www.slenterprise.com April 1, 2019 Volume 48, Number 36 $1.50 OF NOTE UTC, Silicon Slopes throw in Jobs and strong together to push tech industry business climate “Silicon Slopes couldn’t be more Brice Wallace thrilled to unite with UTC to continue serv- The Enterprise ing Utah’s startup and tech community,” lead jump in CAI said Betts, who also is a Silicon Slopes co- Following a little hiccup in February, Utah’s most prominent technology or- founder. “We’re committed to continuing the Zions Bank Utah Consumer Attitude ganizations will be speaking with a unifi ed the rich heritage of UTC and view this as a Index (CAI) soared 8.6 points to 122.5 in voice. marriage of equals.” March. But the index is still down 7 points The Utah Technology Council and Sili- Knotwell took over as UTC’s presi- from its record high a year ago. con Slopes announced last week that they dent and CEO in September 2017, suc- The national Consumer Confi dence One of the family would unite the state’s startup and tech ceeding Richard Nelson, who had served Index, the nationwide measure that corre- community. Among the changes, UTC’s in those positions for 18 years, including sponds to the CAI, fell 7.3 points in March. One-third of Utah workers in a president and CEO, John Knotwell, will a time when UTC was known as the Utah The Utah Present Situation Index, a recent survey indicated they want leave those positions, and Clint Betts, ex- sub-index to the CAI, jumped up 5.6 points paid leave following the death of ecutive director at Silicon Slopes, adds ex- month-to-month in March to 134.4, the a pet — on average, four days. ecutive director of UTC to his duties. see UTC/SLOPES page 14 The survey by pet product review second-highest score recorded since Cice- ro Group and Zions Bank began tracking website MyPetNeedsThat.com the numbers in 2011. Year-over-year the indicated that 35 percent of work- Present Situation Index is 0.2 points above ers nationally think pet owners where it was in March 2018. The jump should get paid leave following since February is due in large part to im- the loss of a pet. Surveyed pet- provements in Utahns’ perception of local owning workers in South Dakota business conditions and job availability, as want the most time, 5.5 days. well as to seasonality, which often brings improved economic perceptions as spring Industry News Briefs arrives. pages 6-7 The other CAI sub-index, the Utah Expectations Index, jumped 10.7 points in Business Calendar March to 114.5, the largest month-to-month page 9 increase in the past 12 months. Utahns’ ex- pectations around future business condi- Opinion tions and job availability improved, with page 13 more Utahns feeling business conditions will improve in the next six months. Year over year, the Expectations Index has fallen 11.8 points from the all-time high of 126.3 set last March. Utility jobs are among the categories where Utah residents are still fi nding employment. The jobless “Even though we hear people around rate in the state dropped again in March to 3 percent. the country are lowering their expectations for the national economy, Utahns remain very confi dent in our local economic situ- ation here in Utah,” said Randy Shumway, Jobless report: Unemployment chairman and partner of Cicero Group, a Salt Lake City research fi rm, that does data collection and analysis for the CAI. “Utah dropping, Utahns fi nding jobs is seeing strong job growth across most ev- Utah jobseekers keep fi nding em- from February to 3.8 percent. ery major industry, one of the highest em- ployment. The state’s unemployment rate Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment ployment growth rates in the nation, and inched down another tenth a of a percent- for February grew by an estimated 2.8 per- one of the lowest unemployment rates in age point in February to 3 percent, accord- cent, adding 42,400 jobs to the economy the nation. This all contributes to very posi- ing to data released last week by the Utah since February 2018. Utah’s current em- tive consumer sentiment.” Department of Workforce Services, mean- ployment level sits at 1,536,300. Utahns also feel positive about their ing approximately 48,300 Utahns were out “Over the past several years, Utah’s income growth relative to infl ation over of work during the month and actively seek- ing a job. Meanwhile, the national jobless rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point see EMPLOYMENT page 8 see CAI page 8 2 • April 1-7, 2019 • The Enterprise - Utah's Business Journal Clyde Cos. reorganizes Plaid's new SLC offi ce to hire 50 engineers Orem-based Clyde Companies Inc., the parent company of San Francisco fi ntech com- in the future of engineering and opportunity for Salt Lake City to W.W. Clyde & Co., Geneva Rock Products, Sunroc Corp., Sunroc pany Plaid is opening an engi- become the next innovation hub Building Materials, Scott Contracting, Beehive Insurance Agency innovation.” neering offi ce in Salt Lake City defi ning the future of fi nancial and Clyde Properties, has announced several organizational and “We could not be more ex- leadership changes. and hiring 50 engineers to staff cited that Plaid has selected Salt services.” The variously entities within Clyde Companies have been it. Kira Booth, a University of Lake City as its new home for en- The expansion comes on the Utah computer science grad and reorganized into two separate organizations. The newly formed gineering,” said Theresa Foxley, heels of a $250 million Series C engineers, has been hired to lead funding round the company an- Clyde/Geneva Group will include W.W. Clyde, Geneva Rock, president and CEO of the Eco- the new operation. nounced in December. Earlier this Scott Contracting and Beehive Insurance Agency. The new Clyde nomic Development Corporation Business Group includes Sunroc Corp. and Sunroc Building Ma- Plaid has developed a tech- year, the company was named to of Utah. “Utah has a deep talent terials. nology platform that allows con- the Forbes Fintech 50 list and re- Jeff Clyde, currently serving as president of W.W. Clyde, has sumers to connect their bank pool of software engineers and ceived recognition as a Most In- been appointed president of the Clyde/Geneva Group and Jeremy accounts to digital fi nancial ser- Plaid’s role in powering the fi n- novative Company by Fast Com- Hafen, current president of Sunroc Corp., is the new president of vices applications like Venmo, tech ecosystem provides a unique pany. the Clyde Business Group. Acorns and Coinbase, according Wilford Clyde will continue as chairman and CEO of Clyde to a release from the company. Companies Inc., and will continue to oversee all companies with- The Salt Lake City engi- in the Clyde organization. Rhys Weaver, who has been president neering hub will build integra- and chief operations offi cer of Clyde Companies, will leave the tions for more than 10,000 banks company on May 31 to accept a calling as a mission president for and fi nancial institutions in the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nashville, Ten- U.S. to enable people to connect nessee. to their accounts. The fi rm said Additional leadership changes include Dustin Olson, current that one in four people connect vice president of W.W. Clyde, being appointed its president. Lon with U.S. bank accounts using Schumacher, general manager of Scott Contracting, will become Plaid applications. its president and Scott Okelberry, current executive vice president “Plaid is adding the best and and COO of W.W. Clyde, has been appointed president of Sunroc brightest talent to facilitate an Corp. ‘everybody wins’ fi nancial sys- “Today’s announcement refl ects the successful growth of Clyde Companies and help position our organization for contin- tem where technological innova- ued success and expansion,” said Wilford Clyde. “I am pleased to tion, protection of personal data promote some of the great talent we have and express my appre- and consumer choice and con- ciation to Rhys for his many years of dedication and commitment trol are all possible,” said Booth. to our company. I wish him and his wife, Pam, well on their next “As the Utah Computer Science adventure.” Grant Act (HB227) heads to The changes became effective March 18. (Utah) Gov. Gary Herbert’s desk Founded in 1926, the combined Clyde organizations operate for his signature, Plaid is focused from more than 50 locations in Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, on laying the foundation for fi n- Wyoming and New Mexico. The company employs more than tech for decades to come and is 3,000. excited to lay down roots in a lo- Grady Kohler of Windermere Real Estate Utah, left, welcomes Jess Reid, own- cation that is equally as invested er of Jess Reid Real Estate, which Windermere purchased recently. Windermere Real Estate Utah acquires Jess Reid Real Estate Salt Lake City-based Win- will be rebranded with the Wind- dermere Real Estate Utah, a res- ermere name. Jess Reid will con- idential and commercial real tinue working in Park City as a estate company with 14 Utah of- Windermere branch manager. the fi ces, has acquired Jess Reid Real “In looking to sell, I wanted a Estate of Park City. Financial buyer with local ties,” Reid said. terms of the transaction were not “Grady is a great fi t.