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Peter Reichard selected as new president of Utah Foundation

Peter Reichard has been named president of the Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization based in Salt Lake City.

Reichard, a former journalist, will take over July 1, replacing longtime president Steve Kroes, who is retiring after 16 years in the post.

Reichard has for the past 15 years served as director of research for the Bureau of Governmental Research in New Orleans.

Reichard is president of the Governmental Research Association, a national organization of research professionals in the public sector.

Earlier in his career, Reichard was a journalist, including a stint as managing editor of a business weekly.

He praised Kroes and his staff for building "a remarkable legacy."

The foundation also hired Samantha Brucker, who has a background in environmental and energy affairs and water resources, as a research analyst and made Shawn Teigen a vice president and research director with responsibilities for the office's day-to-day management.

PECO Real Estate, Almanac Realty to form retail-focused company

Park City-based PECO Real Estate Partners said it has received a $300 million commitment from Almanac Realty Investors to form a retail-focused company called PREP Property Group.

The investment by New York City-based Almanac will enable PREP to grow its business of "repositioning undermanaged, capital-starved, poorly merchandised or distressed" malls and other commercial retail centers.

Michael Phillips will be president and CEO of PREP, which spun out of Phillips Edison and Co.'s former development and strategic divisions. It has expertise in every aspect of retail shopping center operation and management, added chief operating officer Sara Brennan.

Founded in 1981 as Rothschild Realty, Almanac said it has invested $4.4 billion in 39 companies in North America.

Utopia Fiber moves to Murray, will add interactive demo space

The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency, better known as Utopia Fiber, has moved its offices to 5858 S. 900 East in Murray. This summer, the fiber optic network will add an interactive demo space to showcase the bandwidth capabilities of its system, said Executive Director Robert Timmerman.

11 Utah companies on magazine's list of best places to work in 2017

Eleven Utah companies have made Inc. magazine's list of the best places to work in 2017.

Three of the recipients are considered small companies because they employ 25 to 49 people. Recipients in this category were advertising and marketing firm 97th Floor of Lehi; Xima Software, a telecommunications company in South Jordan; and Zarbee's, a health products company in Salt Lake City.

Medium size businesses (50 to 99 employees) on the list were Lehi-based manufacturer BGZ brands; BrainStorm, an American Fork company that provides business products and services; Executech, an information technology services company in South Jordan; media company Sorenson Media in Draper; Teem, a Salt Lake City developer of cloud-based meeting tools and workplace analytics; and Xyngular, a health care products company in Lehi.

The sole medium-large business recognized in Utah was PrinterLogic, which has 100-249 employees providing printing services from its St. George office. Salt Lake City-based Health Catalyst made the list as a large company (more than 2250 employees). It develops computer warehouses for health care data.

Rural Utahns got housing boost from federal agriculture agency

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it helped 1,702 individuals and families to buy homes last year in rural Utah.

Assistance was provided to low- and moderate-income rural buyers via mortgage-loan guarantees arranged through partnerships between USDA and private-sector lenders.

"Home ownership provides security to families and supports rural economies," said KayLyn Nerby, acting state director for the USDA's rural development program. "We are glad to provide affordable options to [buyers] and help them purchase homes where they want to live."

Nationally, she added, the program has helped 4.1 million rural residents buy homes in the past 68 years.

Scotsman Guide: PRMI rated 18th in retail volume and 27th overall

Salt Lake City-based Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. (PRMI) was rated 18th in retail volume and 27th in overall volume last year in a ranking of the country's top mortgage lenders by Scotsman Guide Media.

PRMI had its best year last year, said CEO David Zitting, funding nearly $6.3 billion in residential loans for 29,000 families across the country. He founded the company in 1998 along with Jeff Zitting and Steve Chapman, and it now has nearly 2,000 employees at 300 branches.

To be eligible for the rankings by Scotsman Guide, a privately held company that has been a resource for mortgage originators since 1985, all loan volume had to come from mortgages on single-family dwellings through fourplexes, but nothing larger.

A company goal of "giving each client a positive and personal experience" helped put PRMI in the rankings for the fourth straight year, David Zitting said.

Utah business people on the move

• Mark Morris, a law partner in Snell and Wilmer's Salt Lake City office, has been elected to a three-year term on the Utah State Bar's board of bar commissioners. A Brigham Young University graduate, Morris has more than 30 years of legal experience in general commercial litigation.