Hosted by ACG Utah and in partnership with CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), one of the nation’s leading professional services firms, this year’s summit reflected a market that is maturing, diversifying, and increasingly drawing national attention. From private equity sponsors and investment banks to lenders, operators, and advisors, the Summit has become the region’s most concentrated gathering of deal-minded professionals — and CLA’s deep transaction services practice has been at the center of that activity.
“The middle market in Utah is sophisticated, and the deals reflect that,” says Matt Bartholomew, a transaction services leader at CLA’s Salt Lake City office. “What makes DealSource unique is the quality of conversation. These aren’t introductory meetings; people come ready to work.”
The numbers reinforce that point. This year’s summit drew more than 325 attendees, including representatives from 49 private equity funds, 42 investment banks, and 68 lenders. More than 500 one-on-one meetings were scheduled across the day, spanning target deal sizes from $1 million to $249 million — a range that reflects the breadth of Utah’s opportunity set.
CLA’s transaction services team — which advises buyers, sellers, and lenders through financial due diligence, quality of earnings analysis, and deal structuring — has worked on transactions across many of the industries represented at the summit, from manufacturing and healthcare to technology and business services. For CLA, the Intermountain DealSource Summit isn’t a marketing exercise. It’s where relationships that drive real transactions are built and deepened year over year.
That’s a sentiment shared across the room. “ACG Utah provides me with unparalleled access to the middle-market private equity, venture capital, and intermediary space,” says past President Matt Dent. “By being part of this network, I’m able to enhance my professional visibility and grow my business in a dynamic, high-value environment.”
The 2026 Summit also featured the Deal of the Year Awards, celebrating the Intermountain region’s most significant transactions from the past year; a reminder that behind every deal is a team of advisors, operators, and capital partners who made it happen.
Whether you’re a first-time attendee or a 20-year veteran of Utah’s deal community, the Intermountain DealSource Summit delivers what no conference call or LinkedIn message can: the kind of trust that only forms in person. Join ACG Utah as a member, or subscribe to our mailing list to be first in line for the 2027 Summit.