Utah's Top 19 Monetary, Financial and/or Business News Nuggets from the First Half of July 2024 that You Might have Missed

{AUTHOR'S NOTE: Clearly, not every news announcement deserves to be the top story of the day. Nevertheless, many news items are significant and should be acknowledged as such. So in this writeup, you'll find info about 27 Utah-based organizations and 14 separate executives that we feel are "newsworthy." This being the case, welcome to this writeup on Utah's Top 19 Monetary, Financial and Business News Nuggets from the First Half of July 2024.}

Enclosed below (in no particular order), are Utah's 19 Top Monetary, Financial and Business News Nuggets from the First Half of July 2024 that may not have hit your radar ... yet.

For example:

• Lehi, Utah-based Lion Energy made two C-Level executive changes at the beginning of July 2024. According to the company news release, Lion Energy has named Tyler Horton as CEO, following the death of company CEO and founder Frank Davis who died earlier this year at age 77 after battling leukemia. Additionally, the company also announced it has hired Brady Hoggan as its Chief Revenue Officer. In its news release, Lion Energy says it "... provides the broadest and most innovative suite of energy storage solutions on the market today, from hand-held portable device charging and portable solar generators to home, commercial and industrial battery systems."
• Salt Lake City, Utah-based J.T. Thorpe & Son has "... acquired the assets of Thermal Solutions and its affiliated company, Structsure Scaffold Solutions." As per its website, JT Thorpe is "... the nation’s leading industrial service provider of refractory, fireproofing, scaffolding, insulation, and coatings services." According to the acquisition news release, JT Thorpe is "... a Terra Millennium Corporation subsidiary ..." which itself is " ... backed by H.I.G. Capital ..." a Miami, Florida-based "... global alternative assets investment firm with over $64 billion of equity capital under management." Unfortunately, erms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• As of 01 July 2024, Salt Lake City-based Sera Prognostics (NASDAQ:SERA) has been named to the the Russell Small-Cap 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes. According to the company news release, "The annual Russell US Indexes reconstitution captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of Tuesday, April 30^th, 2024, (and ranks) them by total market capitalization." Sera is a health diagnostics company focused on precision pregnancy care, especially for women, and their babies, at risk for "... preterm birth risk and other complications of pregnancy."

• Lehi-based Banner Capital Management has invested in Salt Lake City-based Vision Graphics to recapitalize the company and provide it with growth capital. According to the Banner news release, Vision Graphics is a 59-year-old, regional "... large format commercial printing services, including technical printing equipment and the design, production, and installation of large-format content." Vision Graphics' forte ranges from the creation/production of vehicle window/wall graphics of all sizes to banners/signs and rigid signage.

In fact, during its storied history, Vision Graphics has produced printed graphics for
— 4 NFL Pro Bowls,
— 5 NFL Super Bowls,
— An NHL All-Star Game,
— The FedEx Orange Bowl,
— Multiple BCS Championship Games, and
— 3 Tours of Utah cycling competition.

Additionally, Vision Graphics was the largest supplier of graphics, signs and décor for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Even with this all being true, because Banner did not disclose the size or type of its investment in Vision Graphics, this news is relegated to inclusion in this semi-monthly roundup of "News Nuggets" for the first half of July 2024.

• Christopher R. ("Chris") Smith, Ph.D. has been named as the head of Utah State University's Department of Biology. According to the USU news announcement, Dr. Smith is an "... evolutionary ecologist and organismal biologist, whose research focuses primarily on social insects (mostly ants)." He joins USU from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana where he was a professor of Biology.
• As of 01 July 2024, Kurt Dirks, Ph.D. is the new Dean at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. According to the UofU news announcement, Dr. Dirks "... has placed significant focus on values-based leadership ..." with his trust-focused research "... published in leading scholarly outlets as the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and the Academy of Management Review." Most recently, Dr. Dirks was the Bank of America Professor of Leadership at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
• Salt Lake City-based Clene Inc. (Nasdaq:CLNN) have executed a 1-for-20 reverse stock split effective at 12:01am ET on Thursday, 11 July 2024. According to the company news release, it conducted the reverse stock split "... to enable Clene to regain compliance with the $1.00 minimum closing bid price required for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market."
• According to Lehi-based Owlet (NYSE:OWLT) has promoted Amanda Twede Crawford, CPA to Chief Financial Officer from Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis. According to the company news release, Crawford replaces Kate Scolnick who "... will be departing the company to pursue other opportunities."
• Sandy, Utah-based Sunwest Bank has hired Robert Faver as its Executive Vice President, Managing Director of Commercial Banking. According to the company news release, Faver was most recently President of the Arizona Region of UMB Bank where (during a 13-year-period) he helped regional assets to over $2.1 billion, up from $75 million.
• Utah's Salt Lake County has promoted Dorothy Adams to Executive Director of the Salt Lake County Health Department and its Local Health Officer. According to the SLCoHD news release, Adams has been with SLCoHD for 37 years and has served as "... the department’s deputy director since 2014."
• The Salt Lake City-based Granite School District Board of Education has appointed Ben Horsley as its new Superintendent, effective 27 July 2024. According the School District news release, "... Horsley has been with Granite School District for over 15 years," most recently as Chief of Staff to outgoing Superintendent, Dr. Richard Nye.
• Lehi-based Avetta has named Gretchen Eischen as its new Chief Marketing Officer. According to the company news release, Eischen was most recently CMO at Icertis.
• Wealth Enhancement Group of Minneapolis, Minnesota has acquired Rock House Financial, an independent Registered Investment Advisory firm located in Farmington, Utah. According to the acquisition news release, Rock House Financial was launched in 1998, and it currently manages over $270 million in client assets. Unfortunately, terms of the transaction were not disclosed by either firm.
• The Salt Lake City-based nonprofit, EDCUtah, is being folded into the Salt Lake Chamber. According to the press release announcing the merger/combination, "After careful consideration, the boards of both organizations have agreed to move forward with a framework and process for EDCUtah to join the 'family of teams' within the Chamber." The release also stated that "EDCUtah will maintain its name and brand and continue to perform as Utah’s premier statewide economic development organization." EDCUtah's current President and CEO, Scott Cuthbertson, will continue forward as President of EDCUtah and will report to Derek Miller, Salt Lake Chamber President and CEO.

• The effort for Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kroger to acquire Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons for some $25 billion has been going on since October 2022, nearly two full years. And with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filing a lawsuit in February 2024 about this transaction, there is still no guarantee it will ever be consummated. Neverthess, in their efforts to mollify antitrust regulators, Wall Street, and the public, the firms have now disclosed the nearly 600 stores/locations they plan to sell/divest

And, as it turns out, five of those locations are in Utah, specifically,
— There is a North Salt Lake, Utah-based Distribution Center that would be sold, along with four separate stores sold-off,
— An Albertsons in St. George, Utah,
— An Albertsons in Washington City, Utah,
— A Lucky Store in Salt Lake City, and
— A Lucky Store in West Jordan, Utah.

Personally, I'd be shocked if this deal is closed before 2025 rolls around, but we shall see.

• It was probably inevitable, especially five years after he came on board as its Executive Director, but Alan Matheson is leaving The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority to join Rio Tinto Kennecott as its General Manager of Land and Water Development. According to the Land Authority, it has launched a nationwide search to identify a replacement candidate that "... must possess extensive experience managing large-scale development projects, a sound understanding of the state and local policy-making process, and an in-depth knowledge of the region's economy." For those not familiar with The Point, it is envisioned as a 600-acre high-tech/medtech multi-use economic development project that would be built on the Draper, Utah land that previously housed the prison at "the Point of the Mountain," a project not without controversy. Interesting times, for the Land Authority, Rio Tinto Kennecott, and Matheson.
• Utah Valley University has promoted native Utahn Nate Rasmussen to become Head Coach of the Wolverine's Baseball Team. According to the UVU news release, Rasmussen was most recently the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Wolverines. For those unaware, UVU rocketed to a 34—24 record during the 2023 season, up from a 19—37 season in 2022, a 15-win turnaround.
• West Jordan, Utah-based Sportsman's Warehouse (NASDAQ:SPWH) has hired Susan Sanderson as its new Senior Vice President of Marketing, Ecommerce & Loyalty, effective immediately. According to the news release announcing her hiring, most recently Sanderson was with Party City Holding (as its SVP Enterprise Marketing), The Vitamin Shoppe (as its Chief Brand & Customer Experience Officer), and Walgreens Boots Alliance (as Acting DVP Brand Experience).
• Logan, Utah-based Core Energy, a solar engineering, procurement and construction firm, has been acquired by Complete Solar. Also known as Complete Solaria (NASDAQ:CSLR, CSLRW), a Fremont, California-headquartered firm, Complete Solar has an office in Lehi, Utah. Unfortunately, financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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