Volume 41, Number 1

UTAH’S BUSINESS JOURNAL$1.25Aug. 1-7, 2011www.slenterprise.com

THIS WEEK

• Industry Briefs •Begin on page 6.

Confectioner invests $1.5

millionin new facility Hatch Family Chocolates has new location in SLC's

Avenues district.See page 4.

Foundersbuy backcompany

Platinum Protection reverts to original ownership.

See page 5.

• Calendar •See page 16.

Orem manufacturer tobuild 90,000 sq. footplant in American Fork

SLC real estate investment company launches Mountain West Debt Fund

By Barbara RattleThe Enterprise Xlear Inc., an Orem-based firm that manufactures a line of health care products containing the naturally occurring sweetener xylitol, plans to break ground in roughly two months on a new headquarters facility in American Fork. The firm will build an approximately 90,000 square foot building on five acres at 723 S. Auto Mall Dr., American Fork. Company CEO Blaine Yates said the new facility should take about 10 months to construct and will be more than double the size of the company’s operations in Orem, where Xlear occupies two buildings. “We’re averaging about 20 percent yearly growth,” Yates said. “Last year we were a little over 30 percent growth and this year we’re in the mid-20s. That grows us out of our facilities here [in Orem]

about the time we get into our new building.” Xlear has purchased nine acres in American Fork and will build on five. The remaining four acres will be held for expansion when that becomes necessary, which Yates estimated would be in three to four years. Roughly 50 employees will make the move; Xlear also has sales representatives throughout the country. American Fork was chosen as an expansion site because it is located near the center of Utah County and because a sizeable piece of raw ground was available there, Yates said. Also, freeway frontage was important. Xlear’s products are available in more than 5,000 locations in 12 countries, mostly health food stores. Yates said the company’s biggest client is Whole Foods. The firm’s product line consists of sweeteners, nasal sprays, gum,

Salt Lake City-based real estate investment firm Taylor Capital Group has launched the Mountain West Debt Fund, a new way for commercial property owners to secure timely, flexible loans at a time when traditional bank financing can be very dif-ficult to attain. Mark Taylor, principal and managing director of the fund, said a handful of loans, all made to Utah borrowers, have already closed. Presently, the minimum loan amount is $200,000 “and the maximum is whatever our capacity is at the time,” Taylor said. “I’d say right now that’s $1 million, but we’ll ramp up as we continue to grow.” The fund will not lend to finance single-family homes,

and the majority of the fund’s loans will consist of construction financing and distressed situations “where we step in when either a bank loan has come due and the bank is not willing to refinance or somebody needs a loan quickly that can’t get financing through traditional sources quickly,” Taylor. Interest rates vary dramati-cally, from the high single digits to the mid-20s, he said. “We fill a unique space in between traditional banks, and hard money lenders,” Taylor said.

Motorcycle racing componentmaker to open Salt Lake office

SLC firm inks agreementswith three Chinese companies

Thanksgiving Point in Lehi is one of many Utah projects in which Pacific Group has been involved. By Barbara RattleThe Enterprise Pacific Group, a Salt Lake City-based firm that acquires, develops and builds commercial real estate projects, inked memo-randums of understanding with several Chinese firms at the recent U.S. & China Trade, Culture and Education Conference in Salt Lake City. “It is hard to express how valuable this cultural exchange was and will be. We have signed agreements with firms from three different parts of China, and these agreements could lead to literally thousands of jobs here in America,” said David Strong, Pacific Group’s COO. “The Chinese economy has been expanding rapidly, in part because of their access to capital. Over the past few years capital has been far less available in the U.S., so companies haven’t been able to operate as effectively or to create many new jobs.”

One of the memorandums, signed by the general manager of a prominent Beijing textile firm, involves an employment-based immigrant investor program — popularly called EB-5 — that provides a permanent “green card” to the U.S. for foreigners and their immediate family who invest a minimum of $500,000 in a U.S. project. The investment must produce at least 10 jobs per $500,000 invested during the first 24 months. The green card is typi-cally issued in fewer than 90 days, which is much more swift than other means. “One of the most difficult parts of the EB-5 process is find-ing those secure and legitimate sources of capital from those for-eign investors, “Strong said. “It’s quite a vetting process.” Pacific Group also signed two agreements as a result of the conference that were not

Florida-based Vortex Racing, a manufacturer of motorcycle racing components, will open an office in Salt Lake City in late August as part of expansion efforts to better serve the motor-cycle racing industry in the west-ern region of the United States. This new office, measur-ing about 10,000 square feet and employing between 10 and 20, will primarily operate as a distri-bution center but will also house sales and marketing, engineer-ing, research and development, inventory and assembly depart-ments, said company spokesper-son Stephanie Steele. Efforts are currently under way to staff the new office with inside sales reps and engineers. “We are very excited about broadening our reach in the motor-cycle racing industry by open-ing offices in Salt Lake City,” said company founder and presi-

dent Matt Griffin, who is moving from Odessa, Fla., where Vortex is based, to Park City. “We are proud to add our brand name to the numerous motorcycle and alt- sports industry names in Utah.” The new Vortex facility, for which Steele declined to give an address, is currently being retro-fitted for offices and inventory in stages and is projected for com-pletion in early September. Steele said Vortex was drawn to Utah not only because it is located in the western U.S., where many U.S. motorcycle racing firms are based, but also because of the proximity to Miller Motorsports Park near Tooele and OGIO, a gear bag manufacturer based in Bluffdale.

see XLEAR page 2

see FUND page 2

see CHINESE page 2see VORTEX page 2

jam, candy, mints, toothpastes and gels, oral rinses and floss. Yates said a handful of new products will be introduced later this year “that we think will help keep the ball rolling.” Several will be extensions of the firm’s dental line, which goes by the name of Spry, while the nasal spray line will also be extended. “They should hit before the end of the year and that should carry the momentum on into the next couple of years,” he said. Pure xylitol is a white crystalline substance that looks and tastes like sugar but has 40 percent fewer calories and none of the negatives of sugar, such as tooth decay or insulin release. It is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol found in many fruits and vegetables and is produced in small amounts by the human body. Xlear was founded in June 2000, when it launched its first commercially available product, Xlear Nasal Spray. Xlear’s products are based on the research of a now-retired family physician in Texas who was trying to find a solution for the number of patients who came to him with upper respiratory issues, which are often linked to inadequate nasal hygiene. Studies indicate that 90 percent of moisture and bacteria enter through the nose. In addition, clinical studies have shown that oral xylitol administered in the form of syrup and chewing gum may help reduce the risk of tooth decay; many of the bacteria found in the nose and mouth ingest xylitol but cannot metabolize it, preventing the production of harmful byproducts.

specifically related to the EB-5 program. The chairman of the Yen-Chain Creative Investment Corp., based in Inner Mongolia, committed to work together on a Pacific Group project in New Hampshire. The other agreement was signed by the chairman of three firms doing business in Henan Province. Those firms are involved in real estate, con-struction and media technology and also plan to work on Pacific Group’s Ragged Mountain Resort in New Hampshire and on the advancement of graphic video animation technology. During the last 25 years, Pacific Group and its affiliates have been responsible for bil-lions of dollars in commercial real estate acquisition, devel-opment, and construction, with more than 1,000 successfully completed projects. The projects include some of the top resort properties in North America, plus student housing, commercial office buildings, retail stores and centers, industrial business parks, multi-family urban condominium properties and master planned resort communities. In Utah, the firm has been involved in a number of projects, including Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, the Bullfrog Visitors and Medical Center at Lake Powell, the Eccles Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City, Freightliner of Utah in West Valley City, Micron Technologies in Lehi, the Snow Basin Lodge in Ogden, the St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Sandy and a number of Walmart stores.

“Traditional banks have capital on hand, but are not lending like they used to. Hard money lenders tend to be inexperienced, expen-sive, and severely restrictive in how they operate. This dysfunc-tion in the lending system has cre-ated a tremendous void, forcing reputable builders and develop-ers to seek other financing. What we are doing with the Mountain West Debt Fund is unique, and we provide an extremely necessary service -- access to sophisticated financing at a reasonable rate.” The fund is a Delaware lim-ited partnership organized by a team of real estate investment pro-fessionals led by Taylor and man-aging director Rocky Derrick. “Our team has extensive experience in the real estate devel-opment business, and our contacts repeatedly told us of the difficulty they have securing any financing from banks, and that the lack of financing is stalling their business recovery,” Taylor said. “We creat-ed the Mountain West Debt Fund to provide needed capital to real estate companies who are trying to keep real estate businesses alive in the western United States.” Taylor was former COO of CM Group, a nationally recog-nized real estate investment com-pany. At CM Group, he helped restructure and reposition a $600 million portfolio that was in distress. Taylor also served as a founding partner and senior vice president of acquisitions at WestCorp Management Group, where he and his partners built the company from a small property

management company into one of the 50 largest property managers in the U.S. While there he also directed the acquisition of approx-imately $600 million in multi-family properties in an 18-month period. Prior to WestCorp, Taylor served as the chief operating offi-cer of FSHP Builders/Creative Sales and Marketing, where he achieved more than $550 million in sales over a three-year period and assisted in the development of more than $200 million in medical office buildings, hotels, condos, and other commercial projects. Derrick has practiced real estate development, asset man-agement and lending throughout Utah, Nevada, California and Idaho. Most recently, Derrick has done consulting work for mul-tiple REITs, public and private equity funds, lenders, developers and institutional asset managers. Derrick’s projects have includ-ed underwriting, analysis and workout strategies of more than $1 billion in loans and assets. Most recently he led the under-writing and evaluation of more than $1.4 billion in FDIC and other distressed commercial loan portfolios. Derrick also served as the senior vice president for CM Capital Services in Las Vegas, building and managing the real estate asset management and underwriting teams, which man-aged more than $600 million in distressed loans and assets. Prior to CM he was the vice president of acquisitions and development for Seegmiller Partners, where he personally managed more than $100 million in Class A com-mercial development in Southern California and Las Vegas.

2 The Enterprise Aug. 1-7, 2011

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FUNDfrom page 1

CHINESEfrom page 1

VORTEXfrom page 1

XLEARfrom page 1

Griffin founded Vortex Racing in 1995 as a small sprock-et company. Today, Vortex is an international brand sponsoring some of the world’s best rid-ers, including Josh Hayes, 2010 World Superbike Champion; Ryan Dungey, 2010 World Supercross & Motocross Champion; Martin Cardenas, 2010 World Supersport Champion; and James Stewart, 2009 World Supercross Champion and star of “Bubba’s World,” a reality TV show based on Stewart’s life airing on FUEL TV. Vortex offers thousands of part numbers for a variety of motorcycle racing parts, including sprockets, rear sets, handlebars, frame sliders and other speed and safety enhancing components.

Warner Truck Center, West Valley City, has broken ground for a 62,000 square foot full-service heavy truck and trailer dealership in Jerome, Idaho. It is expected to open Jan. 1, 2012. The dealership will include 36 service, body, trailer and paint bays with access to 7.5-ton over-head cranes. The dealership will have certified technicians to per-form warranty and repairs on all types of Daimler trucks, Detroit, Cummins and Cat engines, and Allison, Eaton and Meritor com-ponents. The parts department will be more than double the size of what Warner Truck Center currently operates in Twin Falls and Jerome. Other features in the new facility will include a 500 HP dynamometer, a fast lube pit, a 70-foot paint booth, a training room capable of accommodating more than 100 people, and an indoor showroom. Freightliner of Idaho plans on offering a monthly “Fleet Night” in the new training room to allow local mechanics from their customer’s shops to take advantage of the latest train-ing from industry vendors. Bart Warner and his part-ners, Jerry Zmyslo and his son Buzz, purchased the Freightliner dealership from Orlan Stearns in July of 2010. “We plan on opening extended hours of service imme-diately in January,” Warner said. “With the technical complexity of heavy trucks which now require 32 on- and off-board computers to program, diagnose, run and repair today’s trucks, the need is greater than ever to have facili-ties and equipment to match the needs of our customers and help our employees provide the type of service our customers expect with their purchase of a Daimler truck.”

Warner Truck Centerconstructing newfacility in Idaho

The EnterpriseAug. 1-7, 2011 3

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4 Aug. 1-7, 2011The Enterprise

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By Brad FullmerThe Enterprise Hatch Family Chocolates has invested approximately $1.5 million in a new location for its hand-dipped chocolates shop in Salt Lake’s Avenues District, the former site of the 8th Avenue Market a half block east of LDS Hospital. Owners Steve Hatch and his wife, Katie Masterson, founded their business in April 2003 at 4th Avenue and E Street and current-ly employ 15 people who work anywhere from 20 to 30 hours per week, depending on seasonal demand. The new location repre-sents a milestone for Hatch and Masterson, who longed to expand to a bigger building for several years. Their new facility is more than 10 times larger than their original store, which gives them greater production capacity along with a more spacious dining area. “It’s a goldmine,” Masterson said of the new facility. “We went from a 500 square foot kitchen to a 5,000 square foot kitchen — that makes us so much more efficient.” The purchase and renovation of the new facility is a direct result of Hatch and Masterson’s stint last year starring in a reality-based television program “The Little Chocolatiers,” which debuted in December 2009 and ran for 12 episodes through August 2010 on The Learning Channel (TLC). Hatch said gross reve-nues increased 100 to 200 percent virtually every month in 2010, including one month that saw a 400 percent increase in sales from the previous year. Being on TV, he said, was essentially “a half-hour infomercial every week.” “It’s hard to compare where

our business is now compared to before we were on national TV,” said Hatch. “I don’t think there is any way to replace that kind of exposure. From a normal business standpoint we were very fortu-nate.” “We tried to save every penny from that boost in business so we could put that money down on this new building,” he added. The rest of the $1.5 million investment came from a small business loan through Zions Bank. The couple met with sev-eral bank executives, including Zions president and CEO Scott Anderson, before securing the financing they needed for the pur-chase of the building, design and construction renovation fees and new equipment. “We were blunt with him; we told him that we didn’t have all the money in the world, but we had a vision,” said Hatch. “Scott Anderson is a family neighbor-hood man and a customer, and [our project] was something important to him not as a bank president, but as a neighborhood person. Without Zions, we wouldn’t be in this building.”

“This is an example of how a small business should have access to credit, and when they do have access to credit, how they can expand and create new jobs and move forward,” said Anderson, a 20-year Avenues resident. “When you see the difference in the new facility from where they came from, it just makes their opera-tion more efficient and puts it on a road for even greater success. They will be able to take their business to the next level. It will become an even greater watering hole for the community.” Besides a notable spike in local sales traffic, Hatch and Masterson said that as a result of their television exposure, they received calls about their choco-lates from places as far away as Germany, Japan and Australia. In addition to the Hatch’s shop, the building has 3,400 avail-able square feet that can be divid-ed into two units. They’re hoping to attract a tenant who will put in a quaint restaurant that will appeal to the local community. Other immediate goals include establishing a company website and expanding shipping capabilities. They’re also doing all they can to keep prices down – a box of hand-dipped chocolates is currently $26.99 per pound – although rising costs of every-thing from dairy products to sugar to cocoa beans make that chal-lenging. “The trickle-down effect has affected our prices,” said Masterson. “Our costs of doing business have gone up, plus peo-ple are buying less each time. People still want their treats. It’s the everyday people that may bring their kid in for an ice cream cone, but then they’ll pick up a few chocolates – that keeps us moving.” The building was designed by Pollard Architects of Salt Lake and renovated by Sirq Construction of South Jordan.

Utah will play an ever-impor-tant role in supplying American energy, increasing its natural gas production by 42 percent over the next 10 years, according to the Blueprint for Western Energy Prosperity conducted by EIS Solutions with data analysis by ICF International. The study concludes that if western producers are allowed to develop the vast domestic energy resources found on public lands, investment in the region will double to $58 billion annually by 2020, and direct, indirect and induced jobs will increase by 16 percent, including 5,700 new jobs in Utah. “These projections of

growth and investment are great news for Utah’s economy and for American energy security,” said Lee Peacock, president of the Utah Petroleum Association. “Utah’s natural gas producers are already responsible for a large per-centage of America’s energy, and predictions of increased growth and investment mean more jobs, more revenue for local and state governments, and less reliance on foreign energy sources.” Federal government poli-cies, however, are significantly undermining these projections of growth, investment and expan-sion. The Blueprint identifies government policies that are mak-ing western energy development increasingly more difficult, time consuming, and expensive, and recommends policies to overcome those obstacles. “Western producers are gravely concerned that govern-ment policies are significantly undermining these projections of growth, investment and expan-sion,” said Western Energy Alliance president Tom Sheffield of Pioneer Natural Resources. “The West is supplying an increas-ing amount of America’s energy with a smaller environmental footprint, but while technologi-cal advancement has opened the door to a century’s worth of new oil and natural gas, misguided government action is preventing achievement of the region’s full energy potential.”

Blueprint: Utah will play big rolein supplying American energy

Hatch Family Chocolates invests $1.5 million in new facility

A small business loan from Zions Bank helped renovate the former 8th Avenue Market in Salt Lake City.

Dillon GeorgeAVP/Commercial Loan Officer

801.924.3634 digeorge@bankofutah.com

MemberFDIC

Business lending is our business.

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Aug. 1-7, 2011 5The Enterprise

Utah on the Rise

As we continue to address the serious labor shortage of skilled tradesmen in the construction industry, let’s explore opportunities that await indi-viduals who are willing to work hard, provide a quality lifestyle for their families and have a burning desire to step up and take responsibility for their own future. A career in skilled trades offers many benefits and allows you to earn a living while you train. Pay is extremely competitive, with many opportunities for advancement, and those who work in the con-struction industry are making valuable contributions to their communities by engaging in infrastructure, commercial, industrial and residential construction projects. There are many disciplines to choose from, including carpentry, electrician, mason, project man-agement, project supervisor, estimator, heavy equip-ment operator, welder, company owner and many others. This week’s column will explore the career path of a project estimator. Matt Brower has chosen a career in construction and describes his path to land-ing a position as a project estimator with Wadman Corp., a Utah top 10 commercial general contractor.

•••••Matt Brower, Estimator, BIM Coordinator, LEED

AP BD+C Why do you think training and education are important to the construction industry? We live in a fast-paced world where technology is taking over and the way we construct buildings is different today than it was a few years ago. People who are constantly learning and looking for oppor-tunities to enhance their knowledge will lead the industry in the future.

Describe your career path. I started out as a framer in high school where I learned how to read and interpret drawings. Then I worked for a large contractor doing concrete while I worked toward my degree in construction management at Weber State University. After decid-ing I liked framing more, I found a job with RJP Construction, a large commercial framing contractor. My third day on the job, Ron Peterson, the owner, came up to me and said I was going to be his estimator. With no estimating experience, he showed me the ropes. I worked there for three years. Shortly after graduation, I was able to secure a job with Wadman, where I am an esti-mator, BIM coordinator and a LEED AP (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). How did you get started in the industry? At the age of 14, my father asked me to help him build our house. I was hooked. I began fram-ing houses in my summers and full time after high school. I found out Weber State had a great construc-tion management program. It was there that I discov-ered I could make a real career out of construction. How has training, education and construction impacted your life? It has made me who I am today. I would not have this wonderful career had I not received the

By Chris Hipwell, presidentAssociated Builders and Contractors, Utah Chapter

Brower

see ON THE RISE page 15

The four original founders of Platinum Protection, a nation-wide residential home security provider based in American Fork, have purchased the company from Patriot American LLC. Chance Allred, Jared Hallows, Keith Dyer and Jacob Pruitt now own 100 percent of Platinum. The founders praised the support and guidance offered by Wendell Jacobson and his fam-ily, owners of Patriot American LLC, over the last five years. “We are in the strong posi-tion we are in today thanks to the business acumen and nev-er-ending commitment of time and resources we received from Wendell and the entire Jacobson family,” Dyer said. “We are very excited about the future and thank the Jacobsons for believing in this great company from the begin-ning.” “Platinum’s CEO, Andrew Kindfuller, who helped in nego-tiations, brought executive lead-ership and professional manage-ment and was able to put the company in such a positive and profitable position to accomplish this transaction,” Jacobson said. “He has been a pleasure to work with. Likewise, Scott MacArthur, our CFO, completely revamped

the finance function and brought discipline and clarity to the com-pany.” Platinum, founded in 2006, has more than 165,000 customers in 43 states. During Platinum’s first year it set industry records by selling more than 30,000 accounts with 300 sales representatives and 150 installation technicians. In December 2008, GE Security recognized Platinum with its Homeland Security Award. During its second year Platinum experienced dramatic growth. By investing its resources in infra-structure and by recruiting quality marketing professionals, Platinum grew by more than 200 percent. The company recently moved its corporate headquarters to a new office building in American Fork.Joseph Hepworth of Fillmore Spencer LLC negotiated the transaction for Jacobson while Benjamin Bates of Stoel Rives LLP represented the purchasers.

Platinum Protection foundersbuy back company

Study finds small-businessemployees are less loyal Although tentative, the eco-nomic outlook for small business-es shows some signs of improve-ment. But according to MetLife’s Ninth Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends, small business-es (those with fewer than 500 employees) may now face a new challenge, employee retention, as there has been a significant decline in employee loyalty. In November 2008, 62 per-cent of small-business employees reported feeling a very strong sense of loyalty toward their employer, but in 2010 that number dropped to only 44 percent. In fact, 34 per-cent of small-business employees surveyed would like to work for a different employer. In contrast, small-business employers’ perceptions of that loyalty remained essentially unchanged over the last few years with 54 percent currently believing that their employees feel a strong sense of loyalty to the company.

Benefits Status Quo During the down economy many small businesses held the line on benefits. The study found that, overall, the percentage of small businesses offering certain benefits remained nearly the same in 2010 as in 2007. However, the status quo may not be sufficient in a recovering economy. Approximately 50 percent

of small-business employees who are not very satisfied with their benefits hope to be working for a different employer. On the other hand, 72 percent of small-business employees who are very satisfied with their benefits feel a very strong sense of loyalty to their employer. “The MetLife study is a real-ity check for smaller employers who may still be viewing their workforce through rose-colored glasses,” said Jeffrey Tulloch, vice president, U.S. business, MetLife. “Economic recovery will not only present opportunities for employ-ers but also for top performers. One area small businesses may overlook is whether their benefits programs are designed as strate-gically as they could be. It is not necessarily about spending more, but optimizing offerings to attain three top objectives: employee retention, increased productiv-ity, and cost control. Voluntary benefits are another option for small-business employers seeking a cost-effective way to increase their benefits offerings. The study shows that approximately half of employees find it important to have benefits like life, dental and disability insurance available to them through the workplace even if they have to pay all of the cost themselves.”

6 The Enterprise Aug. 1-7, 2011

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• Industry Briefs • ACCOUNTING • H&R Block Inc., a national tax preparation services company, has honored two local tax profes-sionals with the company’s top national client service award for their client service during the 2011 tax season. Cheryl Nageli and Maunette Bacon were recognized as the company’s “mission value participants,” or MVP award win-ners. The award, established in 2003, is designed to honor the company’s best professionals that place their clients’ needs at the forefront of all services. BANKING • TAB Bank, Ogden, has entered a partnership with the Ogden Reinvestment Corp. (ORC) to provide small-business loans and financial assistance to low to moderate income borrow-ers and workers in the greater Ogden area. The ORC is a non-profit community development lender that offers loans to start-up and expanding businesses in

Ogden that meet the mission of economic growth, blight reduction and job creation, particularly for low to moderate income earners. As a rule, eligible borrowers must be businesses that are “unbank-able” or have been turned down by at least one bank in order to apply for a loan with the ORC. CONSTRUCTION • Two Big-D Construction projects have been awarded 2010 AIA Utah Design Awards, which offer professional and public recognition for projects meet-ing client goals with exception-al design solutions. The Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) and the Tracy Aviary Visitor Education Center were the winners. The CAES build-ing, in Idaho Falls, is a 58,000 square foot, two-story LEED Gold research facility. The CAES facil-ity includes office space, hydro-gen labs, advanced material labs, imaging suites, radio chemistry labs, analytical instrumentation

labs, systems moldings and much more. The Tracy Aviary Visitor Education Center is a design-build project that included new educa-tion and guest services spaces, plazas, amenities and extensive site work. The project is being constructed utilizing environmen-tally responsible building prac-tices and is LEED registered, with the certification goal of Silver.

• Loughlin Water Associates LLC, a Park City water resource consultant firm, has added Matthew C. Lindon to its team. He is a hydrological engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. He will be respon-sible for dam design, rehabilita-tion, permitting, technical specifi-cations, construction management, inundation mapping, emergency action plans, standard operating procedures and related services. Before joining the Loughlin team, he served for 25 years as an engi-neer in dam safety and as assis-tant Utah state engineer in charge of technical services at the Utah Division of Water Rights. EDUCATION/TRAINING • Westminster College, a comprehensive liberal arts college in Salt Lake City, has added three new members to its board of trustees, Dr. Hamid Adib, Preston Chiaro and Robert Rendon. Adib owns Adib’s Rug Gallery in Salt Lake City. Chiaro is a group exec-

utive for innovation at Rio Tinto, and Rendon is senior vice presi-dent and community development director for Zions Bank. • The Utah State Board of Regents has approved a new eth-nic studies major at the University of Utah. Students will learn about histories, experiences, challenges and accomplishments that con-tribute to U.S. society. The ethnic studies major builds on the exist-ing program to provide students with the knowledge and tools to study ethnic and indigenous popu-lations in the U.S. Faculty will engage in research, student-cen-tered teaching and creative collab-orations that explore social justice and challenge existing paradigms. New courses, faculty and interdis-ciplinary partners will be added to maintain and grow the quality of the program.

FINANCE • As part of the fifth annual What’s IN OUT Back! Economic Summit in Wasatch County, a

Aug. 1-7, 2011 The Enterprise 7Lion’s Den Venture Capital Contest will be introduced to attract new business to the Heber Valley. The winner will receive a $4,000 grant and the opportunity of a no-cost renewable lease of a 700 square foot furnished office space in Heber City that includes a shared 1,400 square foot con-ference space and free technical assistance. Applicants must sub-mit a cover letter including contact information and a description of the proposed venture, complete and sign the terms of the compe-tition, complete a business plan and three-year pro forma finan-cials. They will also present a two-minute pitch of their business plan to a panel of experts and in front of an audience of 300 business and government leaders. For more information, visit www.wasatched.com. • The Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP), Utah’s official nonprofit 529 plan, has reduced its annual administra-tive asset fee and introduced a new customized age-based investment offering. Effective Aug. 1, UESP will lower its administrative asset fee from 0.22 percent to 0.20 percent, a 9.1 percent reduction for nine of its 12 investment options. The other three investment options have fees below 0.20 percent. The drop drives the annual asset-weighted total fee down to 0.24 percent, the lowest in the country. The custom-ized age-based investment option allows a UESP account owner to design their own investment glide path using the available UESP underlying investment. When the beneficiary qualifies for the next preset age bracket, the investment money will automatically reallo-cate according to the account own-er’s customized allocation. The customized age-based investment allocation can only be established as an account’s investment option online at uesp.org. • Grow Utah Ventures and Zions Bank have chosen the finalists in their Northern Utah Concept to Company Contest, which focuses on technology. One grand prize winner and two run-ner up winners will be selected. Winnings for the grand prize will be up to $18,000 in cash and services, while runners up will receive up to $8,000 in cash and services. Service prizes are offered from Kunzler IP Law, Forthgear Marketing, Ballard Spahr Law and Advanced CFO Solutions. The cash prize is being offered by the NorthFront Business Resource Center and SEED Weber-Davis-Morgan. Finalists will present their ideas to a panel of industry judges. Following finalist presen-tations and panel deliberation, one grand prize winner and two runner up winners will be selected.

HEALTH CARE • The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities has awarded Pioneer Adult Rehabilitation Services (PARC) with a three year accredi-tation, the maximum level award-ed. PARC is a public nonprofit administered by the Davis School District with the goal of fostering independence for people with dis-abilities through employment and training, and serves more than 600 people with disabilities in northern

Utah. • Mikelle Moore, former administrator at LDS Hospital, has been named vice president of Intermountain Healthcare’s community benefit department and president of the Intermountain Healthcare Foundation. The community benefit department directs Intermountain’s work to improve the health care services offered to uninsured, low-income and underserved people within Intermountain’s service area. It also partners with other agencies

and organizations that are work-ing to serve these populations. The Intermountain Healthcare Foundation furthers the mission of Intermountain Healthcare by pro-viding grants to fund health care services. • According to U.S. News and World Report’s 2011-2012 best hospital rankings, University of Utah Health Care is the num-ber one health care system in the Salt Lake City metro area. The University’s services in gyne-cology and ear, nose and throat

were also ranked 47th and 50th in the nation by the magazine. The University was also recognized as high performing in urology, neph-rology, orthopedics, pulmonary and cancer care. The core mis-sion of Best Hospitals is to guide patients who need an especially high level of care. This is the first year U.S. News has included the high performing category, which lists hospitals that weren’t ranked in the top 50 in a given specialty, but were still among the top 25

continued on page 13

People may think that the

role of CFO is to measure

finances only, but Mountain

America sees this responsi-

bility as one that plays

a very strategic role in

shaping the destiny of

the company.

David Kwant is a CFO who is experienced in dealing

with the cyclical nature of financial markets and knows

how to weather the extremes that come. He has helped

facilitate smart decision making at Mountain America

for more than 20 years. His experience in a variety of

different market financial conditions adds a calming

influence in turbulent economic times.

Quick to adapt, adopt and use new technologies for

the benefit of Mountain America David believes that

change is the NEW normal. Some of his biggest accom-

plishments have been realized by grabbing hold of new

technologies that have brought about great increases

in productivity and quality service that directly benefit

members. During his tenure, he has seen Mountain

America grow from only 10 branches to 60 branches

with $2.8 billion in assets and 350,000 members

whose needs are met with innovative products

and services.

David is serious about his fiduciary duty and being a

good steward of all that he is responsible for, which is

proven by his commitment to making decisions that

always have the best interests of Mountain America

members in mind. He carefully manages members’

resources and emphasizes that what each employee

does every day in their work affects the credit union’s

bottom line.

“I’ve known Dave Kwant for 18 years and worked with

him for 16. He has always been one to count on and his

excellent character is beyond question. More than hav-

ing an amazing knowledge base, David has wisdom—

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financial issues and opportunities. He has earned the

respect of the financial industry and is well known for

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Mountain America congratulates its Executive Vice President, David Kwant, on being recognized by Utah Business as an

outstanding Chief Financial Officer—he is one of the reasons we deliver outstanding results for our members.

2 0 1 1 David Kwant Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

www.macu.com | 1-800-748-4302

The Enterprise Aug. 1-7, 20118

I am finally calling BS on the biggest myth in selling. Salespeople quit or fail because they “fear rejection.” Give me a break. “Fear of rejection” is totally bogus. Managers and sales train-ers alike try to smooth it over by telling you crap like, “They’re not rejecting you. They’re just rejecting the offer you made them.” Horse manure! People reject both people AND offers. THE MYTH IS: Salespeople don’t like to cold call because they fear rejection. Hey Sparky, salespeople don’t like to cold call because it sucks and it’s a waste of time! THE TRUTH IS: Salespeople aren’t in fear. (Except maybe of their abusive bosses or proposed “changes” in their comp plan.) They’re vibrant people who make the economy run. “Nothing hap-pens until somebody sells some-thing,” said Red Motley in 1946. Fear of rejection is an easy way for sales managers and lead-ers to explain why their turnover is high. “Bob quit because he feared rejection.” Really? I doubt it. Bob quit because your leader-ship is weak and your soft skills

training are weaker. Fear of rejection and its evil twin, fear of failure, are best described as excuses. What you’re looking for, as a would-be suc-cessful salesperson, are reasons and answers why a sale does not

take place. So, what (other than fear) are the reasons rejection takes place? And how can you decrease your rejection rate? Wouldn’t you rath-er have those answers? Read on: 1. Lack of attitude. Not just lack of a posi-tive or a YES! attitude,

but also the lack of a winning attitude. You need to carry a copy of The Little Engine That Could on your iPad or Kindle and read it every morning. 2. Lack of preparation in terms of the customer. You may know what you offer, but you may NOT know what the customer wants or (more importantly) why he wants it. 3. Lack of belief. Belief is the most important and most com-plex, yet least understood, emotion in the science of selling. Belief is broken down into five parts. Part 1: You have to believe you work for the greatest com-

pany in the world. Part 2: You have to believe that your products and service offerings are the greatest in the world. Part 3: You have to believe you can differentiate yourself from the customer in a manner that the customer perceives as valuable. Part 4: You have to believe you’re a great salesperson capa-ble of transferring a message and understanding customer needs. Part 5: You have to believe that the customer is better off having purchased from you. Not believing it in your head. Rather, believing it in your heart. Belief is both painfully obvious and com-pletely ignored when teaching salespeople how to be successful. 4. Lack of sales skills. Since most companies provide poor sales training, it’s the responsibil-ity of the salesperson to gain their own knowledge by investing in books, seminars, online courses and all other means to gain sales wisdom, not just sales knowledge. CAUTION: Do not learn a “sys-tem” of selling. Sell in a way that makes you feel comfortable. 5. Lack of personal self-confidence. Self-confidence and preparation go hand-in-hand. It’s amazing to me that salespeople think they’re nervous when actu-

ally they’re just unprepared. 6. Lack of resilience. This is a key element in the rejection-failure syndrome. Resilience is your inner strength to react to what happens to you, your outer strength and mental strength to respond to what happens to you, and all your strength to recov-er from what happens to you. Building resilience wipes away fear. 7. Lack of personal pride in your work. Lack of attention to detail. Consistent lateness. Missed appointments. Cynical comments. Need I say more? 8. Lack of personal pride in yourself. Most people take more pride in their favorite sports team than they do in their career. This will be a direct reflection of the pride that you have in yourself and your performance. Think back to the time you made your biggest sale and recall that memory and that feeling each time you’re in a sales presentation. 9. Limiting self-thought. (I’m not good enough.) Most self-thought comes from the neg-ative side, worried about what might happen versus dedicating yourself to changing the outcome. If you walk into the sale believing it probably won’t happen or you probably won’t get it, than you’re

probably correct. If you want to change your outcomes, you have to change your thinking. 10. Low self-esteem. Someone told you that you’re not that good or not that smart, and you (like a fool) believed them. 11. Limited self-image. You don’t consider yourself equal to the buyer, or good enough to sell the buyer. EXAMPLE: Stockbrokers talking to people of enormous wealth. Car salespeople trying to sell a car they can’t afford to buy themselves. Fear of rejection? Totally false. Fear of failure? Equally false. People that espouse these false fears — avoid them.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of Social BOOM!, The Little Red Book of Selling and The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude. President of Charlotte, N.C.-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings and con-ducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service at www.trainone.com. He can be reached at (704_ 333-1112 or salesman@gitomer.com.

© 2011 All Rights Reserved

Fear of rejection is bogus

Jeffrey Gitomer

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How does one write a time-ly piece about an ever-changing topic? About one which may or may not get resolved in com-ing days? About one that may or may not lead to a downgrade of this nation’s $14 trillion plus outstanding debt? About one that may or may not lead to a financial crisis? About one that could result in an historic effort to begin the process of limiting future growth rates of U.S. government spend-ing, or that merely kicks the can further down the road for politicians to deal with later? Given all of these uncertainties, certain fac-tors seem clear. • An actual default on U.S. interest payments or maturing debt payoffs is highly unlikely to happen. The enormous egos found in Washington, D.C. have an eye to the future. I guarantee you that President Barack Obama, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and other key political players in the debt ceiling increase showdown DO NOT want to be identified in future history books as those who were “minding the store” when this great nation defaulted on its debt (I could be wrong … wouldn’t be the first time, nor the last). You can bet that the Treasury Secretary and the President will do everything in their power to keep interest payments made and bond maturities paid. In fact, financial data suggests that tax inflows in recent weeks to the U.S. govern-ment have been decidedly stron-ger than expected. The Aug. 2 date of poten-tial default has been unofficially extended in some circles to Aug. 10-15, with numerous observ-ers noting that the U.S. Treasury Department could juggle funds so as to keep most payments made well into September. Social Security payments and military pay will also continue, with the possible need to then prioritize other payments as necessary. • Barring a much stronger plan to boost the debt ceiling and reduce future budget deficits than currently seems likely, at least one of the three major debt rat-ing agencies — Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch — will likely reduce the Aaa/AAA/AAA bond ratings of the United States of America within six months. This remains true even if the debt ceiling is passed, and is combined with what is viewed as a weak plan to get this nation’s financial house in order. Granted, the credibility of these rating agencies in recent years has been reduced to some-

where “between zero and none” after they totally missed the sub-prime mortgage lending crisis of three to five years ago. However, a lowered rating regarding the quality of U.S. debt will lead to modestly higher U.S. borrowing (interest) costs for years

to come. In turn, borrow-ing costs of corporations for debt, and of consum-ers for credit cards, auto loans and mortgage loans, will be modestly higher than would have been the case with an adult-like response of national politicians in recent days, weeks, and months. How sad. How pathetic. • For the umpteenth time,

please note that the term “spend-ing cuts” should be taken off the negotiating table. In regard to entitlement programs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as with most government programs, we are talking about slowing down future growth rates of spending. Any reference to “spending cuts” is only when compared to long-term baseline projections of spending. We will spend more money each year on all of the entitlement programs, as well as most other programs. For example, politicians like to infer that reducing a future pro-gram growth rate from 9 percent annually to 8 percent annually is a spending cut. Only in the fantasy land of Washington, D.C. can you spend more money each year on a program and call it a spending cut. Rather than provide clarity to taxpayers, politicians prefer to demonize the other side with talk of spending cuts. How sad. How pathetic. • Assuming the high likeli-hood of an increase in the debt ceiling in coming days (note: the debt ceiling has already been increased 100 times since 1940), the focus will then be on creating a viable plan to reduce unprec-edented and destructive budget deficits in years to come. The Republicans will focus on slowing the future growth rate of entitlement and other programs. They will begrudgingly accept some modest revenue enhance-ments as the price of getting a deal done. The Democrats will fight to maintain spending levels of most programs, especially in the entitle-ment area. They will push for tax hikes on all those “rich” people making more than $200,000 annu-ally. As before, discussions will get largely nowhere. I would suggest that the real opportunity to achieve solid and required progress would emerge from the creation of a congressio-nal committee to study all aspects of federal revenues and spending,

make tough choices and report back to the Congress for an “up or down” vote, perhaps early next year. Wait a minute … didn’t we do this when the President’s defi-cit reduction commission reported its finding on Dec. 1, 2010? The simple answer is “yes” and “no.” The President’s deficit reduction commission (a.k.a. The National Commission on Fiscal

Responsibility and Reform), chaired by former Clinton admin-istration chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, had limited teeth. In fact, 14 of the 18 commit-tee members had to agree on its recommendations in order for the Congress to be required to vote on it. Only 11 votes were affirmative, therefore the recommendations, in

my mind the most comprehensive of all recent deficit reduction pro-posals, simply languished on the vine. The better alternative is sim-ilar to the National Commission on Social Security Reform of 1983 (informally known as the Greenspan Commission) and the five BRAC (Base Realignment and

Political 'cover'

Jeff Thredgold

see THREDGOLD next page

GAIN MARKET SHARE.

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801.533.0556 ext. 237 • www.slenterprise.com

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The average salesperson spends their day “stirring the pot of activity,” or, as my good friend Gordon Wilson refers to it, “trying to boil the ocean.” A lot of activity and motion may keep one busy and tired, but it won’t necessarily produce sales and wealth. On a bright and sunny winter day, I can sit in my office with the blinds open, enjoying the gentle warmth of the sun. All that sunlight flooding into my office will generate a small amount of heat. However, if I were to pull out my magnifying glass and capture just a small amount of that light into a narrowly focused beam, I could burn a hole right through the car-pet. Sales activities are exactly the same way. Broad and general activities are like trying to boil the ocean, whereas specifically focused activities will burn holes in areas where other salespeople couldn’t even create warmth. Goal setting provides a narrow focus of activity sufficient to achieve an objective. The goal dictates the direction of our efforts and acts as a beacon when activities become

clouded and obscure. A goal can pull us toward the achievement we so desperately desire. In the Law of Success, Napoleon Hill’s first book, he describes the insight he gained from his research into the power

of goal setting: “Any definite chief aim that is delib-erately fixed in the mind and held there with determination to real-ize it, finally saturates the entire subconscious mind until it automati-cally influences the

physical action of the body toward the attainment of the purpose.” That statement is a profound insight into the power associated with setting goals. I don’t know that I truly understand how it works, but from personal experi-ence and the experience of the salespeople I train and coach, I can testify that it really works. Let me share an actual example of this principle, in the words of one of my clients. “I was short about $10,000 when I met with my sales coach, and as he left he said to me, ‘call me when you reach your goal.’ I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to make that phone call. What a rewarding feeling it would be to know that I gave it all I had and it allowed me to achieve my goal.’ As the last day of the month approached, I was down to literally the last hour of the day and I got a couple of phone calls from customers that I had quoted last year that I had forgotten about. I had to resend

them quotations and didn’t think that they would purchase as soon as they did. Needless to say, I was able to make the phone call to my sales coach to report that I had made my goal and exceeded it by $1,000.” The power of goal setting is clearly established through the infamous folklore article about goal setting at one of the lead-ing business schools in America. Even though it is fictitious, one can derive value from its message. Here it is:In 1979 Harvard University did a study among the graduating seniors from the business school. They asked them, “What plans and goals do you have after grad-uation and have you written them down?” The responses were star-tling. They were very similar to the Yale study of 1953. The study found that only 3 percent of the people who were graduating had clear written goals and plans for their life. Another 13 percent had goals and plans, but they hadn’t written them down. An amazing 84 percent of all graduating seniors had no goals at all except for graduating and enjoying the sum-mer. Ten years later in 1989, they surveyed these same people again. They found that the 13 percent of men and women who had goals and plans when they left the uni-versity, but who hadn’t written them down, were earning on aver-age twice as much as the 84 per-cent who had no goals and plans at all. But they found that the 3 percent of men and women who had clear, written goals and plans, blueprints to follow once they’d left the university, were making on average 10 times as much as the entire 97 percent put together! The power of being clear about who you are and what you want in life is absolutely amazing. Surprisingly enough, there are salespeople who don’t set goals. They will work as hard as they can to achieve all that they can, but they refuse to set goals. Why would this be? The answer

is simple. They don’t want to fail! They believe that by setting a goal, by creating a “have to” situation, they are setting themselves up for failure if they miss the mark. Nothing could be further from the truth. By not setting goals they will never realize the power that lies within them to achieve far more than they ever believed they could achieve. A couple of years ago I had a client who set a company record for the most gross profit sales ever made by a salesperson in a year. In 30 years of business, his sales were the most ever recorded! He was feeling pretty good about his efforts, having reached that plateau. He pondered long and hard about his accomplishment and then asked himself how much more could he achieve. He set a new goal, one that seemed nearly impossible, and began working diligently to achieve it. By the end of the year he had not only achieved his goal, but exceeded it. He made the comment that he was driven in his daily efforts by the fact that he had a goal to achieve. His personal sales were greater that year than what the whole company had sold three years ear-lier, and three years earlier the company had its best year ever. Sales people without a goal, no matter how hard they work, will fail to achieve their true des-tiny. They will never be success-ful until they reach beyond them-selves, until they challenge their very core. The world of sales is replete with salespeople working hard, but successful salespeople are those who work hard with their efforts clearly focused on a goal that pulls them towards success.

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 cli-ents 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.

The Enterprise Aug. 1-7, 201112

Closure) commissions between 1989 and 2005, all creations of the U.S. Congress. Such recom-mendations to strengthen Social Security and to close excess mil-itary bases required an “up or down” vote from the Congress, with NO changes to the recom-mendations. Given difficult deci-sion making, the congressional committee process has worked before. Perhaps most important-ly in the eyes of congressional members highly focused on get-ting re-elected, it provided politi-

cal cover — a political “scape-goat” — someone or something to blame for difficult decisions that had to be made, without the chance to change commission rec-ommendations. It might just be the best road to follow.

Jeff Thredgold is the only econo-mist in the world to have ever earned the CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) interna-tional designation, the highest earned designation in professional speaking. He is the author of econ-America, released by major pub-lisher Wiley & Sons, and serves as economic consultant to Zions Bank.

THREDGOLDfrom previous page

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Goal setting — the formula for greater sales

Tim Huffaker

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percent in the nation. • AAPC Physician Services, a West Valley City-based national provider of practice management solutions to help health care pro-viders effectively address criti-cal issues facing their practice, has launched its Medical Office Compliance Toolkit to help medi-cal practices simplify adherence to complicated compliance require-

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HOSPITALITY • Arvada, Colo.-based Gondola Resorts Inc. is expand-ing its vacation rental business

into the state of Utah. The com-pany will feature operations at three resorts — Park City, Deer Valley and The Canyons — offer-ing more than 150 vacation rentals via a downtown Park City office. The 2011/12 ski season will see offerings for such Park City loca-tions as The Galleria, Lift Lodge, Edelweis Haus, Park Station, Snowcrest, Town Pointe and The Racquet Club. Gondola Resorts has also partnered with Park City

Lodging Inc. to offer full 24-hour services via their downtown Park City welcome center. • A hotel at 280 W. 7200 S., Midvale, has switched affil-iations from Best Western to Magnuson Hotels, which bills itself as the world’s largest inde-pendent hotel group. The 91-room hotel is owned by Pam and Gaylen Nate, who said the switch was made due to decreased travelers throughout the state due to the

economy as well as challenges with unrealistic expectations from Best Western. Magnuson Hotels now has 38 hotels in Utah. INSURANCE • Intermountain Financial Group LLC, the Utah agency for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., has awarded Steve Dyches and Tony Christensen with the agency Rising Leader

from page 7

continued on next page

The Enterprise Aug. 1-7, 201114

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Award, recognizing them as two of its top financial service advi-sors. The Rising Leader Award honors individuals who have achieved the highest level of sales and service performance in their first five career contract years.

MANUFACTURING• Dr. Rowland T. Moriarty

has joined Packsize LLC, a Salt Lake City-based international pro-vider in lean packaging systems, as a member of the board of direc-tors. Moriarty is the current chair-man of Charles River Associates International and vice chairman of Wright Express Corp. Moriarty will assist the on-demand packag-ing provider with corporate gover-nance and in achieving its growth objectives. He currently serves on the board of directors of four public companies and two pri-vately held companies, including Packsize.

MEDIA/MARKETING• Sue Kelly has been named

program director of KBER and KHTB for Citadel Broadcasting

Group in Salt Lake City. Citadel Broadcasting locally operates Country KUBL-FM (93.3), Adult Contemporary KBEE-FM (98.7), Utah’s New Alternative KENZ-FM (101.9) Rock KBER-FM (101.1), Z Rock KHTB-FM (94.9) and The Big Talker KKAT-AM (860). PHILANTHROPY • The 2011 Utah Philanthropy Day luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 2 from 11:30 a.m-1:30 p.m at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. Every year, the Utah Nonprofits Association, a provider of resources and support to local nonprofits, and the Utah Society of Fund Raisers, an organization that serves Utah’s non-profit insti-tutions through advocacy, training and education, honor leaders in philanthropy be presenting them with awards at a gala luncheon. In addition to the awards, the Utah Nonprofits Association and Utah Society of Fund Raisers honor an individual or couple with a Heart and Hands award, which recog-nizes those who make significant

contributions through volunteer or philanthropic service.

REAL ESTATE • Utah has the fourth high-est closing costs in the nation, according to Bankrate Inc’s 2001 Closing Costs Survey. Across the nation, closing costs are up 8.8 percent over the last 12 months, according to the survey. Origination and title fees on a $200,000 home loan average $4,070. The four most expensive states are New York with average closing costs of $6,138 followed by Texas at $4,944, Utah with $4,906, and California with $4,832. Closing costs have jumped nearly 10 per-cent over the last year because of fees lenders are now directly charged, according to Bankrate. New regulations require more staffing and cost more money; banks are requiring extra employ-ment verification and the like to keep loans in shape for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. On aver-age, lenders charge about $1,614 in origination fees this year, up 10.3 percent from last year. Origination fees include lender charges for

services, such as underwriting and processing.

RETAIL • Overstock.com, Salt Lake City, will provide the furnishings and home accessories at a Parade of Homes townhome at 7800 S. 100 W. in Midvale. The town-home is part of the Rooftops at 78 Hundred, a community developed by Solstice Homes. The Parade of Homes, presented by the Salt Lake Home Builders Association, includes 27 homes and 15 builder models. • Based on the success of the recent opening of a store in Jordan Landing, Salt Lake City-based retailer DownEast Home & Clothing is thinking seriously about opening additional Utah locations, according to COO Rich Israelsen. The company already has 24 locations. Stores are also located in Arizona, Washington and Southern California. • Harmons Grocery Stores is celebrating its 79th birthday. The firm was founded in 1932 when Jake and Irene Harmon opened the Market Spot fruit stand on Main Street and 3300 South in Salt Lake City. Their son, Terry and his wife, Doreen, grew the business to 12 stores over 40 years. Now, with third and fourth generation Harmons continuing in the business, Harmons operates 14 stores from Ogden to St. George. The chain will open a 15th store, Harmons Emigration Market, in early fall and a 16th in the down-town City Creek development in spring of 2012. Harmons, contin-ues to be one of the few remaining locally owned and family operated grocery chains in Utah. • O.co, formerly Overstock.com, a Utah-based online retailer that sells name-brand products at discounted prices, has been given the 2011 Corporate Role Model award for Utah’s annual Clear the Air Challenge, which is a month-long competition that challenges Utah residents to reduce vehicle emissions by choosing alterna-tives to driving alone, including public transportation, carpooling

and active transportation. The challenge is coordinated by gov-ernment, business and community organizations and sponsors, and ran from June 13 through July 10. O.co challenged its employees to ride their bikes to work as part of the challenge. More than 50 employees participated in the bike challenge, with some riding from as far south as Provo.

SERVICES • Park City lawn care company, Greenleaf Enterprises Inc., has fi led a lawsuit in the federal district court against DuPont, alleging its new herbicide, Imprelis, is causing severe damage to evergreen trees and shrubs. The suit alleges DuPont has been marketing and selling Imprelis as an environmentally-friendly solution for controlling weeds in grass and turf, and that since early June, damage to evergreen trees in treated areas has been seen nationwide. According to the suit, initial studies indicate that Imprelis is the culprit, and complaints have been so numerous that the EPA has begun an investigation into the product. Greenleaf claims it purchased and used only two gallons of the product, yet has documented damage in more than 250 of its customers’ trees. Greenleaf estimates that of those, over 150 are likely to die. • Steve Hampton of Hampton’s Elite Mobile Detailing, Riverdale, joined a handpicked team of 30 detailers who traveled to Seattle the week of July 25-Aug. 1 to restore two historic paragons in U.S. aviation history. The fi rst presidential jet plane (Air Force One) known as SAM (Special Air Missions) 970 was a fl ying Oval Offi ce for four U.S. Presidents — Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. The Boeing 707-120 also entertained many international VIPs such as Nikita Khrushchev and Henry Kissinger. The team also refurbished a rare WWII B29 Bomber known as T-Square 54, both of which are on exhibit in Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

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The EnterpriseAug. 1-7, 2011 15

Lane Beattie President and Chief Executive Officer Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce

Every week, hundreds of small-business owners, salespeo-ple and business managers con-verge at restaurants, libraries, cof-fee shops and other meeting plac-es around the Salt Lake Valley to meet other entrepreneurs to share referrals and marketing ideas and build a circle of trust. Relationship marketing is not new, but with the onslaught of online social media websites, face-to-face meetings have become even more important in the digital age. Perhaps you have been to a restaurant during the day and seen a large group of well-dressed people having a meet-ing. Chances are, you may have witnessed a business networking meeting. These groups cater to small-business owners and man-agers who are looking to promote their businesses by building solid trust relationships with other busi-ness owners. By learning about each other’s businesses and get-ting to know the individuals per-sonally, a circle of trust can devel-op. This opens up the door for mentoring, sharing referrals and developing a resource network. Bob Bond, chairman of the Murray Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the TLC (True Loyal Connections) business net-

working group, says networking allows him to “be the go-to per-son.” Bond is one of those guys who just seems to know everyone. Businesses that cater to other busi-nesses also benefit from having many resources to share with their

clients. Being an expert in one field is great, but being able to share a refer-ral with a client and know-ing that referral is going to take good care of the client is golden. Besides the obvious ben-efits of gaining clients, networking connects dynamic people with oth-

ers seeking knowledge and advice. Many mentoring relationships can develop through networking, allowing for a positive sharing of business knowledge. Some net-working groups, like The Art of Business 2 (squared), promote the educational and mentoring aspects of networking as part of their weekly meetings. Networking can also help an individual increase his or her personal communication skills. Most networking meetings follow a basic format. The meet-ings take place at public meeting areas or restaurants. Each per-son at the meeting usually gets a chance to stand and tell every-one about their business and what kinds of referrals they are looking

for. There may be presentations by some of the participants of the meeting, a time for testimonials or reviews of businesses and people, and sometimes educational pre-sentations. Often, the most important part of the meetings are the times before and after when partici-pants meet, share business cards and set up meetings outside the event. These meetings, sometimes referred to as “one-to-ones,” allow people to learn about their pro-spective businesses and help to build solid relationships. These face-to-face meetings allow the participants to truly connect on a level that a social networking website cannot match. Most people who truly embrace business networking and relationship marketing learn early on that they must adopt an attitude of giving. BNI (Business Networking International) is a worldwide networking organiza-tion that understands the principle of giving. Their mantra, “Givers Gain,” is one of the principle foun-dations of the organization. Dr. Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI and a bestselling author, based his networking organization on that theme. “When you give to someone else because you want them to succeed, everybody wins,” Misner said. “You’re setting yourself up

for success because the more good you do for others, the more good others want to do for you.” Effective business net-working means you have to do more than just show up. David Thompson, a member of the Utah BNI leadership team and a busi-ness coach, reflects on the impor-tance of learning how to network with goals. “How many times have I seen (and occasionally done) peo-ple attending an event without goals, as if their presence was suf-ficient to make things happen,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, even a blind dog can find a bone once in a while.” Thompson recommends set-ting goals for each networking event. Think about other profes-sions that may be good referral sources for your business, then look for those people at network-ing groups. Get to know those individuals who may share similar clients and customers and adopt an attitude of giving. Many small businesses rely on business networking and refer-ral marketing for 100 percent of

their business. It can work, but it does require some effort. It is important to be a regular par-ticipant in networking meetings and groups. Educate yourself on the best practices of business networking to make your time involved as productive as it can be. Make yourself stand out as an expert in your field, as well as a circle of influence in the commu-nity. Develop a plan for network-ing and make sure to speak clearly and paint a picture of how your business can solve the needs for potential clients. Building honest and solid relationships is the key to making the most of the business networking experience.

John Stewart is the operations manager for inQuo, a computer support and repair company based in Salt Lake City. With more than 20 years of combined experience, the inQuo staff can fix a wide vari-ety of computer issues for small businesses and home users. For more advice and information visit www.inquo.wordpress.com, call (801) 349-2762, or send e-mail to info@inquo.com.

Business networking: the subculture of relationship marketing

John Stewart

education and training I did. It has also given me a broader knowl-edge of all parts of construction that I never would have learned without switching jobs constantly. Above all, it has opened up many doors for me. How do you feel that you positively impact your company and the construction industry? Coming from the genera-tion of technology adapting to the technological changes we face comes much easier to me. I con-stantly want to learn new things and I bring that new knowledge to both Wadman and to the industry. When we have to adapt to changes I am not afraid to step in and take on that responsibility. Why would you recommend your career path to someone who is thinking about the construction industry as a career path? The construction industry is amazing. It has its hard days but the opportunities are endless. There are so many pieces of the construction puzzle that can fit different personalities. One day you can start out making $10 and hour and within a few years, be a superintendent on a multi-million dollar project making six figures. Describe your job responsi-bilities as project estimator.

An owner will request pric-ing on a project and the estima-tor develops pricing. We review drawings, find out what trades will be needed and then we work with subcontractors of those trades to determine pricing. Many times we are bidding against other contrac-tors and have to be aggressive, but still make sure we cover all our bases.

••••• Credentials include a B.S. in Construction Management with a Minor in Business from WSU, LEED AP, American Institute of Construction (AIC) Certification, Sigma Lambda Chi Construction Honors Society. Brower will begin teaching a class at the

Ogden Weber Applied Technology College this fall, “Introduction to Green Construction Methods”. There has never been a better time to enter the trades, and qual-ity training programs are wait-ing for those who endeavor to enhance their lives and the lives of their family. Contact ABC Utah for more career path information.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 75 chapters rep-resenting 23,000 merit shop con-struction and construction-related firms. For more information call (801) 708-7036 or visit www.abcu-tah.org.

ON THE RISEfrom page 5

The Enterprise Aug. 1-7, 201116

• Aug. 3, 7-9 a.m.: Semi-Annual “Technology of Gear” Event, presented by the Outdoor Industry Association, Stoel Rives LLP and Grant Thornton. Participants will learn how the innovation of gear continues to change the way outdoor enthu-siasts access the outdoor experi-ence. An interactive panel discus-sion, will take place prior to the start of the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market and will feature representatives from leading out-door companies addressing the innovation, evolution and com-mercialization of outdoor gear technology and other innovative business practices. In addition to the panel discussion, the event will consist of an innovation show-case featuring some of the latest products from outdoor companies during the networking and break-fast portion of the event. Location is the Marriott Downtown, 75 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City. Free to OIA members, nonmem-bers pay $45. Register at http://TechofGearSummer2011.event-brite.com. • Aug. 11-Sept. 8, Thursdays from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.: Supervisory Skills Program-Five-Day Certificate Program, sponsored by The Employers Council. The program is designed to provide par-ticipants with thorough knowledge of contemporary skills to be effec-

tive in the workplace. Instructor will be Dr. Brent Soffe. Location is the Salt Lake Community College Downtown Campus, 231 E. 400 S., Salt Lake City. Cost is $640 for council members, $799 for non-members. Enrollment is limited to 30. Download the registration form at http://ecutah.org/ssp.pdf. • Aug. 11, noon-1:30 p.m.: Utah Technology Association Meeting. Tom Dickson, CEO of Blendtec, will be the guest speaker. Location is The Barn at Thanksgiving Point, 3003 n. Thanksgiving Way, Lehi. Cost is $45. Register at www.utahtech.org. • Aug. 17, noon: “Salt Lake Chamber University — Mixing Four Generations in the Workplace,” an online video course by generational expert Cam Marston. Generational con-flict costs billions of dollars in lost productivity to organizations worldwide. The video is designed to reduce workplace conflict and provide managers and supervisors with strategies for dealing with recruiting, retaining and motivat-ing, and using generational dif-ferences in a positive way. Cost is $99 per group and includes a copy of the whitepaper “The Millennial Workforce: How to Reach Them and Why It’s Important.” Lunch will be served. Register at http://slchamber.bizvision.com/

video/3469. • Aug. 18, 7:30 a.m.: Seventh Annual Utah Manufacturers Association Best Practices Expo. Keynote speaker will be Jeff Edwards, president and CEO of EDCUtah. Awards for best practices will be presented to Futura, Autoliv, Firestone Building Products, MEP, UCAT and Hyperion Solutions. Location is Weber State University, Ogden. Cost is $30 for UMA members, $40 for nonmembers, including breakfast and lunch. RSVP to Teresa Thomas by Aug. 14 at (801) 363-3885 or teresa@umaweb.org.

• Sept. 13, 10 a.m.-noon: “Developing Superior Customer Service,” sponsored by Associated Builders and Contractors of Utah. Henry “Dutch” Hempel, a busi-ness consultant for the construc-tion 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@abcu-tah.org. • 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 cam-pus. 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 Eillison, 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.

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The EnterpriseAug. 1-7, 2011 17

The Enterprise Aug. 1-7, 201118

At long last, President Obama seems to have run out of patience with the truculent Republicans who have rejected all of his over-tures for a budget deal — just as Moody’s and other economic authorities again warned of the potentially cata-strophic consequences of a debt default. Finally, Obama stood up at the bargaining table and walked out of the stalemated budget talks, telling House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., that he will “take this to the American people” unless the Republicans showed a real incli-nation to compromise. Exactly what the president meant by that remark is not yet clear, but some leading Republicans have now realized that pandering to their party’s hard-line base could have serious consequences for them as well as for the country. Political schizophrenia broke out among the Republicans on Capitol Hill even as Obama con-fronted them in the White House. In the Senate, Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pro-posed a near-complete surren-der, with a three-step maneuver that would allow the debt ceiling to rise while still permitting the Republicans to pretend that they

disapprove. Seeking to justify this panicky abandonment of his own tough-sounding rhetoric a week ago, McConnell told right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham that blowing the Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline could lead to the same political result

as the government shutdowns of the Clinton era — only perhaps worse. A faithful servant of big money, McConnell appears to have realized that a Treasury default — unprecedented in our history — could cause permanent damage not only to the nation’s credit and the world economy, but might well ruin the Republican Party, too. Noting that President Clinton easily won re-election the year

after he faced down a Republican caucus in a budget debate that led to two government shutdowns, McConnell predicted that Obama “will say Republicans are mak-ing the economy worse. ... It is an argument that he could have a good chance of winning, and all of a sudden we have co-ownership of the economy. That is a very bad position going into the election.” Letting America default is a bad idea, he said, because it “destroys the GOP brand.” In other words, American voters might blame Republican candidates for a worsened reces-sion, caused by their ideological obsession and partisan selfishness. Voters might finally express their disgust with Republican legislators who worry more about the mind-less raving of Michele Bachmann than the expert opinion of Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman who outlined the con-sequences of default in Congress on Wednesday. As outlined by Bernanke, whose own Republican credentials are impeccable, the ominous storyline should not be

difficult to follow even for the average politician. Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee that default would cast grave doubt on the value of the Treasury bond, which “is viewed as the safest and most liquid security in the world, and the notion it would become suddenly unreliable and illiquid would throw shockwaves through the entire global financial sys-tem.” While Bachmann may dis-parage such warnings as “scare tactics,” the threat that default portends for everyone from grand-mothers depending on Social Security checks to the struggling economies of Europe and Japan is real. Indeed, its effects are already being felt. Where the president’s mount-ing frustration will lead remains to be seen. What did he mean when he told the Republicans not to “call my bluff”? Although Obama, the constitutional law professor, would prefer not to invoke a con-troversial 14th Amendment power to overrule Congress and raise

the debt by fiat, he can now cite McConnell (and many other con-servatives) in his defense. Should the Republicans in the House someday seek to impeach him over such a move, he could honestly reply that he was responding to a clear and pres-ent danger to the nation and the world — and that the leaders of their own party in the Senate had agreed with him. Americans who broadly oppose default, and who over-whelmingly favor increasing taxes on the rich to avoid it, might well be persuaded by that argument.

Joe Conason’s articles have been published in Harper’s, The Nation, The New Republic, The Guardian (London) and The New Yorker, among many other periodicals in the United States and abroad. He also appears frequently as a com-mentator on television and radio programs. A winner of the New York Press Club’s Byline Award, he has covered every American presidential election since 1980.

Copyright 2011 Creators Syndicate

Obama losing patience as Republicans panic

Joe Conason

The EnterpriseAug. 1-7, 2011 19

The big news, as far as the media are concerned, is the politi-cal game of debt-ceiling chicken that is being played by Democrats and Republicans in Washington. But, however much the media are focused on what is happening inside the Beltway, there is a whole country outside the Beltway — and the time is long overdue to start thinking about what is best for the rest of the country, not just for right now but for the long haul. However the current debt-ceiling crisis turns out, the current economic turmoil in financial markets around the world should cause some serious thoughts about the long run, and about the whole idea of a national debt-ceiling. Some people may have been shocked when the credit-rating firm Moody’s recently suggest-ed that the debt-ceiling law be repealed, in order to avoid fis-cal crises which can throw world financial markets into turmoil that can injure countries around the world.

Anyone who wants to show that Moody’s is wrong should be prepared to show the actual ben-efits of the debt-ceiling, not its goals or hopes. That will not be easy, if possible at all. Too many policies, programs

and institutions are judged by what they are supposed to do, rather than by what they actu-ally do and the conse-quences of their actions. The United Nations, for example, survives as a glorious idea, despite how corrupt, counter-

productive and even dan-gerous its actions are.

The national debt-ceiling law should be judged by what it actually does, not by how good an idea it seems to be. The one thing that the national debt-ceiling has never done is to put a ceiling on the rising national debt. Time and time again, for years on end, the national debt-ceiling has been raised whenever the national debt gets near whatever the current ceiling might be. Regardless of what it is sup-

posed to do, what the national debt-ceiling actually does is enable any administration to get all the politi-cal benefits of runaway spending for the benefit of their favorite constituencies — and then invite the opposition party to share the blame, by either raising the nation-al debt ceiling, or by voting for unpopular cutbacks in spending or increases in taxes. The Obama administration is a classic example. When all its skyrocketing spending bills were being rushed through Congress without even being read, the Democrats had such overwhelm-ing majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives that Republicans had all they could do to get a word in edgewise — even though their words had no chance of stopping, or even slow-ing down, the spending of trillions of dollars. Now that the bill is coming due for all that spending and bor-rowing, Republicans are suddenly being invited in to share the blame for either raising the national debt ceiling or for whatever other unpopular measures will be legis-

lated. Many years ago, someone said, “If you didn’t invite me to the big take-off, don’t invite me to the crash landing.” This was Obama’s big spending spree, but “biparti-sanship” requires Republicans to either split the bill or be blamed if the government shuts down or defaults. What would happen if there were no national debt-ceiling law? Those who got the political benefits from handing out trillions of dollars of the taxpayers’ money (plus borrowed money) would also get the clear and sole blame for the resulting skyrocketing national debt and all the unpopular conse-quences. Those people who want serious and substantial spending cuts are absolutely right in what they want. There are not only government programs that need to be cut but whole government agencies, including Cabinet-level Departments, that are not merely useless but positively harmful on net balance. There are a lot of things

that could be cut, and should be cut, instead of defaulting on the nation’s debts. But that is not likely to happen, if Obama and his media chorus can instead blame the Republicans for forcing a government shutdown or a credit default. Regardless of how the current crisis is resolved, Moody’s sugges-tion of repealing the national debt-ceiling law deserves some very serious thought, because that law is the crucial factor in the political games that allow big spenders to blame others for the consequences of their own irresponsibility. Those who say that the reck-less spending and reckless borrow-ing of the Obama administration are the roads to ruin are absolutely right. Too many policies and insti-tutions are judged by what they are supposed to do, rather than by what they actually do.

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

Debt ceiling chicken

Thomas Sowell

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