Salt Lake City—Zions Bank has added two prominent local business leaders to serve on its Advisory Board: Utah Black Chamber of Commerce CEO Sidni Shorter, PysD, and Larry H. Miller Company CEO Steve Starks.

Zions Bank’s Advisory Board meets quarterly with President and CEO Scott Anderson, Zions Bancorporation Chairman and CEO Harris Simmons, and other bank executives to offer market and industry sector perspectives and guidance.

Shorter will serve among the 20 members of Zions Bank’s Advisory Board. As an entrepreneur, advocate, and champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion, she is leading Utah’s Black Chamber of Commerce and its 400 members into a new era of growth and influence. In her time as CEO since April 2022, Shorter has expanded membership by 125% and has strengthened resources — including mentoring, partnerships, business events and education — to underrepresented and minority-owned businesses. Before being named the Utah Black Chamber’s first full-time, paid CEO, she was CEO of a Louisiana-based finance and accounting firm. Shorter holds a doctorate in Biblical Psychology, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Theology, along with a bachelor’s degree in General Studies with a Behavioral Sciences Concentration. She is currently a dean’s list student pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

The Larry H. Miller Company CEO Steve Starks will also serve on Zions Bank’s Advisory Board. Starks leads the family investment firm that oversees the Miller family’s portfolio of businesses and investments. During his time with the Larry H. Miller Company, he has helped shape the organization’s growth strategy, led mergers and acquisitions, and oversaw the organization’s transformation. Prior to this role, Starks was the president of the Utah Jazz and Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment, where he oversaw the award-winning renovation of Vivint Arena, securing the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the NBA franchise and related businesses. Active in the community, Starks serves as the governor’s Olympic and Paralympic Advisor and leads Big League Utah, the coalition aimed at bringing an MLB expansion team to Salt Lake City. He is the past chair of the Salt Lake Chamber Board of Directors, the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, and served on the Weber State University Board of Trustees, where he also received an honorary doctorate.

In addition to Shorter and Starks, Zions Bank’s Advisory Board members include: Bonnie Jean Beesley, former chair, Utah Board of Regents and Utah Systems of Higher Education; Clark Hinckley, retired Zions Bancorporation investor relations director; Susan Johnson, retired CEO of Futura Industries; Charley D. Jones, president and CEO, Charshaw, Inc.; Patricia Jones, CEO, Utah Women’s Leadership Institute; Thomas Knutson, CFO, Melaleuca; Eric Leavitt, executive chairman and CEO, Leavitt Group; Kent Madsen, managing director, Epic Ventures; Crystal Maggelet, CEO, FJ Management, Inc.; Peter Metcalf, retired CEO, Black Diamon; Ann Millner, state senator and former president of Weber State University; Gail Miller, owner, the Larry H. Miller Company; Don Salazar, president, Creative Times, Inc.; Mary Pat Thomspon, retired CFO, MWI; Astrid Tuminez, president, Utah Valley University; and Janice Ugaki, president and co-founder, Firmseek.     

To mark the bank’s 150^th anniversary in 2023, Zions Bank’s Advisory Board formally signed Zions Bank’s Five Commitments to Create Value for the next 150 years during their March board meeting.

Zions Bank operates 121 full-service branches and nearly 200 ATMs throughout Utah, Idaho and in Jackson, Wyoming. It reported $14.3 billion in average loans and $19.2 billion in average deposits, as of June 30, 2023. The bank provides jobs for more than 1,500 employees.

Zions Bank is a division of Zions Bancorporation, N.A., a $90-billion-in-assets bank which operates under local management teams and unique brand identities through nearly 416 branches offices across 11 Western states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The company is a national leader in U. S. Small Business Administration lending and is included in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Financial 100 indices. Additional information is available at www.zionsbank.com.