NEWS OF NOTE: Lunar Resources Plans $85 Million Utah Factory, HealthEquity and the Utah Jazz Enter Sponsorship Deal, a $44 Million Refinancing, and Five Other Newsworthy Items Comprise this Week's Writeup

This edition of NEWS OF NOTE tracks recent Utah-related business, capital, real estate, public-finance, defense-tech, sports-business, industrial, land, and wealth-management announcements tied to over 25 organizations, including Lunar Resources, HealthEquity, the Utah Jazz, Ken Garff, ClearShift, Bartlett, Savage, Raymond James, Palladyne AI, the Utah DWR, JLL, and more.

22 June 2026 — LEHI, Utah — In this second edition of NEWS OF NOTE, we share information and insights on eight separate news stories we believe you will want to know about, announcements that touch over 25 different entities.

David

1. Lunar Resources Plans $85 Million HELIX-1 Factory in Salt Lake County

According to the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Houston, Texas-based Lunar Resources will invest nearly $85 million over the next 10 years to build a HELIX-1 Factory in Salt Lake County, Utah, creating 420 jobs in the process.

According to GOED, the project is expected to generate more than $188 million in wages and over $47 million in new state tax revenue over the 10-year life of the agreement between Lunar Resources and the State of Utah.

If Lunar Resources achieves its predicted performance in Utah over the 10-year-period, the company will receive a post-performance, Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF) tax credit of 30% tied to the project.

Lunar Resources specializes in pulsed power technologies, meaning systems that release extremely high-powered bursts of energy in very short intervals.

The company says its technology has applications in industrial systems, energy, aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, and space, and the new facility is expected to become the largest pulsed-power manufacturing facility in the country.

2. HealthEquity Lands Jersey Patch Deal with the Utah Jazz

Beginning with the upcoming 2026-27 National Basketball Association season this fall, HealthEquity (NASDAQ:HQY) will be the official jersey patch partner of the Utah Jazz and the Salt Lake City Stars.

As part of HealthEquity's agreement with the Jazz, the company will also become an associate sponsor of Junior Jazz, the NBA’s largest and longest-running youth basketball league, as well as the Jazz Bantam Basketball program.

The partnership also includes a new scholarship initiative, youth-sports programming, and a Utah Jazz / Utah Mammoth reading program.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but this is not a small local sponsorship.

Public reporting on NBA jersey-patch deals has generally placed them in the multi-million-dollar-per-year category, with many deals running at least $5 million annually and stronger deals moving north of $10 million.

Industry sources also suggest that the Jazz / HealthEquity deal likely sits in the $7 million-to-$10 million annual neighborhood, though Utah Money Watch has not independently confirmed the final number.

Ryan Smith, CEO and Chairman of Smith Entertainment Group (owner of the Utah Jazz), describes HealthEquity as "... an amazing partner to SEG and to the community." (Emphasis added)

“HealthEquity is built in Utah, invested in Utah and is committed to making a difference here," Smith said. "When you bring together two organizations that care about wellness, innovation and investing in people and programs that strengthen our communities, you can do some really impactful things. We’re excited for what’s ahead and the impact we can make together across the state.”

3. Raymond James Adds Salt Lake City Advisor Team Managing $620 Million

Raymond James has added a Salt Lake City, Utah-based advisor team managing approximately $620 million in client assets to Raymond James Financial Services, the company’s independent advisor channel.

The team operates as ARC Wealth Management and includes financial advisors Richard Romano Jr., Amanda Arcilesi Simmons, and Brian Collard.

According to Raymond James, the ARC team came from Stifel and serves business owners, endowments, foundations, nonprofits, families, individuals, and retirees.

To be clear, this is not a Utah company raising money; it's something different.

Instead, it's a Utah wealth-management team managing more than half a billion dollars moving from one national platform to another.

And from my perspective, anytime you cross the $500 million threshold, we're talking real money.

4. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Acquires 50,608 Acres of Roadless Land from the State's Trust Lands Administration for ~$30 Million

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has finalized the acquisition of a 50,608-acre parcel in the Book Cliffs roadless area of northern Grand County, Utah, from the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, now branded as the Trust Lands Administration.

According to the announcement from the DWR, the roadless land will be folded into the existing Little Creek Wildlife Management Area, with the expanded tract renamed the Book Cliffs Roadless Wildlife Management Area.

Officially, the press release does not disclose an exact purchase price.

However, Liz Mumford, Director of the School and Institutional Trust Beneficiaries Advocacy Office, said in the release:

"The infusion of nearly $30 million into the permanent fund will bolster the annual distribution to public schools, creating a generational impact for Utah schoolchildren."

Hence, that's the source for the ~$30 million figure in the headline.

For context, with this sale, the Trust Lands Administration converts a remote surface-land asset into permanent-fund capital for Utah schools.

Conversely, Utah's DWR secures long-term public access and wildlife-management control over more than 50,000 acres in the Book Cliffs region of the state.

It's also worth noting that the Trust Lands Administration retains the subsurface mineral rights, as well as access rights required to develop such underground resources in the future, should that ever become a financially viable option.

5. JLL Arranges $44.2 Million Refinancing for Hamilton Logistics Center

JLL Capital Markets has arranged a $44.2 million refinancing for the Hamilton Logistics Center, a 474,600-square-foot Class A industrial property in the northwest quadrant of Salt Lake City, Utah.

According to the JLL announcement, the property is located at 8080 West 1400 North, near/adjacent to

🔹 Salt Lake City International Airport,

🔹 Interstate 80,

🔹 Interstate 215,

🔹 Interstate 15,

🔹 Bangerter Highway, and

🔹 The primary inland port of the Utah Inland Port Authority.

Team members of the Salt Lake City office of JLL worked with Hamilton Partners and Bow River Capital to secure a floating-rate, five-year loan through a national insurance company for this transaction.

To be clear, a commercial real estate refinancing is not flashy, but it's definitely real, as this announcement covers

▪️ A modern industrial asset,

▪️ Institutional ownership, with

▪️ Insurance-company lending, plus

— Airport access,

— Adjacent or nearby access to three interstate freeways, as well as

— Proximity to the primary inland port in the state.

6. Ken Garff and ClearShift Make Utah Auto-Dealer Acquisitions

Two Utah auto dealerships changed hands recently, specifically,

⚫️ Ken Garff Automotive Group acquired Volkswagen Southtowne in South Jordan, Utah, and

⚫️ Highlands Ranch, Colorado-based ClearShift has acquired Freedom Ford in Gunnison, Utah.

Financial terms were not disclosed for either transaction.

Ken Garff has renamed its newly acquired South Jordan store as Ken Garff Volkswagen Southtowne.

The acquisition is the first of 2026 for Ken Garff Automotive Group, and it follows its July 2025 purchases of Lexus of Murray and Lexus of Lindon from Asbury Automotive Group.

For context, Ken Garff Automotive Group has 71 dealerships in nine states, making it the ninth-largest dealership group in the country and the third-largest privately owned dealership group.

On the other side of the coin, ClearShift owns two used vehicle "stores" (both in Colorado), and its purchase of Freedom Ford only increases its dealership count by 50%.

Additionally, with this purchase, ClearShift has

🔺 Entered the new-car franchise market, as well as

🔺 Expanded outside of Colorado for the first time.

By way of background, Freedom Ford has been in business for over 40 years, and Sarah Larson will continue leading the dealership as its General Manager.

7. Savage-Owned Bartlett to Acquire Shell Rock Soy Processing

Bartlett, the Kansas City, Missouri-headquartered agribusiness company owned by Midvale, Utah-based Savage, is acquiring Shell Rock Soy Processing, adding the Iowa soybean processor to a Bartlett-branded platform.

The companies announced the transaction using softer language, however, writing that they intend to “combine” their soybean-processing businesses, which is fine.

But as noted in the news release, the combined business is expected to operate under the Bartlett brand.

In other words, that's the business signal that tells savvy readers that this is an acquisition.

It should be noted, however, financial terms were not disclosed.

Bartlett’s soybean crush plant is located in Cherryvale, Kansas, while the Shell Rock facility is located in Shell Rock, Iowa, roughly some 470 miles away.

Together, the plants are designed to give Bartlett a larger position in soybean processing, a market tied to food, feed, renewable fuels, agriculture, and industrial supply chains.

8. Palladyne AI Lands U.S. Army Contracts

Salt Lake City, Utah-based Palladyne AI (NASDAQ:PDYN) has been awarded U.S. Army contracts tied to Palladyne's SwarmOS autonomous swarm technology and its Gremlin-X unmanned aerial system.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

According to the Palladyne announcement, the contracts are tied to research, development, and operational validation with warfighters under the U.S. Army’s Disruptive Applications Broad Agency Announcement.

Formerly known as Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation, Palladyne says its systems will be demonstrated through U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division exercises in Colorado and California this August.

As noted in the release,

"... SwarmOS is Palladyne AI’s edge AI autonomy and collaborative autonomy software stack that enables a single operator to command an entire team of autonomous unmanned systems from multiple manufacturers simultaneously ..."

Conversely, Gremlin-X is a low-cost, reusable multirotor "mini-bomber" strike drone developed by Palladyne that autonomously delivers precision munitions in communications-denied environments and returns to base for reuse, significantly lowering the recurring cost per strike.

Publisher's Note

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