Building Utah

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Stanford University reports that Utah leads the nation in privately held startups with a value of over $1 billion. Helping many of those firms has been Convoi Ventures. Here’s general partner Trent Mano with more. TRENT MANO: Convoi Ventures is a Utah-only pre-seed stage venture capital fund. Convoi’s mission is to be the first to find and fund Utah’s next breakout startups. As a Utah-only fund, we’re focused on building community among the startup founders that we back. Convoi has partnered with dozens of startups, venture capital firms and community organizations that support the Utah tech ecosystem that will bring Utah Tech Week to life from January 23rd through the 28th. Utah Tech Week is a gathering of founders, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and all who are building the companies that make up Utah’s fast-growing tech and startup scene. There’s no cost to register and attend, and no fee to host. While focused on downtown Salt Lake, anyone can host

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Analytical Resource Laboratories is headquartered in Utah, providing great jobs while ensuring product safety, accuracy, and quality for the dietary supplements and pharmaceutical industries. Here’s CEO Matt Lewis to tell us more. MATT LEWIS: Analytical Resource Laboratories supports our community by providing independent, third-party laboratory testing of the products your families, friends, and neighbors consume. We have been servicing product brands and manufacturers in the Food, Cosmetic, Dietary supplement, and pharmaceutical industries since 2000. ARL’s product testing, label claim verification, shelf-life, and stability studies ensure the quality and safety of your products. We are a Utah company headquartered and founded right here on the Wasatch Front. Now, with several labs throughout the United States, ARL extends its philosophy of Service, Professionalism, and Value to our national and international partners. ARL is ISO accredited, FDA registered

DEREK MILLER: This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Digital cameras have enabled millions of Americans to take billions of photographs, so why is Busath Photography Studio & Gardens more in demand than ever? Here’s Drake Busath to explain. DRAKE BUSATH: Our family portrait studio opened its doors 50 years ago. Today it’s second and third generation Busaths who you’ll meet when you come in for your portrait. We specialize in fine portraits for families and children, framed and ready to beautify your home. We’ll even come hang your portrait in your home for you. No piece of furniture warms a home more than a beautiful portrait of your family or your children, and nothing speaks more to your guests about what’s really importation to you. Forty years ago, we moved into one of the wonderful historic South Temple mansions. Our beautiful old home with its gardens provides the setting for stunning portraiture and we feel very fortunate to be here. We’ve been voted best in state the past 13 years

Originally Aired: December 16, 2022

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. The Downtown Farmers Market in Salt Lake was created in 1992 to bring fresh Utah products to the city. Allison Einerson, Executive Director of Urban Food Connections of Utah, shares more. ALISON EINERSON: The Downtown Farmers Market features more than 100 farms and ranches from within 250 miles of Salt Lake City. In addition to farm goods, area vendors offer handmade, locally produced food, beverages and crafts. Our motto is "Make it, bake it, grow it!" The mission of the Market is to support sustainable, regional agriculture; to build community gathering places; to increase access to nutritious, local foods in urban areas; and to educate the consumer about shopping local. With your support, we’re achieving the goals and ensuring that our community always has access to delicious, local food. Our markets feature fresh vegetables, grass-fed meats, honey, savory salsas and sauces, bountiful baked goods of all kinds, as well as products for pets and more. The W

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Ballet West is one of America’s largest ballet companies and is the second-largest performing arts organization in Utah. Here’s Executive Director Michael Scolamiero with more. MICHAEL SCOLAMIERO: For nearly 60 years, Salt Lake City-based Ballet West has entertained audiences throughout Utah and the world with classical ballets, historical masterpieces, and cutting-edge creations with the highest artistic and professional standards. Last year more than 65,000 audience members attended performances, pumping untold dollars into Utah’s economy. With nearly 100 full-time employees, and a similar number of seasonal and part-time employees, Ballet West is able to uplift our community and contribute to the economic vitality of the greater Salt Lake and Utah region. Ballet West operates one of the largest education programs in the country, reaching nearly 100,000 students, teachers and community members throughout Utah and the Intermountain Region every year, all at

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Beca Mark is CEO and founder of Megastar HR, a Utah-based human resources outsourcing and consulting firm that provides HR solutions tailored to your company's unique needs. Here’s Beca to tell us more. BECA MARK: At Megastar HR, our human resource solutions free up business leaders, enabling them to focus on company growth and customer needs. We are headquartered in Sandy, providing ready service that enables us to flex our support according to your company’s needs – while you maintain control over your employees. You can continue to use your current payroll system and insurance brokers – or choose from one of our top-tier recommendations. You select the services that will benefit your company the most — whether you need full-service HR support or just a customized employee handbook, payroll administration, or recruitment. We offer a compensation analysis report, which ensures internal equity, market competitiveness, and legal compliance, so you can prev

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Marathon Health is on a mission to transform one million lives by 2024 by improving healthcare delivery, lowering costs, and providing better outcomes. Here’s Vice President Penny O’Brien with more. PENNY OBRIEN: Marathon Health has been simplifying healthcare for employers and patients in Utah for over 10 years.   We partner with employers to make healthcare work better for their employees, powered by care that’s convenient and easy to access. To reduce costs and make healthcare more convenient, we emphasize virtual primary care in addition to in-clinic care with our well-known and trusted clinicians. Because we’re accountable to the businesses that hire us, we guide patients through choices based on cost and quality for complex care.  Marathon Health patients save their employers $2,000 on average annually and report better management of chronic conditions and their overall health. To date, Marathon Health has saved its clients more than $1 billion in hea

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Finding good help is challenging these days, but fortunately for employers there are companies like MTS Mobile Staffing. Here’s Scott Davis, the CEO, to explain how his company can help yours. SCOTT DAVIS: MTS Mobile Services was founded in Colorado in 1994, but we also now love to call Utah home! We opened our doors in Salt Lake City in October of this year to help fill the need for quality staffing in Utah’s booming marketplace. MTS Mobile Services is a full-service staffing and employment agency specializing in light industrial staffing needs, construction, landscaping, warehousing, hospitality, special events, and administrative & professional service placement. We interview, test, and screen all employees to ensure the highest level of competency. We pride ourselves in exceeding the expectations of our employees and their prospective employers. Our goal is to ensure job seekers are placed in the right position, with the best possible wages, who meet t

This is Derek Miller, Speaking on Business. The Larry H. Miller Company is a portfolio of businesses that has been enriching the lives of Utahns since 1979. Company CEO Steve Starks tells us more. STEVE STARKS: The Larry H. Miller Company, originally known for businesses like the Utah Jazz and Larry H. Miller Automotive, has transformed over the years and continues to evolve into new ventures and industries all aimed at building the community. With our acquisition of the Daybreak Master-Planned Community, we are now designing communities and creating a sense of place throughout Utah, where we also build high-quality homes through our company, Destination Homes. We have also entered the healthcare industry through our acquisition of Advanced Health Care, known locally as…, which provides exceptional transitional care, throughout the country, to our loved ones. The Larry H. Miller Company is also proud to invest in new ventures ranging from early-stage growth companies to those preparing to go public.

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Every business owner reaches a point where they turn to someone else to handle payroll and human resources, and one of those firms is Bamboo HR. Here’s sales rep Doug Nelson with more. DOUG NELSON: At BambooHR, we’re on a mission to make HR and payroll software easy to use, so you can grow your people and your business. After all, that's exactly what we've done as a company. We were founded in 2008, right here in Utah, with the goal of creating a place where people would love to work. Twelve-hundred employees and three million users later, we think it's working! We always put people first, whether we’re building our own culture or tools to help businesses take care of their people every step of the way—from hiring to employee experience, reporting, performance, time tracking, and payroll. Plus, people actually like calling our award-winning customer support! That’s what makes BambooHR the most user-friendly all-in-one HR system you’ll ever use. Learn mor

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Cooper Savas is a full-service public accounting firm with offices in Salt Lake City and Cottonwood Heights. Jason Howell recently became a full partner at the firm and is here to tell us more. JASON HOWELL: Taxes are one of the biggest expenses for business owners. At Cooper Savas, we know what it takes to comply and minimize tax expense. As business leaders continually create value, they need clarity of the financial framework in which they are making decisions. Knowing their regulatory demands and opportunities gives them the confidence to grow. Cooper Savas expertly guides local companies as well as those with worldwide operations through their unique situations with a focus on their success. Cooper Savas skillfully plans, consults, and prepares tax returns and provisions. Our audit group is the go-to team for employee benefit plan audits. We navigate complex requirements so that Utah’s businesses can thrive in what they do best. Founded right here in U

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Utah is fortunate to have many inspiring nonprofits which do so much good in our communities. One of these is Saprea, located in Lehi. Here is Managing Director Chris Yadon to tell us more. CHRIS YADON: Saprea is a nonprofit dedicated to liberating individuals and society from child sexual abuse and its lasting impacts. Did you know that 1 in 5 children will be sexually abused this year across the U.S.? The numbers aren’t any different in Utah. Created in 2014, Saprea is leading the charge against child sexual abuse by using proven, practical methods for confronting and overcoming child sexual abuse. Our services and resources are focused on healing and prevention and are free thanks to the generosity of our donors and partners. Today is Giving Tuesday, a day when we ask others to join the fight against this silent epidemic. Everyone has something to give, and every act of generosity counts. At Saprea, we imagine a world where all children grow up feeling lov

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Rocky Vista University opened its Utah campus in 2017 and has already graduated over 200 osteopathic physicians who are now training in residency programs across the nation. Senior Associate Dean Dr. Stephen Miller has more. Stephen Miller: Rocky Vista’s Southern Utah campus, located near St. George, prepares Osteopathic students for clinical training throughout Utah. Our mission is to place more primary care physicians in rural medicine where the nation’s critical shortages exist. About 70% of our graduates enter residencies in Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics. We are succeeding with the help of our clinical training partners throughout Utah. Our students have excellent board scores and pass rates and are accepted into highly competitive residencies such as Surgery, Obstetrics and Medical Sub-specialties. They are well prepared. We are attracting outstanding students from across the country. About 45% of our incoming students are from

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Utah is blessed with a wide variety of financial institutions and one of those is UMB Bank. David Andersen is the Market President for UMB Bank in Utah and shares more about his bank offers. DAVID ANDERSEN: UMB Bank is more than a financial institution. We are a collection of people with personality, passion, and a commitment to you. For more than 109 years we’ve been dedicated to high-touch relationships, responsive service, and prudent business practices. As we’ve grown, our standards have not changed. We remain committed to serving with integrity, trust, and meeting the needs of our customers and communities. Utah has a robust economy with thriving industries, and we’re proud to call it home. With nearly 250 associates in Utah across our Fund Services, Corporate Trust, and Commercial Banking teams, we’re dedicated to building specific and tailored solutions. This attention to detail and our agile structure means more – more time, more efficiency, and more

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Each October is National Work and Family Month during which businesses are asked to promote healthier and more flexible work environments. Here’s Paige Frame, the president of McKinnon-Mulherin, with more. PAIGE FRAME: McKinnon-Mulherin is excited to celebrate National Work and Family month. For twenty-five years, McMul’s core value of flexibility has motivated us to hire exceptional writers and editors who make time for both their family AND career. McMul’s goal is to bring clarity to a cluttered world, and who knows about clutter better than moms and dads? Our McMul team doesn’t have to choose between work and family—no matter what family looks like to them. They can advance their career from home while still being there for their kids, supporting an aging parent, or volunteering in their community. Offering a flexible culture lets us widen our pool of professionals. Not only is supporting families the right thing to do, it also means our clients get the be

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. CCI Mechanical is involved in the design, installation, and maintenance of mechanical systems for commercial and industrial facilities throughout the West. Greg LaHue, CCI’s pre-construction manager, shares more. GREG LAHUE: Utah is one of the fastest growing states in the country with a changing skyline and robust construction activity. This includes multifamily apartments, high rises, US government facilities, manufacturing plants and many other projects. CCI Mechanical is a full-service design and build mechanical trade partner providing support to the construction industry. CCI Mechanical was established in 1961. Since then, some of the notable buildings we’ve been a part of include Vivint Smart Home Arena, City Creek Center and many of the large office buildings supporting Utah’s Silicon Slopes. Mechanical construction can be challenging which is why we take full responsibility for the mechanical systems we design, build, and ultimately maintain throughou

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Today most offices and stores are closed as we celebrate Thanksgiving – a perfect time to reflect on its history. Over 400 years ago, in 1621, a small band of English colonists arrived in North America seeking freedom to worship as they wanted. Their rescue by Native Americans is the story of legend and the basis for our celebration today. Utah’s first Thanksgiving came more than two centuries later. In 1848, like the Pilgrims, Mormon pioneers were escaping to a new land to worship as they wanted, but like the Pilgrims, they faced their own issues of near starvation. Fortunately, just as the Pilgrims experienced two centuries earlier, Native Americans came to the rescue, teaching their pioneer neighbors how to find edible plants and survive. Two years went by before Territorial Governor Brigham Young proclaimed that January 1st would be the “Day of Praise and Thanksgiving” – encouraging Utahns to spend the day as families, prayerfully sharing their hearts

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. One of the first and most critical steps for any business owner is to obtain health insurance. Rick Lindquist is the founder of LegUp Health and shares what his firm offers. RICK LINDQUIST: Buying your own health insurance is the worst. Most Utahns try to solve this problem on their own — using healthcare.gov or “going direct” to a health insurance company or an insurance agent. This process takes effort, and you waste time trying to figure it out and, in the end, you still don’t know if you’ve made the right decision. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone simplified the process? LegUp Health is a year-round service that helps Utahns find and manage their own health insurance. If you already have coverage, we’ll manage it for you at no additional cost. Create a free account at leguphealth.com, connect your plan, and make us your agent today. We’ll take care of the rest. You’ll save money, save time, and sleep better knowing we have your back. If you don’t have hea

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Shriners Children’s Salt Lake City, provides orthopedic care to children, regardless of ability to pay. Here’s Dawn Wright, the marketing and communications director of the Shriners Children’s location here in Salt Lake with more. DAWN WRIGHT: At Shriners Children’s Salt Lake City, we serve children with orthopedic conditions – from the simple to the complex. Patients receive services in a family-centered environment, regardless of ability to pay. Patients at Shriners Children’s hospital have many resources under one roof – from meeting with their doctor in clinic, and advanced diagnostics in our motion analysis center, to custom prosthetics and orthotics, wheelchairs and therapy. Our expertise was recently acknowledged by U.S. News and World Report, which ranked us, alongside Primary Children’s Hospital, among the best in the country for orthopedic care. We also help our patients’ social and emotional development, such as when our staff makes Halloween c