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Grants available to professors, students to help find rapid solutions to energy challenges
Professors and students in Utah have until June 27 to apply for state grants to help them find rapid solutions to air and water challenges facing the energy industry.
Created by USTAR and the Governor's Office of Energy Development, the Energy Research Triangle program kicked off earlier this year by teaming with the Salt Lake Chamber to identify energy challenges facing local businesses.
Now the founding agencies are offering grants of $125,000 to teams of at least three researchers from three different nonprofit institutions in Utah that are collaborating on a project. Individual students may apply for grants of $15,000 for energy-saving projects they are pursuing, said Linda Cabrales, a spokeswoman for USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative.
Letters of intent are due June 16. Grant applications and additional information are available at ustar.org.
Rocky Mountain Power offers $10K discount on 2017 Leaf
For the next month, Rocky Mountain Power customers can get a $10,000 discount on an electric car — if they buy a 2017 Leaf from the utility's new partner, Nissan.
Cindy Crane, Rocky Mountain Power's president and CEO, said all utility customers and employees are eligible for the discount and that some also may qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit.
"This joint venture is a significant way to make electric vehicles more affordable," said Crane, noting that the vehicles are available at Utah's eight Nissan dealerships — in Murray, North Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, South Jordan, Riverdale, Orem, Logan and St. George.
Key stations installed along Wasatch Front
Key-copying kiosks operated by a New York-based company called KeyMe have been set up at three Wasatch Front locations. They are at the Kmart in Murray (4670 S. 900 East), the Bed Bath & Beyond store in Midvale (7210 S. Union Park Ave.) and the Kmart in Spanish Fork (900 E. Expressway Lane).
KeyMe CEO Greg Marsh said the kiosks can copy and store virtually any house or apartment key as well as car keys, including transponders and fobs). "All keys stored at the kiosk can be retrieved and printed via a secure fingerprint scan," he added.
Best place to 'live the American dream'? West Valley City, for one.
SmartAsset, a financial technology company based in New York, considers West Valley City to be the country's best city for "living the American dream."
This is the second year in a row that West Valley City, the state's second largest city, with a population projected to reach 137,000 by 2020, has held the top spot. But this year it shared the podium with Aurora, Ill.
SmartAsset spokeswoman Kara Gibson said West Valley City "scored solidly across the top 10," led by fifth-place rankings in home value and diversity. It also came in 22nd in mobility.
Powdr Adventure Lifestyle Co. receives awards for ski areas
Several Park City-based Powdr Adventure Lifestyle Co. ski areas received awards recently from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) and the trade publication Ski Area Management.
Boreal Resort in California won NSAA's marketing award for best use of mobile technology, while Pio Mountain in Vermont was cited for its "Bring a Friend" campaign.
Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado and Mt. Bachelor in Oregon won two of the NSAA's four Sustainable Slopes awards for making the ski areas more environmentally friendly. Amy Ohran, president of Boreal Mountain Resort, won a leadership award from Ski Area Management.
Utah business people on the move
• Brian Somers has joined Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) as its managing director, reporting to executive director Ivy Estabrooke. He has been deputy director of the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts. USTAR also named Heather Zynczak, chief marketing officer at Pluralsight, to its board.