Articles

8 February 2012

The JAMES L. SORENSON MOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY BUILDING, a USTAR innovation center, is currently under construction. The roughly 200,000-square-foot facility will house a series of research teams recruited by the University of Utah through the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) Initiative. This effort builds on existing strengths within the university including pharmaceuticals, genetic discovery techniques, biomedical technologies, nanotechnology, scientific visualization and graphics, biological sciences and advanced cancer research.

            The facility will support 25 senior faculty researchers along with junior faculty, and will contain laboratory space, core facilities, faculty office space, symposium and conference space and public areas designed to encourage maximum interaction between faculties from diverse disciplines within the scientific community. Assignable research and support space will be designed for maximum flexibility and adaptability to accommodate future occupants. Core facilities will support faculty within the building and serve in some instances as university-wide resources.

            The building has been designed and will be constructed with the goal of achieving a LEED Gold certification. The facility will set a high standard for sustainable design—the building will be energy efficient and reduce both energy use and energy costs from current laboratory code requirements by a minimum of 40 percent. “Green” features will include daylighting techniques to allow as much natural light into the building as possible (reaching at least 75 percent of the building’s occupied spaces) as well as the use of sunshades to adjust the quality and intensity of the light that enters the building at different times and different angles throughout the year.

            Ground was broken for the new USTAR facility in April 2009 and the project is anticipated to be complete in October 2011.

 

Salt Lake City – The SALT LAKE CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU (SLCVB) celebrated its 25th anniversary.

            “Our 25th anniversary is significant in many ways,” says Scott Beck, president and CEO of the SLCVB. “We’re here today because of the strong commitment, vision and leadership on the part of our county and state governmental leaders, and the strong support and involvement provided by our volunteer Board of Trustees and the 850 members of our organization. We’ve been fortunate to have a real ‘who’s who’ of Utah guiding us over the past 25 years, and our membership has remained extremely supportive and engaged. All of this support has been the foundation for our ongoing success.”

            “2008 was a banner year,” adds Steve Lundgren, chairman of the board and regional general manager for Marriott Hotels and Resorts. “In fact it was the bureau’s second largest in terms of convention bookings, second only to the year where we booked groups due to the impact of hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics.”

            In addition to the focus on citywide convention business, the bureau remains committed to the success of its tourism programs. Based on the industry-leading success of the Ski Salt Lake Super Pass, the Visit Salt Lake message is alive and well. A major economic driver in the state, the tourism industry represents more than 113,000 jobs in Utah, almost 9 percent of the total workforce. Traveler spending has increased more than 27 percent statewide since 2004 to $7.19 billion, up from $5.65 billion, representing more than $631 million in state and local taxes generated. A recent Ski Utah survey showed that 50 percent of out-of-state visitors that ski in Utah stay in Salt Lake County, adding dramatic economic impact to the Salt Lake Valley.

            The Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau is actively planning for the future to ensure a strong convention and tourism industry in Salt Lake. “From cooperative marketing programs with other destination marketing partners to the most current and state-of-the-art Web-based programs, we are planning for the future by building on the successful programs we’ve implemented over the past few years to ensure the longevity of the SLCVB and Salt Lake as the world-class meeting, convention and tourism destination it has become,” says Beck. 

 

Salt Lake City – In today’s business climate, companies are cutting executive bonuses and scaling back lavish sales incentive trips, but BENEFICIAL FINANCIAL GROUP remains committed to a recognition program for its top financial professionals—a program that includes giving back to others.            With the help of CHOICE, a nonprofit humanitarian organization, 12 Beneficial agents and their guests participated in the company’s second annual service expedition.

 

Most industry incentive and recognition programs are based on how much money an agent produces in sales, but qualification for Beneficial’s service expedition is based on how many lives an agent protects through life insurance. It does not matter how big or small the policy is—it is solely about how many families and lives are protected. Agents earn the right to participate in the expedition if they protect a minimum of 80 lives during the calendar year, not an easy task considering the average agent protects far fewer than half as many lives in a year.

           

This year’s expedition team revisited the Guatemalan village of Chimaxyat, located in the Cloud Forest Region—a primitive setting consisting of a small

school and dirt-floor homes constructed with bamboo poles and tin roofs, with no electricity, no furniture, and no latrines.

           

Working alongside the villagers, the group taught locals the concept of a bucket brigade while hauling cement bags and cinderblocks for a foundation for a new schoolhouse kitchen. Volunteers helped install concrete platforms for washbasins in several homes, a project that villagers will complete for each family. Volunteers also helped plant two community gardens, install a solar panel on the schoolhouse roof and taught villagers next steps to improving their village.

           

“Our objective is to build a program that’s sustainable, that will continue beyond this one week of service and eventually involve all of our agents,employees, and communities,” said Mike Jensen, Beneficial’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer.