The Enterprise-Utah's Business Journal by Vaughn Taylor

UTAH’S BUSINESS JOURNAL www.slenterprise.com

THIS WEEK

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

Utah firm to debut permanent storage optical disc

'Timeless' townhomes to be built in Provo

Developer says product is tried and true. See page 3.

• Industry Briefs • Begin on page 6.

Focus Special

R e p ort

Education & Training

Begins on page 10.

• Calendar • See page 18.

Image courtesy of Millenniata Inc. By Brad Fullmer The Enterprise In an answer to the everpresent concern of permanent digital data storage, American Fork-based Millenniata Inc. has ushered in a new era of disc storage technology with the release of its patented M-Disc and M-Ready disc storage system. The three-year-old firm also announced earlier this month a strategic manufacturing and marketing partnership with HitachiLG Data Storage (DS) Inc., a global leader in digital optical storage devices. The contract with Hitachi-LG DS was signed March

25, 2011. Millenniata, a name that combines “1,000 years” and “data,” will market the new products on its website (milleniata.com) beginning in September, in addition to LG’s U.S. and international retail channels starting in October. The products will be rolled out in stages to other prominent national retailers over the next six to 12 months. “We’ve been generating data electronically for 50 years but never had a way to store it permanently,” said Millenniata CEO see STORAGE page 22

iBattery changing name, will begin offering line of packaging materials By Brad Fullmer The Enterprise iBattery, an Orem-based online reseller of electronic accessories, is in the process of changing its name to Vetora LLC while expanding its sales operations by featuring its own line of packaging materials called EcoSwift. Co-owners Rich Jackson, CEO, and Brigham Budd, president, believe they can increase current sales revenues by two to three times over the next two years, while improving profit margins, just by selling EcoSwift products in addition to offering services designed to aid other local small businesses with their shipping needs. “This has been on our project list for a couple of years and in March it was time to launch our EcoSwift packaging materials,,” Jackson said last week.

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“Not only will we save money on our own shipping costs, we’ll help other small businesses save money. We’ll be up and running this week.” “We sell such a high volume of products and ship out so many packages every day (between 1,300 and 1,400 on average) that packaging materials are a big factor for us,” said Budd. “Having our own line of packaging products – bubble mailers, poly mailer envelopes, poly bubbles, boxes and tape – will have a significant impact on our overall sales growth.” Vetora saw gross revenues increase from $300,000 during the last half of 2009 to nearly $2 million in 2010. Jackson and Budd anticipate a record year in 2011, between $3 million and $5 million. The company currently see VETORA page 4

Ground broken for $4 million self-storage development in Lehi

By Brad Fullmer The Enterprise Menlove Construction of Salt Lake City broke ground in early August on a $4 million, 68,240 square foot storage unit facility in Lehi called Thanksgiving Storage, according to project owner Mark Doxey. “It’s going to be a very classy project when it’s done,” said Doxey, who is funding the project with a $2.5 million business loan from Central Bank & Trust’s Pleasant Grove office, along with $1.5 million of personal funds. “It’s going to be a Class A structure, something much nicer than a standard storage unit complex.” Doxey said the project includes 475 total units, 30 percent

of which will be conditioned units for fragile commodities. There will be a caretaker on site 24 hours a day for around-the-clock access, and an estimated 24 video surveillance cameras are part of the hightech security system. The units themselves are a combination of concrete block masonry and steel and will include some decorative aesthetics for a more pleasant overall look. The onsite caretaker will live in a 1,300 square foot residence above the main office. “We really wanted to cater to the climate of the neighborhood,” said Doxey. “We’ll be going after business clients as well as residential clients. The project has direct see STORAGE page 22

Eighty-two Utah companies listed on Inc. 5000 this year Eighty-two Utah companies appear on the Inc. 5000 list, released last week by Inc. magazine. Firms were ranked according to percentage of revenue growth over a three-year period. To qualify, companies had to be U.S.-based, privately held and independent — not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies. Revenue in the initial year must have been at least $200,000, while revenue in the most recent year must have been at least $2 million. The median number of employees at Inc. 5000 company is 51 people. The Inc. 5000 companies created 370,592 jobs in the last three years. The top 10 industries for job creation were human resources, business products and services, health, IT services, government services, software, telecommunications, food and beverage, financial services and advertising and marketing. Following is the full list of Utah firms and their rankings: # 115. VIP International, Lehi. Consumer products and services, 2,364 percent growth rate, $3.9 million revenues, 12 employees. #309. Lendio, South Jordan. Financial services, 1,059 percent growth rate, $8.6 million revenues, 45 employees. # 313. Neutron Interactive,

Salt Lake City. Advertising and marketing, 1,050 percent growth rate, $15 million revenues, 35 employees. # No. 360. OrangeSoda, American Fork. Advertising and marketing, 946 percent growth rate, $19 million revenues, 185 employees. # 458. One on One Marketing, Lehi. Advertising and marketing, 763 percent growth rate, $50.9 million revenues, 130 employees. # 466. IntegraCore, West Jordan. Logistics and transportation, 752 percent growth rate, $38.6 million revenues, 108 employees. # 586. Property Solutions, Provo. Real estate, 560 percent growth rate, $11.1 million revenues, 88 employees. # 639. DigiCert, Lindon. Security, 503 percent growth rate, $18.9 million revenues, 48 employees. # 795. BidSync, American

see INC. 5000 page 2

INC. 5000 from page 1

Fork. Software, 394 percent growth rate, $6.1 million revenues, 63 employees. #860. AvantLink.com, Park City. Advertising and marketing, 360 percent growth rate, $4.7 million revenues, 11 employees. # 870. Skullcandy, Park City. Consumer products and services, 354 percent growth rate, $160.6 million revenues, 132 employees. # 880. eGlobal, Kaysville, Financial services, 350 percent growth rate, $16.3 million revenues, 11 employees. # 894. NetSteps, Pleasant Grove. Software, 343 percent growth rate, $6.3 million revenues, 42 employees. # 836. Jakob Marketing Partners, Holladay. Advertising and marketing, 327 percent growth rate, $3.8 million revenues, seven employees. # 938. Molding Box, Draper. Logistics and transportation, 325 percent growth rate, $3 million revenues, 19 employees. # 972. Imagine Learning, Provo. Software, 315 percent growth rate, $21.1 million revenues, 170 employees. # 1052, BodyGuardz, Bluffdale. Consumer products and services, 288 percent growth rate, $4.1 million revenues, 38 employees. # 1092. mediaFORGE, Salt Lake City. Advertising and marketing, 277 percent growth rate, $2.1 million revenues, 17 employees. # 1116. Oh My Crafts, Alpine. Retail, 268 percent growth rate, $7.6 million revenues, 57 employees. # 1172. DataMetrix, Salt Lake City. Health, 252 percent growth rate, $6.3 million revenues, 66 employees.

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

# 1286. Clearlink, Salt lake City. Advertising and marketing, 225 percent growth rate, $38.4 million revenues, 443 employees. # 1399. Blade HQ, Lehi. Retail, 203 percent growth rate, $5.4 million revenues, 14 employees. # 1463. Smile Reminder, Lehi. Software, 191 percent growth rate, $7.7 million revenues, 58 employees. # 1489. Simply Mac, Salt Lake City. Computer hardware, 187 percent growth rate, $20.5 million revenues, 73 employees. # 1497. Grant Victor. Kaysville. Financial services, 186 percent growth rate, $38.9 million revenues, 37 employees. # 1557. AtTask, Orem. Software, 177 percent growth rate, $21.6 million revenues, 184 employees. # 1631. Acumen Learning, Orem. Human resources, 167 percent growth rate, $4 million revenues, 18 employees. # 1672. SolutionStream, Lehi. IT services, 162 percent growth rate, $7.2 million revenues, 60 employees. # 1708. Aribex, Orem. Manufacturing, 157 percent growth rate, $8.4 million revenues, 33 employees. # 1910. Alliance Health Networks, Salt Lake City. Health, 135 percent growth rate, $17.7 million revenues, 50 employees. # 1911. Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill, Bountiful. Food and beverage, 135 percent growth rate, $13.8 million revenues, 560 employees. # 1919. New Dawn Technologies, Logan. Software, 135 percent growth rate, $9.7 million revenues, 102 employees. # 1945. Veracity Networks, Provo. Telecommunications, 131 percent growth rate, $23.6 million revenues, 105 employees.

# 1996. AdvancedMD Software, South Jordan. Health, 127 percent growth rate, $34.8 million revenues, 206 employees. # 2120. Airgun Depot, Draper. Retail, 118 percent growth rate, $6.4 million revenues, 12 employees. # 2234. ATMequipment. com, Kaysville. Financial services, 111 percent growth rate, $21.1 million revenues, 17 employees. # 2406. Red Iguana, Salt Lake City. Food and beverage, 99 percent growth rate, $6.4 million revenues, 145 employees. # 2431. Wasatch Software, Salt Lake City. IT services, 97 percent growth rate, $3 million revenues, 15 employees. # 2581. Deseret Biologicals, Sandy. Health, 93 percent growth rate, $3.7 million revenues, 11 employees. # 2511. Logica, Salt Lake City. Logistics and transportation, 93 percent growth rate, $3.3 million revenues, 25 employees. # 2559. Mindshare Technologies, Salt Lake City. Business products and services, 91 percent growth rate, $13.6 million revenues, 61 employees. # 2644. Control4, Salt Lake City. Software, 87 percent growth rate, $75 million revenues, 303 employees. # 2702. Access Technology Solutions, Provo. Logistics and transportation, 83 percent growth rate, $21.1 million revenues, 53 employees. # 2716. Costume Craze, Pleasant Grove. Retail, 83 percent growth rate, $13.2 million revenues, 22 employees. # 2719. Hycomp, Hyde Park. Manufacturing, 83 percent growth rate, $2.9 million revenues, 35 employees. # 2747. Conservice, Logan. Real estate, 81 percent growth rate, $20.9 million revenues, 273

employees. # 2845. At Home Personal Care, Salt Lake City. Health, 76 percent growth rate, $2.4 million revenues, 105 employees. # 2849. Action Target, Provo. Manufacturing, 76 percent growth rate, $58.8 million revenues, 170 employees. # 2991. SwipeClock, South Jordan. Business products and services, 69 percent growth rate, $4.4 million revenues, 24 employees. # 3165. ASAP Printing, Salt Lake City. Business products and services, 63 percent growth rate, $14.8 million revenues, 95 employees. # 3194. MasterControl, Salt Lake City. Software, 61 percent growth rate, $20.3 million revenues, 103 employees. # 3196. Fringe Media, Salt Lake City. Retail, 61 percent growth rate, $17.3 million revenues, 61 employees. # 3221. Stake Center Locating, Salt Lake City. Construction, 60 percent growth rate, $18.5 million revenues, 213 employees. # 3248. VPI Engineering, Draper. Engineering, 59 percent growth rate, $14.3 million revenues, 36 employees. # 3283. Fishbowl Inventory, Orem. Software, 57 percent growth rate, $8.2 million revenues, 74 employees. # 3286. Veracity Solutions, Salt Lake City. Software, 57 percent growth rate, $4 million revenues, 40 employees. # 3318. Namifiers, Springville. Business products and services, 56 percent growth rate, $9.6 million revenues, 102 employees. # 3425. VitalSmarts, Provo. Human resources, 52 percent growth rate, $32.3 million revenues, 89 employees. # 3429. England Logistics, Salt Lake City. Logistics and transportation, 52 percent growth rate, $213.7 million revenues, 340 employees. # 3509. Classic Aviation, Woods Cross. Logistics and transportation, 49 percent growth rate, $10.4 million revenues, 120 employees. # 3548. U.S. Translation, South Ogden. Business products and services, 48 percent growth

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rate, $2.2 million revenues, nine employees. # 3560. Digital Financial Group, Salt Lake City. Financial services, 47 percent growth rate, $7.5 million revenues, 25 employees. # 3655. Candle Warmers Etc., Layton. Consumer products and services, 43 percent growth rate, $6.5 million revenues, 21 employees. # 3702. Inthinc, Salt Lake City. Software, 42 percent growth rate, $25.9 million revenues, 85 employees. # 3709. Career Step, Provo. Education, 42 percent growth rate, $18.7 million revenues, 85 employees. # 3736. Fibernet Corp., Orem. IT services, 41 percent growth rate, $3.7 million revenues, 33 employees. # 3833. Young Living Essential Oils, Lehi. Health, 37 percent growth rate, $163.2 million revenues, 388 employees. # 3889. Dish One Satellite, Provo. Retail, 35 percent growth rate, $8.7 million revenues, 140 employees. # 3962. MediConnect Global, South Jordan. Health, 33 percent growth rate, $46.9 million revenues, 1,000 employees. # 4054. Del Sol, Sandy. Retail, 31 percent growth rate, $37.9 million revenues, 105 employees. # 4242. Innovative Staffing, South Jordan. Human resources, 25 percent growth rate, $122.2 million revenues, 24 employees. # 4267. Opinionology, Orem. Business products and services, 24 percent growth rate, $63.5 million revenues, 2,439 employees. #4443. The Presidio Group, Salt Lake City. Insurance, 20 percent growth rate, $6.4 million revenues, 36 employees. # 4582. Truenorthlogic, Sandy. Education, 15 percent growth rate, $4.3 million revenues, 39 employees. # 4588. Petersen, Ogden. Manufacturing, 15 percent growth rate, $70 million revenues, 445 employees. # 4648. Western Petroleum, Vernal. Logistics and transportation, 14 percent growth rate, $333.7 million revenues, 277 employees. # 4749. SnugZ USA, Salt Lake City. Manufacturing, 11 percent growth rate, $24.8 million revenues, 210 employees. # 4806. ThomasArts, Farmington. Advertising and marketing, 9 percent growth rate, $11.4 million revenues, 126 employees. # 4829. ChartLogic, Salt Lake City. Health, 8 percent growth rate, $6.8 million revenues, 45 employees. # 4925. Spillman Technologies, Salt Lake City. Software, 5 percent growth rate, $31.3 million revenues, 205 employees. # 4943. Spring Mobile, Salt Lake City. Retail, 4 percent growth rate, $54.7 million revenues, 310 employees. # 4981. Spring Works Utah, Woods Cross. Manufacturing, 3 percent growth rate, $2.3 million revenues, 20 employees.

The Enterprise

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

'Timeless' townhome project to be constructed in Provo

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Townhomes such as these, created by Georgetown Development, have existed in Utah County for more than 30 years. By Barbara Rattle The Enterprise Georgetown Development Inc., Provo, plans to break ground in October for Liberty Place, a 57-unit townhome community at roughly 1280 W. 200 N. in Provo. Company president John Dester said he is waiting for Provo City to remove some large old warehouses near the site before construction can begin. Georgetown will design Liberty Place and act as its own general contractor. Dester said he is negotiating with Central Bank to provide construction financing. “I’ve built about 2,000 of these townhomes in the past 33 years. It’s a tried and true product,” Dester said. “This particular project will have some new elevations and new treatments that we’ve never done before that are actually going to make them even nicer than our previous ones, which are very nice. At Liberty Place, there will be a main floor master bedroom. Older people especially are needing a place that is a little smaller, they don’t need a big yard. We’ve not been able to meet that need because we’re always two stories. These are still two stories but a lot of the end units will have a main

THE ENTERPRISE [USPS 891-300] Published weekly by Enterprise Newspaper Group Inc. 825 N. 300 W., Suite C309, Salt Lake City, UT 84103 Telephone: (801) 533-0556 Fax: (801) 533-0684 Web site: www.slenterprise.com. For advertising inquiries, e-mail david@slenterprise. com. To contact the newsroom, e-mail barbara@ slenterprise.com. Subscriptions are $55 per year for online only, $65 per year for print only and $75 per year for both the print and online versions. or $1.25 per copy. Opinions expressed by columnists are not necessarily the opinion or policy of The Enterprise Copyright 2011 Enterprise Newspaper Group Inc. All rights reserved Periodicals postage paid at Salt Lake City, UT 84199. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to P.O. Box 11778, Downtown Station, Salt Lake City, UT 84147

floor master bed and bath and still another bed and bath upstairs. We’ve had feedback already from people a who are in that situation who say they would want to buy one of those. Now we hope that they do.” Homes at Liberty Place will range from 1,065 square feet (two bedrooms) to 1,350 square feet (three bedrooms, the majority of the units). The smaller units will have carports while the larger ones will sport two-car garages. Prices will range from $125,000 to $155,000. All will have small, private back yards. Like other Georgetown projects, the homes at Liberty Place will be a “traditional style townhome that you would see in Maryland or Virginia,” Dester said. “I like to refer to the architecture as timeless. The ones I did 30 years ago, people here in Utah County still know where they are, still say they look great, they resell very well. And it’s partially because of that timeless aspect.” Once construction begins, the first units should start being delivered within five months, Dester said, noting he knows what his target market is. “We know who our buyer is and it’s everybody, from singles to young couples starting out to people moving down out of a big home and retirees,” he said.

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ZAGG puts weight behind new coating tech firm Salt Lake City-based ZAGG Inc., maker of films, skins, audio and power solutions that protect, personalize and enhance mobile devices, has closed on a $7 million preferred stock financing for South Salt Lake start-up HzO Inc., creator of a technology called WaterBlock for consumer and industrial electronic assemblies. “I have been a believer in HzO technology since I was first introduced to it, and I felt it could be a global success,” said Robert G. Pedersen II, CEO and president of ZAGG. “This financing advances the commercialization of the technology, which we have continued to develop since acquiring it. I believe ZAGG will benefit from this technology long into the future with its equity stake in HzO.” During November 2010, ZAGG Inc. acquired from Northwest Maritime Institute (NMI) , a majority stake in HzO, with the vision of using the HzO technology to protect mobile elec-

tronics. HzO entered into a Series B Stock Purchase Agreement pursuant to which HzO issued shares of its newly designated Series B Preferred Stock to Harris & Harris Group, Prudence Holdings and Pike Capital Partners for cash of $2.5 million. Upon HzO achieving certain milestones, the investors will invest up to an additional $4.5 million in cash for additional shares of Series B Preferred Stock. In addition, the new investor syndicate, with an additional investment from ZAGG and three ZAGG executives, acquired the remaining interest in HzO still held by NMI, allowing the new HzO investors, ZAGG executives and ZAGG to own 100% percent of the company. ZAGG will continue to be the largest equity owner of HzO. In addition, ZAGG and HzO entered into a distribution and marketing agreement, pursuant to which ZAGG will provide marketing and distribution services for

HzO products. Under the terms of the distribution agreement, ZAGG will assist HzO in rolling out its first HzO-coated consumer electronic devices. The HzO technology creates a nanoscale coating that protects electronics against damage caused by exposure to fluids, which is the leading cause of lost functionality in electronics. The coating is transparent and can be applied to a variety of surfaces including plastic, metal and glass. In addition to water repellence, the coating can repel many oils, synthetic fluids, hazardous materials, dust and dirt. HzO intends to integrate its technology in multiple industries including automotive, first responder devices, military devices and vehicles, solar energy, and industrial applications. HzO is located at 3855 S. 500 W., Suite R. Formed in 2009, has three employees — CEO Paul Clayson, a Ph.D. chemist and a production assistant. Interviews are under way for additional staff.

Does Your Current Investment Advice Measure Up? Our financial advice is based upon the integrity and objectivity that comes from not offering company-owned investment products. Together, we can create a portfolio that you can be sure has your best interests in mind. Would you have it any other way? Call today for more information or to schedule a consultation.

James M. Rigtrup, LPL Registered Principal 9657 South 700 East Sandy, UT 84070 (801) 572-1077

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

VETORA from page 1

has one other full-time employee (warehouse manager) and nine part-timers that work 20 to 25 hours a week. The firm operates out of two warehouses just west of I-15 off exit 271 at 15 N. 1330 W. in Orem. The main office/ warehouse is 4,200 square feet; the other, a block away, is 4,000 square feet and will house an initial shipment of five large containers (8 feet wide, 10 feet high, 40 feet deep) of packaging products. The company currently has a product line of just over 500 SKUs, including accessories for cell phones, digital cameras, iPods/MP3 players and iPads/ tablets. It recently started selling HDMI cables ranging from three 50-feet long. All products, are 70 percent to 90 percent off typical retail prices. “We’re geared to selling items that people use every day,” Jackson said. “Every single household has at least one or two things we sell accessories for.” Items for cell phones range from $1.99 (screen protector) to $9.99 (battery). A 50-foot HDMI cable typically retails for $100; Vetora offers a comparable item for $25. All items are manufactured in China. All products are sold via online retailers such as eBay and Amazon, which provides Vetora with tremendous market reach nationally and in overseas countries where English is the primary language. Nearly 70 percent of its domestic sales are east of the Mississippi River; California and Texas account for 70 percent of sales west of the Mississippi. Eighty percent come from Canada, with U.K. and Australia consumers accounting for roughly 7 percent each. Vetora is looking to expand to a larger Utah County warehouse in the next two months — up to 15,000 square feet — and

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has immediate plans to open an eastern U.S. warehouse for its EcoSwift line, possibly in Norfolk, Va., or Chicago. “We’ll see how the initial launch is on packaging supplies, it depends on volume,” Jackson said. “With the transition from retail to online sales, companies that are shipping more items have to buy packaging materials. We’ll be able to sell our packaging for 50 to 60 percent off retail pricing. We plan on being a big player in this industry.” “One of the keys that allows us to bring in new products and launch new ideas is that we’re completely debt-free,” said Budd. “It allows us to take a certain amount of our revenues and focus on new products. If you’re not growing, you’re dying. We feel like we’re just getting started. We have some lofty goals and are confident we can achieve those.” Vetora was formed in June 2009 as iBattery, when Jackson and Budd merged their respective businesses and became equal partners. Jackson initially sold cell phones and service contracts in 1997 as an outdoor sales representative for Wireless Etc., a brickand-mortar retailer with five stores in the Salt Lake Valley. He said he made “a lot of money” during that time, but became disenchanted with the retail atmosphere. Jackson started Digital Etc. Inc., selling cell phone accessories online via eBay, in 1999. Budd claims Jackson was the “first person to sell cell phone accessories on eBay.” Budd was hired in 2004 to work with Jackson, broke off in 2006 to start his own company, and eventually the pair reunited with the belief that two heads were better than one. “It’s less stressful with two people,” said Jackson. “Profit margins are a little less, but we’re doing massive amounts of volume – up to 2,500 to 3,000 items per day. This year will be our highest revenue ever.” Jackson and Budd said the economic recession has actually helped their business, as more and more consumers are chasing the best deal they can get. “Consumers are forced to stretch their dollars,” said Jackson. “We offer products 80 to 90 percent off retail prices, so it’s a good deal for our customers.” “The recession has probably helped our business,” added Budd. “We’re passionate about finding the best deal out there and spend a lot of hours researching our products. Every penny counts. We pass that savings on to our customers and are still able to meet our profit goals.”

The Enterprise

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

There’s good news and there’s good news. We’re not only upgrading your network today, but we’re also busy building a next-generation, high-speed network. This includes: • Upgrading and adding new cell sites here in the Salt Lake City area and all around the country • Adding more ﬁber optic cable to cell sites for greater capacity • And we’re planning to combine with T-Mobile to deliver a better, stronger network, adding thousands of cell sites across the nation to deliver the most advanced mobile broadband network experience From a simple phone call to the most advanced data download, AT&T is committed to delivering the best network possible to the Salt Lake City area.

To see more of what we’re up to, visit MobilizeEverything.com.

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• Industry Briefs •

ACCOUNTING

• The Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants honored 14 top accountants in Utah at its annual meeting and awards luncheon Aug. 19. Mark Stevens was honored for Distinguished Service. Ray Ellison is this year’s Outstanding CPA in Public Practice. Dan Griffiths is this year’s Outstanding CPA in

Business and Management. Rosemary Fullerton won the Outstanding Educator award. Rod Marrelli and Jeannie Patton received Lifetime Service awards. Wendy Martin and Jonyce Bullock are Women to Watch: Experienced Leaders. Jay Niederhauser, Richard Jenson won the Outstanding Leadership Council Member award. Jennifer Amos received the

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Rising Star honor. Roger Richins, Richard Jenson, Jim Woolley, E.J. Passey and Craig Omer won the Lifetime Member award.

BANKING

• “Cheapster,” a new reality Web series presented by Zions Bank, is seeking nominations for young adults ages 18 to 26 from Utah and Idaho to compete for a chance to win $10,000. To qualify as a Cheapster contender, contestants must submit anecdotes and examples of their tightwad behavior at www.Cheapster.tv. Ten contestants will be selected through casting calls and public votes on Facebook. Challenges will then be filmed and posted to the Internet during which participants complete thrifty tasks with predetermined funds on a Zions Bank debit card. Upon completion of the challenges, contestants will be scored on creativity and frugality as determined by the amount of money remaining on their debit card and a panel of judges. Each round, the lowest scoring participant will be eliminated. At the conclusion of the series, the last remaining contestant will be named the ultimate Cheapster winner and receive a cash prize of $10,000. Contestants eliminated during the show will keep the money they saved while competing in challenges. The deadline for contestant nominations is Sept. 15.

COMPUTERS/ SOFTWARE

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• Park City-based XYDO has launched XYDO Brief, a newsvia-e-mail service that delivers personalized and relevant headlines based on a user’s social networks and interactions. The firm launched xydo.com in the spring to deliver news e-mail to its users. The goal of XYDO Brief is to be the simplest and best way to get news via e-mail, scouring the Web and users’ social networks to find human-curated news and deliver it based on users’ schedules. XYDO Brief’s underlying system (the same used to power xydo.com) processes more than 100,000 Web content sources including news articles/features, editorials, blogs, videos, photo, and social feeds. All content that enters the system is qualified (scored) based on the recommendations of XYDO’s two million contributors and curators. • Ogden-based e-commerce company East to West Enterprises Inc. has launched a Dutch oven cooking Web site: www.DutchOvenAccessories. net. It operates as an electronic commerce affiliate website that suggests a variety of Dutch ovens and accessories including cookbooks, Dutch oven tote bags, gloves, shovels, trivets, tables, cooking utensils, charcoal starters and more.

EDUCATION/TRAINING

• Westminster College, Salt Lake City, welcomes its first freshman class with more students from out-of-state than from Utah. From Delaware to California, to as far as Rwanda and Malaysia, students traveled across the globe to attend the state’s only private, comprehensive liberal arts college. This year’s out-of-state freshmen come from 35 states and 15 countries. Since 2004, enrollment at Westminster has grown more than 30 percent. • Westminster, a liberal arts college in Salt Lake City, has appointed Linda Muir director for the Institute for New Enterprise, which helps individuals create organizations that promote independence and selfsufficiency. Muir has marketing experience with corporations such as Franklin Covey, Intel and Bell and Howell, and also started and worked in several small new business ventures. She was the first director of the Miller Business Innovation Center, a business incubator that she modeled into a center that provides resources to effectively and efficiently launch new business ventures. Muir is a founding member of the Women Technology Council and sits on the Utah Business Lending Corp. credit committee.

GOVERNMENT

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

• The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) has hired Christopher M. Conabee as managing director of corporate recruitment and business services. He will oversee all of the business development functions of incentives, government contracting, bonding and business resources. Most recently, Conabee has served as a principal of Paladin Development Partners, a Park City real estate development firm, where he managed the development of Silver Star at Park City. Silver Star is a $150 million ski-in-ski-out community of townhomes, condos and cottages. In addition to his background in the real estate industry, Conabee also has extensive knowledge of the financial markets. He began his career as an assistant stockbroker at Paine Webber in New York City, and eventually worked his way up to become the company’s vice president of international equity derivative trading. In that capacity, Conabee controlled a combined $1 billion of institutional funds.

HEALTH CARE

• West Valley City-based AAPC, the nation’s largest training credentialing association for the business side of medicine, has hired Korb Matosich as chief financial officer and vice president of strategic planning. In his new role with AAPC, Matosich will be responsible for the management and direction of the company’s finance and accounting organization as well as cultivating new growth opportunities. Korb comes to AAPC from Ingenix, where he held a number of senior roles both in the U.S. and Europe. AAPC has more than 100,000 members representing physician offices, outpatient facilities and payer environments.

HOSPITALITY

• Deer Valley Resort has been recognized as one of the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces in the United States. This annual award recognizes top employers that display leadership and innovation towards engaging their employees. The recognition comes from I Love Rewards, an employee recognition solution that helps companies recognize performance and empower employees to choose their own rewards. Winners were judged on communication, leadership, culture, rewards and recognition, professional and personal growth, accountability and performance, vision and values and corporate social responsibility.

HUMAN RESOURCES

• Spherion Stafﬁng Services, a Florida-based recruiting, staffing continued on page 19

The Enterprise

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

Work begins on $33.5 million rec center Layton Construction Co. of Sandy broke ground Aug. 24 on a new $33.5 million, 160,000 square foot Provo City Community Recreation Center at 320 W. 500 N. The new state-of-the-art facility will replace three aging recreation-type buildings, in different areas of the city, that have mechanical and structural issues. A new recreation center has been a great need for several years for the city’s approximately 120,000 residents, according to Provo City Mayor John Curtis, and it was the general population who ultimately voted last November to approve a $39 million bond that allowed the design process to begin. “It is a big deal,” said Curtis. “It was a citizen-driven initiative, they took it and ran with it. All along, we’ve listened to the residents. Since the bond passed last November, we’ve tried to maximize the funds as much as possible; this is a great deal for the city.” “Provo citizens deserve the best and this is a facility they can be proud of,” said Scott Henderson, city recreation division director. “This isn’t one person’s idea, it’s a collective idea and that makes it even more exciting. It will have a positive impact on every family in our community.” Curtis and Henderson said the recreation center will have a long-term positive impact on local businesses in the area. A feasibility study also shows that it will generate approximately $2.1 million per year in city revenues, a substantial increase over the three aging facilities it’s replacing. Henderson said the relatively new Herriman Recreation Center sold more than 10,000 memberships in its first month alone. “We anticipate that our success in rev-

enues will be generated from extra memberships,” he said. The project was designed by VCBO Architecture of Salt Lake City, a firm known for its design of community recreation centers. Principal architect Brent Tippets said the Provo recreation center will be one of the nicest, largest facilities of its kind in the state, comparable in size to the South Davis Recreation Center in Davis County. The Provo facility will include a large gymnasium and a host of other amenities, including a walking/jogging track, fitness equipment, a leisure pool, a competition pool, indoor play equipment, basketball courts, racquetball courts, drop-in child care, party rooms and senior and community spaces. “The facility has been designed to be uniquely different from other recreation facilities in state,” said Tippets, who has designed more than three-dozen rec centers throughout the western U.S. the past 10 years. “It will have unique elements such as 18 family changing room areas, and a pool designed just for teens that has a simulated rock wall that rises out of the water, simulating cliff jumping at Lake Powell. It also has a slide feature that actually goes outside the building and comes back in. Our design premise was to go outside the box of what other rec centers have been doing.” Aesthetics include a red brick material on the exterior with overtones of traditional elements, in harmony with the legacy and history of Provo. The building includes copious amounts of glass, which allow guests a connectivity to the outside, while at night serving as a “lantern” to outside viewers.

Station Park blooming in Farmington The Station Park open-air shopping center in Farmington is moving ahead as scheduled by opening three additional retailers in its eastern quadrant last week. A Harmons Grocery Store, which opened in May 2011, is now flanked to the north by Marshalls, Home Goods and an ULTA Cosmetics store. A new Sports Authority and Ross Department Store also opened in the project’s retail “power center” earlier this summer. “To the south of Harmons, additional stores such as Sally Beauty Supply, Famous Footwear and Chase Bank, are scheduled to open their doors in September of this year,” said Fred Bruning, CEO of CenterCal Properties, the project’s developer. “Then in October we expect to unveil a new-to-Utah surf and skate clothing retailer, Tilly’s.” The new XD Cinemark Theatre complex that opened in July will have some company soon as well. Filling the spaces on both sides will be an upscale burger restaurant, Johnny Rockets; locally-owned Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana; ParkStone-Wood Kitchen & Bar; a sushi restaurant and more. These restaurants will feature innovative dining terraces that provide unobstructed views of the center regardless of the weather, with retractable weatherproof glass walls. CenterCal recently broke ground on a park and commons area just north of Cinemark, which it anticipates will be completed in time for the holiday shopping season. Bruning said the park will include a children’s play area

and a $2 million fountain with animation, music, dancing waters, lighting and “fog.” Designers from Lifescapes International, who were the visionaries behind the gardens and fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas and The Grove in Los Angeles, have partnered with CenterCal to bring the park fountain and gardens to life this 2011. Station Park’s first phase consists of 425,000 square feet. Located at the intersection of I-15, Highway 89 and Legacy Parkway, the development will eventually comprise 900,000 square feet of open-air center and cost more than $250 million. Additional plans for Station Park include a six-story hotel.

Ooops ... A story in last week’s edition about Backcountry.com leasing additional space in West Valley City in order to expand its call center incorrectly identified the real estate brokers involved in the transaction. They were Todd McLachlan and Chris Kirk of Commerce Real Estate Solutions.

3835 Conflans Rd, Irving,TX, United States

The secret of getting all the referrals you could ever hope for

Everyone in management will tell make a sale? every salesperson to “ask for referrals” • On a scale of one to 10, how or “don’t forget to ask for referrals” or strong is this relationship? “as soon as you make the sale, ask for • If I asked for a referral right now a referral.” would it be or feel awkward? These strategies are not only • Why would this customer give wrong, they also jeopardize the future me a referral? of the relationship. NOTE: If you can’t think of a First of all, why are you “asking” reason, neither can your customer. (begging) for a referral? Second of all, Then ask yourself: why are you asking when you • What can I do that will get haven’t earned anything? me from where I am to where REALITY: Asking for I want to be? referrals makes EVERYONE • Do I have a real referral feel awkward. And usually game plan? results in a turndown, or a • What are the value actions I delay. A delay that goes on for need to be (consistently) takmonths. ing to begin earning referrals? A referral is the second The questions above are the strongest lead in sales. The ones that need to be asked Jeffrey first is an unsolicited one. BEFORE YOU TAKE ANY Gitomer MAJOR CLUE: Referrals REFERRAL ACTIONS. are not asked for — referrals are Here are the top seven referEARNED. ral EARNING strategies: SCENARIO: You get a referral 1. Deliver memorable service. from a customer without asking for it. It’s simple. Be friendly and helpful, You make a sale. Your boss asks you, and give positive response. “How’d you get that referral?” And 2. Be available. Make it easy to you respond, “I earned it.” Your boss do business with you and anyone else will NOT know what to say next. in your company 24/7/365. Give to get. 3. Be a consistent value provid There are all kinds of names er. Create an e-mail magazine and blog applied to the process of “giving” a with content that helps customers, and referral to a customer. Pay it forward. a business Facebook page where you Netweaving. BUT the salesperson will post positive and helpful information forever live in darkness if he or she and good news, and allow for customer expects something in return. interactions. Which brings me to this PRIME 4. Give a referral to the customexample of what not to do. I got this er. This requires work, but it’s a great e-mail “request for an answer” today: way to prove your worth. Hey Jeff, I can’t seem to ever get 5. Get them one LinkedIn conany referrals! I go back to the customer tact they can benefit from. See if any after the sale, I give them an apprecia- of your connections could be of value tion gift and ask them for some people to your customers, and make connecand they say they don’t know anybody tions. or don’t think anybody else can afford 6. Develop the relationship slowit?! What to do? ly over time. Create your long-term The guy didn’t even sign the value plan, and execute it consistently. e-mail. That’s a good start to not get- Always post a “thank you” for referred ting referrals. business. This guy thinks by bringing 7. Don’t ask for a referral if you candy that he deserves a referral. And haven’t earned one. his e-mail proves my point. He will There’s an underlying powerful NEVER get referrals this way — and message in what I’m saying here. It’s neither will you. about having a philosophy of giv What is this guy’s business logic ing, without the expectation of getting behind his actions? And what’s yours? anything in return. This philosophy, Asking for referrals is not only a poor if adopted, will give you a lifetime of practice, it’s also rude and embarrass- fulfillment without an ounce of regret, ing. remorse, or resentment. NOTE WELL: There are those Give to give. Don’t give to get. who claim expertise in the referral process that will differ in opinion. Take their advice and end up like the anony- Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of Social BOOM!, The Little Red Book of Selling mous e-mailer above — empty. and The Little Gold Book of YES! I will admit my strategy is harder Attitude. President of Charlotte, N.C.to perform. Good. That way the lazy based Buy Gitomer, he gives semisalespeople will not be in competition. nars, runs annual sales meetings and And you may actually get some refer- conducts Internet training programs on rals this way. Five referrals out of 100 selling and customer service at www. tries. But the other 95 people will avoid trainone.com. He can be reached at (704_ 333-1112 or salesman@gitomer. you forever. Not good. com. Ask yourself: © 2011 All Rights Reserved • What have I earned so far? • Have I done anything besides

The Enterprise

Inflation review

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

A review of current inflation pressures and recession has not exactly helped. interest rates seems timely. Scared money leaves equity markets Consumer Prices (stocks) in droves. It must go somewhere safe. The most familiar of consumer inflation It must go somewhere it is liquid (easily marmeasures rose a disturbing 0.5 percent in July, ketable at good prices). It must go to another exceeding forecasts. Such prices are up 3.6 per- financial market large enough to meet the needs cent during the past 12 months, exceeding the of tens of thousands of investors handling 2.3 percent rise in average hourly earnings for hundreds of billions in dollars and other currenall employees on private nonfarm payrolls. cies. No surprise here. Higher energy costs led For your consideration, I offer the U.S. the way, with overall energy costs rising 19 per- bond market. Investors know the one and only cent during the past 12 months. Expectations place to “park” enormous amounts of scared that sluggish domestic and global economic money is the American bond market, the largest, growth could lead energy prices even lower deepest and most secure in the world. The drathan what has developed in recent weeks matic flow of scared money is known helps sooth some of the inflation anxiety as “the flight to quality.” in financial markets. Enormous flows of funds Food costs rose an estimated 4.2 have pushed bond prices sharply percent during the past year. Apparel higher, with corresponding interest costs rose an estimated 3.1 percent, with returns (yields) dropping to near allthe entire rise occurring within the past time lows. The 10-year U.S. Treasury three months. The finger of blame here note yield, in the low 3s just a few is focused on cotton prices, which hit a weeks ago, is now pushing up (or is it record high earlier this year. The weak down?) against a 2 percent return (it U.S. dollar hasn’t exactly helped, either. Jeff Thredgold actually traded as low as 1.99 percent The “core” measure of consumer a few days ago). inflation (which excludes volatile food It is this rate to which most and energy costs) rose 1.8 percent during the new 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are adjusted. past 12 months. This measure is within the Fed’s Should this rate stay near current levels, already perceived long-term “core” target range of 1.5 incredibly low mortgage interest rates could go to 2 percent annually. At the same time, the 1.8 even lower — with 30-year fixed-rate mortpercent core rise is three times what is was as gages starting with a “3”! recently as last October. Record Low Mortgage Interest Rates Most forecasters, including the Fed, expect For those homeowners who have the abilconsumer inflation pressures to moderate in ity to refinance a mortgage, and for those lookcoming months as economic growth most every- ing to purchase and finance a new or foreclosed where seems to be slowing Should inflation home, have lenders got a deal for you. pressures not moderate, any new stimulus from Mortgage interest rates last week were their the Fed would be limited. lowest in nearly 50 years! Thirty-year fixed-rate Producer Prices mortgages for conventional loans averaged 4.15 The Producer Price Index (PPI), a key percent, down from 4.32 percent the prior week. measure of wholesale inflation, rose 0.2 per- Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages were also in cent in July, in line with forecasts. The PPI is record low territory, averaging 3.36 percent, best described as an index that reflects price down from 3.5 percent the prior week. changes in various categories of goods before Yes, mortgage loans can be more difficult they reach the consumer. Exciting categories to get than they were five or 10 years ago. Yes, of crude, intermediate and finished prices for there are fewer mortgage lenders out there than food, energy and “core” materials likely appeal five years ago, when they seemingly replaced only to the most die-hard (dare I say “geeky?”) gas stations on every corner. economist. Yes, the required documentation is greater Two items were of concern within the in most cases and the time from start to finIndex. Prices of finished goods were up a ish is likely longer. Yes, home prices are still worrisome 7.2 percent during the most recent declining modestly in most markets around the 12-month period. In addition, “core” wholesale country. And yes, the U.S. government’s latest inflation was up 0.4 percent in July, the largest venture into driving lenders crazy, the 2,300rise in six months. The rise of 2.5 percent dur- plus page Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and ing the past 12 months was the most since June Consumer Protection Act, has muddied the 2009. lending process more than ever before. Despite these increases, weak domestic Small banks and other smaller lenders and global economic growth is likely to keep oil are collectively pulling their hair out trying and energy prices under control. Oil remaining to understand what is in this latest regulatory in the mid $70s to mid $80s would help lead monstrosity. The phrase “we’re from the federal producer prices lower in coming months. A government and we’re here to help you” raises likely return of Libyan oil production will also its ugly head again. help. Bottom line. If your ducks line up finanRecord Low U.S. Treasury Rates — and the cially, if you have a savvy lender, if your home Flight to Quality is now largely maintaining its value or the new Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the qual- or foreclosed property being considered has ity of U.S. debt on Aug. 5 in theory would lead largely bottomed out, the timing for refinance essentially all U.S. interest rates just slight- (or a new purchase) is impeccable. ly higher than had no downgraded occurred. However, theory was trumped by real world Jeff Thredgold is the only economist in the anxiety since early August. An increasingly scary European debt situ- world to have ever earned the CSP (Certified ation — and European government leaders who Speaking Professional) international designaare constantly shortchanging what needs to be tion, the highest earned designation in profesdone — have been the primary contributors to sional speaking. He is the author of econApainful stock market weakness around the globe merica, released by major publisher Wiley & and in the U.S. A rising view that European Sons, and serves as economic consultant to financial anxiety could lead the U.S. back into Zions Bank.

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

half pg ver. digest 2.0625x6.875

Develop a game plan for sales success Following a game plan is as total unprepared mentally, withcritical to sales success as it is to out the proper knowledge, out of winning in any sport. There isn’t a shape, not having practiced their game that is played for fun or prof- skills, with no game plan, blindly it that isn’t first played and won in hoping to “land the sale”? As a the mind. In other words, there is salesperson do you really get it? a specific and precise plan for vic- Do you understand that successful tory that is planned, rehearsed and salespeople aren’t successful just executed in order to deliver because they show up the intended result. for the game? Success Do you think that winin sales, for those few ning a baseball game, a salespeople who consisbasketball game, a soccer tently perform at the top match or even a football of the sales game, comes game is simply a matter as the result of planning of a bunch of players just Tim Huffaker specifically what it will showing up and doing their take to win a sale and best? Winning is far from then perfectly executing just showing up! Winning begins their game plan. If you believe that with an iron will, knowledge of closing a sale is the result of just the game, conditioning, practice running out onto the playing field and perfect execution of skills of sales and doing “stuff,” you combined with precise obedience couldn’t be more wrong. to a plan specifically designed to Closing a sale is the result feature your strengths and exploit of following a specific plan of the opponent’s weaknesses. It is action and executing that plan pernot by chance or luck that one fectly. What football coach would team beats another team on any send his team onto the playing given day. It is a matter of who field without a game plan specifiexecutes their game plan more cally designed to win the game if precisely. properly executed? What football Selling successfully is no team, basketball team, baseball different than winning at sports. team, etc., would compete without Every aspect of victory in a sport- a coach to prepare them mening event applies to selling, and tally and physically to execute yet, how many salespeople walk their winning strategy? Bronco onto the field or court of sales Mendenhall and Kyle Whittingham

would never put their teams on the football field without a game plan. Yet, every day salespeople walk onto the playing field of sales hoping to win without a game plan. As a professional salesperson you need to prepare and follow a game plan specifically designed and executed for each prospect. Just as in the world of sports, where “scouts” report on the talents of opposing teams and players, salespeople need to “scout” their prospects through proper questioning. Salespeople need to know the people they are selling. A game plan should include the following: • The nature of the business or individual (personality, products, market.) • The decision maker and decision influencers. • The specific needs they are looking to satisfy. • Their budget and ability to pay. • Their time frame for making the purchase. • How they are meeting their need currently. • Who the current supplier is. • What they like about your product or service. • What concerns they have. • What their objections are.

• How you will continually emphasize what they like. • What you will do to resolve their concerns. • How you will overcome their objections. • Who or what your competition is. • What your advantages and weaknesses are. • What the advantages and weaknesses of the competition are. All successful salespeople prepare and follow their game plan. They know that success in sales is the result of mentally winning the sale in their mind first and then physically executing their plan each time they meet with their prospects. Successful salespeople don’t just “wing it;” they know precisely how to close a sale because they have developed a game plan.

GET OUT OF LINE

Now you don’t have to wait in line for government services and information because now the government is officially online at FirstGov.gov. Print out tax and Social Security forms you used to wait in line for, and more. FirstGov.gov. Lose the wait.

Tim Huffaker is the president of The Business Performance Group, a sales training and coaching firm headquartered in Salt Lake City. The company teaches core sales principles and skills, allowing clients to double their sales. Huffaker is the author of hundreds of sales articles and can be contacted at (801) 557-4571 or tim@bpgutah. com.

FirstGov.gov The official web portal of the Federal Government For government information by phone, call 1-800-FED-INFO (that’s 1-800-333-4636). U.S. General Services Administration

1725 Hurd Dr, Irving,TX, United States

3/4/

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

Focus Special

R e p ort

Education & Training

Experts: underfunding of education threatening Utah's reputation

Some believe Utah continues to provide educational services on an industrial model, when it should convert to a 21st century model. By Andrew Haley The Enterprise Utah’s reputation as an excellent location for investing in hightech industries is in jeopardy because decades of underfunding have eroded public education to such a degree that the state may no longer be perceived as having a highly educated workforce, according to several expert analysts. “In order for our students to be economically successful, they must be academically successful,” said Prof. Pam Perlich, a senior research economist at the University of Utah’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research. “Our investments in human capital are the most important investments we make in a knowledge economy. “We’re in a global marketplace and technology is very important. In a knowledge economy, education is absolutely foundational. Our investments that we make in education allow our state and our community to compete in the global market. Education is seen as a driver of the economy. For all of these reasons we really need to be upping the ante, all the way up the line from K-12 to higher education. We need to up our investment.” According to Perlich, Utah’s K-12 public schools have long relied on stay-at-home moms to compensate for chronic underfunding. Traditionally, those women provided important services such as tutoring and literacy training that schools are now struggling to fund. Because of changing demographics in the Salt Lake Valley, more and more schoolchildren come from two-income or

single-parent homes, and many of them do not speak English as a first language. “Our curriculum targets a traditional demographic and it’ not serving new immigrants,” Perlich said. “It’s not reasonable to expect the old expectations to perform as well.” Utah has long benefitted from what experts call the state’s “education paradox.” Because the state has a very large proportion of children per capita, its education funding, per pupil, has long been the lowest in the country, below such showcases of dysfunction as Washington, D.C. Utah has held that distinction since 1987, when it outstripped Mississippi, the nation’s poorest state, by $65 per pupil. Yet, despite its historic low in per-pupil funding, the state’s overall education funding effort, the amount of K-12 public education funding per $1,000 of personal income, was for decades higher than the national average. That “paradox,” coupled with the state’s unique demographic that long provided a reservoir of available hands for child rearing and educational support, meant that Utah, while at the bottom of per-pupil spending nationally, was exceeding national averages on standardized test scores. Those high scores helped the state attract national corporations from the high-tech sector looking to invest in a pro-business environment with a highly educated workforce. But according to two recent reports by the Utah Foundation, a 66-year-old nonprofit think-tank that see EDUCATION page 14

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

“Giving more people access to higher education...” — Michael O. Leavitt Former Utah Governor and WGU Founder

Led by former Utah governor Mike Leavitt, 19 governors had the vision to create an online university to provide an outstanding education for busy working adults. Now 25,000 students strong, nonprofit WGU is award-winning, accredited, and committed to excellence. Flexible and affordable, WGU’s rigorous, competency-based programs are opening new career opportunities for thousands of Utahns. Like you. We invite you to learn more by calling us at 888.882.6204 or visiting us at wgu.edu/utah.

888.882.6204 wgu.edu/utah

10-14002_wgu-utah_print_ad-10.25x13.5 - utah business.indd 1

7/6/11 5:14 PM

The Enterprise

A vulnerable American moment Fall is full of parental deadlines, with a rush of activity preparing children to go back to school. It is also a time when many adults ponder whether they too need to head back to class. Employers have long believed that college degrees and ongoing professional development are musts to keep employees astute and competitive in ever-changing work environments. The possibility of a higher paycheck and job security are also compelling incentives to a potential student. A recent U.S. Census Bureau report, titled “The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates Darris of Work-Life Earnings,” reveals a bachelor’s degree, on average, is worth at least $900,000 more in lifetime earnings than a high school diploma. A master’s degree can produce $1.3 million more and a doctorate degree, $2.2 million. This could be considered a very vulnerable moment in America. The pool of degree-bearing employees is alarm-

ingly limited. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Study 2010 and Occupational Outlook Handbook 20102011 indicates that of the 133 million workers ages 25 or older in the United States workforce, more than half (55 percent) do not have a college degree. Of the rest, 35 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 10 percent have an associate degree. The Coming Void For the next 19 years, each and every day, 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65, according to the 2010 Pew Research Center report, Howe “Survey Findings about America’s Largest Generation.” As they retire and leave the workforce, their career and institutional knowledge will be difficult to immediately replace. What can be done to encourage the remaining coming generations to enhance their knowledge to meet the challenges of the see VULNERABLE page 16

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

Educating American workforce requires innovation, not just investment A year ago, President Obama, visiting the University of Texas campus in Austin, lamented the United States’ precipitous drop in the percentage of Americans who have earned college degrees. “In a single generation,” he said, “we’ve fallen from first place to 12th place.” The College Board backs it up, reporting that only 40.4 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds held an associate’s or higher degree in 2007, falling Patrick behind some 11 other Partridge countries, including four – Japan, the Russian Federation, Korea and world graduation leader Canada – surpassing 50 percent. So the president set an ambitious goal: By 2020, he declared, 60 percent of American 25 to 34-year-olds should have a college degree.

If we’re going to achieve this goal and supply the American economy with highly educated workers, we have to expand the way we think about college. For starters, we can’t focus exclusively on the 18 to 20-year-olds who head into college straight out of high school. One of our greatest opportunities lies with working adults. Despite popular belief, there is no magic age window for earning an education. The 30, 40, 50, even 60-somethings who today are navigating the workplace without the degrees that would help them advance can become tomorrow’s graduates. Innovative, flexible degree programs – and especially those that skip the traditional campus model and offer online learning opportunities – put college graduation within reach even for those with demanding work, family, and home responsibilities. And in an increasingly competitive job market, employers are often willing to provide tuition assistance to keep their best workers current in their fields and growing in their careers. We can also no longer rely solely on traditional educational models. We must leverage technology to decrease the costs of education. The return on investment for a college education is unequivocal, even as families struggle with economic hardship and state and local budgets find it harder and harder to fund higher education for their citizens. College graduates consistently earn higher average incomes than their non-degreed counterparts and experience lower unemployment rates. A June article in The Atlantic noted some stark facts and figures showing just how lucrative an investment in education can be. It set the rate of return for a bachelor’s degree at roughly 15 percent – higher than the stock market, AAA corporate bonds, gold, long-term treasury bills, and housing, all of which fell below 10 percent returns. But even with the lifetime return on investment, the fact remains that college begins as an investment, and economic hard times are making it a harder and harder investment for families to take on. Tuition alone at public four-year universities rose 7.9 percent in 2010-2011, to an average of $7,605. Tuition costs for private, for-profit institutions averaged $13,935, representing a 5.1 percent increase compared to 20092010.These tuition hikes are often accompanied by dwindling state and federal financial support for higher education. Expanding college financial aid programs and working to ease college debt burdens are positive steps, but alone they are not enough. They are not focused on finding ways to reduce the real cost of college by increasing efficiency and productivity. The key is technology. Technology has made a significant difference in the productivity of every industry in the country, except higher education. Too often, a university education today looks exactly like it did in the 17th century, when the first institutions of higher learning appeared in the United States. see INNOVATION page 16

The Enterprise

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

Top Colleges and Universities in Utah

Ranked by # of full time students enrolled in fall of 2010 School name

Brigham Young University

Utah Valley University

Weber State University

Phone Fax Web

# of full time students enrolled in fall of 2010

801 422-4536 801 422-0605 byu.edu

32,947

801 863-4636 801 863-8343 uvu.edu

32,670

801 626-6000 801 626-8021 weber.edu

24,126

$4,560

$1,000

Cecil D. Samuelson

$1,972

$320

Matthew S. Holland

$3,773

$1,575

F. Ann Millner

$4,737

$1,190

Stan L. Albrecht

$3,052

$1,730

Cynthia Bioteau

$3,288

$575

Stephen D. Nadauld

$12,000

$760

Darris Howe

$26,712

$1,000

Michael S. Bassis

$2,980

$800

J. Lawrence Richards

DND

David Tietjen

Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s

Yes

Salt Lake Community College

801 957-4073 DND slcc.edu

16,567

Dixie State College

435 652-7500 435 654-4001 dixie.edu

8,755

University of Phoenix

801 263-1444 801 269-9766 phoenix.edu/utah

5,900

800 748-4753 DND westminstercollege.edu

3,000

LDS Business College

801 524-8100 801 524-1900 ldsbc.edu

1,347

Argosy university

801 601-5000 801 601-4990 argosy.edu

DND

DND= Did Not Disclose

Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate’s

Yes

18,689

Westminster College

Average cost of books and misc. fees

President

MBA Program offered

Undergraduate tuition per year for residents

Yes

435 797-1000 435 797-3880 usu.edu

Utah State University

Degrees offered

Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate’s

Yes Associate’s

No Associate’s, Bachelor’s

No Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate’s

Yes Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s

Yes Associate’s

No Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate’s

N/A= Not Available

Yes

EDUCATION from page 10

analyzes factors affecting the state’s economy, since the mid-1990s, the Utah’s education funding effort, and its ranking in national test scores, have steadily fallen from above the national averages to rankings at or below average. In a June 2011 report, the Utah Foundation notes that while Utah remains 51st in per-pupil spending since the mid-1990s, Utah’s overall education effort has declined from its historic position in the top 15 of states to 26th in the country, almost exactly average. To explain the double-digit drop in the state’s funding effort rank, the report points to tax cuts that have starved budgets, and to a 1996 amendment to the state constitution that permitted the state legislature to devote some of the state’s personal and corporate income taxes to funding higher education, ending a longstanding policy of devoting the entirety of the state’s income taxes to K-12 funding. “There has been a significant decline in the public education funding effort since 1995, a trend that, despite additional funds from the economic stimulus package and the recent state budget surplus, still continues,” the report stated. An earlier Utah Foundation report, from September 2010, compared the state’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores from 1992, 1996, 2000, 2005 and 2009 against national averages and against eight “demographic peer” states with similar poverty, education and ethnic dispositions as Utah. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the NAEP is the “largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students know and can do in various subject areas.” The report found significant drops in Utah’s national ranking of eighth grade and fourth grade reading and math scores from as high as 10th place in 1992 to as low as 31st place in 2009; during the same period, compared with its eight “peer” states, Utah almost consistently came in last place. According to the report, Utah’s eighth grade reading scores fell from 15th place in 1996 to 23rd place in 2009, while its fourth grade reading scores fell from 15th place in 1992 to 31st place in 2009. Utah’s eighth grade and fourth grade math scores fell from 10th and 13th place, respectively, in 1992 to 28th place in 2009, a change in ranking almost identical to the change in ranking of the state’s education funding level over the same period. Compared with Minnesota, a state included in all five of the reports’ lists of Utah’s demographic peers, and the state that is consistently most like Utah among its peers, Utah’s NAEP ranking has fallen farther and faster against rising national averages than Minnesota has, suggesting that demographic changes alone cannot be blamed for the decline in Utah’s national NAEP ranking. “Utah’s demographic characteristics indicate Utah students should score significantly higher than national levels. ... Utah was the lowest-achieving state in its demographic peer group, scoring well below what would be expected for a state with its demographic and economic profile,” the report stated. Though she said some blame was

The Enterprise due to the unique challenges of a changing demographic and the failures of addressing them, Perlich agreed with the report’s overall conclusion: since the mid-’90s Utah’s educational performance has been in a state of precipitous decline. “I don’t know if it’s our inability to help new immigrants succeed or our inability to fund adequately. Crisis is not too strong a word,” Perlich said. Jo Ellen Shaeffer, director of assessment and evaluation at the Salt Lake City School District, took issue with the Utah Foundation report’ findings, saying the NAEP was an outmoded test few educators took seriously.

and home economics model of the 20th century to a 21st century high-tech campus where students can earn concurrent enrollment credit in a biotechnology lab or work as a paid intern doing research in robotics or pharmacy. Each school day, as many as 3,000 Granite secondary students visit the district’s Granite Technical Institute (GTI) in a converted hospital at 2500 S. State St. There, they choose from more than 50 different career pathways from such fields as computer imaging, pre-medicine and graphic design. Since its foundation in 2005, students have taken post-secondary course work applicable toward earning a

There has been a significant decline in the public education funding effort since 1995, a trend that, despite additional funds from the economic stimulus package and the recent state budget surplus, still continues.

“[The NAEP] is a sampling. It doesn’t reflect everyone who takes it,” Shaeffer said. “It gives you a touchstone across the nation. The Utah CRT is what people look at. The CRT scores have been pretty stable,” she said, referring to the criterionreferenced test that Utah uses to measure its students’ performance for the federal No Child Left Behind program. Shaeffer also disagreed that the state is starving the district’s schools, or that overcrowded classrooms were a burden. Instead, the greatest challenge to Salt Lake District has been the changing demographics in its schools, she said. An increasing percentage of students do not speak English as a first language, requiring significant investments in teacher training and tutoring the state traditionally has never accounted for, she said. “As you become less and less homogenous you see more and more gaps between these groups. But our kids are OK. For the last six years in Salt Lake School District, our scores have stayed average or gone up despite the economic downturn and the influx of minorities,” she said. Repeatedly, Shaeffer cited a Salt Lake District talking point. “Our teachers are doing more with less,” she said. At Granite School District, director of communications Ben Horsley said his district is looking at innovative approaches to the challenges presented by low funding and the changing makeup of its schools, a situation he called “the status quo.” Despite having an ethnic minority population now higher than 45 percent and shouldering $53 million in recent budget cuts, Granite has recently joined forces with area businesses to revolutionize its career/technology education program (CTE) from the wood shop

professional license or an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. “It’s an incubation space for local businesses,” Horsley said. “They hire our students as interns. We even have a student who improved a medical device and received a copyright for that. We receive funding from the state but most of it is coming straight from Granite’s budget. It’s CTE. We really have taken that to the next level.” Just half a decade old, the GTI is Granite’s attempt to satisfy the often competing demands of various factions of the community, Horsley said. “We’re kind of pulled in three directions: the expectations of higher education, what colleges say they want to see from students; the legislature; and the business community. We’ve really tried to cater to all three of those goals. The funding is always going to be a problem. It’s a statewide issue. We just have a lot of kids. We are lowest in per-pupil spending but we also see that as a success, given that we’re able to achieve what we achieve,” he said. Attorney John Robson has represented schools and school districts in the Salt Lake Valley for more than 20 years in a variety of roles, from facilitating the sale or purchase of buildings to settling employment issues and matters of student eligibility and disability. He said the valley’s changing demographic is only one factor facing schools. “Education faces the same challenges as many other industries,” Robson said. “We’re used to providing things on an industrial model but now we’re looking at a 21st century model.” That 21st century model went beyond installing expensive computer labs or moving to paperless platforms such as electronic roll sheets, but toward overhauling the

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011 curriculum to prepare students for the challenges they will face competing in a global marketplace, he said. “The old paradigm really doesn’t work,” according to Robson. “Colleges of education are going to have to change how they teach teaching.” Compounding the funding problem is the fact that in 2009 Utah benefitted from a 30 percent increase in federal per-pupil funding made available through the American Recovery and Renewal Act, known generally as the stimulus package, according the Utah Foundation’s June report. That year, 12.6 percent of Utah’s education funding came from federal sources, ranking the state 12th in the nation in percentage of funding coming from federal sources. With further stimulus money unlikely to be approved by the current Congress, Utah faces a significant loss of federal education funding in the coming years. One career administrator with more than 20 years of experience working for the Salt Lake School District said the funding situation could become “a perfect storm.” Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said Utah schools faces an additional, and potentially more catastrophic, challenge from changes to the state’s traditional demographic. “The Utah retirement system was paid for for years by women working part time, or not retiring, women who got married and walked away from their pensions,” she said. “They paid in but never collected. But we’ve got more and more people in the pension system, and they aren’t walking away. Teachers are staying in, and increasingly, because of changes to the nature of jobs and because of the recession, more and more, in a two-income household, the educator is the source of the family’s insurance. It’ a Ponzi scheme. “Utah schools relied for years on very mobile teachers. Ironically, if teachers stay at a school they become more expensive because of the professional salary schedule and because of the cost of aging and the rising insurance costs that go with it,” she said. While the state’s demographic changes presented new challenges such as the need for English as a second language training and in-school tutoring, they also increased the price tag of teachers in general and those highly experienced teachers with a strong background in their schools’ communities especially. The state faces a new kind of educational paradox. If Utah is to continue as an economy benefiting from a thriving high-tech sector, it must regain its stature as a state with a highly educated workforce, but to do so, the state must figure out a way to fund an education system filled with students it has never seen and teachers it has never had to pay for. The scale of the funding issue is made plain by figures in the Utah Foundation’s June report. “To rise from last place in the rankings [of per-pupil funding] would be fiscally challenging,” the report stated. “To surpass 50th-ranked Idaho, which spent $7,092 per pupil, would cost the state nearly $392 million. This would require an increase of 11 percent in education spending (assuming Idaho did not also raise its spending at the same time). To rise to the national average of $10,499 per pupil, would require $2.2 billion additional funding in 2009, or a 63 percent increase.”

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VULNERABLE from page 12

boomer employment void? The New Demand: A Personalized Education Those who dream of a college degree, a more satisfying career and a higher paycheck face some big challenges. The sooner we address those challenges, the sooner we can reach those with the will, the drive and the determination to obtain a college degree. Higher learning institutions must be nimble and deliver a “personalized education.” Degree program schedules should mesh with unique life circumstances. Many students must work full-time and raise families while attending school. Today’s students need to

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise have access to a quality education while managing work and family obligations. Some students choose evening and weekend courses. Executives who travel or change residence frequently, even those deployed in the military now have a number of online degree options. Practitioner Faculty The explosion of available new knowledge and the rise of professions which did not even exist mere years ago puts tremendous pressure on universities to merge classroom theory with workplace reality. As one solution, University of Phoenix employs a practitioner faculty. In Utah, we have more than 300 faculty members who work in their careers by day, and teach our students in the evenings. Nationwide, in the university’s School of Business alone, nearly a quarter of faculty members have Fortune 1000 experience. More than 450 are CEOs, 1,200 are CFOs, COOs or presidents of their companies. The dynamic content of their professional knowledge combined with relevant and regularly updated curriculum gives students immediate knowledge they can take to their jobs each day. The 24/7 Campus Our six University of Phoenix Utah learning centers are located where people work and live. Classes are flexible. If a student’s schedule unexpectedly changes and she or he can no longer attend in a classroom, we work with that student to find the best solution — sometimes this means joining a different class or taking classes online. Writing workshops, math tutoring and other resources are available online 24 hours a day

along with a world-class online library. Additional tools such as online Virtual Organizations, case studies and simulations help students tackle a number of challenges, and learn from their choices and mistakes. The Graduate Next Door When a graduate in your neighborhood gets a promotion or a raise, when a local company can depend on a workforce that competes in a global economy, the community benefits. Higher wages increase the standard of living and can strengthen the local tax base. Poverty rates and crime can also be reduced. Overall, quality of life can improve. If you, or someone you know has pondered a return to school, stoke that dream. This should be a golden age of education, with rich global knowledge paired with a welcome increase in flexible and innovative educational opportunities at American universities. Darris Howe is vice president/ director of University of Phoenix Utah Campus. A former executive at Novell Inc., First Interstate Bank of Utah and First Security Bank, Howe began teaching evening courses at the university in 1984. He now oversees Utah’s five University of Phoenix campuses and learning centers in Murray, Taylorsville, North Davis, Pleasant Grove and St. George. Howe was a governor-appointed member of the Executive Committee of Workforce Services, is currently a member of the Salt Lake Chamber’s Can Do Committee and serves on the board of Junior Achievement of Utah. He received his Master’s of Public Administration from Brigham Young University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Utah.

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INNOVATION from page 12

But people today don’t learn the same way we did 400 years ago. Online universities and traditional universities with online components are recognizing this, and Internet-based learning is more and more becoming part of any college education. But most often, these universities take advantage of technology to reduce costs by avoiding expenditures on facilities but not to drive fundamental changes in the educational model. They use technology to deliver education the same way traditional colleges always have – 30 students in a class, led by an instructor, and fixed schedules for classes, assignments, and tests. They use technology to change how students interface with education, but not the method of learning. As a result, “online” does not always equate to lower cost. Technology cannot be just a new way of producing the same old product. Education needs to become more student-centric,

more individualized, and more interactive. There must be room in the higher-educational ecosystem for both traditional institutions of higher learning as well as innovators and trailblazers of all types. In a varied and vibrant marketplace, students will be better able to find the education that works best for them, their budgets, and their lifestyles. This is how we will leverage the diversity of the American population to unite behind a commitment to a more highly educated populace nationwide. Patrick Partridge is the vice president of enrollment at Western Governors University, a nonprofit online university that has grown from approximately 600 full-time students when he started there in 2002 to approximately 25,000 students today. Partridge has served in marketing or general management leadership roles in several technology-based industries during his 25-year career, including cable TV, wireless, publishing, and online education. He holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the Darden School, University of Virginia.

Distributive Education Clubs of America to hold 2012 conference in SLC

In a Report from its Business Relations Group, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) identified the following as persistent challenges in meeting America’s workforce needs: • Training for innovation • Enhance the flow of new workers • Confronting a negative public image Fortunately, there is a student organization, DECA (the Distributive Education Clubs of America,) that is training highschool and college students to fill these gaps. For over 65 years, DECA has worked with business and industry to identify the specific skills that are required for on-thejob success. It turns those skills into a curriculum for its network of 5,000 teacher/advisors in all 50 states, U.S. territories and international associations, and provide “real-world” opportunities to apply those concepts. Finally, the students’ academic understanding and skills development are tested through a series of graduated business competitions. This is all particularly relevant to the Utah business community because DECA will bring its flagship event, the International Career Development Conference (ICDC,) to Salt Lake City in April of 2012. Some 15,000 DECA students, teachers and business partners will convene for the ICDC. The four-day event will pump an estimated $14 million into the Salt Lake City-area economy — using more than one million square feet of convention center

space, 30,000 hotel room nights, 250,000 meals served and countless tickets to area attractions and other purchases. This will be the third ICDC that Salt Lake City has hosted for DECA. DECA’s executive director, Ed Davis, noted the community’s support was key to its decision to come back in 2012. “For our conference to be successful, we need over 1,000 business people to serve as judges and mentors for the ICDC competitions and leadership activities. The Salt Lake City business community has always provided the kind of community engagement that is critical to our conference and we’re delighted to be back,” he said. Specifically, DECA needs the Salt Lake area business community to serve as judges for its competitive events and mentors for its executive mentor program. In the competitive events, judges will either participate in a roleplay situation with students or evaluate comprehensive business plans that the students have prepared. In the executive mentor program, top-level business executives sit down with graduating seniors to discuss life strategies for personal and career success. There are also many opportunities for companies interested in promoting their brand and services to this important teen-market. For more information on how to get involved with DECA’s ICDC, contact John Fistolera, DECA’s director of development, at john_fistolera@deca.org or (703) 371-9264.

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• Aug. 30 and Aug. 31, noon5 p.m.: 10-Hour Construction Compliance Training, sponsored by Associated Builders and Contractors of Utah. Targeted at entry-level workers, the program is intended to provide a variety of training on construction safety and health. Attendees will receive course completion cards and materials. Location is the ABC offices, 2130 S. 3140 W., Suite B, West Valley City. Cost is $50 for ABC members, $65 for nonmembers, lunch included. Nonmembers must pre-pay. Register with Jodi Frank at jfrank@abcutah.org or (801) 708-7036. • Aug. 31, 8 a.m.-noon: Performance Management — Positives and Pitfalls, sponsored by The Employers Council. Guest speaker, author and employment attorney Jathan Janove of Ogletree Deakins will help attendees improve the process to effectively manage and evaluate employee performance. Attendees will also hear HR senior vice presidents George Myers, Zions Bank and Howard Goodman, Savage Companies, relay first-hand accounts of their experience creating and implementing successful performance management programs. Topics to be covered include determining the purpose and desired outcome of performance management, obtaining supervisor support, how

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

to get a positive return on investment, common legal pitfalls of performance management and best practice tips for success. Location is the Radisson Hotel, 215 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Cost is $129 for council members, $209 for nonmembers, and includes a breakfast buffet beginning at 7:30 a.m. and materials. Register at http://ecutah.org/perfmgt.pdf. • Aug. 31, 3:30-5:30 p.m.: “How to Build and Maintain Customer Inventory Through Great Customer Service,” sponsored by the Northfront Entrepreneur Alliance. Steve Cloward, co-chair of the NorthFront Business Resource Center, and a panel of Utah business experts, will illustrate successful customer service techniques in a presentation. Topics will include techniques to measure customer satisfaction and resulting sales, satisfied customer referral programs and understanding what customers really think and want. Location is the NorthFront Business Resource Center, 450 S. Simmons Way, Kaysville, on the Davis Applied Technology College campus. The presentation and panel discussion will be preceded by 30 minutes of networking and appetizers. Free, but registration is required. Register at www.northfront.org. • Sept. 8, 6-9 p.m.: Social Commerce Exchange, hosted by

• Calendar • Whitehall Ventures. Interactive learning sessions with leading experts and networking opportunities with like-minded businesses will be available. Representatives of Adobe, BlueGrass, KSL.com and others will lead discussions on effective Facebook and Twitter strategies, social content management, social media measurement and mobile applications. Location is the Miller Campus of Salt Lake Community College, 9750 S. 300 W., Sandy. Free, but seating is limited. Register at http://socialcommerceexchange-6428.eventbrite. com. • Sept. 12, 8:30-10:30 a.m.: “Economics of the Cloud — the U.S./U.K. Perspective,” sponsored by the World Trade Association of Utah. Leading proponents of cloud computing will provide their insight and advice to help attendees understand how to access the benefits of the cloud, dispel negative myths associated with cloud computing, empower business leaders with basic knowledge they need when developing a road map for cloud adoption within their organization and outline essential legal considerations. Location is the Zions Bank Founders Room, 1 S. Main St., 18th floor, Salt Lake City. Free, but seating is limited. Register with egorn@wtcut.com or by calling Elizabeth Goryunova on (801) 532-8080.

• Sept. 13, 3-5 p.m.: “Workforce Preparation,” a Utah Technology Council Life Science workshop. Co-chairs of the workshop will be Clark Turner of Aribex and Ronald Weiss of ARUP Laboratories. Location is Bionnovations Gateway, 2500 S. State St., Room M, South Salt Lake. Free to UTC members, nonmembers pay $30. Register at www.utahtech.org. • Sept. 13, 10 a.m.-noon: “Developing Superior Customer Service,” sponsored by Associated Builders and Contractors of Utah. Henry “Dutch” Hempel, a business consultant for the construction industry, will be the presenter. Location is the ABC offices, 2130 S. 3140 W., Suite B, West Valley City. Cost is $10 for members, $15 for nonmembers, who must prepay. Register with Jodi Frank at (801) 708-7036 or jfrank@abcutah.org. • Sept. 13, 7 p.m.: “Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge,” presented by Westminster College and the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy. Dr. Adam Segal will make the case for the crucial role of the “software” of innovation and argues that by strengthening its politics, social relations, and institutions that move ideas from the lab to the marketplace, the United States

can play to its greatest economic strengths and preserve its position as a global power. Segal is currently an Ira A. Lipman Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Before joining the council, Segal was an arms control analyst for the China Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He is the author of Digital Dragon: High-Technology Enterprises in China and writes for the blog Asia Unbound. Location is the Vieve Gore Concert Hall in the Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory at Westminster College, 1840 S. 1300 E., Salt Lake City. Free. • Sept. 30, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.: Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership Nationwide Simulcast Training Event, presented by ChamberWest and hosted by the Salt Lake Community College Jordan campus. Cost is $39. Register at www. chamberwest.org or by contacting Holly at (801) 673-332 or holly@ chamberwest.org. • Nov. 4, 7 p.m.: Utah Technology Council 2011 Hall of Fame Gala. Keynote speaker will be Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle Corp. Location is the Grand America Hotel, 555 S. Main St., Salt Lake City. A networking session will begin at 6 p.m. Cost is $300 for UTC members, $450 for nonmembers. Register at www. utahtech.org.

from page 6 and workforce solutions provider, has presented Ron Zarbock, owner and manager of Spherion Staffing Services and Today’s Office Professionals along the Wasatch Front, with the company’s Service Excellence Award. Zarbock and his team have increased response rates by more than 10 percent, with average satisfaction scores well over 4 on a 5-point scale.

INSURANCE

• Intermountain Financial Group, the Utah agency of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., has hired Mandy Aguirre as recruiting director. Aguirre joined the agency with five years of experience as a financial professional and recruiting director. • Thomas Insurance Agency Inc., Salt Lake City, recently celebrated its 50th year in business. Dee Thomas and his wife, Miriam Thomas, founded the agency in 1961 on the corner of 1100 East and 2100 South. In 1970, the business moved to 2275 Highland Dr. and later to its current location, 3165 S. Highland Dr., in 1976. David Kem Thomas joined his brother in the business in 1971 and in 1976 Dee’s son Allan D. Thomas joined the firm as well. Dee Thomas died in 1978. Thomas Insurance is an independent agency that represents Safeco Insurance Co. as well as many other carriers. • HealthEquity Inc., a personal health care financial services company headquartered in Salt Lake City, has acquired leading health savings account (HSA) administrator First Horizon Msaver Inc. from First Tennessee Bank National Association. The combined company is the nation’s largest non-bank custodian with more than $600 million in assets under management and 17,000 employer customers.

LAW

• Durham Jones & Pinegar appointed David P. “Dade” Rose to chair the firm’s Real Estate Section. He is a shareholder in the firm’s Salt Lake City office. In addition to chairing the section once before, Rose has served as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Rose’s practice focuses on real estate, business and finance and banking.

MANUFACTURING

• In a turning of the tables, Salt Lake City appreciation company O.C. Tanner has been “appreciated” by Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert for quickly jumping into action and producing close to 200 “Governor’s Coins” for his recent trip to visit troops in the Middle East. The governor visited O.C. Tanner on Aug. 16 to present a thank you plaque for the company’s willing service to support U.S. troops. At

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Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011 least 44 O.C. Tanner employees put other projects on hold and worked quickly to produce the coins after learning they only had a few days before the Governor departed on a secret tour of U.S. combat zones in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. O.C. Tanner donated the coins to the Governor’s Office and finished producing them around a few short hours before the governor left on his trip.

MEDIA/MARKETING

• Snapp Conner PR, Salt Lake City, has added 10 new clients to its roster of local, national and international client companies. They are Ancestry.com, Grow America Ventures/DooBizz, Elite IT Partners, mediaFORGE, MobyQ, SignalPeak, V3 Systems, WingCash, Phoenix-based SmarterTools and Profire Energy, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. • Consumer advocate and longtime Salt Lake news fixture Bill Gephardt is returning to the airwaves. Gephardt joins the 105.7 FM/570 AM Talk Radio team weekdays at 5:50 p.m. He will answer consumer questions.

RESTAURANTS

• Salt Lake City-based TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt) is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The firm now has more than 600 locations around the world and more than 70 ﬂavors of frozen yogurt. To celebrate, TCBY is offering a chance to win free frozen yogurt, throughout the month of September, via a Facebook sweepstakes. All who enter will also receive a coupon for 30 percent off a single item to be used anytime in September. The sweepstakes begins on Sept. 1, 2011 and can be accessed through the “30th Anniversary Sweepstakes” tab on the TCBY Facebook page, www.facebook. com/tcby. • Faustina, restaurant, Salt Lake City, will host an evening with EPIC Brewing Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. EPIC’s brewmaster Kevin Crompton will be there to educate about EPIC Brewing fundamentals and the distinctions of each selection, along with tasting notes for beers complementing executive chef Billy Sotelo’s summer harvest menu. The four-course menu is $35 for dinner and $20 for the beer pairings. Reservations are suggested.

RETAIL

• D r a p e r- b a s e d 1-800-CONTACTS has chosen Duncan/Channon, San Francisco, as its agency of record. The California firm will lead all strategic branding and creative efforts, with the goal of evolving and growing nation’s largest contact lens store. The agency will also help the Utah firm launch the recently announced Glasses.com

brand, which will offer the same focus on convenience and customer satisfaction for wearers of prescription eyeglasses. According to Nielsen, 1-800 CONTACTS spent nearly $40 million across all media in 2010.

SCIENCE

• ARUP Laboratories, a Salt Lake City national clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratory and a leader in innovative laboratory research and development, has introduced its newest SNP-based microarray technology, the Affymetrix CytoScan HD Array. SNP-based microarrays identify unbalanced chromosomal abnormalities (loss and/or gain of DNA) in patients with unexplained abnormal phenotypes such as intellectual disability, dysmorphic features, congenital anomalies and autism. They also identify long contiguous stretches of homozygosity, which may suggest an increased likelihood for a recessive condition or uniparental disomy .

SPORTS

• The fourth annual “Drive Away Hunger” charity event will take place at Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, on Sept. 7. Drive

Away Hunger allows fans to drive their street cars on a world-class racetrack while helping families in need. The event will benefit the Tooele Food Bank, which has been struggling in recent weeks to remain open due to a lack of food donations. For more information, visit www.MillerMotorsportsPark. com. • Gold’s Gym of Northern Utah is constructing a new facility at 1792 S. 1000 W. in Syracuse, beginning Sept. 1. The gym is expected to open in November of this year. The gym will occupy the building that previously housed the Syracuse Ace Hardware store. The 13,000 square foot building will undergo renovation to transform it into a fitness facility.

professionals are expected to attend. • The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association’s (HPBA) annual trade show will continue in Salt Lake. Based on the success of previous conventions here, HPBA has confirmed Salt Lake for its 2014 and 2019 annual shows. Scheduled for March 6-8, 2014, and March 7-9, 2019, the citywide conventions, being held at the Salt Palace Convention Center, will attract approximately 22,000 combined attendees and generate approximately $20.3 million in direct attendee spending.

TRAVEL/TOURISM

• Tourism leaders from all over the country will converge on Salt Lake City at the end of the month. The Utah Office of Tourism and Visit Salt Lake are making final plans to host the U.S. Travel Association’s 28th Annual Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO), which will be held at the Grand America Hotel from Aug. 2830, 2011. More than 400 tourism

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Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

Small Business in Utah

Sweeping changes to legislation affect small-business LLCs Many small businesses in addresses charging orders when Utah have chosen limited liability the statute takes effect, providing companies as their type of entity that “on application by a judgment formation. Most individuals form creditor of a member …, a court LLCs because of the ease to choose may enter a charging order against your partner, or because of the the transferable interest of the judgment debtor (the ease to form single member member) for the unsatLLCs for estate planning isfied amount of the purposes, asset protection or judgment.” In essence, business/creditor protection. a charging order creates While LLCs do provide a lien on the debtorsuch protective measures, member’s “transferable new legislation effective interest” in the comJuly 1, 2012 alters protective measures with respect Kevin Turney pany and requires the company to pay over to creditors of the individual to the creditor any dismembers of LLCs. The passing of Senate Bill 131 repealed tribution that would otherwise be Utah’s current Partnership Act, payable to the debtor-member. Limited Partnership Act and the The new UULLCA defines “transLimited Liability Company Act. ferable interest” as “the right, as Utah has subsequently adopt- originally associated with a pered, with variations, the Revised son’s capacity as a member, to Uniform Limited Liability Act receive distribution from a limited (RULA). As such, many areas of liability company in accordance the statute have once again been with the operating agreement, amended, and practitioners and whether or not the person remains businesspeople alike should be a member or continues to own aware of some of the changes. The any part of the right.” A transferUtah Uniform Limited Liability able interest does not, however, Company Act (UULLCA) retains entitle the transferee to participate provisions regarding a creditor’s in the management or conduct of ability to attain a charging order the limited liability company. On against a debtor-member’s mem- application of the charging order, bership interest in the company. a creditor would have the right to Individuals forming LLCs should distributions otherwise entitled to be conscious of the rights of the the debtor-member, but the credimember’s creditors and how those tor would not step into the shoes of creditors can affect the other mem- the member and does not have any voting rights. bers and the company itself. Under the UULLCA, Section UULLCA Section 48-3-503

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48-3-503 “the exclusive remedy by which a person seeking to enforce a judgment against a member … in the capacity of a judgment creditor, [to] satisfy the judgment from the judgment debtor’s transferable interest.” If one member of a multi-member LLC has a judgment creditor, the creditor’s only remedy is to obtain the charging order entitling the creditor to the debtor-member’s entitled distributions. It does not, however, give the creditor any rights to the assets of the company, and more importantly, does not allow the creditor to become a member with voting rights. Limited liability companies formed with two or more members do have some protection from the charging order of a creditor. Section 48-3-503 does provide the other members of the company who are not subject to the charging order with the right to pay the judgment creditor the full amount due and thereby succeed to the rights of the judgment creditor, including the charging order. This vehicle allows the other members to pay off the creditor and to be able to receive the distributions otherwise entitled to the debtormember. Essentially, those members who do not wish to deal with the creditor may pay off the charging order and step into the creditor’s shoes as the transferee entitled to receive the “transferable interest.” Although the charging order is the “exclusive remedy” for a judgment creditor, unlike some states, Utah has retained the “liquidation approach” and practitioners and those forming limited liability companies should be aware of this caveat. The creditor, upon a showing that the distributions under the charging order will not pay the

judgment debt within a reasonable amount of time, may petition the court to foreclose the lien and order a sale of the transferable interest. Again, the purchaser at the foreclosure sale would only obtain the “transferable interest” and would not become a member of the company. However, under UULLCA 48-3-602, a person is “dissociated as a member from a limited liability company when: the person is expelled as a member by the unanimous consent of the other members if there has been a transfer of all of the person’s transferable interest in the limited liability company other than a charging order in effect which has not been foreclosed.” For multi-member LLCs, the debtor-member retains that right as a member even though his “transferable interest” has been transferred to the creditor. However, if all of the debtor-member’s transferable interest has been foreclosed, once the judgment has been satisfied, it can be argued the debtor-member is no longer a member of the company under the UULLCA. It may be prudent for the other members to step into the shoes of the creditor and pay off the charging order if they wish to retain the debtor-member as a member of the company. Those looking to form LLC’s after the UULLCA takes effect should be conscious of these changes and plan accordingly. The “liquidation approach” causes problems if the company is a single member LLC. If the creditor forecloses on all of the single member’s “transferable interest,” the creditor essentially receives permanent economic rights in the LLC until the judgment is satisfied. Essentially, the creditor is the sole member of the com-

                                            

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pany without the consent of the debtor-member. As stated above, UULLCA Section 48-3-602 provides that a person is not dissociated as a member of the company if there has been a transfer of all of the person’s transferable interest in the company other than a charging order in effect which has not been foreclosed. Again, if the creditor forecloses on the charging order which covers all of the debtormember’s transferable interest, no such safety carve-out provision is found in the UULLCA. It can then be argued that the creditor is now the sole member of the company. Essentially, those individuals who are using single member LLCs as a means for asset protection would be deprived of accomplishing such goals as creditors would be able to now sell the assets held in the LLC to satisfy the judgment lien which they foreclosed on. If individuals are looking to use single member LLCs as an asset protection vehicle, they should seek counsel on the changes to the UULLCA and how these changes to the limited liability company act will affect not only their business planning, but also any corollary estate planning. This article only covers a small section of the new UULLCA that will be effective July 2012. Practitioners and individuals looking to form LLCs should be conscious of all of the changes Utah has adopted. If careful consideration is not given to these changes and its effect on the formation and operation of the company, unwanted consequences can result, and reliance on current limited liability company laws will not provide guidance on how to plan for the future. Kevin Turney brings more than seven years of experience in matters of estate planning, corporations, real estate, securities, contracts, and bankruptcy to Clyde Snow. He has particular expertise in business matters ranging from incorporation of small, privately held corporations and limited liability companies to business planning, drafting of complex mergers and acquisitions as well as private placements to raise capital, and filing registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also has experience in real estate and bankruptcy in both the commercial and residential realms and has drafted simple and complex loan agreements along with business plans in bankruptcy and related matters. Turney is a member of Clyde Snow’s Business and Transactions Group and can be reached at (801) 322-2516 or kat@clydesnow.com. www.clydesnow.com.

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

Mountain America Small Business Spotlight Madelines Steakhouse & Grill 10290 S. State St. Sandy UT, 84070 Founded in September 2006, Madelines is a full-service restaurant specializing in steak and seafood. Salads, pasta dishes, chicken dishes and sandwiches are also on the menu. Steaks are hand-cut, seafood is fresh-cut. Dressings and sauces are homemade. Madeline’s prime rib is slow-roasted all day; the restaurant’s white chocolate raspberry cheesecake is made from a secret family recipe. The eatery offers both lunch and dinner. Owners are Adam and Renee Wheaton. Operations manager is Leslie Bywaters. Madeline’s employs roughly 45 people. ••••• Q: What brought you the most satisfaction with this business? Adam Wheaton: I love being a part of something special. Having the opportunity to work with my wife and children has been a blessing. I have been in the restaurant business for about

20 years. This job requires that I am at work holidays, weekends and nights, when most people are spending that time with their friends and family. Being able to include my family in my job is great. My wife and I are best friends and working together is great. My oldest son Chris is, 16, and he busses tables and takes food out to the guests. My two youngest sons, Conner and Carson, help with the landscaping and hold signs on the road to try to entice people to come dine with us. Lastly, when the time is right, my daughter Madeline will come to work with me. With her disability she would have a tough time getting a job out on her own. She loves this restaurant and can not wait to someday be hostess for us. Q: What brought you the most disappointment? Wheaton: We strive on a daily bases to provide the best food and service to every guests that comes into our restaurant. We purchase locally to help with our local economy. My biggest hurdle is competing with the large restaurant chains. I wish I could afford to advertise like they do.

Advertising has become my nemesis. We have to advertise to grow our business but the return is not where it needs to be. Business is good but just good enough to hang on and we definitely want to grow. Q: How did the recession affect you? Wheaton: People are still eating out. However, they are very price sensitive. And with the food market price going up it really makes it hard to keep our prices down. Our buying power is not as good as the chain restaurants, so it makes it hard to compete. Since we moved to our new location we have seen a big upswing in sales. The slower economy helped us get a better lease rate, which has enabled our family to keep our restaurant going. Q: How do you feel the Utah economy is doing now? Wheaton: I feel it is doing better. We have seen a growth in our guest base. Businesses around us are busier, which is boosting the public’s confidence in their local businesses. This, in turn, is causing an overall increase in the economy and the attitude of the public.

Madelines owners Renne and Adam Wheaton and their children.

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Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

STORAGE from page 1

freeway visibility (just west of I-15) and we want it to reflect the same character that Thanksgiving Point is.” Tenants will be able to pay their bill online and view the general vicinity of their unit at any time via video cameras. In addition to the one full-time caretaker, Doxey will hire two to three part-time employees. He expects that it will take 18 months to get to a break even point. Doxey, who is a general contractor himself, decided to negotiate directly with Menlove due to the firm’s expertise in constructing storage unit projects. He said Menlove has built more than 200 storage unit facilities in Utah and “they’re dialed in,” so choosing it as the GC instead of building the project himself was an easy decision. The project is slated for completion in May 2012. The project was designed by Barnett Structures of Centerville. MW Brown Engineering of Orem provided site plan and civil engineering services.

STORAGE from page 1

Scott Shumway. “It’s been a problem for a long time. Whether it’s a flash drive, a hard drive, magnetic tape … nothing is permanent. It’s convenient and fast, but it’s not permanent.” “Millenniata’s technology has been tested and proven to provide long-lasting data storage,” said Sang Hun Kim, deputy CMO of sales and marketing division at Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc. in Seoul, South Korea. The strategic partnership with Hitachi-LG DS is a real coup for Millenniata, said Shumway, who joined the company July 2010 after three decades in the service/ manufacturing industry. “When I first came in, we identified the need for a strong strategic partnership,” said Shumway. “We were looking for a firm who believed in the future of optical disc recording like we do.” Millenniata targeted several prominent optical storage device manufacturers to test the M-Disc. The firm sent more than 200 discs to Hitachi-LG DS before receiving good news. “The channels they have are huge – they own 34 percent of the market share worldwide and have been No. 1 for nine consecutive years beginning in 2001 (when Hitachi and LG combined forces to create Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc.). They have all kinds

of credibility.” It’s unknown at this point how well-received the M-Disc and M-Ready technology will be in the marketplace, but there is boundless optimism for great success with both corporate and individual consumers. “The government has a huge interest, that’s why the Department of Defense tested it two years ago,” said Shumway. “Large corporations are spending millions of dollars every four to five years migrating information to other mediums. It’s been referred to by some as the ‘digital dark ages.’ If we don’t find a way to permanently store data, in 200 years they won’t know what we’ve done.” Inspired by Petroglyphs The idea for an optical disc with permanent storage capabilities originated in the summer of 1995 when Barry Lunt, a professor of information technology at Brigham Young University in Provo, was on a hiking trip in Central Utah with a troop of Boy Scouts. The group was exploring Nine-Mile Canyon north of Price, an area rich with ancient Native American petroglyphs. Lunt, who long had an interest in materials engineering and manufacturing in addition to IT, realized that the images – which were directly exposed to all facets of extreme weather including heat, water and light – had survived hundreds of years relatively intact. The reason? The petroglyphs were etched into the rock, not painted on.

It wasn’t until a decade later, in 2005, when Lunt purchased a digital camera, that he began thinking about properly storing his photos long-term. He soon realized there wasn’t a “permanent” solution to his question. Hard drives, recordable optical discs, flash drives – all would eventually deteriorate over time and the data would be irretrievable. “When I realized there was no way to permanently store my photos,” Lunt said, “I had an epiphany and remembered the petroglyphs and thought immediately of optical contrast, which is how data is stored on an optical disc.” Lunt, along with BYU chemistry professor Matt Linford, decided to write a proposal to university officials to pursue the viability of creating a permanent optical storage disc. They received a modest $25,000 grant from BYU and went to work. Based on collective experiences they deduced the most logical solution would be to replace the organic dye material that comprises the data/write layer of an optical disc with a non-organic material that would not degrade over time, in addition to better withstanding elements of heat, humidity and light. After a year of frugal spending the duo had exhausted their monetary resources, but had come up with a potential solution: a proprietary synthetic stone material. That was just one part of the equation; others included finding

a laser that could “etch” data into the rock-like layer, and being able to mass produce the new discs efficiently and cost-effectively. With BYU’s blessing, Lunt approached his friend Doug Hansen, who worked for Moxtek, a company in Orem that primarily produced wire grid polarizers, about his and Linford’s research. Hansen was intrigued, shared it with co-worker Henry O’Connell, and by November 2007 the four men were ready to start Millenniata. The problem of finding an adequate laser proved to be rather simple, said Lunt. The laser would require more energy since it was a different method of writing, and it had to be turned on and off in a certain manner, which required specialized software. “The partnership with Hitachi-LG was critical for us because they simply had to change software,” said Lunt. “Most of the lasers in their current [optical] drives are capable of producing higher energy, they just haven’t used it.” As for mass M-Disc production, Lunt had a connection with someone in the Czech Republic, and a partnership was eventually formed with a Prague-based manufacturer. M-Disc has undergone rigorous testing, not only by HitachiLG DS, but also by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif., from August 2009 to October 2009.

NAWCD performed an accelerated aging test on M-Disc and five other disc brands, evaluating their stability when exposed to high levels of combined light, heat and humidity. None of the Millenniata media suffered any data degradation; every other brand tested showed large increases in data errors after the stress period. Many discs were so damaged they could not be recognized as DVDs by the disc analyzer. “[M-Disc] is unique in that it doesn’t use an IR dye,” said Mark Worthington of Montrose, Calif., a 25-year veteran of the optical disc industry who was an outside consultant to Millenniata during various testing phases. “There is nothing I know of for long-term storage that is not affected by residual magnetism, temperature, humidity and light. [M-Disc] is designed for an archival function.” M-Disc will initially launch with an MSRP of $2.99 for one disc, $13.89 for a five-pack and $26.59 for a 10-pack. Hitachi-LG DS will include Millenniata’s logo on each of its M-Ready drives beginning in October. The cost of a drive will be comparable to current company drives. Millenniata currently has 35 employees and is located in a 2,000 square foot office at 915 S. 500 E. in American Fork, with designs of moving into a larger facility. The company is working on a Blu-ray version of M-Disc that can store 25 GB of data, vs. the current 4.7 GB DVD disc.

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

The Enterprise

Random thoughts on the passing scene The next time a member of taking a man’s blood pressure. the British royal family gets mar- As the British have lost their ried, I hope they elope and spare empire and, more important, lost us all another 24/7 media orgy. their respect for laws and stan Does the “not guilty” ver- dards, Britannia has gone from dict in the Casey Anthony child ruling the waves to waiving the murder trial mean that the rules. jury succumbed to the conThe difference between fusion between “beyond mob rule and democa reasonable doubt” and racy was never more “beyond any conceivable sharply demonstrated doubt”? The word “reathan by labor unions’ sonable” is not put in there attempts to prevent the just for decoration. Wisconsin voters’ elect We seem to be living ed representatives from Thomas in an age when nobody can Sowell carrying out their official be bothered to answer their duties at the state Capitol. telephone, but everybody What would it matter what the has a recorded message telling us voters want if any mob can stop it how important our phone call is to from happening? them. My favorite birthday card this President Obama often talks year said on the outside, “Aging is about wanting to raise taxes on Inevitable” — and, on the inside: “millionaires and billionaires” but “Maturity is optional.” — in his actual tax proposals — Theodore Roosevelt said that higher taxes usually begin with his foreign policy was to speak couples earning $250,000 between softly and carry a big stick. Barack them. Apparently that makes you a Obama’s foreign policy in Libya millionaire or a billionaire. It doesn’t seem very scien- has been to speak loudly and carry tific to have a good-looking nurse a little stick. Too often Obama’s

foreign policy around the world looks like children happily playing with fire. Class-warfare politics is bad enough when it is for real. But often it is as phony as a three-dollar bill, when the same politicians pass high tax rates on “the rich” to win votes — and then get financial support from “the rich” to create loopholes that enable them to avoid paying those high tax rates. It is amazing how many people seem to think that, if you give them your phone number or e-mail address, this means that they are authorized to pass them on to others. Three little words — “We the people,” the opening words of the Constitution of the United States — are the biggest obstacle to achieving the political goals of the left. For that, they must move decisions away from “We the people” — from individuals to government; from elected officials to unelected judges; and from national institutions to international institutions like the United

Nations — all safely remote and insulated from “We the people.” Some hotels have been called “historic.” But to me that just means old. I don’t like staying in old-fashioned hotels. There is usually a reason why those fashions went out of fashion. Learned scholars still debate the reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Learned scholars of the future, looking back on our decline and fall, may simply be baffled as to how we could have been so stupid. Awkward and uncomfortable hospital gowns for patients just add a needless complication to the problems of people who are already sick. Surely someone could design something less bothersome. I have never believed for a moment that Barack Obama has the best interests of the United States at heart. Many liberals who consider themselves friends or allies of blacks are usually friends or allies of those particular blacks who are

doing wrong things, often at the expense of other blacks. At one time, it was well understood that adversity taught valuable lessons, which reduce the probability of repeating foolish decisions. But, today, the welfare state shields people from the consequences of their own mistakes, allowing irresponsibility to continue and to flourish among ever wider circles of people. Amid all the concerns about the skyrocketing government debt, a front-page headline in the Wall Street Journal said: “Families Slice Debt to Lowest In 6 Years.” It is remarkable how differently people behave when they are spending their own money compared to the way politicians behave when spending the government’s money. Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His Web site is www.tsowell.com. Copyright 2011 Creators Syndicate

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