Business Connect Magazine - Jun 2008

We’ve made health coverage work harder for over

small business members.

We’d like to do the same for you.

Find out why more small business members nationwide choose UnitedHealthcare.

1.877.233.2051 uhctoday.com/sbutah Or contact your broker.

Why do more small businesses nationwide choose UnitedHealthcare than any other carrier?

Well, we offer a range of solutions tailored to small business needs. More physician offices accept us than anyone else. And Fortune magazine named us America’s most admired health care company for innovation in 2007. Simply put, it’s health coverage that works harder for you and your small business. ©2008 United HealthCare Services, Inc., #1 for small business and total number of small business members covered based on UnitedHealthcare membership systems (December 2007) for groups with 2-99 employees. Insurance coverage provided by or through United HealthCare Insurance Company or its affiliates. Administrative services provided by United HealthCare Insurance Company, United HealthCare Services, Inc., or their affiliates. Health Plan coverage provided by or through United HealthCare of Utah.

UHCUT378571-000

UHCUT378571-000.indd 1

5/1/08 1:15:10 PM

Remote Deposit Business banking just got easier | Make all your deposits from work

A money saving, efficiency increasing, business decision.

Call 801.409.5404 for more information

Member FDIC

YOUNGSTARS

34

Meet four of the coolest, youngest mana gement teams in Utah.

contents

30

Out Is In

43

Focus On: Financial Services

49

What’s in It for Me?

52

Redefining Project Management

The Emerging Outdoor Products Industry in Utah

Utah industry leaders discuss problems and solutions.

A beneficiary provision for life insurance and IRAs should allow for the naming of a primary and contingent beneficiary. Unfortunately, most beneficiaries will not receive benefits. Here’s why.

People truly are a project manager’s most valuable asset. Those who understand this principle find success.

connect-utah.com 7

contents

14

Quick Fix

General business news, numbers, innovation profiles and random bits of cool stuff

Snack Size Mini Features

Domain Name Disputes 22 Resolving

By Randall B. Bateman

24 How Do You Say, “Just Do It” En Español?

By Jennifer J. Johnson

26 Hang on, Funding Is on Its Way

By John M. Knab

28 How to Be a Sales-Driven Company

By Brent Middleton

57 61

Point of View Bruce Law

Founder and President, Sprout Marketing

Brian Beutler

CEO and Co-founder, Alianza

8 05/08 06/08 business connect

CEO exploring new international markets

NGO desiring to aid disaster victims

CFO trying to manage world-wide effective tax rates

Start-up company negotiating a cross-border joint venture

Deal structuring, due diligence, tax issues, cross-border agreements and licensing, IP protection, employment issues, transfer pricing, confliction resolution, local counsel selection and management, you name it. Engage our experienced International team on your cross-border endeavor.

Call 328.3600, KMcLaw.com

We CKJr. Publisher Arkin Hill

disconnect Please excuse my reminiscing for a minute while I recall a few choice Colin Kelly memories: 1. I’m holding the reflector on a photo shoot while Kevin and Jen are lighting the smoke

bomb and small fireworks lodged inside a model rocket. Colin is sprawled on the

sidewalk just inches away as he holds a camera and exclaims, “This shot is awesome!

This is awesome!”

2. Coming into the office the morning after Halloween to find his office entirely wrapped

in Christmas paper, complete with bows and lights. Why? Colin’s nickname around

Christmastime is “Bah Humbug.”

3. Empty cans of Red Bull sprinkled throughout Colin’s office after another late night at

the computer.

4. Then there was the Ugliest Christmas Sweater contest at our company party a few

years ago. Colin won decisively, sporting a horrid entry at least three sizes too small.

Although I was tempted to include the photo with this article, out of respect for Colin,

I think it’s best if that picture remains securely locked in our archives.

5. Finally, one evening while in St. George conducting client meetings and editorial

interviews, Geoff, Brandon and I sneak into Colin’s room. Brandon puts on a large

white hooded bathrobe while Geoff and I hide behind the bed. Colin opens the door to

his dark room and Brandon suddenly steps out directly in front of him, illuminated

only by the ghostly moonlight from outside. I have never seen a grown man so afraid

before in my life. We still recall his panicked scream with pleasure.

As our readers, you’ve witnessed a few changes to our magazine over the past few months, including the recent name change to Business Connect. I’m not looking forward to an additional change as the founding editor of Business Connect moves on to other career opportunities.

As a publisher, I’ve been lucky to keep Colin here as long as I have. I’m still not sure why he stuck with it through very difficult times in the early years, fighting through many obstacles to help establish Business Connect as a leading regional business publication. He has worked with minimal budgets at times, and for a while was a one-man editorial staff.

Colin deserves much of the credit in the six national Maggie awards, four Golden Spike awards and five Best of State medals displayed in our office lobby. We will miss his professionalism, his expertise, and his loyalty and integrity.

But perhaps more than that, I will miss his genuine kindness for everyone around him, his fun-loving nature and his humor. Colin, thank you for all you have done for Business Connect and for us over the past five and a half years. We will miss working with you. And whatever you do … don’t get rid of your infamous Christmas sweater.

10 06/08 business connect

June 08 Publisher Arkin Hill blog www.arkinhill.com ahill@luminpublishing.com Executive Editor Colin Kelly Jr. ckelly@luminpublishing.com Associate Publisher Jennifer Black jblack@luminpublishing.com Senior Editor Kathryn Peterson kpeterson@luminpublishing.com The Lost Traveling Wilbury Kevin Kiernan kkiernan@luminpublishing.com Production Artist Shane Wolf swolf@luminpublishing.com Advertising Director Geoff Osmond gosmond@luminpublishing.com Senior Advertising Consultant Brandon Ellis bellis@luminpublishing.com Contributing Editors Breeann Ashton Erin Stewart Contributing Writers Brad Baldwin, Randall B. Bateman, Catherine Garff, Steve Grizzell, Jennifer J. Johnson, John M. Knab, Mark K. Lund, Mark Marshall, Brent Middleton, Gail Newbold, Dr. Denis Petersen, David Politis, Steven Smith, Kent L. Thomas Photography Kevin Kiernan

Five years of being the Best in the West.

AT

G A R D N E R

Accommodates 25-400 guests, with 3 breakout rooms

V I L L A G E

MEET WITH US!

Best Business, Finance or Retail Trade Publication

2008 WPA Maggie Award Finalist Best Special Theme Issue

2007 WPA Maggie Award Finalist

Best Business, Finance or Retail Trade Publication

Easy access off I-15

2006 WPA Maggie Award Finalist

Free parking

Best Business, Finance or Retail Trade Publication

Professional & attentive banquet staff

2005 WPA Maggie Award Winner

Catering from pastries to full menu Enjoy our 22 on-site specialty shops

2008 WPA Maggie Award Finalist

Best Business, Finance or Retail Trade Publication

2004 WPA Maggie Award Winner

Best Overall Design for a Trade Publication

From small business meetings to large corporate events, we ensure the commitment and service to make it a success.

A unique setting for retreats, seminars, luncheons, dinners or company parties.

1100 WEST 7800 SOUTH • WEST JORDAN • 801.566.0917 G A R D N E R V I L L A G E . C O M

2004 WPA Maggie Award Winner Best Business, Finance or Retail Trade Publication

2004 WPA Maggie Award Finalist Best New Publication

To advertise in the publication that was named Best Business, Finance, or Retail Trade Publication, call 801-417-3000 Business Connect is published 12 times a year by Lumin Publishing Inc. Periodicals postage paid in Salt Lake City, UT. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to 6183 S. Prairie View Dr. Ste 103A, SLC, UT 84118.

Title Business Connect is a registered trademark of Lumin Publishing Inc. Subscription rate is $19.95 for one year. For help concerning your subscription, call 801-417-3000 or e-mail info@luminpublishing.com. Please submit editorial queries or press releases to press@connect-utah.com.

Subscribe online at www.connect-utah.com © Lumin Publishing, 2008.

life at Metropolitan. etrop

2007 Best of State

for Printing and Publishing 801.364.3472 173 west broadway www.themetropolitan.com AAA Tour Book Four Diamond Rating Zagat Survey of America’s Top Restaurants Wine Spectator Award of Excellence DiRoNA Award of Excellence “…Metropolitan, a white-hot Salt Lake restaurant.”

-Travel + Leisure “Aside from the eye-popping urban elegance…

[Metropolitan is] one of the city’s culinary jewels.”

-USA Today

the bar opens mondaysaturday at 5:30pm valet parking available friday & saturday we validate for any lot in the city

2006 Best of State

for Printing and Publishing

2005 Best of State

for Printing and Publishing 6183 S. Prairie View Dr. Suite 103A SLC, UT 84118 tel 801-417-3000 fax 801-417-3001 www.connect-utah.com Send comments to feedback@connect-utah.com

Make every step count.

Regence Engage

SM

Healthy living realized

Self-managed plans promote healthy living. Regence Engage members have access to a variety of wellness programs and a personal Health Coach to keep them active. And it’s a health plan that’s easy to understand. So employees can focus on counting steps, instead of calculating benefits.

SM

Regence has many self-managed plans.

Choose one that’s right for your employees at selfmanagedplans.com or call toll-free, 1 (866) 634-8783.

Health Coach and other wellness programs are not insurance.

Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

quick fix

On the Run Teri Sundh, 40, is a busy CEO running the world’s first and only service to deliver custom audio workouts to MP3 players. Since starting Podfitness three years ago, she’s discovered four things that make her job so much sweeter.

I Can’t Live Without

My T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl.

Diet Dr Pepper or Diet Coke. I drink two to three a day.

My sugar fix. Cinnamon bears are my favorite.

My assistant Melissa. Frankly, she manages my insanity.

Teri Sundh CEO and Co-founder Podfitness Inc. Sandy, UT

14 06/08 business connect

Where innovation and business come together in the life sciences to improve and save lives, every detail counts.

When you’re serious about the life sciences...

Whether your company is creating pioneering biotechnology, life enhancing pharmaceuticals or breakthrough medical devices, every detail is important. When it comes to your intellectual property, choosing the right law firm—one that understands those details—is critical. Dedicated exclusively to intellectual property law, Brinks has more than 50 attorneys and patent agents on its BioPharma team, many with advanced degrees in these fields, and all with world class experience. When you’re ready to secure and enforce your intellectual property rights in the life sciences, there’s only one detail to remember: UseBrinks.

866.222.0112 usebrinks.com

Salt Lake City Office: Suite 800 | 405 South Main Street | Salt Lake City, UT 84111 | 801.355.7900

quick fix

Good News, Folks

$

Salt Lake City is recession-proof. Amid talk of falling home prices and rising unemployment, Salt Lake City seems to be doing just fine. As of May, Salt Lake City’s median home price rose 2.5 percent and unemployment, at 3.1 percent, is below the 5.1 percent national average. Forbes.com ranked Salt Lake City among the 10 most recession-proof cities in the United States, with Oklahoma City as No. 1. Other cities among the top 10 included: San Antonio; Austin, Texas; San Jose, Calif.; Raleigh, N.C.; Houston; Seattle; Charlotte, N.C.; and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.

New UTC Leadership The Utah Technology Council (UTC) welcomed 10 new leaders to their board of directors and board of trustees.

Outgoing Chairman Will West of Control4 was replaced by Alan Hall, founder and chairman of Ogden-based Marketstar.

Shawn Adamson, vice president and general manager of XO Communications, and David L. Clark, president and CEO of Prolexys Pharmaceuticals Inc., are vice chairmen. For more information about the executive committee member and trustee appointments, go to utahtechcouncil.org.

Utah 100 Awards MountainWest Capital Network is now accepting applications for its 2008 Utah 100 Awards, recognizing some of the fastestgrowing and most exciting companies in Utah. Last year, Orem-based Doba was the No. 1 fastest-growing company, Salt Lake City-based Huntsman Corp. was the top revenue company, and Provo-based Agel Enterprises ranked No. 1 in the emerging elite category. To apply, go to www.mwcn.org. Applications must be submitted by July 21, 2008.

16 06/08 business connect

Bye-bye Catheters Salt Lake City-based ThermImage Inc., a medical device company, is making visits to the doctor a lot more comfortable for children being tested for urinary tract infections.

ThermImage, a University of Utah startup, has a unique imaging system used to diagnose Vesicoureteral Reflux (VUR), a pediatric urology disorder commonly associated with urinary tract infections. One out of every 150 children is diagnosed with VUR each year. Currently, to diagnose VUR, a catheter must be passed through the urethra into the bladder. As one might imagine, this test is traumatic for young patients, costly, time-consuming and potentially harmful.

Without a catheter or any other invasive techniques, a doctor can use ThermImage’s technology to heat urine in the bladder and detect the movement of urine to the kidneys. With the ThermImage procedure, the patient doesn’t have to ingest any ionizing radiation, the parent doesn’t have to invest extra resources to see a specialist, and pediatricians will be able to diagnose within their office (currently the traditional method can only be completed at a hospital).

Although the company was founded earlier this year, initial research behind ThermImage’s technology dates back to the late ‘90s when Dr. Brent Snow at the University of Utah envisioned a safer, more comfortable way to diagnose VUR in children. Snow, now CTO, and Douglas Turnquist, CEO and president, began working together on the concept in 2002 and co-founded the business with CMO Mark Prior. With success raising investment capital, the company is focused on expanding the research required to commercialize the technology with a goal of having the product FDA-approved and available for commercial use in 2009.

quick fix

Spotlight for Agel CEO

Is Your Social Media Social?

Recently I was asked to brief some executives on social media and its many mediums. Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. The one thing that most people didn’t understand was the “social” nature of the mediums.

Just as the word “social” suggests, two-way interaction is the core underpinning in social media.

Read Only vs. Read-Write Have you tried to carry on a conversation with someone who is always talking and never listening? Unlike traditional marketing mediums, social media is about interaction, not just presentation. Web page copy, product spec sheets, white papers and advertisements are one-way communication — content written for someone to read.

Engaging prospects and customers through social media is an invitation to exchange ideas or gather feedback. The tools — blogs, podcasts, social networks, Twitter, etc. — invite readers or listeners to respond to the published content.

Everyone who participates in the comment process can be notified when the author or another person responds. The content is processed and refined by many minds.

Media Monitoring One thing that tends to scare people away from social media is the need to monitor and carry on the conversation. Yes, someone must create content, read or listen to the responses, and write clarifications or entirely new content to address needs. Everyone has been to an unsupported forum where the sponsor’s products, brand and company name are blasted by angry customers. Building an engaging and beneficial social media network requires a commitment from management or the author.

If you want to see how others are doing it right, visit one of the leading bloggers (scobleizer.com, techcrunch.com, engadget.com) and look at all the information added in comments that comes from the readers. Typically, you will find a comments link and the number of comments added to a blog post.

Seize the Opportunity What do you think? Are organizations that engage in social media wiser because they interact with customers or prospects? Respond to one of their posts, and I’m sure you’ll find out firsthand.

I’d love to get your perspective. Friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, send e-mail to connect@rockymountainvoices.com or visit www.rockymountainvoices.com/connect.

By Brad Baldwin

Glen Jensen, CEO of Provo-based supplements company Agel Enterprises, has gotten a lot of limelight lately. Jensen, 40, was selected as a finalist for Best Executive by the American Business Awards, hailed by the New York Post as the Oscars for the business world.

Last year, more than 2,000 nominations were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories.

Jensen was also named the entrepreneur of the year by the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce and is a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award (winner will be announced June 27th).

$100 Million Push for IT and Life Sciences Lindon-based Canopy Ventures announced the formation of Canopy Ventures II, an early-stage venture capital fund totaling $100 million designed to infuse high-potential companies with the capital and support needed to spur ongoing growth and development. Ron Heinz and Brandon Tidwell will be the general partners of the fund as Canopy Ventures continues its investment in Utah businesses.

connect-utah.com 17

quick fix

Attention drivers: Writing a parking ticket just got easier.

Velosum

When Lee Boardman, president and CEO of Sandybased Velosum, sees a police officer writing a ticket or a doctor writing a case report, he sees an opportunity. Why? Because his company created a software platform that makes paper act like a computer. The software employs a digital pen and paper, a cell phone, and an Internet portal to write parking citations (vCitePlus) and medical case report forms (vTrialsPlus) to the Web. “If you’re an officer handwriting a parking citation, someone is re-keying that data into a database,” Boardman says. “Fifty-five percent of all parking citations are handwritten and re-keyed. Velosum’s technology allows anything you hand-write to be rendered in real time to the Web without any re-keying.”

Through the cell phone, software connects to the Internet and communicates directly back to the field. In the case of vCitePlus, for example, an officer writing a citation may be notified that the vehicle owner has many outstanding unpaid violations. vTrialsPlus allows doctors instant access to medical case report forms anywhere in the world and the ability to review those documents even before the patient leaves the room.

Boardman says vCitePlus is the only handwritten electronic citation system in the United States and vTrialsPlus is unique in the world.

Since the December 2007 launch of vCitePlus, Velosum has been used by authorities in Ogden and Provo, as well as the University of California at Irvine, Nantucket Island, Mass., and Holyoke, Mass. As of May, vCitePlus was Velosum’s core application and vTrialsPlus continues to perform well in its first trial.

18 06/08 business connect

quick fix

Fusion-io

The Product: ioDrive Targeted to large companies or highly trafficked Web sites needing the fastest ways to get data in and out of a server, the ioDrive stands alone in its speed, size, power consumption and low cost. Best of all for Fusion-io, it’s patentable.

The need: If a company needs to post a large amount of documents or huge files to many users, serving the data from a regular hard drive (like the one in your PC) doesn’t cut it. The limited input/output speed on traditional mechanical hard drives can only be so fast since they rely on physical heads moving around on spinning hard disks to read and write data.

The solution: The ioDrive has the speed of 1,000 hard drives, not the storage capacity of 1,000 hard drives. The key word here is “speed,” and the ioDrive certainly delivers.

The ioDrive can serve up roughly 100,000 pages of text per second or transfer an entire DVD’s worth of video in about five seconds.

High speed and low costs make big businesses happy.

Founded in 2006, Salt Lake City-based Fusion-io (fusionio.com) ran under the radar until exploding onto the scene last September by unveiling its ioDrive at the DEMOfall 07 conference. DEMO has long been the launching pad for hot high-tech software, services and products such as Palm, Skype, TiVo, Leapfrog, Java and Slingbox.

20 06/08 business connect

The coolness factor: Before the ioDrive, large organizations turned to an enterprise-class Storage Area Network (SAN) to obtain desired input/output speeds.

A SAN with 1,000 hard drives is about the same size as a large refrigerator. In contrast, the ioDrive fits in your pocket, barely uses any power and doesn’t require regular maintenance.

The companies that listened: The ioDrive, which began shipping in April, is being used by more than 70 Fortune 500 companies.

snack size

Resolving Domain Name Disputes

By Randall B. Bateman

An old adage states that the three most important considerations in real estate are location, location and location. The same is true for your company’s virtual real estate. If your customers want to find you, odds are they will look to the Internet — even if your company is a brick-and-mortar establishment.

When searching for your business online, many users will first try your company’s name followed by a top-level domain name, such as .com, .net, .biz or .org. That is wonderful if you own “yourcompany.com.” But what happens when your company does not 22 05/08 06/08 business connect

own “yourcompany.com”? Sometimes you will need to simply educate your customer that you are at yourcompanyinc.com instead. Other times, you may need to take legal action.

The lack of a domain name’s availability can have a very legitimate justification. Delta Airlines, Delta Faucets and Delta Tools would all like to own Delta.com. Currently, it is owned

by Delta Airlines, but it wasn’t always so.

Before Delta Airlines, the name was registered to Delta Financial. Before that, an ISP named Delta owned it. Delta Airlines later bought it — presumably for a large amount of money.

Other reported sales of domain names include business.com ($7.5 million) and loans.com ($3 million). There are even online clearinghouses for those looking to buy domain names, such as alphanames.com.

While some companies have a legitimate interest in domain names – but are willing to sell if the price is right – there are also others who registered a large number of names hoping to sell them to companies who were late to the Internet party at a tidy profit. This is commonly referred to as cybersquatting.

Several procedures have been enacted to control the actions of cybersquatters. The AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection Act defines cybersquatting as registering, trafficking or using a domain name with a bad-faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. Under the act, the cybersquatter may be required to pay the actual damages proved by the owner of the trademark or statutory damages up to $100,000 per mark.

Another approach to resolving cybersquatting is filing a complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (UDRP) created

by Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). To prevail in a UDRP proceeding, a complainant must show: 1) The domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark under which the complainant has rights.

2) The domain name owner has no legitimate interests in respect to the domain name.

3) The domain name has been registered and used in bad faith.

According to statistics available from WIPO and NAF, more than 80 percent of UDRP proceedings are resolved in favor of the complainant. A large number go unopposed.

However, the success rate has been so high that it has created a new strategy for the unscrupulous — “reverse domain hijacking” — where a party attempts to wrestle a domain name away from a legitimate user by weak claims of a trademark violation.

Whatever your domain needs may be, make sure you protect it early and document your legitimate interests in the name if you want to keep it.

Randall B. Bateman, founder of Bateman IP Law Group, specializes in the protection of Intellectual Property. He can be reached at rbb@utah-ip.com.

PReMieR DeveLOPMeNTs riverPark CorPorate Center 12 and 14 10876 & 10808 South river Front Parkway • Two Class A buildings • 154,836 square feet each • 6 stories with penthouse • 120 acre upscale development • True park setting along the Jordan River • Immediate freeway access • On site retail amenities and services • Close proximity to numerous hotels, shopping and more • Multiple provider fiber optic connectivity

Sandy Park Center 9815 South Monroe Street Building one HigHligHtS • Dramatic 5 story office tower • True Class A finishes and quality • 2,000 - 110,000 rentable square feet available • Covered/structured parking attached • Ideal South Towne location

Site Plan

• High profile I-15 visibility and access • Generous tenant improvement allowance

Bldg 1

• Corner offices with outside balconies • Granite and glass exterior

Owned and Operated by NRT LLC

Brandon D. Fugal Douglas M. Petty

801-947-8300

SEGO LILY DRIVE

MONROE STREET

snack size

How Do You Say,

Just Do It

“

”

En Español?

Who will Salt Lake marketers’ largest clientele be in 10 years?

By Jennifer J. Johnson

24 06/08 business connect

Gladys Gonzalez, president of Salt Lake City-based Hispanic Marketing and Consulting/La Agency, posed that question to Utah CEOs and marketing professionals in early March.

Her answer: Hispanics. That audience is key to Utah marketers, Gonzales told attendees at her agency’s third annual marketing conference at the downtown Hilton Hotel.

Alex Guzman, marketing and sales director for Mundo Hispano newspaper, echoed Gonzalez’ prediction and pointed out some differences between Anglo and Hispanic purchasing patterns. In general, he said Hispanics tend to buy more and involve whole families in buying decisions, whereas Anglos are more prone to save money and have adults guide all large-scale purchase decisions.

Guzman further reported that 80 percent of his paper’s revenue comes from advertising support from traditional Anglo or Caucasian-oriented companies reaching out to and recognizing the power of the Hispanic dollar. Case in point? Mundo Hispano’s largest advertisers read like a Who’s Who of American business — Anglo-American business, that is, with these marquis customers filling the ad pages: McDonalds, Cricket, Coca-Cola, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Intermountain Health Care, Worker’s Compensation Fund, State Farm Insurance, Wells Fargo and Zions Bank.

Zions Bank? At one point, there may not have been a “whiter” brand in Utah than that of the venerable Zions Bank. That’s in the past, thanks to a vigorous effort to court the Hispanic community. The courtship goes far beyond placing “Se Habla Español!” in ads and on in-store placards to designing programs that cater to a well-researched and varied Hispanic population.

CEO Scott Anderson had the idea to appeal to Spanishspeaking clientele and brand select locations “Su Banco” — a more formal-language translation of “Your Bank.” During the conference, Zions Bank Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications Rob Brough received encouragement from marketing expert Kip Gienau to consider shifting the “Su Banco” to “Tu Banco” (“Your Bank” with a more casual, friendly tone).

Zions Bank has since tweaked the approach of specifying select branches and branding them differently.

Instead, Zions ensures that all branches offer bilingual information and associates, while also relying heavily on outreach and education programs tailored to the Hispanic audience.

Gonzalez challenges would-be marketers afraid to cast their budgets specifically toward Hispanic marketing: “With word of a recession, [now] is exactly the time companies need to double their advertising … we need to continue buying and continue moving the economy.”

Jennifer J. Johnson owns and operates a virtual public relations firm.

No clients are represented in this article. She welcomes your feedback at jjj@joandco.com.

Technology Education at The University of Utah

Upgrade now with what you need—when you need it with courses, certificates, and custom training options.

• Apple Authorized Training • CCNA Certification • Databases • Desktop Publishing • Graphic Design • Java • Linux Professional Institute Certifications • MS Office • Spreadsheets • Unix • Web Development & Design

continue.utah.edu/edtech 801.581.6061

BATEMAN IP LAW GROUP

Great Legal Work, No Fluff.

Salt Lake (801) 533-0320 Orem (801) 494-6061 www.utah-ip.com

Grow or die.

(Let’s focus on growth.)

technology education

TIME FOR AN UPGRADE?

snack size

Hang on,

Funding Is on Its Way

By John M. Knab

26 06/08 business connect

Thousands of companies in Utah are looking to raise money, sell their companies and a few are ready to go public. If you are one of them, don’t get discouraged by the funding rollercoaster.

I’ve heard venture capitalists say that only one in 400 business plans will be actively pursued, and of that group, only one in 20 will be funded. Last year, 131 companies in Utah successfully raised $50,000 or more from their funding efforts, according to the 2007 Utah Deal Flow Report by MountainWest Capital Network. Nine companies went public valued at $3.2 billion, led by Boart Longyear at $2.2 billion and Energy Solutions at $753 million.

If those numbers seem out of your league, then let’s focus on the 69 deals done by companies turning to venture capital and private equity funds totaling $565 million. Before we get too excited about a half billion dollars going to our local companies, a company called 212 Resources already took their “unfair share” of the bucket at $250 million of the total.

Utah had more than 50 companies merge or be acquired last year with a whopping total valuation of $4.5 billion, which is almost double the level of the year before.

I have personally enjoyed the thrill of several rounds of multi-million-dollar funding events, but I have also experienced the frustrations of conflicting agendas and countless rejections that wear you down and make you begin to question the validity of your business model. The companies with good odds of raising capital, merging, and being acquired or going public become an elite club.

It is often said that there is not enough capital to meet the needs of the Utah business community venture deals.

A more accurate statement is that there is plenty of capital in Utah for good deals, there isn’t enough capital for bad deals. If you are looking to fund or sell your business, you must determine how your deal is perceived. If you truly believe with all your heart in the business proposition you are pursuing, there will be a funding event one day.

The problem is that some businesses can’t hang on long enough to enjoy that day.

As CEO of a high-tech company in Utah, our first round of funding happened after 67 formal rejections. Years later, our next round of funding happened after 42 rejections, and that is with the original investors participating. If you are not tenacious by nature, I do not recommend the world of seeking capital investment.

If you are one of the companies looking to fund but have been on the outside looking in at the $8 billion in deal flow last year, there are resources you can turn to for help in our business community. The first step begins by asking where you can get the help needed to close a deal.

You’d be surprised at the number of resources and people willing to help.

John M. Knab is the director of MountainWest Capital Network, founder of Utah 100, CEO of Phonex Broadband Corp., and director of Bayhill Capital. He can be reached at jk@phonex.com.

The next time you see a warning sign, remember who is waiting for you to come home safely.

WORKERS COMPENSATION FUND

snack size

Create a culture where business development is an equal partner with every other professional endeavour. Developing that culture and professional attitude takes resources and time. You may have people who can sell, but can they also change? Everyone at the company must be ready to move to the next professional level. If you’re still selling the way it’s always been done, you will also have to expect the same old results but more importantly your people may feel unchallenged and bored.

This can lead to complacency and procrastination.

Provide frequent training. When people aren’t learning, they become dissatisfied and as a result their productivity drops. Learning increases commitment. Training motivates employees and helps them develop a path to their personal and career goals. They become committed to learning and improving as a result. The mind has to be activated before the body engages. The bonus for the company is two-fold.

You have happy, goal-oriented achievers on your team, plus you don’t have to incur the time and money to replace staff.

How to Be a Sales-Driven Company

By Brent Middleton

28 06/08 business connect

Business books and consultants say it’s imperative to have the right people in the right seats on the bus in your organization. Have you thought how that affects your company’s sales department? A successful hiring process must be applied to ensure you have people who can and will sell. While this is an important first step, it is only one of many steps in the process of becoming a sales-driven company. Consider these other crucial steps.

Remember: A sales-driven company takes time.

People need time to apply what they have learned. No one goes from zero to hero in two hours or two days. Education must be nurtured and coached. We all “know” better than we “do,” so we need to spend more time adapting what we know into productive behavior. The sales-driven company understands it’s OK to mess up, so long as you are willing to correct it next time.

Create common goals and develop a desire to achieve them. It takes dedication and commitment to be a sales-driven company. Here’s an example: Two men watched as a tightrope walker began to cross Niagara Falls on a one-inch cable. He had no net or safety harness to save him if he slipped. There was a breeze and the mist from the falls made the cable slippery. The tightrope walker asked the men, “Do you think I can do it?” They didn’t believe he could. But he successfully completed the walk across the falls, and the two men were in awe. He asked, “Do you think I can walk across with someone on my shoulders?” They both expressed a total belief that he had the talent and could do it. He said, “Great, hop on.” Belief takes more than words, it takes action.

Brent Middleton, owner of Salt Lake City-based Sandler Sales Institute, can be reached at brent@thesbdgroup.com.

In fighting cancer, there’s one thing we can get back on your side: the odds.

B eating cancer takes courage and willpower.

Remarkable technologies such as the Gamma

But it also takes treatment methods that will

Knife, DaVinci Robot and Linear Accelerator.

improve your odds at winning. Like those at

Compassion and concern. These are the means

Intermountain Healthcare. Highly-trained

used at Intermountain Healthcare facilities

cancer physicians, nurses and specialists, each

to help you beat cancer. To give you more time,

bringing his or her unique skills to the fight.

more life, and help you get more out of living.

d I N T E R M O U N TA I N M E D I C A L C E N T E R

i

•

M c K AY- D E E H O S P I TA L C E N T E R

A M E R I C A N F O R K H O S P I TA L

DIXIE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

•

•

L D S H O S PI TA L

i

P R I M A RY C H I L D R E N ’ S M E D I C A L C E N T E R

I Out 30 06/08 business connect

feature

Is t

The Emerging Outdoor Products Industry in Utah By mid-2003, Ogden City Mayor Matthew Godfrey had a problem on his hands. The then 32-year-old mayor was coming to the end of his first term, an office he had won in part because of his promised focus on generating new jobs for Ogden. Unfortunately, the city’s economic development efforts targeting technology companies had not panned out.

“We had planned to first go after high-tech companies and then outdoor companies,” says Godfrey, a former All-American track star. “But three years later, we had zero success.”

Turns out Ogden didn’t have what most high-tech executives were looking for: Proximity to a top-notch research university, a fact that wasn’t likely to change soon.

Then came a call the mayor wasn’t expecting — the call from Curt Geiger.

A year and a half previously (in early 2002), Ogden native Geiger was running Descente North America, the athletic apparel company that was then headquartered in Denver. In spite of Colorado’s well-deserved reputation as a winter sports mecca, few ski or snowboard shop dealers ever visited Descente in Denver because the Colorado resorts were 90 minutes away from its downtown location. Hence, Descente was looking to relocate its U.S. operations, a search that was primarily focused on ski resort towns across America.

Coming Home Not only did the 2002 Winter Olympic Games focus the world’s attention on Utah, they also attracted winter sports aficionados from around the world, including Geiger and his wife.

In his own words, Geiger was “blown away” by his visits to Utah’s Snowbasin, home to World Cup competitions and several downhill ski events in the 2002 Olympics.

“I was absolutely amazed at what Earl Holding had done with Snowbasin,” Geiger says. “It had become a world-class ski resort.”

It was after attending an Olympics event at Snowbasin and traveling to Ogden for dinner one evening that Geiger realized the city was no longer what one fellow outdoor executive termed “a boarded-up rail town.” Downtown Ogden is 20 minutes from Snowbasin, about 20 minutes from two other ski resorts, and less than 45 minutes from the Salt Lake International Airport, a potentially winning combination for Geiger and Descente. Hence, Geiger’s call to Mayor Godfrey in mid-2003.

Mayor Godfrey outlined the strengths the city offered, and a little more than a year later, Descente formally opened its North American headquarters in Ogden.

According to Geiger, his brick-and-mortar costs dropped by more than 80 percent by moving to Ogden.

In

By David Politis

connect-utah.com 31

feature

Outdoor Products PR Business Connect asked three local executives whose firms specialize in outdoor products public relations to comment about their unique challenges when presenting their clients to the world.

Marit Fischer is the Park City director of Base Camp Communications. David Politis and Chip Smith are cofounders of SOAR Communications in Salt Lake City.

Marit Fischer: PR is changing. Staid, formatted, everyone-is-the-same press releases don’t fly anymore. They’re boring. Good PR now engages the community through social media. Blogs, forums and social sites like Facebook are the new playing field when it comes to publicizing a company, service or product. But you have to do it right. Transparency is key. As is voice. You have to move away from spin and tell it like it is. When you do this, and do it well, there’s lots of room to be irreverent and even funny.

Whoever said that news has to be dull?

David Politis: Many companies are starting to understand Web 2.0 and comprehend that the consumer now has the power and desire to connect directly with a company.

Whether a company supports that interest or not, its enthusiasts will find a way to connect and create a community around that brand. Savvy companies get that point and look for ways to support and engage those enthusiasts.

Chip Smith: Most companies not only want to sell to hard-core enthusiasts but also to expand and sell to the broad-based public.

As long as you don’t alienate the enthusiast, PR is a great way to extend a brand’s reach.

Outdoor product companies have traditionally used small scale advertising more than PR to reach their core customers. When they see what it costs to advertise to the masses, they can’t afford to do it. But PR is an affordable way to reach the masses.

By Colin Kelly Jr.

32 06/08 business connect

“That allowed us to spend more on ads, staff and events,” Geiger says. “In fact, that was part of our promise to our dealers: We were going to plow those savings back into building the Descente brand.” And that strategy has apparently worked. In the three-year period since moving to Ogden, Descente N.A. has seen its overall revenue increase by more than 70 percent.

Encouraging Growth According to Mayor Godfrey, once Descente moved to Ogden, Geiger became a cheerleader for the city, approaching competitors and friends alike and explaining why the company had chosen the Northern Utah location.

Mike Dowse was one of those outdoor industry executives who saw Ogden’s potential. Besides, as a Utah-native Dowse already knew that Utah had the “best skiing in the United States.”

Not only had Descente and Goode Ski Technologies relocated to Ogden by mid-2006, Quicksilver had also announced its plans the previous year to consolidate its winter-sports businesses to Park City: Rossignol, Dynastar, Lange and Look.

Dowse, president and general manager of Amer Sports Winter and Outdoor America (ASWO), a unite of Finland-based Amer Sports (the largest sports equipment company in the world), was intrigued. In 2006, when Amer decided to consolidate Atomic USA, Salomon USA and Suunto USA (its three leading winter and outdoor sports companies) into one location, Utah was already on Amer’s short list, even if Ogden was not. Regardless, the city’s strengths soon rose to the forefront and by October 2007, ASWO had opened shop in Ogden City.

“For us it came down to the three Ms: the Mountain, the Mayor and the Money,” Dowse says.

“Mayor Godfrey’s vision and passion for this place are unsurpassed. And it was one-third the cost to be in Ogden than Park City or Salt Lake.”

Currently, 13 winter-sports manufacturers have moved to Ogden – no surprise to Jason Perry, executive vice president of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

“The outdoor products industry in Utah is hot,” Perry says, “which makes sense given that Utah is the world’s largest testing ground for outdoor products.”

But even with its focus on wooing out-of-state companies, not all move to Ogden, nor are the only outdoor products companies in Utah transplants. Homegrown winter-sports companies range from Camp Chef and E.K. Ekcessories in Logan to Backcountry.com in Park City and 3point5 in Salt Lake City. Other examples include OGIO in Draper, Fezzarri in Orem, Delta 7 Sports in Payson and Zeal Optics in Moab.

What the Future Holds Roughly more than 100 outdoor-products manufacturers are based in Utah today. So how big is this emerging category of businesses in Utah? Certainly it’s not grown anywhere near the size of the state’s high-tech industries. In that regard, perhaps an association for the Utah-based manufacturers of outdoor products is in order.

However, when taken in concert with the travel/tourism/recreation industries within Utah, especially those that leverage the state’s natural resources, the combined economic impact exceeds several billion dollars in annual revenue.

In the meantime, Mayor Godfrey has just entered what he promises will be his last term in office. That being the case, one wonders what Utah’s outdoor-products industry will look like when Ogden’s mayor steps down nearly four years from now.

After spending more than 20 years focused on strategic marketing communications services for technology firms through Politis Communications, David Politis launched SOAR Communications in 2004 to support the marketing needs of clients in the sports, outdoor, athletics and recreation industries. He can be reached at poppa.p@soarcomm.com.

XO O X

X

OX

X

XO X

O

O

the xo awards CELEBRATING EXTRAORDINARY ACTS OF KINDNESS

Celebrate the Extraordinary

Bring the family to the Gallivan Center to celebrate local heroes at the 2008 XO Awards. The XO Awards recognize six Utahns each year for going the extra mile and demonstrating extraordinary acts of kindness. Come be inspired by this year’s winners, enjoy free food from local restaurants and listen to live music.

Friday, August 29, 2008 7 to 9 p.m.

Gallivan Center 239 S. Main Street Salt Lake City, UT www.xoawards.com

Sponsored by:

Lime

Calle

Klymit

Zinch

34 06/08 business connect

cover story

YOUNGSTARS Meet four of the coolest, youngest mana gement teams in Utah.

Did you ever sell homemade lemonade as a child? Or start a lawn-mowing business in junior high? If so, then chances are you’ve experienced a moment of pure entrepreneurial bliss — the realization that you could turn ideas into capital.

For many young entrepreneurs in Utah, that realization stuck. Now they are leading some of the coolest companies around. These startup savants grew up on Facebook, Twitter, Xbox, texting, iPods and blogs. They say their familiarity with the Internet and infatuation with ideas gives them the momentum they need to make things happen.

We think the following four management teams are some of Utah’s youngest companies with the brightest futures.

BY KATHRYN PETERSON connect-utah.com 35

cover story College Connectors: Brad Hagen, Sid Krommenhoek and Mick Hagen socialize college admissions.

YOUNGSTARS

ZINCH

Walking into Zinch’s offices in downtown Provo, it’s easy to feel like you’re in a college dorm. Graffiti is painted on the walls and employees walk around in flipflops, shorts and sweatshirts. The workspace has the collegiate essentials: Xbox, Guitar Hero and a big screen TV (bought for the NCAA’s March Madness).

Zinch launched in 2007 as an online community to help high school students get into the school of their dreams.

It’s like Facebook, only for college admissions. Students can create profiles revealing much more information than a standardized test score. They can also send “shout outs” to colleges that they’re interested in, and in return colleges can send students “the love” with information about their school.

36 06/08 business connect

“We’re young and that helps us reach our demographic,” says President Mick Hagen, 24, a student at Princeton currently on leave of absence to build up Zinch. Hagen got the idea for Zinch based on his own experience applying for college. “I didn’t have the best test scores, but I was a computer wiz, captain of the varsity basketball team and editor of our high school newspaper. I had a lot of things that couldn’t be summed up into one test score. I wanted to help high school students be seen for who they are,” he says.

Hagen’s older brother Brad Hagen, 28, CEO of Zinch, is studying advertising at BYU. Sid Krommenhoek, 28, chief evangelist, graduated in business from the University of Utah. The three co-founders have quickly capitalized on their youth and love of Web 2.0. In just nine months, more than 522 colleges partnered with Zinch to recruit students, and more than 300,000 high school students from all 50 states and more than 160 countries posted profiles.

Michael Levinthal, a venture capitalist formerly with California-based Mayfield Fund, began working with Zinch in January. “I instantly felt connected with their company vision,” Levinthal says. “They hit on an interesting opportunity with incredible traction and visibility. Plus, they understand the bootstrap mentality. When you think of everything they’ve done with nothing, it’s very impressive.”

Mick Hagen, President “My senior year of high school I started a teen magazine/ online community for high school kids in Utah County.”

Sid Krommenhoek, Chief evangelist “When I was about 6, I bought candy bars wholesale and sold them in my driveway. Great profit margins for a kid (if you don’t factor in the candy I ate).”

Brad Hagen, CEO “When I was about 10, I would go door-to-door with my brothers on Saturdays and ask college students if we could take out their trash for 25 cents.”

cover story

Soccer Buffs: Tyler Winn and Steve Magleby, two of Calle’s five team players.

University, is one of Calle’s mentors. Previously, Roberts served as a vice president for Nike.

“Coming from Nike, I thought that this was a company I needed to meet,” Roberts says. “I called Travis Winn, met the team over lunch and ultimately joined their board. They have very good instincts about brand and product. For a team of young guys with no prior experience, I think they are amazingly positioned, especially with their experience as athletes.”

Most of Calle’s team has played soccer at either the college or semi-professional levels. Magleby played on reserves with Real Salt Lake and Travis Winn left BYU to go pro.

Even now, with its impressive startup success, Calle hasn’t forgotten its grassroots efforts. They still have Calle nights, where they set up trashcans in a parking lot and play street soccer.

“For me personally, I base our success on whether Calle really makes an impact on the American soccer game versus how much money we’re making,” Travis Winn says.

YOUNGSTARS

CALLE The idea for Calle was born in 2006 when a group of young athletes turned their passion for street soccer into a business. President Travis Winn, 28, based his business idea on his experience as an LDS missionary living in Malaga, Spain, where street soccer is common.

The name Calle means “street” in Spanish.

Before long, Calle became a global brand, with 61 shops in the United States and Canada promoting products ranging from hats and apparel to Calle soccer balls.

“We’re Quicksilver meets soccer,” says younger brother Tyler Winn, the design and brand manager. “We don’t just sell short shorts. Calle encompasses the soccer lifestyle.”

Steve Magleby, 24, director of operations, says the team has been fortunate to meet insightful mentors from a variety of industries. Curt Roberts, vice provost for innovation and economic development at Weber State

38 06/08 business connect

Tyler Winn, designer/brand manager “When I was about 12, I used to buy a supply of Snickers, Gatorade, Coke and Pepsi, and go around with a wagon and sell them.”

Steve Magleby, director of operations “When I was about 10, my friends and I found some wild berries and tried to sell them door-to-door. I think we sold one bag and then realized it wasn’t going to work out.”

Josh Robbins, director of finance “I took pencils, plastic jewelry, My Little Ponies and those look-a-like gemstones that are really just rocks from my little sisters’ bedrooms, and then set up a booth and made them buy them back from me. The revenues weren’t huge, but I had great margins. I was about 9 years old.”

Travis Winn, president “I netted about $60 from a lemonade stand when I was 9 – enough for my first pair of Oakley Frogskins.”

Klane Harding, creative director “I was a junior partner in Adams Lawn Care Extravaganza.

True story.”

The Entrepreneur’s “Catch 22”

Most small businesses do not have the budget (or the need) for a full-time Controller or CFO, but still need industry leading financial and strategic direction.

CFO Solutions helps get the financial support that you need for a fraction of the cost of a full time CFO or Controller. Our experienced consultants will work to understand the economic realities of your business and help you set up the systems to record and report them accurately. CFO Solutions can also help you recruit, hire and train the right accounting and finance staff for your needs and will supervise them in their day to day duties so you can spend your time running your business and focusing on increasing its profitability.

CFO Solutions also helps clients attract serious, sophisticated investors. Since its inception in 1996, Kent Thomas and the CFO Solutions Team have assisted their clients in raising over $350,000,000 in equity, debt and lease financing.

With over 200 years of combined experience, the CFO Solutions team has worked in a broad range of industries including software development, biotechnology, banking, printing, retail, light manufacturing, engineering & construction, franchising, transportation, health care, wholesale & distribution, business-to-business services and Internet technology.

Call CFO Solutions, L.C. for a free consultation - you don't have to be caught in "Catch 22" any longer!

Kent Thomas 801.942.0408 kent@utahcfo.com www.utahcfo.com

cover story

Image Consultants: Wes Chapman, Rob Frye and Shawn Saunders help companies put their best foot forward.

LIME

YOUNGSTARS

Wes Chapman, CEO of Lime Marketing LLC, called a couple of friends last summer to see if they wanted to start a magazine for marketing executives. After several meetings at Jason’s Deli in Orem, the trio of 20-somethings ended up forming Lime, a full-service marketing firm based in Provo.

Launched in January 2008, the company prides itself on sleek design and savvy image consulting. The three founders tote their iPhones with them everywhere they go and use only Macintosh computers. “Since we’re all Apple lovers, we thought of a fruit that hadn’t been used yet for our company name,” Chapman says with a smile.

40 06/08 business connect

Chapman, 27, and his two cohorts — Shawn Saunders, 24, and Rob Frye, 26 — have garnered clients such as Frontline Executive Search and BYU TV International.

Joining Lime’s client list just a couple of months after startup was Chapman’s biological father Duane Chapman, known as Dog the Bounty Hunter. No kidding.

Right now, Lime’s rapid growth and limited resources are a challenge, but they continue to make solid promises to clients. In fact, Lime writes a $50 check to clients for every day they are late on a project. It doesn’t happen often, if ever.

Saul Leal, station manager at BYU TV International, says he’s worked with marketing companies throughout the United States and Latin America, and considers Lime’s customer service among the best.

“They are very professional and adapt well to the vision and mentality of clients,” Leal says. “They are doers … that’s what gives them creativity and flexibility to their approach.”

Wes Chapman, CEO “When I was 7, I picked all of the roses and peonies from my grandmother’s garden and sold them door-to-door in my neighborhood.”

Shawn Saunders, chief designer “I started a small design operation when I was 12. I called it Srednuas. Saunders backwards. I know, real creative!”

Rob Frye, chief financial officer “When I was 17, I started a company that processed film with an image setting for printing.”

read, listen, download all about it.

Introducing UtahPulse.com—your one-stop source for all the day’s headlines. Stay informed with podcasts and articles by Utah CEOs, political leaders and more. You can also subscribe to any of our free services including the Daily Pulse, Utah Policy Daily, Business Connect and Launch.

Utah Pulse Network

cover story

Insulators: Nick Sorensen, Nate Alder, Ben Maughan and Brady Woolford reinvent winter clothing.

YOUNGSTARS

KLYMIT In February 2007, Klymit CEO Nate Alder was scuba diving off the Brazil coast when he discovered something unusual.

“There were insulators in the dry suits; it was such a great idea. I thought that if you could also adjust the warmth of your skiing gear it would solve a huge need,” says Alder, 27, a former snowboarding instructor.

After learning that you could use the noble gases argon, krypton and xenon to insulate outdoor clothing, Alder and three partners set out last spring to reinvent winter lining in jackets. Klymit’s liners contain a dial-operated valve and a detachable gas cartridge the size of a tube of lipstick, providing warmth on demand.

“Chemistry is the basis of our whole technology,” Alder says. “It’s funny, though — a year ago I thought argon was a character in ‘Lord of the Rings.’”

42 06/08 business connect

But the Klymit team isn’t without business smarts.

Brady Woolford, 27, director of product development, and a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering at BYU, says the team has a unique skill set that’s helped them succeed.

Nick Sorensen, 24, director of business development, has been involved in several startups and Ben Maughan, 25, CFO, just graduated with his MBA from BYU. Klymit won the 2008 BYU Business Plan Competition, which gave them the momentum they needed. “They sent us around the country and we won almost all of the competitions — beating Harvard, Stanford, Duke, MIT and many others,” Alder says. “On average, we were the youngest group of individuals with the least amount of education — some of the teams were working on second or third doctorates.”

Since October 2007, Klymit has walked away with $375,000 in angel investor backing and more than $200,000 in cash and services from student competitions.

Now, the company is licensing their noble-gas technology to major sporting and outdoor brands for jackets, boots, gloves, helmets, sleeping bags, tents and other gear.

“Our investors have been very supportive,” Maughan says.

Last year, Alan Hall, founder and chairman of Ogdenbased marketing outsourcing company Marketstar, met Klymit at a speed-pitching event sponsored by Funding Universe. “When Nate presented his company, I knew it was a great idea and that they’d need some assistance,” Hall says. “They have a lot of passion, energy and drive.

Most importantly, we’re looking for management teams who are teachable, and that is one of Klymit’s keys to success.”

Nate Alder, CEO “My sophomore year in high school, I taught swimming lessons in San Diego.”

Ben Maughan, CFO “My first business … Klymit at 25!”

Nick Sorensen, director of business development “I started a rock stand when I was about 10. We collected ‘cool’ rocks from around the neighborhood and set up a stand to try to sell them. But then some bullies stopped our operation short.”

Brady Woolford, product director “When I was 10, I sold rides on a homemade rollercoaster.”

focus on The Focus On series offers insight from local executives into some of the challenges each Utah industry faces. In this installment, Business Connect hears from individuals within the broad Financial Services industry.

Financial Services

Utah Industry Leaders Discuss Problems and Solutions

44 06/08 business connect

Plan Before You Spend Steve Smith President and CEO, Finicity

Optimize Cash Flow Mark Marshall CEO, The Accend Group

“Optimizing cash flow in high-growth companies may sound simple, but in my experience people don’t fully understand the negative impact a poorly managed invoicing process can have on a company’s return on investment. To solve this problem, be prompt and communicative.

Most companies are sloppy about invoicing and tend to put it in a pile and wait until later.

Do invoicing immediately. Everybody complains about how slow big companies are to pay, but make sure you’re doing your part to ensure that the process is started correctly and quickly.

Also, always follow up within days of sending an invoice. This allows you to establish relationships with those in charge of paying bills and to know early on if there are issues to be resolved before the invoice due date. This will also significantly decrease bad debt expenses.”

“As of March 2008, the Bureau of Economic Analysis determined that America’s personal savings rate was a whopping 0.2 percent of disposable income. In many cases, the actual rate is closer to zero or even negative. Seen in this light, it’s not hard to understand why so many are ill-equipped to deal with rising food and fuel costs and the other negative impacts of a slowing economy.

One potential benefit of the downturn has been an increase in the use of online personal finance tools during the last six months. Online money management systems bridge the gap between tracking expenses to actually changing spending behavior. Finicity’s Mvelopes is one such example. It is based on the envelope money management method, where cash is divided across physical envelope categories (groceries, mortgage, etc.). This 'virtual' envelope system ensures that users always have sufficient means to address the unexpected. Another benefit is the unified view of monthly expenses, which helps most users find areas of excess.

They are then encouraged to take that extra money and pay down debt and contribute more to savings.”

connect-utah.com 45

>>

Money Strategies for Your Business Steve Grizzell Managing Director, InnoVentures Capital Management

Everything is great, right? Not so fast.

Everything is great assuming you really know your costs and that you have priced the contract correctly. But how do you really know?

focus on

Are Your Accounts Profitable?

46 06/08 business connect

Kent L. Thomas Founder, CFO Solutions

“Imagine landing an account with the potential to double your annual sales in just a year or two. Even though the buying manager was a tough negotiator and kept pushing back on discounts and pricing, your salesperson assures you that you will still make money on this account.

Your business begins to build its inventory, people and technology infrastructure to assimilate the expected growth and to meet the customer’s demands.

Everything is great, right? Not so fast. Everything is great assuming you really know your costs and that you have priced the contract correctly. But how do you really know?

This is the exact experience we had with a profitable and growing company a few years ago. The CFO Solutions’ team was engaged just before the company landed this account. We implemented a new accounting and MRP (Materials Resource Planning) system for the company, set up reliable accounting procedures and helped them hire a full-time controller. The customer and product profitability analyses indicated that when all direct costs were included, the gross profit margin on sales to this customer was less than 10 percent. That meant that if the incremental rent, inventory, payroll and technology costs were considered, the company was losing money on each sale it made.

Luckily, our client was able to invoke a 90-day termination clause and walked away from the new account.”

“Entrepreneurs typically know that they need some capital but they often don’t know about the types of capital available. Aside from the traditional means (bank loans, angels or venture capitalists, lines of credit, equipment financing, asset-based lending and factoring), InnoVentures is a provider of venture debt. Venture debt is expansion capital for businesses that have limited collateral and cash flow, yet have some sales and customers. InnoVentures focuses on providing loans ranging from $100,000 to $750,000. One of the biggest differences between venture debt and traditional debt is that the borrower also provides some stock to the lender.

An additional resource is Funding Universe, which helps secure the right type of capital for your business from any of the sources that I have discussed here including angels and venture capitalists. Many of the local angel groups’ Web sites provide good descriptions of their funding so look into those resources as you gather information to develop the best financial strategy for your company.”

With Zions Bank Behind your Business, it’s like having 2,700 additional employees.

Your name may not be on our building, but the fact of the matter is, we work for you. And it’s our job to make sure your business thrives the way you want it to. Which is why our relationship is so important.

As we learn more about your needs, we can offer financial advice to make things easier for you. Through services like our introductory financial review, we can determine new ways to improve your bottom line.

Because your continued success is our number one priority.

We ’ l l b e co n t a c t i n g yo u s o o n t o s e t u p a m e e t i n g t o s e e h ow we c a n h e l p yo u r b u s i n e ss g row. O r c a l l u s n ow.

1.800.974.8800

www.zionsbank.com

TM

INSURING THE LEADERS IN UTAH’S CAPITAL DEAL FLOW

Diversified Venture Practice Group 136 E South Temple #2300 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 801.325.5000 www.diversifiedinsurance.com

Member of

*

* TechAssure membership allows exclusive access to preferred rates and coverages for National Venture Capital Association members and their portfolio companies.

feature

What’s in It for Me? A beneficiary provision for life insurance and IRAs should allow for the naming of a primary and contingent beneficiary. Unfortunately, most beneficiaries will not receive benefits. Here’s why.

By Mark K. Lund

connect-utah.com 49

What’s in It for Me? feature

Generally speaking, you should never name a trust as the beneficiary of your IRA, even if your attorney tells you to do so The primary beneficiary is the person designated to receive the death benefits if the insured dies. The contingent is the person designated to receive the death benefits if both the insured and the primary die at the same time. Beneficiaries can be a person, a business or a trust in most cases. An irrevocable beneficiary is a beneficiary who can be changed by the policyholder only with the permission of that beneficiary.

Life Insurance Beneficiary Problems Many individuals designate their spouse as the primary beneficiary and their children as contingent beneficiaries.

There are a few problems here. The thought is, if the husband or wife were to die, the money will be passed on to the spouse. If the husband and wife die simultaneously, the benefits will be passed on to the children.

Problem 1: If you and your spouse were in an accident where you died first and your spouse died shortly afterwards, your contingent beneficiaries are not eligible to receive your benefit. This means the insurance company will pay the proceeds of your policy to their probate estate.

Let’s say in this accident both the insured and primary beneficiary die at the same time. You would think that the benefit would go to the contingent beneficiaries. This is where the second problem begins.

Problem 2: In this scenario, children were the contingent beneficiaries, however young children cannot be paid life insurance proceeds until they reach the age of 18 or 21, depending on the state. This means that if there is no will, the state chooses the guardians for your surviving children. They may be or may not be whom you would have chosen had you done your will. As such, death proceeds may be paid to the new guardians of your children, which means the children may or may not get the benefit.

Solution: Set up a Uniform Gift to Minors Account (UGMA), a Uniform Transfer to Minors Account (UTMA) or a trust in the children’s name. Both the UGMA and the UTMA are free. With either a UGMA or a UTMA the insurance company will pay the death proceeds into the account. When your children reach the age of majority they will then have access to the money. However, most parents would not want their 18-year-old child to have access to $5,000 to $1 million. So, the next best thing is to set up a trust as the primary and contingent beneficiary. This way, you, as the insured, can choose at what age and what amounts of money will be distributed to both the primary and contingent beneficiaries. This does cost a little, but is the best alternative.

50 06/08 business connect

Problem 3: What if you are the only person to die in an accident? Your spouse still may not get the benefit, even if he or she were the primary beneficiary. Here is an example why. Let’s say your primary beneficiary received a death benefit of $500,000. They later get remarried.

The new spouse talks them into buying that dream house on the mountain. Everything is fine at first but for some reason they end up getting a divorce. During the divorce settlements, the house is given to your surviving beneficiary’s ex-spouse. In this example, since you put your spouse as the beneficiary, you ended up paying your benefit to some stranger who marries your spouse after your death. How do you feel about that?

Solution: Set up a trust as the primary beneficiary. This way you control the money from the grave.

We did not even talk about other issues, such as stepparents or stepchildren, special needs beneficiaries, or whether to designate beneficiaries as per stripes or per capita. Every insurance policy should specify one or it is automatically deemed per capita. If you have any questions about your beneficiaries or need help setting up your life insurance, give me a call and one of my staff will arrange a mutually convenient time for us to talk.

IRA Beneficiary Problems You may think that if a trust is the best selection for your life insurance that it must be good for your IRAs as well.

This will, in most cases, cause more problems. Generally speaking, you should never name a trust as the beneficiary of your IRA, even if your attorney tells you to do so. Trusts as IRA beneficiaries create unique problems and tax complications, even when executed perfectly. If the trust fails to qualify as a designated beneficiary, then there is no designated beneficiary, and the trust beneficiary will not be able to stretch post death required distributions even over the surviving spouse’s life expectancy. In that case, the IRA will be paid out either under the five-year rule or over the remaining life expectancy of the deceased IRA owner.

Let me just say there are many more issues to discuss with life insurance, IRA or 401(k) beneficiaries. Hopefully this got you thinking about what you have. If you have questions about beneficiary selections, feel free to contact me.

Mark K. Lund is a wealth manager at South Jordan-based Stonecreek Wealth Advisors Inc. He can be reached at mlund@sammonsrep.com.

Securities are offered through Sammons Securities Co. Member of FINRA and SIPC.

FINALLY,

A VENUE WITH

SPACE. Full-service events for up to 800 people.

For event pricing, tours and questions call 801.456.4973 110 South 400 West Salt Lake City, UT 84101

•

clarkplanetarium.org

feature

Redefining Project Management

By Denis Petersen, PMP

People truly are a project manager’s most valuable asset.

Those who understand this principle find success.

The title “project manager” is in many instances a misnomer. People hear the title and immediately begin thinking of schedules and budgets. However, truly successful project managers understand that tools do not produce success. People produce success.

People are a project manager’s most valuable asset. Without good people, tools and processes are left lifeless, inanimate and unproductive. Successful project managers also understand that people need leadership; they cannot be managed like a project schedule or budget. Thus, project leader or project coach may be titles that better describe what project managers must be to produce success on projects.

The term people, as used above, refers to executives, project sponsors, project team members, customers and other stakeholders who have a vested interest in the outcome of a project.

Many projects are truly organization-wide efforts.

The impacts of successful or failed projects can touch stakeholders positively or negatively throughout an entire organization or enterprise.

52 06/08 business connect

This simple fact demands that project managers provide effective leadership for stakeholders (across, up and down the management chain) throughout the lifecycle of a project.

Management vs. Leadership So, how is project leadership different from project management? Stephen R. Covey, author of “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” teaches the important principle of managing things and leading people. This concept definitely applies in a project management setting. Project scope statements, schedules, budgets, materials, equipment and other similar tools and resources are things that must be managed. Project stakeholders are people that must be led. Managing tools and resources is the foundation of good bricks-and-mortar project management. Working well with people, providing vision, establishing elevating goals, motivating stakeholders, causing people to stretch and communicating effectively are all at the heart of successful project leadership.

John Kotter, a Harvard Business School

professor and author of “The Leadership Factor,” says strong management without leadership may become static and bureaucratic.

In accordance with these thoughts, successful project management requires a good mix of both leadership and management to avoid bureaucracy or volatility during the project lifecycle. Project managers should be the personification of both of these skill sets.

However, too often project managers forget the importance of people and fall back on the management skills that are easier to implement.

They are then left to grind through project details without truly having a vision of what it takes to produce success. Truly successful project managers remember the importance of people in producing success; and, they lean more towards the leadership end of the spectrum.

The road toward effective leadership and project success may seem more difficult than managing things. After all, things don’t talk back to you or have a bad day! You don’t have to communicate with things, deal with their personal problems or trust they will do their job.

Tools, materials and equipment normally do what they are supposed to do. People, on the other hand, are free to think and act for themselves.>> 54

connect-utah.com 53

feature

“The vast majority of the workforce possesses far more capability, creativity, talent, initiative and resourcefulness than their present job allows.” Wise project managers do not squelch creativity and talent by micro-managing their people. They tap into this power and resourcefulness to help a project achieve success.

This is both the difficulty and beauty of working with people and providing good leadership.

Good leaders who can help people channel their thoughts and actions toward producing project success are truly on the “road less traveled.”

These are the project managers who find incredible fulfillment while leading their team through the project lifecycle.

So how does a project manager provide good leadership? As leaders, project managers must act much like coaches of athletic teams.

Coaches always have the goal of getting the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time. To do this, good coaches carefully look for the best available athletes and do all they can to train them to improve their natural, or previously learned, abilities. They then provide appropriate vision and direction and empower them to perform on the field. In a similar manner, project managers must build the team, establish vision and direction and then empower the team to produce success.

Building the Team Building a team involves assembling team members, making appropriate assignments, improving individual abilities, and helping people work together in a cohesive manner.

Assembling team members is the process of bringing together the right people with the right skill sets and abilities to accomplish project goals and requirements. Executives should allow project managers to have a say in how the team is assembled. When this is possible, project managers should take the opportunity to bring in the best talent available and weave them into the framework of the project team. If it is not possible, project managers should do the best they can with what they’ve got and ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.

Once the team is assembled, project managers must make very specific assignments to place team members in the right place at the right time. Great project managers orchestrate their teams to ensure the abilities, assignments and availability of team members 54 06/08 business connect

match up with the tasks at hand. Team members who understand and accept their roles and assignments produce at a higher level than those left without direction.

While assembly and assignment are important in getting the team moving, fostering individual improvement and team cohesion throughout the project are critical steps in keeping it moving.

Project managers must provide opportunities for individual team members to grow mentally, physically, socially and emotionally to reach peak performance in their project roles. Individuals become much more valuable to the team as they improve their abilities to perform.

In concert with this, project managers must help these individuals work together in a cohesive manner. The simplest methods of doing this involve making every gathering a team-building event. Many times people think they must have a large, expensive off-site meeting to create team cohesion. However, the best methods are usually much simpler than this.

Project planning sessions, project meetings and team communication opportunities all have the potential of breaking down barriers and building cohesion if treated as team-building exercises.

Project managers must look for ways to lead their team into these opportunities.

Establishing Vision and Direction Vision is the ability to see or imagine the future we desire to create. A very wise king once said, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

This is certainly true for projects. Projects perish without vision and direction. Establishing vision and direction provides the team proper alignment.

It also provides them a purpose to exist as a team and allows them to work more effectively toward project goals and outcomes.

Creating a project vision is a fundamental leadership and team alignment skill. Project managers can establish vision in three simple steps: First, they must allow the team to help create the vision; second, they must achieve team buy-in; and finally, they must provide appropriate motivation to keep team members focused on the vision.

The coaching analogy is also important here.

A coach can lead the team through vision creation.

A coach can also encourage and motivate the team to achieve great things on the field.

However, the coach cannot play the game for the players. The coach’s job is to climb above the fray, look over the horizon and provide an assurance the team is headed in the right direction to achieve the vision. The team’s job is to align themselves with the vision and perform to the best of their abilities. Great project managers lead like a coach, provide vision and direction, and motivate team members to achieve the vision.

Empowering the Team A great leader once said, “The best way to produce success on a project is to provide vision and direction and then get out of the way!” Empowerment is the embodiment of getting out of the way. Too many project managers find themselves trying to play the game for their players, rather than truly trying to lead them. Great project managers pull themselves out of the entangling weeds, trust their people, keep them focused on the vision and empower them to perform.

It is truly amazing what can happen on a project when managers become leaders and empower their teams to perform. General Colin Powell once said in a leadership presentation in Chicago, “The vast majority of the workforce possesses far more capability, creativity, talent, initiative and resourcefulness than their present job allows.” Wise project managers do not squelch creativity and talent by micro-managing their people. They tap into this power and resourcefulness to help a project achieve success.

Remember While this article is not meant to change the title of project manager to project leader or project coach, it is meant to focus professionals on what truly produces project success. People are truly a project manager’s most valuable asset. Those who understand this principle find success as they focus more on people and lead them by building the team, establishing vision and direction, and empowering the team.

Dr. Denis Petersen, PMP, is founder of Milestone Management Consultants, a Utah-based training and consulting firm. He can be reached at info@mmc-pm.com.

height

The downtown Salt Lake City, The 23rd Floor Event Center balances the convenience of a central location with the seclusion of being 23 stories above it all. Delivering luxury without compromising functionality, our state-of-the-art facility provides everything you’ll need for a successful event, including on-site catering, the latest presentation and conferencing technologies, and customizable room arrangements to accommodate groups of any

of

size, from 3 to 1,000. We could give you 23 reasons to hold your next corporate event here, but you won’t be listening once you see the view.

299 South Main Street, Suite 2300 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 801-961-4050 www.23rdfloor.net

Run a Small Business?

Save Yourself the Legal Headaches

The lawyers at Kelly & Bramwell are experienced in providing the legal support a small-business owner needs at a price that will actually let you stay in business.

Let us handle your business litigation, collections, contracts, construction law, real estate law, entity formation and general advising needs so you can get back to what you do best… running your business.

Call us at 801-495-2559 or visit www.kellybramwell.com

e x c e l l e n c e

Overlooking the surrounding valley from the heart of

point of view

Bruce Law

Founder and President, Sprout Marketing

By Colin Kelly Jr.

left the New York advertising world, came to Utah and helped market Novell during its heyday. He soon found he had caught the startup bug when helping launch one of Novell’s spinoffs. After leaving Novell to help grow a number of Utah companies such as NextPage and Knowlix, Law saw a great need in the state for outsourced marketing teams and founded Sprout Marketing in 2002.

Law is now considered one of the brightest marketing minds in the state and has the data to prove it. In just over five years, Sprout Marketing has helped launch more than 400 products for 100 companies resulting in $250 million in increased revenues for its clients.

connect-utah.com 57

Too often I see what I call “random acts of marketing” — companies that get a bit of cash from somewhere and say, “Let’s try this.”

Six months later, they’ve churned through $50,000 with nothing to show for it.

point of view

Business Connect: What first prompted you to launch Sprout?

Bruce Law: In 2001, I was working for NextPage as the VP of marketing and happened to sit on the Utah Technology Council (UTC formally UITA) board. UTC was struggling with its identity and decided to host a roundtable with about 30 key executives to see how UTC could better serve them.

The three main points that came out of the meeting were raising capital, finding talent and changing the business environment in Utah. A fourth item that came out of the meeting was the need for sales and marketing talent. For some time, I’d observed many Utah tech companies that needed help with sales and marketing, but the data point validation at that meeting gave me the justification I needed to launch Sprout Marketing. I went to all of the VCs in town to let them and their portfolio companies know about the new type of agency I was creating with Sprout Marketing.

BC: How is Sprout different from other marketing or ad agencies?

BL: Sprout is basically a marketing and PR team for hire. We are positioned to help small- and medium-size companies validate their market position, then launch their product or service. The VCs I talked to said that their companies were in need of such a service as they’d had a difficult time finding and hiring expensive full-time VPs of marketing who could work with limited budgets and get traction for their companies. So I said, “Let’s collapse it all including marketing budget, team, resources and head count — all into one affordable package.”

You can usually hire Sprout for less than it costs to hire a marketing VP and you don’t need the long-term commitment involved with hiring a VP. You can turn us off or phase us out at any time. It’s a way to wade into the pool without just plunging into the deep end.

58 06/08 business connect

BC: What types of companies are your ideal clients?

BL: Many smaller companies don’t have any type of marketing plan, but they know they need one. Sometimes, the company has focused mostly on sales and always planned to get to marketing, but just hasn’t had the time.

Or, they may have a marketing plan they’ve cooked up in their heads but it doesn’t yet exist. We can bolt on to that kind of organization and take them forward.

BC: What mistakes do you most often see companies make?

BL: Too often I see what I call “random acts of marketing” — companies that get a bit of cash from somewhere and say, “Let’s try this.” Six months later, they’ve churned through $50,000 with nothing to show for it.

A random act of marketing is like starting a new book vs. adding a chapter to an existing book. With random acts, nothing builds to any sort of conclusion. It’s too easy to fracture your message instead of make everything feed into one specific theme.

At Sprout we like to show clients that if they can look at specific approaches then spend money in certain ways, the revenue growth will happen. If you don’t approach it that way, you’ll just spend a lot of money and be disappointed.

We have a three-pronged philosophy: 1) We help with the foundational elements — brand, customer, messaging, identity, Web site; 2) We then focus on the plumbing — all the ways customers interact with the marketing machine; and 3) Once the plumbing is in place, we’re ready to go outbound and get people to beat a path to the door because we’ll be able to catch leads in the plumbing consistently since the foundation is right.

I find companies forget the first two, then they try a swing-for-the-fence move like getting on the cover of The Wall Street Journal or launching a huge ad campaign.

Without the first two items in place, it’s hard to track anything or be able to effectively act on inquiries. Too often, you just spend a lot of money but don’t see anything change after it’s all said and done.

BC: Your clients average a 20 percent increase in leads after 90 days. How do you get that success in a short timeframe?

BL: Once you get really good at doing this type of marketing you start to see similarities across almost all industries — the same principles still apply. The way we go about bringing these companies out of obscurity is often the same regardless of the product so we don’t have to start from scratch with each new client. This allows Sprout to be quickly effective while helping out their bottom line.

I don’t like to be the kind of consultancy who says, “Here’s your binder and your bill. Good luck.” I want to take everything from strategy to execution and see the revenue line go up. Any good marketer tracks his or her success by increased revenues.

2008UTAH100 Honoring Utah’s Brightest Companies

Applications are now being accepted for the 2008 MWCN Utah 100 Awards.

Utah's finest and fastest growing companies will be honored at the 14th Annual Awards Luncheon, being held at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, on October 24, 2008.

There will be honorees selected in the categories of 100 Fastest Growing Companies, 15 Largest Revenue Growth Companies and 15 Emerging Elite Companies.

The deadline for submitting applications is July 21, 2008.

Official applications and category criteria can be found on-line at www.mwcn.org. Interested companies can call 801.966.1430 or email to info@mwcn.org for additional information.

2008 MWCN Utah 100 Sponsors Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll Business Connect Magazine Deloitte & Touche Durham Jones & Pinegar Grant Thornton LLP Holme Roberts & Owen LLP Jones Waldo KUER FM90

MARSH/MERCER Merrill Corporation Parsons Behle & Latimer PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Tanner LC USTAR Zions Bank

Established 14 years ago as Utah’s premier Business Growth Recognition Program

B Why am i the happiest stapler ever?

Because everyday I sit perched atop a beautiful custom-designed workspace built for less than half the cost of new. Initially, when I heard the word “refurbished,� the first thing that came to my mind was 1970s Salvation Army special.

But CUBE OFFICE DESIGNS showed my owner he could choose from a wide variety of colors, surfaces and styles. With this kind of work environment, I may choose to never misfire again.

Call today for a consultation 8o1.364.2823

point of view

Brian Beutler Alianza CEO & Co-founder It sounds so easy on paper. First, the then-25-year-old Brian Beutler won BYU’s business plan competition in April 2005. Three months later, he netted $2 million in funding for his fledgling business from the Utah Angels.

Just more than one year later, he closed a $4 million round of venture financing led by vSpring Capital (with additional participation from the University Venture Fund). Some guys have all the luck.

By Gail Newbold connect-utah.com 61

“I prepared my guts out “I prepared my guts out so when the opportunities so when the opportunities came I could take advantage came I could take advantage of them. I’ve never worked of them. I’ve never worked harder in my life.” harder in my life.”

Not so, protests Beutler, CEO and co-founder of Lindonbased Alianza, a company that provides the first hosted, fully-integrated IP-based platform for delivering unified communications applications via SaaS for broadband service providers with branches in Mexico, Argentina and Singapore. Nailing down the funding for his company was hardly easy. In fact, he says, it was the toughest challenge he faced.

“My co-founder Scott Bell and I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours in prep work, strategizing and refining our plan,” he says. “I prepared my guts out so when the opportunities came I could take advantage of them. I’ve never worked harder in my life.”

The Utah Technology Council has recognized Beutler as the “2005 Emerging CXO of the Year,” and his company was named by Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum among the top 25 fastest-growing companies in Utah during 2005, 2006 and 2007. In addition, Venture Magazine named Alianza as one of the top startups to watch in 2008.

Business Connect: Describe your company in lay terms.

Brian Beutler: There are some fundamental changes taking place to the underlying technology that powers the way we communicate. These changes are leading to the emergence of “broadband phone companies,” capable of offering communications services and applications directly over your Internet connection without the need for a traditional phone line or installed hardware. Alianza’s hosted software platform helps broadband service providers to offer value-added communications services that improve the customer’s overall experience.

BC: Are there any drawbacks to an Internet-based calling service like yours?

BB: You bet. The biggest limitation is the quality of your Internet connection. If your broadband connectivity is lousy, then a traditional phone service is a better choice. But if you have a manageable, high-quality connection, then our service will rock and roll for you and you’ll never look back.

BC: How did you get started?

BB: Our launch pad was the BYU Business Plan Competition. In 2005, I was a senior at BYU working fulltime and going to school at night. I took an 62 06/08 business connect

entrepreneurial lecture series class that opened my eyes and changed my life. It was in this class that I first heard about the competition — and the $100,000 in prizes. My eyes got big.

At the time, we were bootstrapping. We were just two guys and a dream. Between second mortgages, maxed out credit cards and trusting family members, we were able to get the company off the ground. Part of our agreement when we accepted money from family was that neither of us would take a dime in salary until we’d raised our first round of institutional funding. Looking back, I realize we were a little bit naïve. We didn’t know how hard it would be.

Competing in the Business Plan Competition was really the catalyst that helped us to launch the company. We ended up competing against 64 teams. As a history major, there were often times when I felt out of place. But at the end of three rounds of judging we ended up winning first place, which led to other business plan competitions, exposure to angel investors and the press, which really helped us build momentum for our first round of financing.

BC: You are 28 years old and CEO of your own company.

It doesn’t appear that age has been any sort of barrier for you.

BB: I think being young can be a liability or an asset.

The biggest liability is lack of experience, but that can be compensated for by surrounding yourself with smart and experienced people. A lot of times in business you find managers hiring people who think the same way they do. I try to hire people that think differently and bring new ideas to the table. On the other hand, the biggest asset of being young is the drive to work hard. It seems like the older we get, the more crowded life becomes with commitments outside of the office and it becomes more difficult to work the nights and weekends that are often needed to make the difference.

BC: Who gets the credit for teaching you to work hard?

BB: Probably my dad. I was working beside him in the garden since I could walk. My dad strung off a tiny little plot of the garden with twine and let me plant whatever I wanted. I learned the law of harvest at a really young age and I guess that lesson has stuck with me to this day.

BC: What do you do when you’re not at work?

BB: My favorite thing is just chilling with my family and relaxing. Outside of that I still like gardening, tooling around in the dirt, and I like fly fishing. For me, standing in the water in the middle of a remote river, tempting a cutthroat trout to take a fly is one of the few times when all the stress and worries of life really fade into the background.

>>

DIRECTORY

furniture

>> connect-utah.com 63

CCG Howells CCG Howells is a full service architectural interior and commercial office furniture firm. As a preferred dealer for Haworth, OFS and Ralph Lauren, CCG Howells offers a full line of commercial modular office furniture systems, fine wood case goods, raised-access flooring, movable wall systems, lighting, plug-and-play features, ergonomic seating and residential furniture.

Our modular furniture products give customers a total turnkey solution for commercial interiors. CCG Howells can literally turn a concrete and steel shell into a fully functioning flexible interior with unitized walls, access flooring and commercial furniture.

358 South Rio Grande Salt Lake City, UT 84101 801-359-6622 800-324-6732 ccgh@ccghowells.com www.ccghowells.com

Cube Office Designs Every year, hundreds of Utah businesses spend too much on office furniture. Cube Office Designs can help you save 50 percent or more off new prices by utilizing recycled material. We specialize in new, pre-owned and refurbished cubicles, seating, conference and training tables, filing cabinets, desks and credenzas, as well as installation and reconfiguration. We also offer free design services and let you select your own fabric, laminate, paint and edging.

We’re creating great places to work, learn and heal.

Specializing in commercial, government, education and health care interiors, Henriksen/Butler (H/B) offers a full menu of furniture, flooring and related services.

A leading Herman Miller dealer since 1983, we have showrooms in Salt Lake City, St. George and Las Vegas.

From initial space planning to installation, maintenance and on-going support, we can help create environments that promote community, support new kinds of work and handle sophisticated technology.

Anyone can sell furniture, but it’s our 27-year history and commitment to service and the installed base of product that sets H/B apart.

5062 W. Amelia Earhart Dr. Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 801-364-2823 www.cubeoffice.com

Paige Wright Vice President - Sales & Marketing pwright@henriksenbutler.com 249 S. 400 East Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 T: 801-363-5881 F: 801-359-4326 www.hbdg.com

Our selection of modern contemporary office furniture includes modular and home office workstations, office desks, office chairs, file cabinets, credenzas, bookcases and storage shelves. We work together with a dedicated group of manufacture’s that are committed to producing handcrafted furniture using eco-friendly practices.

By using glues and finishes that are water based, our use of bamboo and solid hardwoods are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Our in-house design specialists can help you create the perfect working environment for your needs.

64 06/08 business connect

3960 Highland Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84124 801-278-4411 www.lofgrens.com

example, according example, according to a recent study private offices are often messy offor doing so. to a recent study conducted by the Hamlyn conducted by the Helen Hamlyn fices. The private office worker tends Private offiHelen ces typically house the Research Centre the Royal ColResearch Centre at the Royal Colto be older, more educated and have highest paidatworkers in an organilege of Art inand London, many allot officemore higher income, and these workers are lege of Art in London, many office zation, they usually workers overfootage 50 embrace technology. workers over 50 embrace technology. more often pilers than filers. square per person than an But the study,

by SteelBut the study, supported by SteelA study by Ajilon, a subsidiary open plan.supported While many private case, offi IDEO and DEGW research uncase, IDEO and DEGW as research of human resources giant Adecco ces have remainedasessentially partners, also showed that the these partners, also showed that these Group, says that about two-thirds of changed for decades, rest of the olderworkplace workers, tohas a much greater deolder workers, to a much greater deemployees making $35,000 or less changed dramatically gree than their younger counterparts, call themselves "neat freaks." Among gree than their younger counterparts, -- cross-functional teams, multiwanttasking, both access to and separation want both access to and separation workers making $75,000 or more, creative thinking, group fromprocesses new technologies as their equivalents work from new technologies as their work however, only 11% call themselves – the grown-up and lives demand. and lives demand. the same. of "plays well with others."

Greater numbers ofcan older people Greater numbers of older people And the Steelcase Workplace Private offices "play" that are remaining in theon workforce in are remaining in the workforce in Index, a recurring survey that gauges way too, based recent research 2245 S. West Temple LuxurySteelcase Liquidation is Utah’s largest importer of Class A office the U.S., Europe the U.S., Europebyand Japan. It's and Japan. It's workplace trends in the United conducted to find furniture and offers deeply discounted Our lines compare a trend by anand aging worka trend driven Salt by anLake aging City, work-UT 84115 States, showspricing. that younger (18 - 34 outdriven what does doesn’t work in force,private the need for many force, the needT:and desire for many and older (55 years and without up) offiand ces.

Private offi ce workers 801-824-6091 with thedesire finest office furnitureyears) available in the US, but the workers to work longer and the workers to work longer and the workers are most likely to feel they at culturally and geographically di801-606-2801 typical mark-ups you normallyarepay. realization that businesses to were realization thatF:businesses need to "neat freaks" (40% and 37%). verse organizations inneed the U.S. retaininterviewed and tap We intoathave the knowledge of retain and tap www.officefurnitureblowout.com into the knowledge of Middle-aged workers filing (35 - 54 years) length, and behaviors desks, conference tables, cubicles, cabinets, experienced workers.

Many of these experienced workers. Many of these tend to be "pilers." were closely studied through more www.luxuryliquidation.com chairs, bookshelves and everything that youmay willseem need to workers work in workers in private offices. private offices.

Pilingelse arrangements thanwork 100 hours of video ethnography random, butimage they're you oftenwant purposeful. and other observational research provide your office with the high-class to portray.

R Scott Price is a Workplace ConsulR Scott Price is a Workplace ConsulPeople tend to pile work by priority. techniques.

M William Legones Call Luxury Liquidation for a price on any size office tant, Vice President and General Man- todayWhat's tant, Vice President and General Manhot is quote often stacked next ager at Behind Midwest Commercial Interiors, ager at Midwest Commercial Interiors, to the phone, what's needed soon Closed Doors No More mark@luxuryliquidation.com space to compare.

Salt Lake City.people He can be reached at priSalt Lake City. He can be reached at camps near the edge of the desk.

Many tend to see the 801-505-4231 801-505-4231 Back-burner stuff – completedvate office as a trade-off:

Luxury Liquidation

and Midwest Commercial Interiors

in your future?

*Article provided by Steelcase and Midwest Commercial Interiors Midwest Commercial Interiors

Is an office makeover in your future?

Midwest Commercial Interiors can help you to define your brand, elevate your culture and build a more effective organization. Their team of designers, workplace consultants, project managers, and installers has installed more award winning spaces in Utah than any other firm. Midwest offers expertise and exclusive offerings for corporate, health care, education and hospitality spaces. Visit their state-of-the-art workplace performance center to understand the latest concepts in design practice. Midwest represents Steelcase and the top brands in office furnishings, technology and presentation products, floor coverings, access floors, modular power and data, movable 801.505.4231 Design. Furnish Impress.

801.505.4231 walls, and interior architectural products.

Relax the Back At Relax the Back® we want your employees to be happier and more productive.

We are dedicated to bringing you the latest in ergonomic designs. Discover furniture ideal for preventing and alleviating back pain, neck stiffness and overall body fatigue. Choose from hundreds of fabrics, colors and styles to make your office a showcase of your business philosophy. Our ergonomically trained staff is ready to show you just how much our office furniture can do for your business.

256 E University Pkwy Orem, UT 84095 T: 801-373-2225 F: 801-373-5558 www.relaxtheback.com

987 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84101 801-359-768 www.midwestoffice.com

Jon Huntsman, Sr., often speaks of how his mother, father, and stepmother all died of cancer, leading him and his family to pledge $225 million to build and support Huntsman Cancer Institute. The institute has done much to fight cancer with their contribution.

Your contributions will help our scientists and doctors perform research and clinical studies to find better ways to prevent, detect, and treat both common and rare cancers in adults. They share these research findings with scientists throughout the world. Your gift to Huntsman Cancer Institute benefits cancer research everywhere.

Please make your donation to Huntsman Cancer Foundation today at our website: www.huntsmancancerfoundation.org.

To learn more about the many giving opportunities available, call 801-584-5800.

A reason to hope

ÂŽ

huntsmancancerfoundation.org • 801-584-5800