CATCHING-UP: The Top 49 Utah-focused Monetary, Financial and/or Business News Nuggets for the Last Quarter of 2024 that You Might have Missed

{AUTHOR'S NOTE: With apologies in advance, it's clear that things got a bit hectic for "Yours Truly" in the latter part of the year, especially with the births of a grandson in October and a granddaughter in November, as well as landing two new professional engagements in Q4 2024.

{So ... in this writeup I've pulled together a summary of what I felt were most significant Utah-focused "News Nuggets" that occurred during October, November, and December that you might have missed.

{From a reference standpoint, these are broken into three categories — Executive Changes, Acquisitions, and Miscellaneous — with each grouped together by the month they happened.

{In total, you'll find info about 43 Utah-based firms and 27 separate executives that we feel are "newsworthy."

{This being the case, welcome to this writeup on Utah's Top 49 Monetary, Financial and/or Business News Nuggets for the last quarter of 2024.}

Here ya go ...

A Summary of Major Executive Changes in Utah during Q4 2024

Utah Executive News Nuggets for October 2024

• Salt Lake City, Utah-based SINTX Technologies (NASDAQ: SINT) has made two top-level executive changes. According to the SINTX news release, "Ryan Bock, Ph.D. has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer (while) Ann Kutsch has been promoted to President of SINTX Technology Assessment and Transfer, a subsidiary of SINTX." Previously, Dr. Bock was the Vice President of Research & Development at SINTX, while Kutsch's LinkedIn profile suggests she was most recently the General Manager of SINTX Technology Assessment and Transfer.
• Lehi, Utah-based Avetta has hired Brandon Grinwis as its Chief Financial Officer. According to the company news release, most recently Grinwis was CFO and Executive Vice President of Customer Operations at Insurity, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based provider of cloud-based software services for property and casualty insurance providers.
• Salt Lake City-based Cyrq Energy has hired Mark Sudbey as its Chief Executive Officer. According to the news release announcing his hiring, Sudbey replaces "... interim CEO Chip Schneider (who) will return to his role as Chief Financial Officer and has been named President of Cyrq." During his over 30 years in the energy industry, Sudbey has "... previously held senior leadership roles at Reliant Energy, Orion Power Holdings and PG&E." Cyrq is an alternative energy provider, with five operational facilities in place in California, Nevada and Utah generating power via geothermal or solar power.
• Draper, Utah-based Swire Coca-Cola, USA has promoted Andrea Kendell to President and Chief Executive Officer from CFO, a position she has had since January 2024 when she joined the firm. According to the company news release, with Kendell's promotion, Swire Coca-Cola, USA has tapped Marc Hempstead as its new CFO. Hempstead joins Swire Coca-Cola, USA from its parent company, Swire Group, where he served as General Manager - Group Financial Services at HAECO, the Swire Group's aircraft maintenance division in Hong Kong.
• Lehi-based Complete Solar (NASDAQ:CLSR) has hired Dan Myers as Executive Vice President, New Homes Division. According to the company news release, "... Myers has a decade-long track record in the solar industry, having held leadership positions at the largest residential installers in the country, including Vivint Solar and Sunrun."
• Draper-based The Point has hired Mike Ambre as its Executive Director. According to the organization news release, Ambre joins The Point following a 24-year-career with the Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management where, most recently, he served as the Division Director of the Land Authority.
• St. George, Utah-based Tonaquint has hired Jim Buie as its CEO. According to the company news release, "Buie brings more than two decades of experience in the digital infrastructure and technology sector having previously held leadership positions at ark data centers (formerly Involta), Flexential (formerly ViaWest), Comcast, and AT&T." Tonaquint currently has data centers in St. George, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Boise, Idaho.
• Sandy, Utah-based Sunwest Bank has promoted Omar Morel to SVP, Director of Government Guaranteed Lending from VP, California SBA Sales Leader. According to the company news release, "... Morel will lead the banks government guaranteed lending portfolio across multiple states." Formed in Southern California in 1969, Sunwest moved its headquarters to Sandy in the first half of 2021.
• According to its news release, Provo, Utah-based Ionic Mineral Technologies has hired Dr. Sunho Kang as its Chief Technology Officer. Most recently, Dr. Kang was CTO, Battery Cell Business of Palo Alto, California-based Ola Electric.
• Woods Cross, Utah-based Sky Quarry (NASDAQ:SKYQ) has promoted Darryl Delwo, CPA to Chief Financial Officer from Vice President of Finance, while also hiring Cyla Apache to take over the VP Finance role. According to the company news release, "These appointments reflect Sky Quarry’s focus on strengthening its finance leadership as it advances its growth strategy as a publicly listed company on Nasdaq."
• Draper-based BambooHR has tapped Jonathan Vaas as its new Chief Legal Officer. According to the company news release, Vaas "... joins BambooHR with over two decades of experience in law and technology, particularly within the high-growth B2B software category." He was hired by BambooHR after more than 13 years with Adobe, where (most recently) he was its Vice President, Investor Relations.

Utah Executive News Nuggets for November 2024

• Provo- and Seattle, Washington-based Qualtrics has hired Rachita Sundar as the company's new Chief Financial Officer. According to the company news release, Sundar "... joins (Qualtrics) from HubSpot, most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) ...."
• Salt Lake City-based SINTX Technologies (NASDAQ:SINT) has hired Gregg Honigblum as its Chief Strategy Officer. According to the company news release, Honigblum "... brings over 35 years of experience as an executive for emerging growth companies, specializing in the healthcare sector." Most recently he was Managing Director for Austin, Texas-based FNEX Capital.
• Lehi-based CancerVax has hired Dr. George Katibah as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer. According to the company news release, "Dr. Katibah is an expert in oncology, immunology, host-pathogen interactions and personalized medicine, (and) he previously served as Director, Discovery Biology at RAPT Therapeutics."
• Salt Lake City-based Snap Finance has named Ted Saunders as its new CEO, effective 01 January 2025. According to the company news release, Saunders replaces Matt Hawkins, Co-Founder and CEO, who is taking on the Executive Chairman role with Snap Finance. Saunders has an extensive background in financial circles, including serving as CEO and Chairman of Carrollton, Texas-based Community Choice Financial for over 17 years. According to Pitch Engine, Snap Finance has raised $37.4 million in outside capital and currently has ~1,000 employees.
• Draper-based HealthEquity (NASDAQ:HQY) has hired Scott Cutler as its new President and CEO, replacing Jon Kessler who had served in these positions for HealthEquity for 15 years. According to the company news release, Cutler joins HealthEquity from StockX where he served as its CEO since mid-2019. HealthEquity is "... the nation’s largest health savings account (HSA) custodian."

Utah Executive News Nuggets for December 2024

• Provo-based Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group has named Lisa Carlson as its new Chief Operating Officer. As explained in the company news release, Carlson's "... deep expertise in optimizing hotel performance, combined with her strategic leadership, will be pivotal as we continue to deliver exceptional results for our ownership partners."\
• South Jordan, Utah-headquartered Ivanti has promoted Dennis Kozak to CEO from COO. According to the company news release, Kozak replaces Jeff Abbott "... who will remain on the company’s board of directors." Ivanti's technology platform provides CIOs and CISOs with comprehensive yet easy-to-use, cloud-scale security software solutions.
• Ryan Bott has been tapped as the new CEO of Ordr, which is (apparently based today in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). {He was a Board Member of the company from June 2023 through November 2024.} But as it says in the news release announcing his appointment to the CEO role, "... Bott will focus on moving the company headquarters to the United States ... (among other activities)." And when completed, Ordr will apparently be based in Salt Lake City (as its website and social media accounts show today). As stated in its news release, "Ordr is the premier payment processing platform for the sports and entertainment industries."
• North Salt Lake, Utah-based My Mind's Eye, a paper party products company, has named Nate Packer as its new CEO. According to the company news release, Packer has "... 17 years leadership experience at companies such as Amazon, Nike, and Gopuff ...."
• Draper-based Pluralsight has promoted Erin Gajdalo to CEO from COO. According to the Pluralsight news release, Gajdalo joined the company in April 2024 as its Chief Delivery Officer, before she was promoted to COO this past August.

• According to its news release, Murray, Utah-based Inside Real Estate has hired two C-Level executives:
  — Julia Laurin as Chief Product Officer, and
  — Josh Johnsen as Chief Revenue Officer.

Most recently, Laurin was CPO with Truckstop.com, while Johnsen joins Inside Real Estate from GoCanvas where he was its General Manager.

• Lindon, Utah-based Trucordia has hired Michael Moran as its COO. According to the company news release, Moran joins Trucordia from Aon where he was its Executive Vice President. Formerly known as PCF Insurance Services, Trucordia has grown to become 1 of the 20 largest insurance brokerages in the United States, aided greatly by an aggressive "roll-up" acquisition strategy over the past several years.

A Summary of Utah-focused "Other" Acquisitions During Q4 2024

Utah Acquisition News Nuggets for October 2024

• Richfield, Utah-based Plentive has been acquired by New York City-based ShareWillow. According to the acquisition news release, Plentive is a bonus plan software company. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• El Sugundo, California-based A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ:AMRK) has acquired essentially all the assets of Orem, Utah-based Regency Mint Manufacturing for $2 million. According to the acquisition news release, A-Mark intends to move Regency Mint's minting equipment to a facility in Winchester, Indiana. No information was provided about the status of the Regency Mint employees.
• Lehi-based Universal Business Computing Company has been acquired by Seattle, Washington-based Pioneer Accounting Group. According to the acquisition announcement, UBCC produces "... high-volume, high-productivity payroll and accounting software for payroll and accounting professionals." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but all UBCC employees will be retained.
• Salt Lake City-based Nearmap has completed the asset purchase of Sydney, Australia-based Tensorflight. According to the company news release, Tensorflight is "... an AI-powered platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help (property and casualty) insurers predict potential risks and reduce overall costs." Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• Salt Lake City-based SPI Automation has been acquired by Columbus, Ohio-based The Grote Company. According to the acquisition news release, SPI is "... is an automation, controls, and robotics integrator." Additionally, "... SPI will expand robotic applications and controls capacity for all (Grote Company) divisions, including A) conveyance systems, B) potato processing lines, C) robotic food assembly automation, and D) meat and poultry equipment." Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The Grote Company creates "... best-in-class equipment lines to automate food processing operations for the pizza, sandwich, and prepared foods industries."
• Logan, Utah-based Edge Excavation and Edge Trucking has been acquired by Spanish Fork, Utah-based Sunroc. According to the acquisition news release, Sunroc plans to keep all of the Edge Excavation and Edge Trucking employees. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by either party.

Utah Acquisition News Nuggets for November 2024

• Spanish Fork, Utah-based Sunroc has acquired Grand Junction, Colorado-based M.A. Concrete Construction. According to the acquisition news release, the purchase will allow Sunroc to "... augment our capacity and provide even greater value in the (western Colorado) area." Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
• Chicago, Illinois-based Hub International has acquired Salt Lake City-based acquired the assets of R.K. Gore & Associates, an independent insurance agency based in Lehi, Utah. According to the Hub release, R.K. Gore will be rebranded as "... R.K. Gore & Associates, a Hub International company." Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by either party.
• Sacramento, California-based Inszone Insurance Services has acquired Orem-based L.A. Bowen Insurance. According to the Inszone news release, L.A. Bowen Insurance traces its roots back to 1961 before it was acquired and took on its current name in 2007. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• Lindon-based Trucordia has acquired The DeLuca Agency and Denver Insurance Brokerage. According to the Trucordia news release, The DeLuca Agency and Denver Insurance Brokerage is an insurance brokerage with offices in Greenwood Village, Colorado; Owings Mills, Maryland; and Draper, Utah. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• Washington, D.C.-based Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) has acquired 13 acres of property in Ogden, Utah and a 100,000-square-foot building on the property currently occupied by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service that meets Level 4 U.S. Government security requirements. According to the Easterly news release, the building is "... 100% leased to the General Services Administration (GSA) for the ... use of the ... IRS." Further, the "... facility ... (includes) 24/7 security system monitoring, bomb detection equipment, chemical sniffing K9s, gated access, guard stations, a receipt control and deposit center, and numerous pieces of specialized equipment...." Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• Austin, Texas-based WellRX has acquired Draper-based Bioreach. According to the WellRX news release, "The acquisition brings advanced blood testing capabilities in-house, streamlining diagnostics and enabling the delivery of innovative health tests across WellRX’s ecosystem, including partner telehealth clinics, weight-loss programs, testosterone therapies, and regenerative medicine services." Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Utah Acquisition News Nuggets for December 2024

• After acquiring a minority stake in Salt Lake City-based Böhme in April of this year, New York City-based Unified Commerce Group has now purchased controlling interest in Böhme. As explained in the investment news release, UCG's CEO and Founder, Dustin Jones, is "... taking the role of (Böhme) CEO ..." replacing Co-Founder, Vivien Böhme, who remains with the womenswear retailer as its President. 
• Lindon-based Trucordia has acquired the insurance business of Archibald Insurance. According to the acquisition news release, Archibald has offices in three cities in Virginia, namely, Richmond, Midlothian, and North Chesterfield, and "... offers a wide selection of coverage solutions for individuals and businesses." Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
• Additionally, Trucordia also "... acquired the insurance business of Richard King Insurance Agency, a family-owned brokerage firm in Powhatan, Virginia." According to the company announcement, Trucordia now has over "... 5,000 professionals coast to coast."
• Pleasant Grove, Utah-based Alianza has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Metaswitch from Microsoft. According to the Alianza news release, Metaswitch is "... a provider of high-performance communications software," and Alianza reports that the acquisition will give it "... a combined customer base of more than 1,000 communications service providers, including 19 of the top 20 global operators." The transaction is expected to close in in the first quarter of 2025, but financial terms were not disclosed.
• Lehi-based SalesRabbit has acquired Cedar Park, Texas-based RoofLink. According to the SalesRabbit news release, "... SalesRabbit is the only all-in-one field sales management platform, used by 85 thousand salespeople daily," while RoofLink is "... a robust and efficient CRM solution designed by roofers for roofers." Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by either party.
• Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based Numinous Wellness (TSX:NUMIF) owns 20 "Wellness Clinics" across the United States, but it is selling 5 Utah-based clinics to Stella (an interventional psychiatry practice), for $3.5 million. According to the Numinous news release, "... Stella ... has 20+ locations across the United States and internationally in Israel and Australia and has treated over 10,000 patients." A headquarters location for Stella was not disclosed in the release.
• Salt Lake City-based Atlas Architects has been acquired by Salt Lake City-based GSBS Architects. According to the GSBS announcement, "... Atlas is known for pioneering the revitalization of Salt Lake City’s transit-oriented Central 9th neighborhood." Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by either party.

A Summary of "Other" Notable Utah-focused Miscellaneous Monetary / Financial "News Nuggets" During Q4 2024

Miscellaneous Utah News Nuggets for October 2024

• Separately, SINTX Technologies also completed a previously announced "at-the-market" equity public offering via Maxim Group, the sole agent for the offering. According to the news release announcing the offering, SINTX sold slightly more than 595,000 shares in the offering "... at an average share price of $5.23 per share ... (for) total net proceeds ... of $3.05 million (to SINTX)." SINTX "... is an advanced ceramics company that develops and commercializes materials, components, and technologies for medical and technical applications."
• Utah's Beaver City has landed nearly $7 million in funding for sewer improvements. According to a news announcement from the Utah Department of Workforce Services, its "... Permanent Community Impact Board (CIB) has approved a $4.18 million grant and a $2.79 million low-interest loan for a sewer infrastructure improvement project in Beaver." {NOTE: For what it's worth, I'm not quite sure how it is that Workforce Services gets involved with funding sewer infrastructure projects, but, whatever. As children's author Taro Gomi wrote, "Everyone Poops."}

Miscellaneous Utah News Nuggets for November 2024

• Provo-based Lodging Dynamics "... has been appointed to manage The Wilde Resort and Spa (in Sedona, Arizona)." According to the Lodging Dynamics news release, it is "... nationally recognized, award-winning operator of premium-brand hotels across multiple segments, including lifestyle, boutique, select-service, and extended-stay properties." The company currently lists 25 hotels in eight states that it manages, including
  — 11 in California,
  — 4 in Utah,
  — 3 in Montana,
  — 2 in Florida and Washington, and
  — 1 each in Arizona, Colorado, and Hawaii.
  Additionally, the Lodging Dynamics website also shows that it manages eight separate Food & Beverage establishments as well, with
  — 3 in Utah,
  — 2 in Arizona and Washington, and
  — 1 located in California.

Miscellaneous Utah News Nuggets for December 2024

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued $1.7 million in grant monies to assist "... rural and Tribal communities across Utah to expand access to clean and reliable drinking water and address solid waste management in rural communities." According to the USDA news release, the monies are being allocated as follows:
  — $800,000 to the Town of Kanosh "... in loan and grant (monies) to complete a well and wellhouse project, which will provide a reliable source of drinking water;"
  — $474,673 as a Water and Waste Disposal Grant to the White Mesa community of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe "... to repair (its) failing water distribution system;"
  — $451,000 as a Solid Waste Management Grant to the Solid Waste Training Institute "... to provide technical assistance to rural communities in a multi-state region to address specific local needs including training in landfill personnel training and institutional sustainability;" and
  — $17,000 to the Park City Conservation Association (also as a Solid Waste Management Grant) "... to increase their education and outreach programs to Coalville’s City Conservation District."

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