The Top Business News in Utah Last Week (Jan. 11—17, 2021)
Several noteworthy business news items you might have missed last week
Obviously, the biggest business news in #Utah last week was that Lehi-based MX announced it had closed a $300 million round of funding, giving the fintech a $1.9 billion valuation. {You can read more about this here.}
But beyond this, there were several other announcements/events that caught our attention in the Deseret business community over the past seven days, so we have summarized these news bits below.
SLC-based Strata Fund Solutions is Acquired by Alter Domus
Chances are you’ve never heard of Salt Lake City-based Strata Fund Solutions before.
But since its founding in 2008, Strata had grown to over 200 professionals providing administrative services to alternative #investment firms (such as foundations, family offices, and endowments) with a combined total of over $140 billion under management.
With its acquisition of Strata, Luxembourg-based Alter Domus becomes the third largest private asset servicing company for U.S.-based alternative asset managers.
No financial details about the transaction were released by either company, but post-acquisition Alter Domus will have 3,000 employees worldwide and over $1 trillion in assets under administration (AuA).
It also appears that Alter Domus plans to maintain the newly acquired operation in Utah. {NOTE: You can learn more about the acquisition here.}
Pluralsight Acquires Next Tech
Draper-based Pluralsight announced last week that it had acquired San Diego, California-based Next Tech.
Next Tech customers use its cloud-based computing environments to teach technology skills to developers and programmers with a combination of video and hands-on experiences.
Neither company disclosed financial details about the transaction. But you can learn more about the acquisition here.
Domo to Expand Utah Workforce by 2,200 Employees
American Fork-based Domo joined with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) to announce that the #cloud-based Business Intelligence company plans to expand its Utah presence by 2,230 employees in the next decade.
As a result of its negotiations with the state, Domo has qualified to “earn up to 25% of the new state taxes it will pay over the 10-year life of the agreement in the form of a Utah Legislature-authorized Economic Development Tax Increment Finance (EDTIF) tax credit.”
In total, the GOED Board approved post-performance tax credit could equal slightly more than $23 million over the 10-year period, paid out in annual segments IF Domo hits certain predetermined milestones.
And to be clear, such payouts ONLY happen
If/When Domo hits said milestones.
{NOTE: You can learn more about Domo’s expansion plans and its Tax Credit here.}
UofU Nanofiber Sensing Technology Productized into Chemical-detecting Chips
Chemical-detecting sensors using #nanofiber sensing technology developed at the University of Utah were unveiled last week concurrent with the digital CES International trade show by Michigan-based Gentex.
The image above shows a mesh of chemical-detecting nanofibers initially developed at the University of Utah by Dr. Ling Zang through his company Vaporsens.
Gentex is a billion-dollar manufacturer of components and products for the #aerospace, #automotive, #fire protection, and #medical markets, and it acquired Salt Lake City-based Vaporsens for $7.1 million last summer.
The underlying Vaporsens technology was invented by Dr. Ling Zang, a University of Utah #USTAR professor who has been researching and developing nanofiber technology for over 15 years.
Dr. Zang founded Vaporsens in 2011 with the support of the university’s Partners for Innovation, Ventures, Outreach & Technology Center (PIVOT Center), one of the most prolific and successful university tech transfer offices in the United States.
{NOTE: You can learn more about the Vaporsens-powered sensors here.}
Two Federal Agencies Approve a Four-Lane Highway Thru the Red Cliffs Conservation Area in Washington County
Given the continued and projected growth in greater St. George, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service both issued rulings last week to enable the creation of a four-lane highway in southern Utah through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.
If built, the 300-foot-wide roadway would connect Washington Boulevard in Ivins to Red Hills Parkway in Santa Clara, approximately 4.5 miles to the west, saving valuable travel time for motorists.
However, environmentalists not that close to half of the road would cut through the conservation area (which is home to desert tortoise that is listed as threatened by the Endangered Species Act).
Do not expect construction to begin anytime soon, if at all. But for more details, please check-out the excellent Salt Lake Tribune report on this news item.
C9 Capital Acquires Equity Crowdfunding Leader, EquityNet, and Then Moves it To Salt Lake City
If I understand its news release correctly, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based EquityNet has been acquired by C9 Capital which then relocated EquityNet to Salt Lake City.
EquityNet has helped thousands of businesses raise over $500 million in capital through its equity crowdfunding platform since it was formed in 2005. {NOTE: You can learn more about the acquisition here.}
Noted Awards for Products from Two Utah Firms
First: Digital.com has named Entrata’s platform as one of the Top 15 Property Management applications on the planet. That’s cool!
Second: The Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro from Vivint Smart Home won the Connected Camera of the Year IOT Breakthrough Award last week. Also, pretty cool!
More Domo News: Report Finds Mall Foot Traffic Down 4X Greater than Non-Mall Retailer Foot Traffic
Domo released a very interesting Lockdown Economic Report last week, a document which contained a number of fascinating findings and factoids about the impact on businesses from the #Covid19 #pandemic and the resulting business closures that occurred in much of the United States due to the outbreak and/or corresponding government regulations.
One item that really stood out to me in the report was the following:
During 2020 retailers housed in malls had a foot traffic decline over four times greater than retailers not based in malls (38.8% vs. 9.4%).
To be clear, this is not the only noteworthy item found in the Report. That said, I think it’s worth checking it out.
Two University Presidents Make News in Utah
Last of all, I come to two news items from the business of Higher Education. {And in case you don’t believe that #HigherEd is a #business … we should chat.}
The first news item comes out of the University of Utah where its President, Ruth V. Watkins, Ph.D., announced last week she is resigning to become the president of Strada Impact in April 2021. The UofU has already begun its search for a new president.
The second #HigherEd news item is that the Utah Board of Higher Education announced on Friday its unanimous to support for Utah State University President, Noelle E. Crockett, Ph.D.
In case you missed it, such support followed last week’s release of an Investigative Report into allegations that Crockett had made discriminatory comments during a December 8, 2020 Zoom meeting with members of the #USU football team and Athletics Director, John Hartwell.
News about the alleged comments broke several days later when noted sports reporter and former Pulitzer Prize nominee, Brett McMurphy, published a news item about the incident and the fact that the players had voted unanimously to not play USU’s final game of the season,
“due to ongoing inequality and prejudicial issues between the players, coaches, and the USU administration.”
For her part, both in media interviews and in the Memorandum produced by the attorneys who investigated the allegations, President Crockett has repeatedly denied making any derogatory or racist remarks during the Zoom call.
And as the Memo points out, there are inconsistencies on both sides of this matter, which makes the fact that the Zoom meeting was not recorded problematic at best.
Therefore, I will leave it up to readers to determine the veracity of the statements / claims documented in the Memorandum.
At a minimum, however, I believe a significant rift continues between USU’s athletes and the administration, regardless of any public support from the Board of Higher Education.
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About the Author
David Politis is a Marketing Mercenary, which is a fancy way of saying that organizations and individuals hire him to solve their marketing problems. To learn more, please feel free to visit David’s LinkedIn Profile or the website for his business: The David Politis Company. If you have a story idea for him (or would just like to connect), you can reach him at me@davidpolitis.com.