This story appears in the July 2025 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
Deseret News | Founded in 1850

“The Deseret News turned 175 in June, giving us a chance to reflect on our history as Utah’s oldest continuously operating business. Over time, we’ve seen tremendous change. What began as a frontier newspaper reliant on the Pony Express and a manual printing press is now a media brand reaching millions of readers each month, most of them outside Utah. Throughout our history, we’ve adopted emerging technologies to improve storytelling and accelerate the path from draft to delivery — from telegraphs to typesetting, broadsheets to app notifications. We’ve pivoted to meet readers where they are, first by investing in digital publishing, then by building a modern app experience and growing our audience through newsletters, social channels, podcasts and search. As format preferences continue to shift, our business practices will evolve, too. The next frontier for us is producing more short-form video and deeper onsite experiences that keep people coming back. If we stay focused on the intersection of compelling journalism and the formats audiences prefer, we believe the Deseret News will continue to thrive — ready to celebrate 200 years and beyond.” — Burke Olsen, Publisher
Editor’s note: Burke Olsen is also the publisher of Utah Business.
Zions Bank | Founded in 1873

“We recognize banking is a local business, and to be successful, we must maintain strong ties to the communities we serve and strong relationships with our clients. That is as true today as it was on our first day of business back in 1873. … There really is something to the phrase, “The Utah way.” In Utah, we look out for, encourage and lift one another. Even as we compete with one another, we have respect for one another. Creating value is about far more than dollars and cents. Creating a lasting legacy includes finding ways to help make the community better, making those you serve stronger, and contributing in meaningful ways to find creative solutions to community needs. … We consider ourselves a forever institution here in Utah — our well-being as an organization is inextricably connected to the well-being of our clients and the local communities that make up Utah. Their stories have made our story possible.” — Rob Brough, Former EVP, Marketing
Alsco Uniforms | Founded in 1889

“Our service is something that everybody needs. There’s the basic idea of having clean linens for whatever purpose — for table linens, for uniforms, for keeping washrooms clean with soaps and tissues and things like that. We have an efficient way of providing it, and we’re taking the burden off our customers by handling these things for them. It’s also so low tech that the next new machine isn’t going to make us obsolete. It’s like the food business: People are always going to need food. Similarly, we’re always going to need clean textiles for one purpose or another, pretty much indefinitely. … We still don’t think what we do is done perfectly. We’re trying to improve ourselves. We’re trying to get a better, broader mix of business for stability so that when something goes wrong in one industry, we have customers in other industries. We want to expand and grow, not in an out-of-control pace, but to keep going and making progress. I think it’s a challenge for everyone, but we want to see that happen.” — Bob Steiner, CEO & President
Glover Nursery | Founded in 1911

“When we first started getting this going after Grandpa passed away, we never knew from year to year if we had the business. After about five to 10 years, we felt confident that we could survive the next year, no matter how the spring started. [It helps] having the confidence of knowing you’ve been around long enough that you can make it through the next year. … During the political landscape back in the Jimmy Carter era, the interest rates got really high and all of our friends went bankrupt in their businesses, [but we stayed afloat because] people like to garden. … [More recently, the COVID-19 era] made people more aware of their yards and such because they couldn’t travel. That ended up being a great year for us in sales, and it got a lot of people started in gardening; they still are. A lot of people are coming in who learned about gardening because they wanted to grow their own food. We sold so many fruit trees and small fruit plants that year that we couldn’t get enough. A nursery can survive the cycling of time because it’s good therapy. You grow your own food, and it enhances the environment. It feeds oxygen into the atmosphere. It’s hard to find anything wrong with [that] end of our business.” — Rod Glover, Co-Owner
Taffy Town | Founded in 1916

“We’re really proud to be a Utah company. … The [early manufacturing] labor force in Utah was very positive and industrious [enough] to make it through difficult times. Being a 100-year company, there were things that we had to get through, whether they were multiple wars, Depression or different inflationary issues with the economy. [Utah has] been a solid ground for us to steady ourselves and not be affected by some of those major catastrophes that came into the economy. … Looking back [100 years], I can see and be extremely grateful for those things and understand that when [people] may have thought [something] was a deal breaker at that time, there was a way out. When I have challenges ahead of me, I can look back on that history and see that there is a way around them. The company’s had worse times and worse problems than this, and they found a way. We’re still here, and we’re still growing. It’s a great blessing to look back on those things [for] the encouragement and to have that knowledge going forward.” — Jason Glade, CEO & President
Woodbury Corporation | Founded in 1919

“Everything’s cyclical. There are times when things are booming, and there are times when it’s really tough. The really critical thing is to just stay consistent. Ultimately, making sure you do business with integrity and that you try to treat people fairly is really, really important. Salt Lake is just not big enough where you can offend people all over the place. You can’t say you’re going to do things and then not do them and not have it affect you. We’ve really learned that to be successful in business, you have to be worried about your reputation and make sure you’re protecting your brand by trying to be honest and fair. Lastly, it’s important to always be really creative and forward-thinking, making sure you’re not stuck in [the mentality of], “This is how we did it 20 years ago, so we’re going to keep doing it this way forever.” Sometimes, older businesses have a hard time adjusting and keeping up with the times. I’m really proud of our company because I feel like we’ve been able to stay relevant. … I would encourage everybody to have that mindset of trying to make Utah a place that’s not only great to live in today but also great to live in for generations. … Be prepared to treat the state right. Ultimately, your business flourishes if you’re willing to give back and be a part of the community.” — Taylor Woodbury, CEO