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H&M to open

in Farmington

H&M — Hennes & Mauritz — the Swedish "fast fashion" giant, is continuing its U.S. expansion by opening its third store in Utah. The new H&M store is expected to open this spring in Station Park Center in Farmington.

Dickey's opens

store in Vernal

A new Dickey's Barbecue Pit has opened in Vernal. The restaurant is the 11th Dickey's that franchise owner John Thomson has opened. The restaurant is at 2085 W. Highway 40, in front of the Lowe's hardware store.

PODS of SLC

gets top honor

PODS of Salt Lake City, a moving and storage company, won the 2012 Storage Center of the Mountain Region award. The company beat out five rival PODS franchises for the honor. PODS of Salt Lake City received high marks for customer service, safety, operations and financial performance.

Adaptive Computing

granted 12 patents

Adaptive Computing, a Provo-based company that offers online workload management software and services, has been granted 12 new patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, raising its total number of patents to 27. The company said its "cloud" software sales increased by 244 percent in 2012.

Southwest's 4Q

profit declines

Southwest Airlines said its fourth-quarter net income was $78 million, or 11 cents per share, down from $152 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier. The carrier blamed higher spending during the quarter on fuel, labor and maintenance. Revenue for the quarter ticked up 1.6 percent to $4.17 billion. For all of 2012, though, Southwest earned $421 million, up from $178 million in the prior year.

Gay rights groups

ask Obama's help

Gay rights advocates are renewing their push for President Barack Obama to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against gay employees. The drive comes as Obama included an unexpected declaration of support for gay rights in his inaugural address Monday. Gay supporters hope his comments will lead to action on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Union Pacific sees

4Q profit increase

Union Pacific said its fourth-quarter profit chugged ahead 7 percent because it raised railroad shipping rates and collected more fuel surcharges. The company says it earned $1.04 billion, or $2.19 per share, during the quarter, up from $964 million, or $1.99 per share, a year earlier. Revenue at the Omaha, Neb.-based company grew 3 percent to $5.25 billion even though its total shipping volume fell 2 percent.