created at GOEO and now housed at the Utah System of Higher Education. It represents the voice of industry by developing short-term and long-term strategies for workforce development. Hockett has over 13 years of operations and leadership experience in the manufacturing sector and more than eight years of experience in executive-level leadership and instruction in higher education. His previous professional roles include director of operations, adjunct instructor, quality manager, plant manager, and executive vice president and COO.
• The Utah Office of the State Auditor has updated its Property Values Tool with new property values from 2024, as well as data from more counties. The tool was created last year due to taxpayer concerns and questions about inequitable valuation treatment. The tool allows taxpayers to see current and past property values as well as the percent change in year-over-year property values. This in turn helps taxpayers, policymakers and regulators better understand property assessment in Utah. The tool employs a graphical map interface that allows users to browse through different properties that have available data, as well as a search feature to look up specific properties. The map is color-coded to show how much property values have changed. The “layers” feature of the map allows users to select different aspects of the map that they would like to be able to see, including property types, tax-exempt land and Utah land ownership. The tool can be viewed at PropertyValues.utah.gov.

HEALTHCARE

• Upgrade Labs has had a soft opening Aug. 24 at 6030 Market St., Suite 135, Park City. A grand opening is scheduled for Oct. 11-12. Upgrade Labs was founded in 2017 by Dave Asprey with a mission to help people reach their highest levels of performance through unique technologies. The new location is owned by Logan Jones-Olson and his partner, Kristen Roscher. Jones-Olson’s experience includes a corporate career in analytics and consulting.

INVESTMENTS

• Redo Tech Inc., a Draper-based e-commerce platform, has raised a $24 million in a Series A funding round, led by Pelion Venture Partners. Epic Ventures, Kickstart Fund and Tandem Venture Partners joined the round as institutional investors. Cervin Ventures and Aglae Ventures also participated, as did a group of angel investors and Redo customers. Redo launched in January 2023.
• Carketa, a Lehi-based provider of data and intelligence software for the automotive industry, has closed a $4.4 million early-growth round. The round was led by new investor Capital Eleven, with participation from both new and existing investors, including Crosslink Capital, Origin Ventures, Allegis Capital and Peak Ventures.

PARTNERSHIPS

• Girl Power, based in Denmark, and #SheBelongs have partnered for the #SheBelongs Global Cup scheduled for June 2025 in Madrid, Spain. The Cup will bring together more than 100 refugee and non-refugee girls for a weeklong experience of football, advocacy and bonding. Girl Power uses sport and education as tools to empower, connect and unify women and girls from all cultures and social backgrounds. #SheBelongs is a global program of Refugee Soccer, created to encourage refugee and non-refugee girls around the world to change the way females are viewed, provide real opportunities to grow, and to form powerful international bonds through soccer. Refugee Soccer is operated by Bridges To America Inc. a nonprofit based in Salt Lake City.

PHILANTHROPY

• Walmart and Sam’s Club associates, customers and members raised over $43 million during their fundraising campaign for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals between June 10 and Jully 7. Donations were accepted in-store/club, online at Walmart.com and the Walmart app, and through creative associate-driven fundraising activities. These funds will benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, based in Salt Lake City, to help provide critical treatments and care to millions of children across the U.S. The donations stay local and support the local member hospital of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in the communities where funds are raised.
• Dan’s Fresh Market, Lin’s Market, Dick’s Market, Fresh Market and Macey’s partnered with Make-A-Wish Utah in June to raise money to grant wishes for Utah youngsters diagnosed with critical illnesses. The wishes of 12 Utah children will come true as a result. The stores donated $81,810.88 to Make-A-Wish Utah. Guests at the stores helped with the donation. Throughout the donation period, several kids who recently had their wishes granted visited the grocery stores, where they were celebrated by the store teams and given gift baskets and allowed to try out different grocery store jobs, including cashier and cake decorator.
• Auto care company Burt Brothers Tire & Service Inc. recently partnered with Make-A-Wish Utah to grant wishes for Utah wish kids, including a 11-year-old Layton resident, diagnosed with a brain tumor, who has wished to go to Atlantis Paradise Island in The Bahamas. More than 500 Burt Brothers staff and their family members attended a Salt Lake Bees’ game to surprise him with the news that his wish will be granted. Following the game, Burt Brothers kicked off a two-month donation drive in their 26 store locations throughout Utah for Make-A-Wish Utah, featuring his story. Burt Brothers has been partnering with Make-A-Wish Utah since 2021.

REAL ESTATE

• Two Class A industrial warehouses in Pleasant Grove have been sold to an unidentified national industrial investment firm. Financial terms also were not disclosed. The sale was announced by Dakota Pacific Real Estate, based in Salt Lake City, in partnership with Brasa Capital Management, based in Los Angeles. The two buildings combined have over 427,000 square feet and are fully leased to six companies. Newmark’s Lucas Burbank and Ben Richardson led the leasing of the project and supported the sale process alongside Jim Linn. Big-D Construction served as the general contractor for the buildings, Mitre Peak provided development consulting services, and Zions Bank financed the project.
• Roderick Enterprises has been secured as the buyer of a development project in St. George. The move was announced by Mountain West Commercial Real Estate. Details were not disclosed. Roderick plans to create a Class A business park of up to 300,000 square feet. MWCRE said the business park is set to attract businesses and provide premium warehouse and distribution spaces. Groundbreaking is expected by August 2025. MWCRE agents Doug Scheel and Troy Scheel will assume the role of listing agents for the project.

RESTAURANTS

• Vessel Kitchen will open a location in September at 197 NW State St., American Fork. In its eighth year, the company will have eight locations. The American Fork location will be its first in Utah County. Vessel Kitchen offers bowls, seasonal salads, tacos and sides.

RETAIL

• Valley Grove, a mixed-use business community developed by St. John Properties in Pleasant Grove, has signed leases to several retail brands, who will occupy more than 11,200 square feet. The new leases are with Feather Hat Bar, MassageLuXe, Melty, Panera Bread and Royal Suits. The new activity adds to the nine new retailers, comprising nearly 17,000 square feet of space, that St. John Properties added to the 130-acre development in over the past several months. Feather Hat, (1,400 square feet) sells brim and cowboy hats and accessories. MassageLuXe (2,600 square feet) is a health and wellness concept that will open in early 2025. Quick-serve restaurant chain Melty (1,621 square feet) specializes in grilled sandwiches and has locations in California, Tennessee and Utah. Bakery and café Panera Bread (3,755 square feet) will have the company’s second Salt Lake City area location at Valley Grove. Royal Suits (1,847 square feet), which sells custom-designed and tailor-fit business suits for men, intends to open in October.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

• Expedia Cruises, a leisure travel agency franchise, has secured two single-unit franchise agreements to expand their services in the western region of the United States. One agreement is for Bountiful and is expected to open in late 2024, and the second agreement is slated for a mid-2025 opening in Boise. Behind the Utah agreement are husband and wife Ramon and Garimirka Chaparro. Ramon Chaparro, who will oversee the financial side of the business, has financial experience from decades of controlling finances and accounting for global corporations, including one of the world’s largest gold mining companies. Garimirka Chaparro, who will focus on the day-to-day operations, previously worked as a marketing professional within the banking and financial field before taking a job in human resources. At the same time, she worked as an independent contractor arranging resort vacations for affinity groups.