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CONTESTS
• AI Utah and the Women Tech Council are accepting nominations through Dec. for the AI Women 25, a new program recognizing the visionaries, builders and integrators redefining what’s possible with AI, including women leading in AI research, innovation or application. The nomination form is at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgYVLCDajjiZgj0Oa61hB9OpJBOQ6-bHdiSMfU2iSWw0lQbw/viewform.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
• Women working full time in the construction sector in Utah earn a median annual wage of $53,108 after cost-of-living adjustments, according to this year’s edition of Construction Coverage’s “Best-Paying States for Women in Construction” report. Before COL adjustments, the wage is $50,454 in Utah, compared to $49,512 for women working full-time overall. The full report covers all 50 U.S. states, with a detailed breakdown of adjusted and actual median wages for full-time women in construction, women’s median wages in all occupations, and each state’s share of female construction employment. Details are at https://constructioncoverage.com/research/best-paying-states-for-women-in-construction.
• Utah is ranked No. 9 on a list of “Best States for Fall Festivities,” compiled by LawnStarter. It considered the 48 contiguous U.S. states based on 24 total metrics, including duration of fall foliage, forest coverage and fall festivals. It also considered some traditional fall activities, like apple orchards, corn mazes and maple farms. Utah is ranked No. 2 nationally for projected number of days of peak fall foliage, No. 17 for outdoor recreation, No. 34 for entertainment, and No. 14 for climate. The top-ranked state is California. The bottom-ranked state is Delaware. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-worst-states-to-visit-in-fall.
• Salt Lake City, at No. 107 nationally, is the highest-ranked Utah city on a list of “Top Cities for Dog Lovers,” compiled by LawnStarter. It compared the 500 largest U.S. cities across 37 key factors, including yard size, dog-friendly rentals, veterinary access, affordability and community support. The lowest-ranked Utah city is No. 499 West Valley City. The top-ranked city overall is Frederick, Maryland. Details are at https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-dog-lovers/.
• Three Utah locations are on a list of “America’s Best Streets for Fall Shopping and Strolling,” compiled by financial media company MarketBeat and based on a survey. They are Historic Main Street in Park City, ranked No. 92 nationally; No. 114 Main Street in Moab; and No. 123 Center Street in Provo. The top-ranked location nationally is Park City in Rochester, New York. Details are at https://www.marketbeat.com/originals/top-125-streets-for-fall-shopping-2025-survey/.
EXPANSIONS
• Shed, a Salt Lake City-based provider of wellness and weight-management programs, has announced that its products and services are now available in Puerto Rico. The expansion brings Shed’s personalized coaching, clinician-guided care and daily nutrition products to customers across the island through direct delivery and virtual support.
HEALTH CARE
• HealthTree Foundation, a South Jordan-based nonprofit organization pioneering technology that unifies fragmented medical records into a complete patient health record to accelerate blood cancer cures, has announced that patients receiving care at facilities using Flatiron Health & CareSpace can now securely connect their medical records into the HealthTree platform. The new integrations expand HealthTree’s network of connected health systems, joining existing connections with Epic, Cerner and the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VA). The Flatiron Health & CareSpace integration supports approximately 800 facilities throughout the United States. With the additional integration, HealthTree now supports more than 7,300 connected treatment centers and health systems. HealthTree enables smoother, safer sharing of health data across systems and gives patients and clinical teams faster access to lab and treatment details, unified health records, and real-world research participation.
INDOOR ENTERTAINMENT
• The Virtual Dugout, powered by Batbox, has had its grand opening at 90 N. 500 W., Unit I, Lehi. It offers a first-of-its-kind indoor baseball simulator experience. Designed for players of all ages and skill levels, The Virtual Dugout blends technology, gameplay and entertainment, and its Batbox-powered simulators let guests swing real bats, hit real balls, and experience the thrill of the game in an immersive environment. The Virtual Dugout offers guests the opportunity to play full nine-inning games, compete in challenges, or enjoy a casual time with friends. Batbox, a Dallas-based sports technology company, recently launched its proprietary gameplay platform that powers connected baseball across venues worldwide. The Virtual Dugout marks one of the newest locations in Batbox’s growing U.S. network.
MANUFACTURING
• Averra Packaging has announced the completion of a clean room expansion project that doubles the clean room square footage in use at its Salt Lake City thermoforming facility. The company designs, develops and manufactures packaging intended to protect and secure medical products, as well as food, retail, industrial and cosmetics. The company said the newly finished clean room has been certified to ISO Class 8 standards for cleanliness and particulate count, achieving the same standard as Averra’s legacy clean manufacturing space. The expanded clean room space was built to house an additional state-of-the-art inline medical thermoforming machine. The additional line adds to Averra’s clean thermoforming capacity, provides redundancy, and also augments the company’s capability of producing parts that require high precision, tight tolerances and the ability to meet the most stringent quality standards. The new clean room will enter service Nov. 24.
NONPROFITS
• HealthTree Foundation, a South Jordan-based nonprofit organization working to find cures for blood cancers through education, support and research, has received a $1.5 million matching grant commitment from the Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation. The grant will match donations made to HealthTree’s end-of-year appeal, tripling the impact of every gift to advance blood cancer research. Funds raised through the campaign, along with the Riney Foundation’s match, will directly support HealthTree’s research efforts aimed at finding a cure for rare and complex blood cancers. The Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation, established following Rodger’s own diagnosis with multiple myeloma, has become a leading funder of myeloma research across major institutions worldwide, with more than $80 million invested to date.
• The Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation has committed $100,000 to the Westside Flood Relief Fund and local recovery efforts to support nearly two dozen residents following devastating floods in October. The foundation’s grant will be distributed through the Westside Coalition, a network of community councils and organizations serving west side neighborhoods. Larry H. Miller Real Estate has also committed up to $25,000 in donated materials for home repair to help residents restore their homes. The foundation in 2024 launched the first-ever Westside Community Grant program, which assists organizations serving individuals and families living in Salt Lake’s west side neighborhoods. To date, the Miller Family Foundation has distributed more than $1 million to benefit 75 west side nonprofit partners.
PARTNERSHIPS
• Instacart, a California-based grocery technology company, has announced a partnership with Associated Food Stores, a Salt Lake City-based, retailer-owned wholesale cooperative. The partnership will bring Instacart’s white-label e-commerce solutions, Storefront and Storefront Pro, across five owned and operated banners and over 40 member-owned banners. Storefront and Storefront Pro provide AFS’ grocery banners and independent members with a solution to expand e-commerce capabilities. Through the partnership, AFS will bring e-commerce and retail media capabilities to its owned and operated banners, including Fresh Market, Lin’s and Macey’s, and independent member stores, including Broulim’s, Davis Food & Drug, Kent’s and Lee’s, providing them with a simple and fast way to expand into online grocery. AFS member retailers join over 350 Storefront and Storefront Pro customers, along with hundreds of catering storefronts. Instacart partners with more than 1,800 national, regional and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from nearly 100,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.
• SixFifty, a Salt Lake City-based company focused on HR and employment law compliance software, and HRCI, a credentialing and learning organization for HR professionals, have announced a partnership to offer a best-in-class employee handbook solution for members of the HRCI community. HRCI community members will receive access to a $399 annual subscription to SixFifty’s employee handbook builder, enabling the creation of customized, compliant employee handbooks for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. HRCI community members who subscribe also gain access to SixFifty’s in-app support resources, including an on-demand help center and live chat for assistance with using the platform or understanding legal update entries.
• Passpack Inc., a Salt Lake City-based SaaS provider offering a B2B password manager, and Hennge K.K., a Japan-based company, have entered into a strategic business alliance. Passpack offers the Passpack cloud-based password manager service that enables IT administrators and employees to securely generate, store and share passwords and confidential information. The service primarily caters to small and medium-sized enterprises worldwide, with a strong presence in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Through the alliance, Hennge seeks to enhance customer convenience and deliver greater value to its clients.
PHILANTHROPY
• The annual “Drive Out Hunger” activities earlier this month featured 800 Utah veterans in Salt Lake, 500 veterans in Utah County, and 250 Utah veterans in Riverdale receiving a free Thanksgiving meal. The campaign is undertaken by Ken Garff Automotive Group, in partnership with the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and involves donating Thanksgiving meals to veterans and military families at drive-through events.
RECOGNITIONS
• Seventeen Utah hospitals have received “A” grades in the fall 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, published by nonprofit organization Leapfrog Group. The ratings program focuses on accidents, errors, injuries and infections that harm or kill patients in hospitals and is updated twice a year. Overall, Utah is No. 1 in the nation for the fifth consecutive rating round, based on the percentage of “A” hospitals. Among those in Utah with “A” grades are the following Intermountain Health hospitals: Cedar City Hospital, LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Logan Regional Hospital, Park City Hospital, St. George Regional Hospital, Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, American Fork Hospital, Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, Riverton Hospital and Spanish Fork Hospital. Others with “A” grades are Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, Common Spirit Holy Cross Hospital-Jordan Valley in West Jordan, Holy Cross Hospital-Mountain Point in Lehi, Holy Cross Hospital Salt Lake, Mountain View Hospital in Payson and Ogden Regional Medical Center. Utah hospitals with “B” grades are Ashley Regional Medical Center in Vernal, Holy Cross Hospital-Davis in Layton, Holy Cross Hospital-West Valley in West Valley City, Intermountain Health Alta View Hospital in Sandy, Intermountain Health Layton Hospital, Lone Peak Hospital in Draper and Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem. Utah hospitals with “C” grades are Castleview Hospital in Price, St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt and University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City.
• The American Ambulance Association’s 2025 Stars for Life honor has been awarded to Jamon Smith, training director at Gold Cross Ambulance. The national recognition celebrates EMS professionals — paramedics, EMTs, dispatchers and support staff — who demonstrate exemplary service, compassion and dedication in their work. Smith began his career with Gold Cross Ambulance in February 2010 and later was promoted to director of training, where he has played a pivotal role in not only launching Gold Cross Ambulance’s in-house paramedic school, but in every aspect of the training division across multiple service areas throughout Utah. In addition to his training responsibilities, Smith represents Gold Cross Ambulance in several key health care leadership groups, including as chairman of the State’s Professional Development Sub-Committee, and as the Intermountain Health Hospital to Home coordinator. Gold Cross Ambulance has been focused on emergency medical services in Utah for over five decades. It specializes in basic life support, paramedic, critical care, neonatal and non-emergency transportation services.
• Time has named Lehi-based Gabb Music to its “Best Inventions of 2025” Special Mentions list. Featured in the Parenting category, the “kid-safe” music streaming library was recognized among leading innovations, products, software and services across industries for their impact, originality and success. The Gabb Music library includes millions of songs across every genre and decade, with each track filtered to remove explicit lyrics, adult themes and inappropriate visuals and album art — eliminating the need for parental controls and allowing kids to explore music safely. Time’s “Best Inventions” list was evaluated on several key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.
• Enveyo, based in Provo, is on the Inc. Power Partners Awards list, an annual list recognizing B2B companies that have proven track records of supporting entrepreneurs and helping companies grow. Enveyo made the list for the second consecutive year. Enveyo provides logistics data management, visibility and shipping optimization software.
• Three Utah companies are on a list of “America’s Most Admired for ‘Doing the Right Thing,’” compiled by financial media company MarketBeat and based on a survey to discover which brands people trust most on an ethical level. They are Black Diamond Equipment, ranked No. 72 nationally; No. 102 Harmons Neighborhood Grocer; and No. 116 Cotopaxi. All are based in Salt Lake City. The top-ranked company overall is Hershey Co. of Hershey, Pennsylvania. Details are at https://www.marketbeat.com/originals/the-most-ethical-companies-in-america-2025-survey/.
• Bingham’s Custom Meats in Morgan is Utah’s top independent butcher, according to a survey by financial media company MarketBeat. Coming in second is Snider Bros. Meats in Salt Lake City. Details are at https://www.marketbeat.com/originals/the-best-local-butchers-for-thanksgiving-2025-survey/.
RESTAURANTS
• Layne’s Chicken Fingers has opened a location at 13400 South in Herriman. Layne’s focuses on chicken tenders but has expanded its menu. Scott Davis recently signed a 15-unit agreement in Utah. The first Utah location opened in Clearfield earlier this year. Founded in 1994 in College Station, Texas, the company has over 30 restaurants open across the U.S. and another 300 sold, focusing its expansion on Texas as well as Virginia, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
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