Utah's Top 19 Financial and Business News Nuggets from the First Half of May 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. Hence, this write-up on Utah's Top 19 Financial and Business News Nuggets from the First Half of May 2024.}

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

• Midvale, Utah-based Beyond (NYSE:BYON), formerly Overstock.com, has made seven executive changes: Four of which are C-Level executives, two of which are Senior Vice President changes, with one additional change at the Vice President level. According to the company news release, the company hired
  — Guncha Mehta as its Chief Digital and Information Officer (most recently she was Chief Information Officer of Party City);
  — Stacey Shively as Chief Merchandising Officer, Bed Bath & Beyond (most recently she was Chief Merchandising Officer of The Container Store);
  — Angela Minor, as Chief Marketing Officer, Bed Bath & Beyond (most recently she was Chief Marketing Officer of Conn's HomePlus); and
  — Alexis Callahan, as Vice President of Investor Relations and Public Relations (most recently she was Head of Investor Relations of Esperion).
• Additionally, as also noted in the press release, Beyond promoted the following executives:
  — Deb Bollom, appointed to Chief Merchandising Officer, Overstock;
  — Steph Whitacre, appointed to Sr. Vice President, General Manager of Zulily (most recently she was Vice President/Head of Merchandising for Bed, Bath & Beyond and Overstock);
  — Jennifer Evans, appointed to Sr. Vice President, Marketing for Beyond (most recently she was Vice President, Integrated Marketing for Beyond).

• Lehi, Utah-based PCF Insurance Services acquired two insurance brokerages in early May: Encore Advisors (of Norcross, Georgia) and All Star Insurance (of Venus, Texas). Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. That said, according to the PCF news release, the acquisitions will help PCF "... continue to expand our footprint and deepen our capabilities."
• Two Bountiful, Utah-based healthcare organizations were acquired in early May by The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG), which is headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, California. According to the acquisition news release, Ensign Group acquired both South Davis Specialty Care (a 95-bed skilled nursing operation) and Western Peaks Specialty Hospital (a 43-bed long-term acute care hospital). Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
• Separately, Eagle, Idaho-based The Pennant Group (NASDAQ:PNTG) acquired Bountiful-based South Davis Home Health & Hospice. According to the acquisition news release, terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
• American Fork, Utah-based LiveView Technologies has hired Mark Cranney as its Chief Revenue Officer. According to the company news release, Cranney's most recent executive position was at Skydio where he served as its Chief Operating Officer.
• Houston, Texas-based G&A Partners has acquired Provo, Utah-based Teamworks Group. According to the news release, Teamworks is the fifth Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and HR outsourcing firm that G&A has acquired in Utah since 2010. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• Provo-based Capital Community Bank has acquired Orem, Utah-based Security Home Mortgage. According to the CCBank news release, the acquisition "reaffirms (CCBank's) commitment to fostering the financial well-being of the communities it serves." Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. That said, CCBank "... concluded 2023 with approximately $871 million of total assets and $127 million of equity capital."
• The former CEO of Rocky Mountain Power, Gary Hoogeveen, has joined the Board of Directors of South Salt Lake, Utah-based Torus. According to its news release, Torus is "... a Utah-based energy solutions company, focused on making renewable energy storage and management more efficient, affordable, and sustainable."

• Cedar City, Utah-based Southern Utah University has named two new Deans. According to SUU's news release,
  — Ken Hall has been promoted to Dean of the Dixie L. Leavitt School of Business; he has served as SUU's Interim Dean of the business school for the past year); additionally,
  — Michael Schmidt has been hired as Dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts; Dean Schmidt currently serves as the interim dean of the College of the Arts and Tenured Professor of Art at Valdosta State University.
  — Dean Hall began his new position on 01 May 2024, while Dean Schmidt will begin his position in early July 2024.
• According to multiple media reports, including the Business Observer, the Tampa Bay Business Journal, and Traded (among others), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently purchased a 131,000-square-foot office building in the Tampa, Florida region for $20.5 million. The selling party was the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, a Lansing, Michigan-based independent law school school, which (according to MLive.com), had at one point the largest enrollment of law students of any institution in the U.S.

According to the media reports, the law school building purchased by the LDS Church is located at 9445 Camden Field Parkway in Riverview, Florida. No information has been published by the Church about its plans for the building.

• Cedar City-based Caseproof has acquired AccessAlly. According to the acquisition news release, Caseproof's flagship product, MemberPress, is the world's most widely used monetization and membership plugin for WordPress. AccessAlly "... is a robust learning management system and sophisticated membership platform ..." that supports over 2.5 million users. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• Salt Lake City-based Packsize International has named its Executive Chairman, David Lockwood, as its new CEO. Lockwood replaces Rod Gallaway, who has announced his retirement. According to the company announcement, Gallaway was named CEO in 2020, with Packsize's revenue growing over 50% during his tenure. For his part, "... Lockwood has served on over 20 public and private company boards of directors, including Steinway Musical Instruments, Forbes ... (Energy Solutions, and Liberate Technologies)."
• In a separate news release, Packsize also announced it has promoted Kellen Frey to Chief Operating Officer from Vice President of Sales. Frey has been in a number of executive positions with Packsize since 2016.
• Draper, Utah-based Pluralsight has hired Chris McClellen as its Chief Product Officer. According to the company announcement, McClellen joins Pluralsight from Avantax where he was its Chief Technology Officer.
• Salt Lake City-based EnviroServe has acquired Ft. Worth, Texas-based CG Environmental. According to the news release, "CG Environmental is a trusted regional provider of specialty environmental remediation, emergency response, and waste management services," and the acquisition expands EnviroServe's base to 45 locations throughout the U.S. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
• Lehi-based Limble has hired Brian Germain as its Chief Revenue Officer. According to the company news release, Germain joins Limble from Motive where he served its CRO.
• South Jordan, Utah-based Swipeclock has been acquired by London, England-based IRIS Software Group. According to the acquisition news release, Swipeclock offers a suite of cloud-based HR offerings currently used by over 45,000 small-to-medium-sized businesses. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• South Jordan-based Merit Medical (NASDAQ:MMSI) has promoted Joe Wright to President from Chief Commercial Officer, effective immediately. According to the company news release, Wright has been with Merit for over 19 years.

Last of all, Salt Lake City native, businessman, venture capitalist, and former U.S. Representative, Christopher Black Cannon, died on 08 May 2024. He was 73 years old.

Congressman Cannon served for 12 years in the House of Representatives (UT-3) from 1997 through 2009, where he gained his highest visibility for his role in 1999 as 1 of 13 House members who conducted the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in the U.S. Senate.

According to his official obituary, Cannon "... is survived by his wife Claudia, his children: Jane (Princeton) Collins, Laura (Aaron) Jensen, Emily (Jeffery) Walker, Jonathan (Danielle) Cannon, Matthew (Kelsey) Cannon, Elizabeth (Joseph) Horlacher, Catherine (Cameron) Hart; and grandchildren: Ezra and Isabel Collins; Rachel, Nikolas, Evelynn, Simon, Matilda and Phoebe Jensen; Shale, Navy, Tyler and Duke Walker; Angus, Arik, Harrison, Lylah and Brynn Cannon; Stella Cannon; Leona, Gwyneth, Wolfgang and Esther Horlacher; Margot Hart. His siblings: Joe and Grant Cannon and Gloria Cannon-Faulds. (He was) preceded in death by his daughter, Rachel, his parents, and (his) siblings: David, Kimball, and Elizabeth."

Funeral services will be held at 11am this Saturday, 18 May 2024, at the Edgemont Stake Center (303 West 3700 North) in Provo, Utah.

{Chris was a good guy, and I will miss him.}

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