Salt Lake City—Ambition and innovation among Utah’s rising leaders were honored Thursday at the fifteenth annual Utah Business Forty Under 40 Awards Thursday.

“Each year we are more impressed with the depth of the talent pool in Utah,” said Donnie Welch, publisher of Utah Business magazine. “We receive three times as many nominations as we can recognize in the program—which means that the Forty Under 40 honorees are truly the cream of the crop.”

Ethan Millard, host of KSL News Radio’s Your Utah and the Nightside Project Podcast and the emcee of Thursday’s event, said the honorees—both the current class and the rest of the 600 recognized by Utah Business over the last 15 years—are emblematic of the strength of the state’s business community as a whole.

“Forty Under 40 epitomizes the talent, vibrancy and diversity of Utah’s business community. The honorees are people who have made great contributions to their companies, communities and causes,” he said.

Lee Wright, president and attorney at law at Kirton McConkie, the presenting sponsor of the event, said seeing and working with the honorees made him optimistic about state of the state’s economy.

“We believe in the strong and thriving business community in Utah and supporting its new and rising stars,” Wright said. “This group represents Utah’s future, and from my view the future is very bright.”

See the full honorees, and read about some of their accomplishments, here.