Articles
8 February 2012

Around Utah

by Utah Business Staff

08 February 2012—

 Northern

 

Ogden – The OGDEN/WEBER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for ADULT DANCE AND FITNESS, a dance studio dedicated to adults. The Studio offers pole fitness, aerial silk, hip hop, yoga, lyrical jazz, belly dancing, kick boxing, ballroom, pilates, chair dancing, body sculpt and break dancing classes. 

 

Logan – LOGAN CITY was named a top place to start a business by CNNMoney.com. Logan was one of only three cities west of the Mississippi to receive the recognition. Many Utah companies have headquarters located in the city including ICON HEALTH & FITNESS, HOGI YOGI, S&S POWER, CAMPBELL SCIENTIFIC and NEWDAWN TECHNOLOGIES. 

 

Snowbasin – EARL’S LODGE AT SNOWBASIN opened the HUNTINGTON BISTRO, a full-service dining option for lunch. The menu includes moderately priced fare, an international wine selection and desserts.

 

 

Salt Lake Area

 

Salt Lake City – UNIVERSITY OF UTAH engineers invented a wireless network of radio transmitters that can track people moving behind solid walls. The system has potential to aid police and firefighters nab intruders and rescue hostages, fire victims, etc. The technology could also aid retail marketing and border control.

 

Salt Lake City – SAYGUS, INC. unveiled the Saygus VPhone, an Android equipped smartphone with a nationwide two-way video calling capability. The VPhone won the Best of Innovations in the Wireless Handsets category against top smartphone makers by the Consumer Electronics Association. This award recognizes achievements in product design and engineering.

 

Sandy – The UTAH FARM BUREAU reached a membership milestone with 27,313 members in 2009. This surpassed state and national goals and the organization increased membership by 6,747 members or 16.4 percent, 10 percent higher than its 2009 goal. 

 

Salt Lake City – SENDSIDE announced the availability of Sendside’s Sales Acceleration and Customer Interaction Platform on the salesforce.com AppExchange. Sendside enables high-impact communications that helps automate and accelerate key sales processes.

 

Salt Lake City – INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE’s adult hospitals in the Salt Lake Valley have become permanently tobacco-free. The new initiative prohibits the use of tobacco products anywhere on the grounds of ALTA VIEW HOSPITAL in Sandy, INTERMOUNTAIN MEDICAL CENTER in Murray, LDS HOSPITAL in Salt Lake City, RIVERTON HOSPITAL, and the ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALTY HOSPITAL in Murray.

 

Salt Lake City – SPROUT MARKETING merged with CONNECT ADVISORS, a branding and positioning consultancy. The combined companies will operate under the Sprout Marketing brand. The merger will allow Sprout to offer a deeper range of marketing services, specifically in the areas of branding, positioning and customer experience. 

 

Murray – SELF RELIANCE OF UTAH, a non-profit agency, celebrates its two year anniversary. Located at 4424 S. 700 East, Self Reliance provides support to adults with mild to moderate cognitive disabilities. Staff works individually with clients to develop life skills including community awareness, independent living, financial understanding, successful employment and a healthy social network. 

 

South Jordan – RIO TINTO was awarded LEED-Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for the Rio Tinto distribution center. The center was sited and constructed to reduce environmental impacts, reduce the company’s carbon footprint and create working efficiencies. It is also the fifth building in the Salt Lake Valley to achieve LEED certification under Rio Tinto ownership by subsidiaries KENNECOTT UTAH COPPER and KENNECOTT LAND. 

 

Salt Lake City – The COLVIN ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES office building located at 244 W. 300 North received the Energy Star award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The award spotlights Colvin’s headquarters as being a top facility for energy performance.

 

Salt Lake City – EBAY committed to reduce its corporate greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent over a 2008 baseline by 2012. The company plans to continue investing in renewable energy, and promote more sustainable behavior such as travel habits and personal energy use among its global workforce of 15,000 employees. 

 

Midvale – MAINSTREET TAX & ACCOUNTING SERVICES, donated $150,000 worth of free and discounted tax return services to unemployed individuals in Midvale, Vernal and Orem. 

Salt Lake City – CLEARONE released CHAT 160, a group speakerphone specifically designed for use with Skype software. The new software connects to laptops or PCs via USB for hands-free communication.

 

Salt Lake City – UNIVERSITY OF UTAH’S DAVID ECCLES SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Professional MBA program was named one of the nation’s best by BusinessWeek magazine and ranks 50th in the nation overall, making the program the only BusinessWeek ranked part-time MBA program in Utah. The program’s graduation rate also placed sixth (97 percent). The overall ranking was based on three factors: academic quality, post-MBA outcomes and a survey of MBA student satisfaction.

 

Salt Lake City – JONES WALDO HOLBROOK & MCDONOUGH PC and Minneapolis-based FAEGRE & BENSON LLP formed a correspondent relationship for legal services on cross-border transactions involving China. Through this arrangement, Jones Waldo will offer Utah companies access to legal resources and strategic business advice regarding opportunities in this rapidly expanding area of the global economy. Jones Waldo, a Utah law firm with a growing international practice, will leverage the Faegre & Benson China practice in Shanghai to support transactional services for clients in a variety of industries. 

 

Salt Lake City – Engineering News Record magazine ranked BIG-D CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION among the Top 400 contractors in the nation. The New York-based publication, which provides an annual ranking of the nation’s top contractors based upon total revenue, ranked Big-D Construction No. 96 in the nation for 2009; up from 115 in 2008. This is the 21st consecutive year Big-D has been in the listing. 

 

Salt Lake City – The AMERICAN COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING COMPANIES – UTAH CHAPTER (ACEC-Utah) awarded REAVELEY ENGINEERS + ASSOCIATES (RE+A) the Grand Conceptor Award for the structural design of the O.C. TANNER flagship renovation. The award recognizes engineering achievements that demonstrate the highest degree of merit and ingenuity. The historic Salt Lake City Library, built in 1905, has been converted to the new home of the O.C. Tanner downtown jewelry store. 

 

Salt Lake City – CAPITAL CITY ANTIQUE MALL is now the largest, oldest antiques mall shopping center in the Salt Lake valley after renovation and new ownership this fall. Formerly called MORIARITY’S, the 10,000-square-foot antiques center located at 959 S. West Temple is home to more than 50 individual professional antiques dealers. Capital City is open 7 days a week.

 

Salt Lake City – Portland-based GREENREACH opened an office in Salt Lake City, providing business sustainability consulting and training services focused on best environmental, social and financial practices. greenREACH helps organizations address increasing consumer demand for green products and addresses a business environment increasingly sensitive to energy use, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and socially responsible supply chains. 

 

Salt Lake City – ENVISION ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING began design on the SEGO LILY SCHOOL located in Murray. The entire facility site, which will be designed for LEED Platinum-certification, will feature a learning environment with green space, a nature and vegetable garden with a greenhouse, a green roof, and skylights to reduce energy use.

 Salt Lake City – THE BUCKNER COMPANY has purchased FLYING J INSURANCE SERVICES. Flying J Insurance Services places approximately $25 million of insurance premiums annually, and has been providing insurance to the trucking industry since 1997. The Buckner Company has acquired insurance brokerages this year and will expand into additional areas in the West.

 

Salt Lake City – The 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index ranked SALT LAKE CITY third on the list of “Best Performing Cities in America.” The components of the rankings include job, wage and salary, and technology growth.  

 

Salt Lake City – The UTAH PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION awarded XMISSION the 2009 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award in the small business category. According to the UPA Website, the award recognizes businesses and nonprofits that “contribute to workplace wellness through policies that contribute to employee involvement, work-life balance, employee growth and development, health and safety, and employee recognition.” XMission implemented a number of employee friendly policies, including full health and dental insurance premium payments for families, spouses and domestic partners.

 

Sandy – THE SALT LAKE BOARD OF REALTORS presented more than $29,000 to THE ROAD HOME, a homeless shelter. The money was raised at a dinner and auction, an annual event sponsored by the board.

 

Salt Lake City – The UTAH DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE announced a settlement agreement between the UTAH DIVISION OF SECURITIES and other state securities regulators with WELLS FARGO INVESTMENTS LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, Wells Fargo agrees to return an estimated $1.3 billion to the firms’ national clients whose accounts were frozen in the Auction Rate Securities (ARS) market. Upon final acceptance of the terms, Utah stands to receive approximately $100,000 in fines from Wells Fargo to be used toward investor education. 

 

Salt Lake City – The GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT announced that Utah and its cities continue to receive economic development recognition in national surveys. Utah recently ranked No. 2 overall in the “Top 10 Pro-Business States” from Pollina Corporate. In the report “Rebuilding American Economic Power,” each state was ranked based on job retention and creation. 

 

 

Central

 

Park City – HIGH WEST DISTILLERY AND SALOON hosted THE PARK CITY FOUNDATION for its first donor and volunteer recognition celebration. The Park City Foundation focuses on three areas: resource development, grant making and community leadership. It also works with families, businesses and nonprofits to help manage their philanthropic dollars through donor-directed funds.

 

Emery – LIVE EARTH PRODUCTS, INC. marketed its 20th year of extracting humate products. Incorporated in 1989, the venture has grown into a sought-after source for humates, humic, fulvic and ulmic acids, the building blocks of the some of the earth’s most prized organic substances.

 

Provo – BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY licensed the rights to a microorganism developed to “eat” pollutants from soil and water to PURE ENVIRO MANAGEMENT. The bacterium’s success in lab tests has been documented in studies published in peer-reviewed science journals. The combination of this technology with Pure Enviro Management’s patented delivery system has since proven successful in an initial field test.

 

Park City – BRECKENRIDGE franchise has been sold to Bryn Carey, founder and president of SKI BUTLERS. Ski Butlers serves more than 25 North American resorts in Utah, Colorado, California and Wyoming, and British Columbia, Canada. 

 

Provo – BAUER FINANCIAL INC., an independent bank rating and research firm, announced that BONNEVILLE BANK has earned another five-star superior rating, which marks the 59th consecutive quarter the bank has achieved such honors. Bonneville Bank is one of four banks in Utah and the only bank in Utah County receiving the five-star rating. The rating recognizes banks based on an evaluation of the most recent financial data filed by the bank with federal regulators.

 

 

Southern

 

Milford – FIRST WIND, an independent North American wind power company, celebrated the completion of the first phase of its Milford Wind Corridor project, the largest wind facility in Utah and one of the largest in the West. Featuring 97 total wind turbines including 58 Clipper Liberty 2.5 MW wind turbines and 39 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines, the first phase of the project has the capacity to generate clean, wind energy to power about 45,000 homes per year.

 

ST GEORGE – The new Fifth Judicial District Courthouse opened its doors for business at 206 Tabernacle. The 91,734 square-foot, $29 million facility includes eight courtrooms and office space for use by the district and juvenile courts. Also, juvenile probation, the Office of Guardian ad Litem, and mediation is located in the courthouse. VCBO ARCHITECTS designed the Fifth Judicial District Courthouse. OKLAND CONSTRUCTION was the general contractor on the project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Jordan - RIO TINTO was awarded LEED-Gold certification by the U.S Green Building Council for the Rio Tinto distribution center. The center was sited and constructed to reduce environmental impacts, reduce the company’s carbon footprint and create working efficiencies. The Rio Tinto distribution center is the fifth building in the Salt Lake Valley to achieve LEED certification under Rio Tinto ownership by subsidiaries KENNECOTT UTAH COPPER and KENNECOTT LAND.

 

Salt Lake City - The COLVIN ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES office building located at 244 W. 300 North received the Energy Star award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The award spotlights Colvin’s headquarters as being a top facility for energy performance.

 

Salt Lake City - EBAY committed to reduce its corporate greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent over a 2008 baseline by 2012. The company aims to reach the goal through an ongoing commitment to energy efficiency and conservation, continuing investments in renewable energy, and by promoting more sustainable behavior—such as travel habits and personal energy use—among its global workforce of 15,000 employees.

 

Salt Lake City - CLEARONE released CHAT 160, a new group speakerphone specifically designed for use with Skype software. It connects to laptops or PCs via USB for hands-free communication.

 

Salt Lake City - UNIVERSITY OF UTAH’S DAVID ECCLES SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Professional MBA program was named one of the nation’s best by BusinessWeek magazine and ranks 50th in the nation overall, making the program the only BusinessWeek ranked part-time MBA program in Utah. The program’s graduation rate also placed sixth (97 percent). The overall ranking was based on three factors: academic quality, post-MBA outcomes and a survey of MBA student satisfaction. 

 

Salt Lake City - JONES WALDO HOLBROOK & MCDONOUGH PC and Minneapolis-based FAEGRE & BENSON LLP formed a correspondent relationship for legal services on cross-border transactions involving China. Through this arrangement, Jones Waldo will offer Utah companies access to legal resources and strategic business advice regarding opportunities in this rapidly expanding area of the global economy. Jones Waldo, a Utah law firm with a growing international practice, will leverage the Faegre & Benson China practice in Shanghai to support transactional services for clients in a variety of industries. 

 

Salt Lake City - BIG-D CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION has been ranked among the Top 400 contractors in the nation by Engineering News Record magazine. The New York-based publication, which provides an annual ranking of the nation’s top contractors based upon total revenue, ranked Big-D Construction No. 96 in the nation for 2009; up from 115 in 2008. This is the 21st consecutive year Big-D has been in the listing. 

 

Salt Lake City - CAPITAL CITY ANTIQUE MALL is now the largest, oldest antiques mall shopping center in the Salt Lake valley after renovation and new ownership this fall. Formerly called MORIARITY’S, the 10,000-square-foot antiques center located at 959 S. West Temple is home to more than 50 individual professional antiques dealers. Capital City is open 7 days a week. 

 

Red Ledges Named Best New Private Golf Course 

Heber Valley –  RED LEDGES, a golf and four-season recreational community, was named the No. 1 Best New Private Golf Course in 2009 by Golf magazine.

Golf magazine recognized seven new private golf courses across the U.S., with RED LEDGES ranking at the top of the list. Red Ledges opened its 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course on July 4, 2009, making it the 200th U.S. course by Nicklaus Design.

“I am very proud and pleased that Red Ledges has received this honor,” says Jack Nicklaus. “Red Ledges is a terrific golf course in a spectacular mountain setting, with dramatic sandstone ledges, beautiful trees and some great vistas. The golf experience at Red Ledges is challenging, but is one that is very playable and a lot of fun. All mountain golf courses present a challenge to the design process, but I think with Red Ledges, we embraced that and the end result was something very nice and a golf course I hope members are as proud of as we are.”

  Red Ledges plans to introduce other golf amenities in the future, including a nine-hole Nicklaus Design short course, a Jim McLean Golf School and a premier golf clubhouse. 

 

Six WSU Projects Receive $189,000 in Grants

Ogden – Six Weber State University (WSU) research projects were among the initial 10 projects statewide to receive UTAH SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH (USTAR) Technology Commercialization Grants (TCG). Funding from the six grants totals nearly $189,000.

The grant recipients represent a diverse cross-section of academic disciplines, faculty and staff at WSU—many working in partnership with local industry.

Funded projects range from a product to coat and protect concrete and stucco surfaces to synthetic saliva to a wireless aviation headset. One project uses statistical models to predict a job candidate’s likelihood of success in a specific role. The projects are at various stages in the development process.

“Half the projects include student involvement,” says WSU President Ann Millner. “These are incredible opportunities for our students to work closely with faculty and better understand the complexities of taking a product from concept to market.”

The WSU projects were selected from a pool of 23 submissions USTAR received.

“Nine institutions compete for these funds, so to have Weber State receive six out of 10 grants speaks to the quality and caliber of projects our faculty and staff are developing,” says WSU Provost Michael Vaughan.

 

The American Academy Raises $5.8 Million

Salt Lake City – THE AMERICAN ACADEMY (TAA), an accredited online high school and educational services provider, has raised $5.8 million in a Series B financing led by AUSTIN VENTURES, a nationwide venture and growth capital firm, with participation from existing investor VSPRING CAPITAL. This investment will enable TAA to further expand its position in the rapidly growing online education market.

TAA offers more than 230 courses supported by state-licensed teachers. Students of any age can attend The American Academy and earn credits or a full high school diploma. Using its School-as-a-Service technology, curriculum and school management platform, the company recently expanded its offering to assist brick and mortar schools in launching their own online learning programs. The company currently educates students in 43 states and eight foreign countries.

“We are pleased to announce this investment led by Austin Ventures,” says Gregg Rosann, president and CTO of The American Academy. “This funding will allow us to expand our products and services in the coming months, offering school districts of all sizes affordable, practical online learning solutions. Our nation’s schools are faced with a number of serious challenges, including the need to provide viable alternatives to this country’s more than 5 million high school-age dropouts. Online learning is ideally suited to solve these problems by providing flexible options for kids.”

 


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