The Enterprise - Utah's Business Journal, Dec. 12, 2011

Volume 41, Number 20

UTAH’S BUSINESS JOURNAL$1.44Dec. 12-18, 2011www.slenterprise.com

THIS WEEK

Legal MattersSee page 6.

• Industry Briefs •Begin on page 7.

The WorkplaceBegins on page 10.

Industry veteran tobring unmannedc-store concept to Utah

Holme Roberts and Owento shutter Salt Lake Cityoffice after 31 years

There are currently more than 200 Shop24 locations, mostly in Europe. Utah stores will be placed at large apartment complexes.

Artist's conception of Country Life Care Center, which will cater largely to pediatric patients.

By Andrew HaleyThe Enterprise Denver-based law firm Holme Roberts and Owen (HRO) is shuttering its Salt Lake City office after 31 years. The decision comes as part of a merger between HRO and the international legal giant Bryan Cave, St. Louis. HRO manag-ing partner Randy Miller said the office would close its doors at 229 S. Main by January 1, when the merger takes effect. HRO’s Salt Lake office remains a shadow of itself after a massive defection of its top attorneys in March. Twenty eight attorneys, including more than a dozen partners, joined the Salt Lake office of HRO’s Denver rival Holland and Hart. Though

the surprise move hurt HRO’s presence in the Rocky Mountain market, particularly in the lucra-tive energy and natural resources markets, the 113-year-old firm brings to the merger with Bryan Cave seasoned experts in finan-cial, First Amendment, sports and energy law. The newly created 1,100-attorney firm, one of the 25 largest in the world, will con-tinue to be called Bryan Cave,

By Barbara RattleThe Enterprise A veteran convenience store operator is on the brink of intro-ducing to Utah a robotic conve-nience store concept that origi-nated in Belgium. Tony Trotter, who has owned and operated several 7-Eleven stores in Utah for a number of years, has inked a license agree-ment with Ohio-based Shop24 Global to become the first per-son in the world to introduce the unmanned c-store concept to an apartment complex. The first installation, slated to take place

this month, will be at the Fairstone at Riverview apartment commu-nity in Taylorsville. The Shop24 ultra conve-nience store is a self-contained, refrigerated and robotic conve-nience store designed to enable 24/7/365 consumer purchasing. Originally operated in Europe and the East Coast of the United States, Shop24 stores dispense a variety of items such as snacks, cleaning supplies, medicine and even full meals. The more than nine-foot-tall machine offers up to 200 traditional convenience

Four large apartment complexes in the Salt Lake Valley have sold for an aggregate price of more than $100 million. The Alpine Meadows complex, consisting of 222 units in Sandy, and the Irving Schoolhouse apartments, comprised of 232 units in Salt Lake City, were sold to a California group called Jackson Square. The Royal Farms complex (pictured), consisting of 366 units in Cottonwood Heights, and the 328-unit Royal Ridge community in Midvale, were sold to an entity called Acacia, also located in California, according to Sage Sawyer of Apartment Realty Advisors in Salt Lake City, who brokered the deals along with colleagues Jed Millburn and Craig Burton. Sawyer described the buyers as veteran apartment owners that already have apartment portfolios in the Salt Lake market. “They moved quick,” Sawyer said of the properties. “It was a six-week marketing period and a quicker than normal close. Ridge and Royal Farms closed in about 60 days and Alpine and Irving closed quicker than that.” All four complexes are Class A apartments. “On all four of these deals we had 20-plus offers,” according to Sawyer. “There are definitely buyers out there but there’s still a lack of sellers. As soon as we get something to market, it goes quick with a lot of interest.” The sellers were all out-of-state institutional owners.

Ground broken for $3 millioncare center in Riverton

By Barbara RattleThe Enterprise Ground has been broken in Riverton for Country Life Care Center, a 36-bed, $3.2 million long-term care facility dedicated to children, young adults and middle-aged adults who have suffered a catastrophic injury or illness. Gough Construction, West Jordan, is general contractor on

the 27,100 square foot facility, to be located at 13757 S. Redwood Road. It was designed by Benjamin Baird of Blackbox Design Studios, Salt Lake City. Developer of the project is Bucklyn Rose Health Properties LLC, which developed several similar facilities in California but has since sold them, according to Robert Buckley, a Utah resident

see SHOP24 page 2

see HRO page 5

see CARE page 2

Legal Matters

Legal Matters

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Design Matters

Executive Lifestyle

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Staffing Matters

HR Matters

Real Estate Matters

Executive Lifestyle

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S p e c i a lFFoocuscusR e p ort

store items ranging in weight from less than one ounce to eight pounds. Shop24 accepts differ-ent methods of payment including cash, credit cards and debit cards 24 hours a day. Andrew Heflich, regional vice president for Shop24 Global, said the 15-year-old firm, now based in Columbus, was founded in Belgium 15 years ago and cur-

rently has more than 200 stores on college campuses in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Netherlands, Australia, Norway, Russia, Romania, the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates. Presently, there are only six locations opera-tion in the United States, and all of them are located within large apartment complexes, on which the company is now focusing. Some stores are company owned; those that are not are co-branded. “Salt Lake is such a great place to put one because con-

venience store sales slow down in the winter when people don’t want to get out in the ice and snow,” Heflich said. “Having a convenience store 100 feet from your front door is a nice feature to have.” Shop24 Global stores can be rented or purchased. Purchase price of a turnkey system is $245,000, Heflich said. “Each store has an operating system in it so you can moni-tor your sales remotely. There are security cameras so you can also monitor those remotely,” he

said. “You can keep track of your inventory online. It’s a fully func-tioning convenience store, it’s just unmanned. The store is protected by two sheets of bullet-resistant glass and we haven’t had a break-in in the history of our company.” Because no automated device is foolproof, there have been instances when customers have inserted their payment and not received the desired product, but Heflich said such cases are rare and can be quickly resolved due to the proximity of management that can watch transactions in real time. “Our return on investment when you purchase [a store] is about 30 to 35 percent of gross sales if you keep the cost of goods at a certain level,” accord-ing to Heflich. “It’s easy to set your prices to pay for ultra con-venience. We keep our pricing around convenience store pricing levels as opposed to grocery store levels. You’re not paying the No. 1 expense of labor. And you’re not staying open 24 hours and los-ing money as some places do just because they have to stay open for competitive reasons.” Licensees such as Trotter are free to select what products the stores will vend. Only alco-hol and tobacco are prohibited. Heflich said that in Dallas, where the opening of several company-owned stores is pending, Stop24 Global surveyed apartment resi-dents to see what they would be most likely to buy. “The nice thing about our stores is that it’s so easy to change out the product that if something isn’t selling we can have a new product in the next day,” he said. Trotter said he will be tar-geting Utah apartment complexes with at least 500 units or 1,000 residents. “I think there are eight or nine complexes in Utah that meet that criteria,” he said. “That would be our first indicator as to how many more we want to bring to market.” “I think Shop24 is something that allows us to reach conve-nience consumers, we can pen-

etrate markets much more deeply than brick and mortar stores,” Trotter said. “If you look at tradi-tional c-stores, the trend is to go bigger. I actually think that makes it harder and harder to penetrate markets because there are less and less of those parcels of ground where you can put 13 fuel stations and a 3,000 square foot building. Shop24 allows me to go in and put it right in the middle of a high density apartment complex. It’s a different niche and it allows us to penetrate markets much more deeply.” Trotter said he is using sales receipts from his 7-Eleven stores to decide which products to stock at his Shop27 Global units.

2 The Enterprise Dec. 12-18, 2011

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SHOP24from page 1

CAREfrom page 1

and a member of the LLC. “There’s a need for younger people who have these kinds of [catastrophic] injuries and require fairly intensive care support early on and then gradually get where they can go home without patient care,” said Buckley, a registered nurse specializing in rehabilitation who will act as clinical director of Country Life Care Center. “There’s a facility in Bountiful that does this kind of thing, but there is nothing really in the Salt Lake Valley.” He said Country Life Care Center will feature all-private rooms and will be very open and spacious. It will employ upwards of 80 people, ranging from doctors and therapists to housekeeping and food service personnel. It is hoped the facility will be operational by August or September of 2012. “ We’re working with the state right now on accepting Medicaid, but our intention is to have it open for all funding resources,” Buckley said.

According to the 2011 remodeling and decorating study released Dec. 8 by Houzz, Americans increase their home improvement activity around clos-ets and entryways in the fourth quarter, while pools, patios and landscapes fall off the radar until spring. A community and platform for residential design, Palo Alto-based Houzz analyzed the behav-ior of the company’s website and mobile app users in the U.S. and Canada to develop the study. The data provides insights into the type and relative volume of planning and research activity occurring for specific home improvement proj-ects, insights that can help guide the marketing efforts of home design professionals, retailers and manufacturers. The findings also reveal that while kitchens and baths top the list for home remod-eling and decorating in most cit-ies, other priority projects, like family rooms and outdoor spaces, vary by city and region. A recent study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University stated that home remodeling activity is expected to remain weak through the first half of the New Year. So in this economy, where are people focusing their home improvement efforts? According to Houzz’s Regional Preferences and Priorities In North America in 2011, kitch-ens and baths are the first and second most popular areas of the home for remodeling and decorat-ing projects; bedrooms and liv-ing rooms rank third and fourth, respectively. However looking at the data by market reveals some striking differences: • Most major metros makekitchens the top priority, but Los Angeles and Miami gave bath-rooms the top spot;

• In fifth place of the top fivehome improvement priorities: * Dining in style takes the cake in Dallas, Miami and New York; * Family rooms are the focus for Boston and Chicago; * Landscaping is big in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco; * Minneapolis and Seattle residents are thinking about home design and curb appeal; * San Francisco, Seattle and Miami prefer modern or contem-porary kitchens; other metros opt for more traditional styling. “Our remodeling and deco-rating user study suggests that despite a weak forecast for home improvement, people are still actively researching, planning and moving forward with remodeling and decorating their homes,” said Liza Hausman, Houzz vice pres-ident of marketing. “Consumer activity on Houzz.com reflects how people are prioritizing their projects. Closets and entryways have climbed five spots in the rankings during the fourth quar-ter, which leads us to believe that Americans are prioritizing entertaining and organizing for the holidays, creating a warm and welcoming entrance and de-clut-tering for the New Year.” Data sampled was between

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The Concordia Preparatory School, formerly Salt Lake Lutheran High School, has closed on a deal to purchase the Garden Lodge in Riverton. The 10-acre property, located at 12723 S. Park Ave., will be the new location for the private school, said Concordia Preparatory School interim prin-cipal Darren Morrison. The Garden Lodge building is 56,000 square feet. The struc-ture will undergo renovations, including a new remodeled sanc-tuary space. Morrison said the reloca-tion is part of a larger vision for the school, including develop-ing a combined Lutheran school system. Concordia Preparatory School plans to move from its current location at 4020 S. 900 E. in December, during Christmas break. As the result of the purchase of the building, Light of the Valley Lutheran Church will eventually share space with the Concordia Preparatory School. Light of the Valley Lutheran Church has been

worshipping at a leased facility at 3383 W. 12600 S. in Riverton. According to Light of the Valley Lutheran Church Pastor Alan Borcher, “We will share space in the facility and will use the atrium for worship. Plans are also proceeding for a full-service daycare and early childhood edu-cation center at the same site. The early childhood center will be called Open Arms, and will open as soon as possible, although we have not yet finalized a date.” Salt Lake Lutheran High School, which changed its name to Concordia Preparatory School in July, was founded in December 1983. The school is owned and operated by an association of seven Lutheran congregations from across the Salt Lake Valley.

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except in Colorado where it will be called Bryan Cave HRO, a three-office entity registered in Colorado that Miller will head. The merger gives Bryan Cave a strategic toehold in the resource-rich Rocky Mountain region at a time that many consider to be the beginnings of a Western energy bonanza. Miller said the decision to close HRO’s Salt Lake office was made to ensure the smooth transition between the companies and not because of a reassessment of Salt Lake’s regional importance to the new firm’s operational out-

look. “In the short term, we will be closing the office. Over the slight-ly longer term, we will continue to look at Salt Lake. There are lots of areas where Salt Lake continues to be very strategically important,” Miller said. HRO’s three Colorado offices, in Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs, will make up the new firm’s Rocky Mountain redoubts, while its two California offices, in San Francisco and Los Angeles, will be absorbed by Bryan Cave’s existing operations there. All five of those offices contain what Miller called a “core makeup” – a group of seasoned lawyers backed by experienced

staff. Miller said the decision to close shop in Salt Lake came after weighing the benefits of bringing an office lacking that core makeup through the transition process. “In the short term we really want to focus on making this a successful transition,” Miller said. Three attorneys and two staff remain at HRO’s Salt Lake office. According to HRO officials in Denver, some were considering taking positions with the new firm, likely in the Denver or Phoenix offices, but that the situation is still fluid. Miller said firm was try-ing to tie up loose ends by the end of the year. “We hope to have clarity for everybody by that time,” he said.

HROfrom page 1

United Soccer Center, a two-year-old West Jordan business, plans to move in mid-December to an approximately 11,000 square foot building at 9100 South and 500 West, Sandy. Ab Rees, a partner in the business along with Dennis Burrows and Patrick Rennie, said the Sandy location will offer more usable square footage than does thefirm’scurrent location. In thewinter months, the Sandy facility will be available for rent to soccer teams for use as a practice field.In the summer, the facility will host leagues for both children and

adults. “The popularity of soccer is a national phenomenon,” Rees said. “Soccer as a sport is growing very, very quickly nationwide. I read a report a few years ago that suggested that under the age of like 15 or something, there are more soccer players than basketball, football and baseball combined. In Utah, it’s interesting that we have a higher number of soccer players per capita than I think any other state in the country, and that’s because we have more kids per capita than any other state.” The three partners, all of

whom are coaches for a Sandy-based soccer club sought out a Sandy location in order to be closer to its customer base and to the Real Salt Lake Stadium.

Soccer business to move from West Jordan to Sandy

6 The Enterprise Dec. 12-18, 2011

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Executive Lifestyle

Legal Matters Patent reform is finally here. The last time U.S. patent law was significantly updated was in 1952, the year that patents were issued for Mr. Potato Head and the first barcode reader. Much has changed since then. For one thing, the U.S. has transitioned from an industrial economy to an information economy. And patent filings have increased tenfold, resulting in a staggering backlog of unexamined applications at the U.S. Patent Office. Although many interested parties have disagreed about how to fix the patent system, almost everyone has agreed that an over-haul was needed. Recently, Congress passed the Lehy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which President Obama signed into law on Sept. 16. One of the major purposes of the act was to harmonize U.S. patent law with that of other coun-tries, such as Europe and Japan.

Not everyone, however, is excited about harmonization. Some have argued that the overall impact of the AIA will be to harm start-ups and other small businesses.

However, for companies that are informed about the law, nimble, and able to develop effec-tive procedures, the AIA may be an unexpected boon. Moreover, there is no need to panic. Since many of the provisions take effect 18 months after enactment, there is ample time to become

educated and develop the neces-sary procedures. One of the more controver-sial features of the AIA is the switch from a “first to invent” to a “first to file” system. The U.S. has been virtually alone in the indus-trialized world in awarding patents to the first inventor rather than the first person to file a patent appli-cation. The new law, which goes into effect on March 16, 2013, will

give priority to the first person to file an application, as long as the first filer did not derive the inven-tion from another person. Because the AIA included a significant increase in patent fees, the first to file system is gener-ally thought to favor large cor-porations and other well-funded entities. However, with shrinking revenues due to the downturn in the economy, some large com-panies make the frequently mis-guided decision of reducing R&D and patent procurement activities, which can have devastating con-sequences later on when they find themselves behind their competi-tion and without patent protec-tion. The other difficulty faced by large companies is the amount of red tape involved in patenting an invention. An idea must jump through many hoops from concep-tion to patenting. Often, great inventions are stifled at the idea stage. Many inventions have to wait for quarterly patent review meetings or approvals by prod-

uct managers, who are often con-cerned about rigid IP budgets. Startups, on the other hand, which are often more nimble and flexible than big companies, can spot important ideas early and file patent applications before similar ideas can percolate up through their larger competitors. While money is certainly a consider-ation for startups, knowledgeable executives will be aware of cost-saving tools, including the “provi-sional” application. A provisional application is much less expen-sive to file than a regular, non-provisional application, and gives an immediate “patent pending” status for the invention, as well as a 12-month runway to decide whether the invention merits the more expensive non-provisional application. To win the race to the Patent Office, successful start-ups will learn the new mantra for provisional applications: “file fre-quently and often.” In addition, the AIA creates new procedures for challenging

patents before the Patent Office rather than in court, which may prove to be a real boon to startups and small businesses after they go into effect on Sept. 16, 2012. Currently, the cost of challeng-ing a patent in court can easily exceed a million dollars. In this arena, startups are definitely not on a level playing field with large companies. While nonjudicial pro-cedures for challenging patents have existed in the past, the Patent Office tended to rubber-stamp the patents it issued, so that efforts to eliminate over-broad patents often backfired against the challenger. The two new procedures, ex parte review and inter partes review, have been designed to overcome the shortcomings of the earlier procedures, while minimizing the risk of spurious and repetitive challenges to issued patents. By reducing the need for litigation, ex parte review and inter partes review tend to level the play-ing field between large and small

Patent reform: a boon for nimble startups

Kory Christensen

see PATENTS next page

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Dec. 12-18, 2011 The Enterprise 7

companies. The AIA also makes it easier and less expensive for a startup to challenge a patent before it issues. Once a patent application is pub-lished, which typically occurs 18 months after filing, any concerned citizen, including competitors, can educate the patent examiner about existing technology so that over-broad patents may never be granted. The challenger, who can be anonymous, can submit infor-mation in the form of patents or printed publications, as well as a description of why the informa-tion is relevant to the claims of the application. This latter feature is new and greatly increases the chance that the submitted infor-mation will be considered. In addi-tion, the AIA increases the window of time in which the information can be submitted from three to six months after publication. Of course, critics argue that large companies are in a better position to monitor their competi-tors and use the new procedures to harass small companies. However, knowledgeable startups will rec-ognize that many companies exist that offer IP monitoring services for a reasonable price. Gathering competitive intelligence about competitors’ patents is a must for any technology company, big or

small. Moreover, large companies with diverse product lines may have a difficult time monitor-ing their massive IP portfolios, whereas smaller businesses may be able to watch the competitive landscape with a razor focus. In the end, any reform leg-islation as sweeping as the AIA will result in winners and losers. Perhaps the hallmark of good leg-islation is the fact that no party is completely satisfied with the new law. Judging from the many articles published by all sides of the debate, this certainly appears

to be the case with the AIA. While the AIA definitely creates risks for uninformed startups, knowledge-able startups that can be nimble and successfully develop a “file frequently and often” provision-al strategy may find themselves among the winners in the latest round of patent reform.

Kory D. Christensen is a partner with the law firm of Stoel Rives LLP and specializes in patents relat-ing to software, business meth-ods and electrical devices. He can be reached at (801) 578-6993 or [email protected].

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PATENTSfrom previous page

• Industry Briefs • ASSOCIATIONS • The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum last week announced winners for its 2011 Annual UVEF Awards. Award recipients will be named in the fol-lowing categories: Most Innovative Product: RiverRock Bioscience. Ron King Social Entrepreneur of the Year: Ecoscraps. Greatest Contribution to Entrepreneurs: Jeremy Hanks, LaunchUp. Utah Valley’s Best Kept Entrepreneurial Secret: Fishbowl Inventory. Entrepreneur of the Year: Brad Caldwell, Security Metrics.

BANKING • TAB Bank, Ogden, pro-vided $65.6 million in work-ing capital facilities for several businesses during the month of November. These facilities were provided for companies across a broad spectrum of industries. The bank provided four A/R lines of credit totaling $16.2 million, one ABL line of credit for $7 mil-lion, 23 equipment Loans for $5.5 million, three participation loans totaling $8.2 million, four capital lease purchases from lease origi-nators for $4.8 million and a stu-dent loan portfolio acquisition for $23.9 million. • Wells Fargo donat-

ed $75,000 to Community Development Corp. of Utah (CDCU) at a check presentation ceremony held today at a fore-closed home acquired and reha-bilitated by CDCU in Kearns. The $75,000 donation is part of $5.53 million in grants Wells Fargo has awarded to 52 nonprofits across the country through its Leading the Way Home Program Markets Initiative to help stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods hard-hit by the economy. CDCU plans to use Wells Fargo’s $75,000 grant to further enhance its revitalization efforts in targeted Utah communi-ties by acquiring and rehabilitat-ing some of the worst foreclosed, single-family homes in the most at-risk neighborhoods; rehabilitat-ing the properties to reasonable standards that promote best prac-tices in energy efficiency, water conservations and accessibility; opening some of the target homes to their surrounding communities as showcases of ideas for home improvement for low-and mod-erate-income homeowners; and using these open houses as vehi-cles to promote other stabilization resources and services including, HUD-approved housing counsel-ing and foreclosure mitigation assistance. •TheCredit Union National

Association is now saying that membership for credit unions grew by only a third of what it originally projected and sav-ings actually dropped as part of Bank Transfer Day. In November, the trade association said that based on a survey, 650,000 people joined credit unions in the month from Sept. 29 to Nov. 2. However, after the group collected its regu-lar monthly data it is now say-ing that 214,000 people joined in October. CUNA also initially reported that credit unions added about $4.5 billion in savings. However, its latest numbers show that savings actually decreased by $400 million in October. The asso-ciation’s chief economist blamed the errors on not being precise enough in drafting a question-naire. • Current chairman of theboard of Brighton Bancorp and its subsidiary Brighton Bank, Robert E. Taylor, will be step-ping down from his position as chairman on Jan. 1. He will con-tinue as a board member through May 2012. He has served on the Board for 34 years and as chair-man for the past 11 years. On Jan. 1, Howard G. Holt will be his successor as chairman of the board and will remain the CEO. Holt has been employed by Brighton

Bank since 2001 and has over 35 years of banking, financial and sales experience with an empha-sis in administration, manage-ment, business development and commercial, consumer and real estate loan production. Robert M. Bowen will assume the position of president and Chief Operating Officer of Brighton Bank. He currently serves as chief operating officer, chief lending officer and

member of the board. He has been employed by the bank since 2009 and has more than 30 years of local commercial, industrial and real estate lending experience. CONSTRUCTION •Chamonix Larsen, former energy program director of the State of Utah Division of Facility

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and Construction Management for Capital Development, has joined the Salt Lake City office of GSBS Architects. Larsen, who is a LEED-accredited professional, helped implement Utah’s High Performance Building Standards, managed renewable energy, energy

performance and renewable power purchase contracts for DFCM. She also coordinated state facility energy performance benchmark-ing, energy policy, and integrated utility incentives into state pro-grams. At GSBS, Larsen joins a firm that provides clients with design insights through energy, water and carbon-emission analy-sis conducted by a team of multi-disciplined professionals to help owners, architects and engineers optimize economic and environ-mental performance of buildings, systems and sites. • Kier Construction, Ogden, is serving as general contrac-tor on Phase I of the Birkhill Apartments, a 137-unit trans-portation-oriented development located in Murray. Developed by Parley’s Partners of Salt Lake City, the project was designed by KTGY architects and will be LEED certified. Situated near Big Cottonwood Creek and .2 miles from the Murray North TRAX/

Frontrunner station, Birkhill Apartments will offer 41 market rate and 96 affordable housing units, ranging from one to three bedrooms. Features will include a sports court, playground, swim-ming pool and a trail that will intersect with the Jordan River Parkway’s 40-mile network of trails. The project will be com-pleted in February of 2013.

FINANCE • First Western Advisors, Holladay, has been recognized by the National Association of Board Certified Advisory Practices as NABCAP Premier Advisors, an exclusive group of financial advisors who represent the best in quality wealth manage-ment in Utah. The designation is awarded annually by the National Association of Board Certified Advisory Practices, a national nonprofit organization established to serve the needs of the invest-ing public by helping identify top

wealth managers. • Mentor capital firmSageCreek Partners, Alpine, has signed Infuse Medical as its new-est client account. Infuse Medical is a specialized education agency that provides medical device man-ufacturers with innovative prod-ucts and programs to take their education and marketing efforts to new heights. Recently, Infuse has also begun providing sales analysis tools that help medical device manufacturers determine which sales representatives, col-lateral materials and approaches are most effective. HEALTH CARE • Stonehaven Dental, with locations in Lehi and Orem, has opened an additional office at 177 W. 12300 S. in Draper at the South Willow Business Park. Stonehaven offers cosmetic den-tistry, root canals, crowns, por-celain veneers, bridges, dental implants, dentures, extractions, wisdom teeth removal, children’s dentistry, sedation dentistry for both children and adults, dental emergencies 24/7 and a full range of orthodontic treatment including Invisalign, ceramic and traditional braces. INSURANCE • Salt Lake County has selected EMI Health to provide dental benefits to its 3,800 employ-ees, beginning in Spring 2012. EMI Health, formerly Educators Mutual, Salt Lake City, now pro-vides dental benefits to more than 450 companies and organizations in Utah and Arizona. LAW •Spencer Banks and Alema Leota have launched a new law firm, Nova Law. Primary areas of practice will be criminal law, fam-ily law and personal injury. Nova Law will be serving clients in the Salt Lake area and throughout the Wasatch Front, and is currently looking for office space in the

Salt Lake area. Banks and Leota graduated from the University of Utah’s SJ Quinney School of Law, focusing on criminal law. Both spent a year working with the Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic and the Legal Defenders Association, respectively. • The national law firm ofBallard Spahr has created a Mortgage Banking Group that includes more than two dozen attorneys in nearly all of Ballard Spahr’s 13 offices across the coun-try. They include partner Anthony C. Kaye and associate Steven D. Burt of Ballard Spahr’s Salt Lake City office. The attorneys will per-form a broad range of regulatory work, advising mortgage compa-nies and other financial firms on compliance and licensing issues, structuring operations, and rep-resenting clients in federal and state enforcement actions. They also will advise clients on issues such as e-commerce, electronic signatures, and electronic records storage. Ballard Spahr attorneys handle class action and other mortgage lending lawsuits across the country.

MANUFACTURING •Aislinn Barnes, owner of the home-based Bountiful busi-ness Ozzie’s Cake Designs, was presented with a $5,000 check by U.S. Bank on Nov. 30 after winning the bank’s “Look Up With Us” challenge. Barnes was selected among hundreds of busi-nesses that told U.S. Bank and its Facebook friends how their busi-nesses were “looking up” — and offered small business owners an innovative way to network with other small-business owners while also giving away $15,000 as part of the “Look Up With US” chal-lenge. • Candle Warmers Etc., Woods, Cross, has promoted Brett Heyland to vice president of sales. Prior to his promotion, Heyland was responsible for negotiating contracts with Amazon.com, BJ’s

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Wholesale, Hobby Lobby and AAFES totaling $2 million in business for Candle Warmers Etc. He also recently led an internal team to develop a new commission and bonus structure that will be implemented early next year. Heyland joined Candle Warmers Etc. in 2010. Candle Warmers Etc. grew 43 percent from 2007-2010. • Orem-based Blendtec, a Division of K-Tec Inc., has been named a finalist in the 9th Annual Housewares Design Awards, the pre-mier design competition in the house-wares industry. The firm’s Twister Jar is one of five finalists in the Countertop Food Prep Appliances cat-egory. Winners will be announced on Jan. 31. • Lifetime Products Inc., a Clearfield-based manufacturing com-pany, received the Greatest Contributor Award during the third annual “Entrepreneur Excellence” awards banquet hosted by the Northfront Entrepreneur Alliance. The award is given to a company that has contribut-ed heavily to expanding and growing entrepreneurial activity in Northern Utah. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Lifetime Products is one of the largest employers in Northern Utah, with more than 1,200 employees at its headquarters and manufactur-ing facilities located in the Freeport Center in Clearfield. Lifetime is the world-leader of residential basket-ball systems, and folding tables and chairs, and also manufactures kayaks, sheds, playsets and more with prod-ucts sold in 58 countries around the globe. During this past year, Lifetime introduced approximately 100 new product models, added over 120 new U.S. accounts, added 27 new patents to its more than 500 design and util-ity patents, and grew its international sales by 18 percent. • The sales and service depart-ment at Provo-based Tahitian Noni International has been recognized as oneofthebest−qualifyingasafinalistfor the American Business “Stevie” awards. But they do so much more than just answer the phone. For the third year in a row, they have donated food items to the Community Action Service and Food Bank in Provo, which offers local food bank services for Utah, Wasatch and Summit coun-ties.Because of the agent’s generosity, it was able to increase the amount collected for donations this year by nearly 40 percent. Tahitian Noni International is a global, research-driven bioactive products company that was the firsttointroducethehealthbenefitsofthenoni plant outside of Tahiti.

MEDIA/MARKETING •AutoNetTV, an American Fork firm that specializes in automotive television programming for custom-ers in the waiting areas of automo-tive centers, was honored to receive two Automotive Communications Awards at the 2011 AAPEX Show. The awards, presented by the Car Care Council Women’s Board in conjunction with the Automotive

Communication Council, were select-ed from more than 140 entrants in var-ious business to business and business to consumer categories. AutoNetTV received an award for Best Business to Consumer Website for a replicated website created for a major automotive brand. AutoNetTV also took home the award for Best Video News Release for the video entitled “Fall Inspection” that encourages consumers to get their vehicles prepared for winter. • The American Advertising Federation of Utah presented Salt Lake Community College assistant vice president of institutional mar-keting and communications Alison McFarlane with its inaugural 2011 “Rockie” Award at a Dec. 7 ceremony. McFarlane, one of three finalists for the award in the category of market-ing, was one of 10 award recipients recognizing Utah’s outstanding adver-tising and marketing professionals. Overall, the contest garnered more than 3,500 votes. REAL ESTATE • Sales of previously-owned homes in Salt Lake County in October rose 34 percent compared to October 2010, according to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. In October there were 1,009 home sales (all housing types) compared to 752 home sales in October 2010. October was the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year home sales increases. Home sales in the first 10 months of 2011 were up 8 percent compared to the same 10-month period a year ago (9,482 home sales compared to 8,809 sales last year). The median home sales price (all housing types) in October declined to $185,000, a 10 percent decrease compared to a median price of $204,700 in October 2010.

RESTAURANTS •ThisChristmasseason,Market Street Fresh Fish Markets have made arrangements to carry two choices of domestic caviar from Petrossian, the importers and purveyors who first introduced caviar to Paris the1920s. Royal Transmontanus Caviar, in tins from $70 (1.06 oz.) to $280 (4.4. oz.), is produced by sustainable white sturgeon, native to California. Classic Transmontanus Caviar, in tins from $55 (1.06 oz.) to $225 (4.4 oz.), is similar to the Royal, but smaller and darker grey in color. Larger tins, up to 35.2 ounces, can be ordered 48 hours in advance. Petrossian’s Imported Tsar Imperial Ossetra can also be ordered 48 hours in advance in tins of 1.06 oz. ($170), 1.80 oz. ($280) and 3.6 oz. ($550). •Bambara, a Kimpton restaurant located in downtown Salt Lake City, has created a “Snowstorm” lunch special to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. Through Dec. 16, for each three-course lunch special purchased, Bambara will donate $1 to the center. The daily three-course lunch special, which costs $13, includes a choice of organic greens or cup of the daily

continued on page 17


S p e c i a lFFoocuscusR e p ort

The Workplace

The recession is over. These are the words of hope that employees and managers alike have waited for. And now that signs are pointing to recovery, we can all heave a collective sigh of relief and go back to busi-ness as usual. Right? Wrong. The worst may be over, but the effect of those grim days still lingers in the workplace. Too many employees these days are feeling overworked, under-appreciated and skeptical. And despite the hopeful talk of recovery, they remain anxious, distrustful and, worst of all, disengaged. So why should it matter how your employees feel, so long as they show up and do their jobs each day? The answer is pro-ductivity. Research from Gallup estimates that disengaged employees are costing their companies big bucks — up to $1 out of every $3 spent on payroll. In other words, a full one-third of your company’s payroll is being thrown away due to negativity. And whether that funk has descended on your company in the past couple of years or it’s been there all along, you absolutely must address it now, and according to bestselling author Jon Gordon, that means focusing attention on the state of your company’s culture. “Here’s what happened,” explains Gordon, author of Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture. “For years, manag-ers were focused on the numbers, and the numbers were good. So morale was up and everyone was happy. But then the recession hit and the numbers went down. Well, when you’re focused on numbers and they’re going down, morale also goes down. So does engagement and so does performance. Now the research is showing us that it directly affects the cash flow in your organi-zation at a time when every precious penny still counts. This has thrown managers into a quandary. They need to change their lead-ership focus, and most of them don’t know where to begin.” The new focus, explains Gordon, should be on culture. It should be on pur-pose and morale and loyalty. And all of that boils down to two words: engaged relation-ships. “Engaged relationships are interactive, collaborative and meaningful,” he says. “They are also essential: To effectively lead, coach, work with or live with someone, you must truly know and have a strong bond with them. No matter how busy you are, you’re not too busy to create these bonds. You can’t afford to be that busy.” Gordon explains the connection between engaged relationships and success and lays out the ingredients that make up a nourishing culture. The people “stirring the pot” have a powerful and lasting impact, he

says, and if you’re a mid-level manager, that means you. So how can you build engaged rela-tionships with your employees (and start getting your money’s worth again)? Gordon offers the following insights for getting your company’s culture back on track: • Busyness and stress are a manag-er’s two worst enemies. They sabotage our efforts to build engaged relationships. With projects to complete, to-do lists to accom-plish, goals to hit and outcomes to achieve, life can feel like we are on a runaway bus, says Gordon. We’re driving through life at 100 miles per hour, and instead of taking the time to get people on our bus, we run them over. We become so focused on creat-ing success that we don’t make the time to develop the relationships that lead to true success. “In times of busyness and stress, the brain goes into survival mode, and we stop thinking about serving other people, mentoring them and helping them thrive,” he says. “This is where we drop the ball. Just when we need to be the most engaging, we become the least engaging. What our employees need the most, we’re delivering the least. And so the problems grow and multiply. It’s a perpetual cycle.” •Wherethere’savoidincommunica-tion, negativity fills it. Recovery or no recov-ery, these are uncertain times. Employees are wondering what’s going to happen next, whether their jobs will be impacted and what action to take. That uncertainty creates a void. Unless you, the manager, fill the void with clear and positive communica-tion, people will assume the worst. Fear and negativity will creep in and dominate their thoughts, behaviors, and actions. “The No. 1 thing a manager can do dur-ing times of uncertainty is to communicate,” says Gordon. “Communicate with transpar-ency, authenticity and clarity. Even when the news is not so positive, you can com-municate it positively: Tell the truth, give them a plan and help them believe, ‘Hey, we can turn this thing around.’ Optimism is a competitive advantage right now, and you need to convey it in all you say and do.” • Employees need nourishmentin order to thrive. These may seem like strange words to apply to the workplace. But Gordon insists they are spot-on. He says the main question every employee in every organization wants to know the answer to is this: Do you care about me; can I trust you? If your answer is yes, your employees will be more likely to stay on the bus and work with you. Employees who feel cared for, honored and nourished are more engaged in what they’re doing and will work at their

As businesses close their books on 2011 and look forward to the new year, making sure they are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should be on their checklist of objectives and goals to be met in 2011. Businesses have responsibilities under the ADA to ensure that their goods, services, programs and facilities are accessible to the 54 mil-lion people with disabilities in the U.S. All public and private businesses and nonprofit organizations are considered “places of public accommodation” under Title III of the ADA. Examples of covered entities include hotels, restaurants, muse-ums, parks, retail stores, theaters, sports venues, private schools, banks, hospitals or offices of health care providers, daycare and senior centers, pharmacies and offices of accountants and lawyers, among others. “Businesses are required by law to make reasonable modifications to their facilities, policies and procedures to accom-modate people with disabilities and most modifications can be made with minimal effort or expense,” said Jana Burke, the director of the DBTAC Rocky Mountain ADA Center. The Rocky Mountain ADA Center has compiled a list of ways businesses can meet their ADA compliance obligations next year: • Conduct a facility audit to identifypotential access barriers for customers, ven-dors, applicants and employees with dis-abilities. Be sure to review parking areas, paths of travel into and out of the facil-ity, restrooms and common use areas that are open to the public. Create a plan to make reasonable modifications in order to remove barriers and increase access to your facility. • Plan several training opportunitiesfor your staff on serving customers with disabilities. Include topics such as disability etiquette, basic sign language, and strate-gies for ADA compliance. • Learn about the upcoming ADAchanges that impact private business including the new regulations for the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design, and revised Title III regulations affecting places of public accommodation. • Partner with local job placementagencies that work with people with dis-abilities to identify qualified candidates for vacant positions. Contact your state’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation for more information about recruiting appli-cants with disabilities. • Ask a person who uses assistivetechnology like screen reading software to visit your website and evaluate it for accessibility. Be sure to include your online

employment application process in the review. Make changes to improve your site based on the evaluator’s feedback or web-site accessibility guidelines such as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1998 or the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). •Target some of yourmarketing andadvertising toward individuals with disabil-ities. Include information about accessibil-ity improvements your business has made in advertising and promotional materials. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, this large and growing market has more than $175 billion in discretionary spending. Ask your marketing firm to include people with disabilities in your advertising materi-als. • Talk with your accountant aboututilizing the IRS tax incentives available to businesses to help cover the costs of making access improvements during 2011. The Disabled Access Credit can be used for architectural adaptations, equipment acquisitions and services such as sign lan-guage interpreters. The Barrier Removal Deduction can be used for architectural and transportation adaptations. • Gather input from your custom-ers with disabilities regularly. People with disabilities, who frequently need to find creative ways to work around physical bar-riers and product inaccessibility, can offer ideas and innovative solutions to attract and keep new customers, especially those in the burgeoning older adult market. People with disabilities can assist businesses in finding cost-effective, usable solutions that bring facilities and customer service policies and practices into compliance with the ADA. •Provideeffectivemeansof commu-nication for people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have other sensory disabilities to ensure this group has an equal opportu-nity to enjoy the goods, services, accom-modations, and amenities offered by your business. Offer print materials in alternate formats. Verify you have adequate lighting in public spaces. Review your procedures for accepting telephone calls via relay ser-vices. •Takeadvantageofavailableresourc-es to stay up-to-date on the ADA and other disability laws impacting business. Organizations and agencies offering regu-lar news on the laws include (but are not limited to) the Rocky Mountain ADA Center, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. For more information or for additional ADA compliance strategies, contact the DBTAC Rocky Mountain ADA Center at (800) 949-4232 or visit www.adainforma-tion.org.

The recession hangover culture cure: how residual negativity is costing companies big bucks ... and what you can do to stop it

Top 10 ways Utah businesses can meet their ADA compliance resolutions

see NEGATIVITY page 17


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Top Temporary Staffing Firms in UtahRanked by Number of Temps Assigned Per Week in Utah

Company NamePhone

FaxWeb

# of Temps Assigned per Week in Utah

# of Full Time Utah Employees

# of Utah Offices Industries Served Benefits Available

Kelly Services181 E. 5600 S.

# 140Murray

801-262-2252801-262-3876

kellyservices.com4,475 45 15

Manufacturing, administrative, education, IT, engineering, science,

finance, health care, contact centers, and law

Holiday and service bonuses, medical, dental, vision, and 401k

Strategic Staffing, A Division of BBSI

3761 S. 700 E.Salt Lake City

801-994-9494801-994-9499

strategicstaffs.com2,525 34 5

Administrative and clerical, call center, accounting, manufacturing, production technology, IT, engineering, hospitality,

warehouse

Vacation and holiday pay, health, dental, vision, 401k, direct deposit

Express Employment Professionals

1231 W. 9000 S.#106

West Jordan

801-255-1441801-255-1488

expresspros.com1,750 23 6 All industries Medical, dental, vision, life, paid

vacation and holiday

Synergy Staffing Partners5578 S. Redwood Rd.

Suite BTaylorsville

801-266-9675801-665-1853

synergystaffing4u.com

1,250 12 1

Administrative and clerical, call center, customer service, light industrial, manufacturing, warehouse and

professional direct hire

Holiday and vacation pay

Intermountain Staffing450 E. 1000 N.North Salt Lake

801-299-6300801-299-6304intermountainstaffing.com

1,000+ 50+ 14Light industrial, clerical, manufacturing,

warehouse, assembly, production, hospitality, janitorial

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bonus

Spherion Staffing and Recruiting

17 E. Winchester St.Salt Lake City

801-261-8880801-261-8965

spherion.com/utah800 14 5 All industries Full benefits are available

Remedy Intelligent Staffing525 W. 5300 S.Salt Lake City

801-685-8100801-685-8105

remedyutah.com266 6 2

Light industrial, administrative, executive, financial, technical,

warehouse, production, government contracting, loistics

Medical, dental, vision, term life, short-term disability

Utah Employment Services2292 S. Redwood Rd.

West Valley

801-978-0378801-978-0374

utahemploy.com225 6 1 Manufacturing, production, construction,

electrical engineer

Vacation, holiday, medical insurance, direct deposit, sick

leave

APEX Staffing, LLC145 E. 1300 S.

#103Salt Lake City

801-328-9567801-596-8108 apexjobs.net

200 4 1 Construction, warehouse, light industrial, heaving industrial DND

Todays Office Professionals307 W. 200 S.

Suite 3002Salt Lake City

801-519-5093801-519-5091

todays.com200 3 1 All industries, office, accounting, sales,

marketing, IT Full benefits are available

VitalSigns Healthcare Staffing

4465 S. 900 E.Suite 150

Salt Lake City

801-892-8300801-892-8399

vitalsignshealthcare.com

200 14 2 Health care (nurses) RN’s, LPN’s, CNA’s and MA’s

Health, dental and vision insurance, direct deposit

Perelson Temporary Staffing

2180 S. 1300 E.Suite 350

Salt Lake City

801-532-1000801-532-7676

perelsontemps.com110 19 1

Administrative, sales, business development, marketing, finance and accounting, engineering, HR, legal, IT,

management

Health insurance, dental vision, 401k, paid time off (personal, vacation, sick) supplemental

insurance (aflac)

Kforce Inc.1245 Brickyard Rd.

Salt Lake City

801-257-6800801-257-6838

kforce.com75 8 1 Technology positions

All industries Health, dental, disability, PTO, etc.

Ajilon Professional Staff/ Accounting Principles

299 S. Main St.Salt Lake City

80-601-3001801-601-3010

ajilon.com/accounting

principles.com

25 4 1 Accounting, finance, office administration, medical billing

Medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, 401k, reliability

bonus, standard corporate package

Andersen Certified Staffing, LLC

3098 S. Highland Dr.Suite 260

Salt Lake City

801-463-7400801-403-7404

andersenstaffing.com

varies 2 1 All finance, service, manufacturing, construction, etc. Yes

DND= Did Not Disclose N/A= Not Available

Please note that some firms chose not to respond, or failed to respond in time to our inquiries.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2011 by Enterprise Newspaper Group


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Top Copier, Printer, and Fax Dealers in UtahRanked by Number of New Multi-Function Products sold in 2010

Company NamePhone

FaxWeb

# of Multi-Function Products

Sold in 2010

# of Utah Locations

# of Utah Employees

# of Utah Accounts Services Offered Brands of

Machines Sold

Les Olson Company3244 S. 300 W.Salt Lake City

801-486-7431801-486-7494lesolson.com

2,1006

1689,382

Les Olson company services and sells SHARP and HP equipment and supplies, Fujitsu Scanners, DocuWare and other solutions based products, The company specializes in Managed Print

Services.

SHARP, HP, Fujitsu Scanners

Pacific Office Automation2371 S. Presidents Dr.

Suite BSalt Lake City

80-990-4001801-990-4040

pacificoffice.com460

3

351,500

Business equipment-copiers, printers, faxes, scanners wide

format. document management-software, electronic forms/

managed print services

Canon, Toshiba, Konica Minolta, HP, Lexmark, Muratec, Kip

Digital-The Fruit Group2500 S. Decker Lake

Blvd.Suite 24

West Valley City

801-463-7800801-463-1444digital-tfg.com

2481

14812 Sales and service of digital

copiers, fax and printers. Canon

Ability Business Solutions1556 S. Main St.

Salt Lake City

801-466-8486801-466-4580abilitybusinesssolutions.com

1201

11500 Copier-printer sales, lease, rental,

and IT servicesKonica Minolta,

SHARP

Copiers For Less708 W. Confluence Ave.

Murray

801-261-0510801-261-1967

copiersutah.com75

1

5350

Rent, sell toner, lease, service and maintenance, sell computers and

printers

NEC, Ricoh, HP, Konica Minolta

Tecnotronic’s, Inc.2123 S. 3200 W.

Salt Lake City

801-906-0159801-906-0161

tecnotronics.com50

1

31

Sales, service and supplies of copiers, printers, fax, scanners

and multifunction machines

HP, Brother, Okidata, Samsung,

Epson, Lexmark

Action Office Equipment1546 S. 300 W.Salt Lake City

801-484-1491801-487-5150

action-office.comDND

1

DNDDND

Same day service, sales, service, and supplies or office equipment,

refurbished equipment

HP, IBM, Brother, Samsung, Xerox, Okidata, Ricoh

Automated Business Products

385 W. 2880 S.Salt Lake City

801-488-8000801-466-5099abpweb.com

DND1

DNDDND

Efficient technical support, responsive service, printer, copier, fax, scanner, retrieve, printer fleet

service

Ricoh, Savin, Kyocera, HP,

Canon

IKON Office Solutions440 W. 200 S.

#400Salt Lake City

801-456-3000801-456-3179

ikon.comDND

1

111DND

IKON, a Ricoh company specializes in technology and services that transform high-volume, document-intensive

business processes into more efficient ones. This is achieved

through Ricoh’s expertise in Managed Document Services,

Production Printing Office Solutions and IT services.

Ricoh, Kodak, HP

Konica Minolta Business Solutions

268 S. State St.Salt Lake City

801-456-0731801-456-1388

kmbs.konicaminolta.us

DND4

DNDDND

Enhanced workflow efficiencies, virtual on-site-support, access

to technical experts, a fully provisioned state of the art lab

Konica Minolta

Paramount Business Machines Inc.

7302 S. Cottonwood St.Suite 302Midvale

801-562-5005801-432-2166

paramountbusinessproducts.com

DND1

DNDDND

Service all brands, makes and models of copiers, faxes and

printers. Free on-line estimates

Samsung, Panasonic





Top Office Furniture Dealers in UtahRanked by Total 2011 Revenue Year to Date

Company NamePhone

FaxWeb

Total 2011 Revenue

Year to Date

# of Full Time Utah Employees

# of Full Time Utah

Salespeople

Showroom Square Footage

Notable ProjectsProducts and Services Offered Head of Local

Operations

Midwest Commercial Interiors

987 S. West TempleSalt Lake City

801-359-7681801-355-2713mwciutah.com

$34 million65

16

14,000

Goldman Sachs Corporate Offices, Huntsman Cancer Center, BYU

Communications Building, Souther Utah University Skaggs Science Center, Worker’s Compensation

Corporate Office

Commercial furniture (Steelcase, Coalesse, Nurture, Trunstone, Paoli,

HON Gunlocke, Global, Artopex, Enwork, Soelberg Industries, VIA,

Humanscale, Safeco, Patrician, ESI, NuCraft) floor coverings, modular demountable wall, architectural products, acoustical products.

Marshall Tate, CEO

CCG Howells358 Rio Grande

Suite 100Salt Lake City

801-359-6636801-359-6636

ccghowells.com$15 million

55

10

10,000

DMBA, David Eccles School of Business, Utah Museum of Natural History, X pecx, Avalon Healthcare, Ustar project at University of Utah,

Ice, CHG Companies

Furniture and architectural interiors for the commercial office and the

residential community

Carmelle Jensen, COO

Jerry Howells, CEO

Bluefin Office Group3030 S. State St.

Salt Lake City

801-486-3030801-461-4471

bluefinoffice.com$9 million

32

13

3,000

DND

Office furniture, space planning, design, systems office supplies,

janitorial, safety, break room supplier.Two locations in Orem and Salt Lake

Dale Benson, CEO

ROSI Office Furniture2250 S. West Temple

Salt Lake City

801-486-7711801-486-5558

rosiofficefurniture.com

$5.2 million16

5

4,000

Kennecott Bingham canyon Mine, Deseret Chemical Depot

Ergonomic seating, private office furniture, open plan furniture, space

planning

Sean Murphy, Sales Manager

Western Interior Services

2438 S. 2570 W.Salt Lake City

801-973-8255801-973-8365westerninterior.

com

$5 million30

4

7,000

Health Writers, Novel, Blue Cross Blue Shield, All State, University of

Utah

SErvice and install furniture, manufacture, repair, refabricate and refurbishes all types of systems, new and used furniture and system sales,

design and layout services.Three locations in Ogden, Salt Lake,

and Provo.

Tom Ollis, Director of Operations

Office Furniture Blowout

160 W. 2100 S.Salt Lake City

801-486-3500801-606-2801officefurnitureblowout.com

$2.2 million12

3

57,000

Queststar, GE, Millcreek Engineering, Provo River

New and used office furniture, cubicles, refurbishing, office design

and layout, delivering and installation, moving

Mark Legones, CEO

Office Systems Specialists

3408 S. 1400 W.Salt Lake City

801-908-5286801-908-5586

DND$1.5 million

7

35

1,500

Hill AFB, Mass Electric, Kiewit, Maverik, Netsteps, Basic Research, Wadsworth, and many others thru

our whole sale division

Quality used, refurbish, new, Herman Miller Clone cubicles, relocations and

reconfiguration servicesWholesale manufacture

Ronald Deklerk, Owner

Linda’s Furniture3330 S. Highland Dr.

Salt Lake City

801-487-3992801-487-1422lindasfurniture.

com

$1.4 million12

5

32,000

Office Projects, residential design projects, home shows, movie sets,

furnishing for car dealerships

Home and business desks, credenzas, files, office chairs,

bookcase sets, in stock or special orders, new furniture and some gently used. Also residentially living room,

dining room and bedroom sets.

Robert Slater

Cube Office Designs5062 W. Amelia

Earhart Dr.Salt Lake City

801364-2823801-364-2347cubeoffice.com

DND6

2

1,500

DND

New, used and refurbished office furniture Time Adair

Henriksen/Butler249 S. 400 E.Salt Lake City

801-363-5881801-359-4326

hbdg.comDND

79

19

15,500

DND

Project management, space planning and design, furniture reconfigurations,

flooring services, specialty storage, modualr walls, delivery and

installation, service and warranty

DND





We provide personal service and delicious hand crafted menus for your holiday parties, corporate events, weddings, or office parties and lunches and our full service catering is accepted at most major Salt Lake venues.

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soup selection, one of three entree selections and a chocolate chip cookie packaged to go or to eat in.

RETAIL • Overstock.com Inc., Salt Lake City, has partnered with Barnes & Noble Inc. to sell e-books through Barnes & Noble. Visitors to Overstock.com will now have access to the digital edi-tion of hardcover and paperback books available on the site through Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Store.

SERVICES • IdealShape, a Lindon-based seller of nutritional supplements, meal replacement shakes and self-hypnosis audio programs for weight loss, recently moved to a 5,195 square foot facility at 921 W. 500 N., Lindon. The new location for the nine-year-old firm will accommodatethe company’s expanding product line and a padded inventory for a projected holiday sales hike. With its inventory now onsite, the company will be able to ship orders as soon as they are received fromitsonlinestore.For thefirsttime it will also open its store to international orders. • John Dale and Rick Angell have joined the Salt Lake City office of CBIZ and Mayer Hoffman and McCann, P.C. as managing directors. Dale serves as an audit and accounting shareholder of Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. He has more than 17 years of experience auditing, consulting and advising clients. Angell serves as an audit and accounting shareholder in Mayer Hoffman McCann’s audit and assurance services practice. He has served as the audit partner for more than fifty SEC registrantsduring his 30-year career. CBIZ provides professional business services that help clients better manage theirfinances,employeesand technology. Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. is a national and independentCPAfirm. • Salt Lake City-basedAlphaGraphics Inc., a print and marketing communications franchise with nearly 300 business centers worldwide, has launched new, interactive and more user-friendly website. The new site reflects the company’s expandedmarketing service offerings, which include online marketing, direct marketing, brand identity, mobile marketing, e-mail marketing and e-publishing, that complement its existing print communication services. • Park City-based Levitin Group, an international sales training company, is now offering online “Train the Trainer” webinars. The webinars are aimed at managers and team leaders in the timeshare industry who are in a position to provide sales training

to their companies’ salespeople, managers and marketers.The latest offering includes five webinarsthat range in time from 60 to 90 minutes. Webinar No. 1 will be available Dec. 14. The remaining four webinars will be held Jan. 4, 11, 18 and 25. For more information, visit www.TimeshareU.com or call 888-242-7775.

SPORTS • XSI Factory, a 70,000 square foot sports training facil-ity in Lehi, will be holding an free open house Dec. 5-19. XSI Factory’s hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the facility is closed on Sundays. XSI Factory is located at 4425 N. Thanksgiving Way. XSI Factory features five basketball courts, fitness classes, sports camps and leagues, a full workout gym, U.S.A-certified boxing coaches and personal trainers. The building can also be rented out as a venue for trade shows, concerts, sporting events, dances, seminars, press confer-ences, company holiday parties and weddings.

TRANSPORTATION • Salt Lake City’simprovements to bicycle infrastructure are rounding out the 2011 construction season with a new, innovative treatment — a recently installed “two-stage bike turn queue box” on Main Street at 200 South. The design, known as a “bike turn box” for short, allows bicyclists to make left turns across the TRAX light rail tracksintwotrafficsignalphases.Bicyclists riding south on Main St. use the 7’ x 10’ box to turn left by riding toward the south side of the intersection, waiting in the green box, and then proceeding on the greenlightwiththetrafficon200South. •England Logistics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based third party logistics and freight brokerage company, was declared a national Top 10 Freight Brokerage Firm

in this year’s Transport Topics Logistics 50. The TT Logistics 50 is an annual survey of the largest logistics companies — covering freight management and forwarding, brokerage services and warehousing and distribution. The TT Logistics 50 is a special project of Transport Topics Publishing Group, subsidiary of the American Trucking Association Inc., based on information from company management and other sources. The 2011 list ranks England Logistics as the nation’s 10th largest freight brokerage firm.This is the fifth consecutive yearEngland Logistics has been listed, and risen, in the Top 25 Freight Brokerage Firms category, and the firsttimeintheTop10.

from page 9

highest potential. “Learn to view your employ-ees like a family — functional family,” he clarifies. “This will change the way you treat them. You’ll see them as people who deserve your trust and love and who require communication, transparency, and authenticity from you. You want to be some-one they can trust, and therefore you need to take the actions nec-

essary to earn it.” “Remind yourself every day that it’s not the numbers that drive people, but people and relation-ships that drive numbers,” he says. “Leaders get so busy trying to achieve success that they forget to take the time to develop the relationships that lead to success. But trying to build a winning team without great relationships is like trying to build a house on sand. It won’t stand. Relationships are the rock that creates the foundation upon which winning teams are built.”

NEGATIVITYfrom page 10


’Twas the night before Christmas … and all the stores were closed. Why? They needed a few hours to get ready for the AFTER Christmas sale. All of the retail elves were home with the rest of us, anticipating the festival of unwrapping and judging the value and likability (return-ability) of presents received. The holiday season is a make-it-or-break-it time for most retailers and many businesses. Is it my imagination, or is the Christmas “season” expanding? Remember when there was the excitement that the shopping season offi-cially began “the day after Thanksgiving” – unofficially known as “Back Friday.” The day AFTER Thanksgiving, stores opening at 8 a.m. – then 7 a.m. – then 6 a.m. – then 5 a.m. – then midnight. Trying to lure customers with the size, discount and sale of their “pre-Christmas” then, based on social pressures, changed it to a “pre holiday” extravaganza. EARLY WARNING SIGNAL: I’m sure you’ve noticed, as I have, that there are now Christmas items among the Halloween candies. In the drug stores, the card shops, the grocery stores, even the department stores, merchants are trying to remind you, and to sell you, whatever they can before the competition does. Even online, companies like amazon.com had their seasonal art on landing pages by Halloween. Boo. (That wasn’t to scare you! That was the Philadelphia boo: the voice of dis-approval. The “What were you think-ing?” Boo. The angry boo. The greedy boo. The boo-hiss.) I don’t know about you, but I believe business greed is stepping over the line introducing the spirit of the holiday season before candy is handed to little ghosts and goblins, or before families gather to give thanks for our freedom and for each other. Seems as though businesses are willing to risk ridicule and reputation for a chance to ring their cash regis-ter. Now while none of this is really a big deal, be aware that when some retailer, wanting to jump the gun, tries to pull off Christmas in October — or earlier — it generates thoughts in the mind of the consumer — none of them positive. And those thoughts lead to perceptions and buying decisions. If I’m put off or angry at your early entry into the Christmas season, I may not return to buy when the actual season starts. And then there are those who try to down the competition in a subtle way. I saw a sign in the window of a major department store that startled

me. It said that they like to celebrate one holiday at a time, and that they would not be putting up any Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. GREAT! But, eh, why are they telling me that? Why don’t they just DO IT? My concept of what will win is go back a decade, look at what won then, add the Internet and e-mail mes-saging, create a stock of inventory of WHAT PEOPLE WANT — not just

what you buy cheap and are looking to sell at a great mar-gin — and let one customer tell another customer how great your merchandise is. One more thing. HIRE GREAT PEOPLE – people who smile, love to serve, can multitask, can go the extra mile and who have a base

intelligence that is smarter than the merchandise. This will require that you pay them more, train them more and pro-vide a work atmosphere that both employees AND customers love. This also means managers must be happy, not condescending. The sign in the department store window was right: ONE HOLIDAY AT A TIME. Hey, Mr. Retailer — you’re the one who created the pur-chasing part of these holidays in the first place. My vote is give thanks for what you have at Thanksgiving, celebrate your blessings with your family, and THEN sell like hell the day after — until 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve. That strategy would please your customers, create word-of-mouth advertising to complement your tra-ditional marketing outreach and even please the panicked shareholders once the numbers begin to emerge. I saw a t-shirt the other day that said: Let’s keep the X in X-MAS. It’s a sign of the times, and a resign of the consumer at the same time. If you want the holiday recipe for success, take the formula above and add spirit. If you do, the jingle bells you’ll hear will be the cha-ching! of your cash register.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or e-mail him personally at [email protected].

© 2011 All Rights Reserved

When does Christmas start? When does it end?

Jeffrey Gitomer

By John Graham There are few offenses in business worse than challenging the validity of the near sacred “elevator speech,” that one-minute message ver-balizing the unique qualities of what a salesper-son does or sells. The need for the “elevator speech” seems obvious since hordes of salespeople fumble and stumble when asked what they do. Even though they may have adequate knowledge of what they sell and the company they represent, they’re unable to verbalize the message clearly and suc-cinctly. As someone said, “If you don’t have an ele-vator speech, people won’t know what you really do.” It’s no wonder that sales managers make it a top priority to motivate their people to prepare and practice mini-messages. If all this is true, then why knock it? Why challenge something that’s needed and useful to a salesperson? To put it bluntly, an “elevator speech” is damaging because it’s a one-way, robotic “conversation” that defeats sales. It “tells” but doesn’t “sell.” To better understand the “elevator speech” problem, consider one of the most common com-plaints of sales managers: salespeople talk too much. Silence seems to drive them crazy so they fill “the empty space” with a constant flow of pat-ter about anything and everything. There’s more to the story. Customers also complain that salespeople turn them off by talk-ing constantly and failing to listen. It’s becomes a vicious circle: they’re poor listeners because they won’t shut up. On and on they go babbling about their product, service and the company they rep-resent and don’t stop long enough for customers to ask questions. “Many salespeople feel compelled to recite their canned pitch regardless of the customer’s actual interest,” said Steve W. Martin of USC’s Marshall School of Business. In other words, they spin their spiel rather than interacting with customers and prospects. Of course many salespeople talk too much — and it’s always about themselves and their company. That’s what they know. It’s drilled into them day after day. And they simply regurgitate the words because that’s what they’re told to do. So, why should anyone expect them to change or do otherwise? Salespeople go to lead-generation groups, stand up and talk about themselves. No one lis-tens, particularly when they’ve heard the same words week after week. In such situations, sales-people should be asking themselves this question: “Why should the people sitting around the table recommend me?” But they don’t because they’ve been taught to mouth an “elevator speech.” They show up at networking meetings and say (a dozen times over), “Hi, I’m Susan from Gotcha International and ...” Susan is doing what she has been told to do and leaves with a handful of business cards. Back at the office, she tells her boss that it was a good day for Gotcha. When making cold calls, salespeople invari-ably start out by saying, “Hi, I’m Roscoe and my company ...” Whether it’s in person, on the phone or in e-mails, it’s time to slam the door, hang up or hit delete. It’s time salespeople got the Special Memo: no one cares who you are or what you’re selling. • The “elevator speech” approach breeds disaster. It undermines and kills sales because it

fails to engage customers. In fact, it has just the opposite result: it bores the listener. No one wants to spend even 60 seconds listening to people talk-ing about themselves. It’s far and away the most successful method of driving prospects away. They don’t want to do business with those who have zero interest in anything but what they want to accomplish. So, what should a salesperson say when someone asks, “What do you do?” Instead of pressing the “elevator speech” button and jab-bering about the products or services they sell or the company they work for, the best response is simply to say, “Thanks for asking.” • If played correctly, the next step gives salespeople the opportunity to begin a conversa-tion. What this takes is a captivating statement that compels someone to ask what it means. Here are several examples of how to do that: “It’s my job to snoop around and find where my clients are spending money needlessly.” Much better than saying, “I’m a consultant.” “Businesses depend on me to make sure they have a constant flow of new prospects.” That’s far more interesting than saying, “I’m in market-ing.” “My customers depend on me to make sure they won’t run out money when they need it most.” Much better than saying, “I’m a financial advisor.” “I help my clients take advantage of new, profitable opportunities.” Much better than say-ing, “I’m a commercial loan officer.” By now, the picture should be clear. When a salesperson makes this type of statement, it opens the door for the prospect to ask a question: “How do you do that?” or “What does that mean?” Now, a situation is right for moving forward and starting a conversation. By engaging people in such a way that they are intrigued, they will want to know more. Now, they are the ones asking for additional informa-tion, which is so much better than turning them off. This approach is far more demanding that parroting an “elevator speech.” It requires think-ing and, most importantly, careful listening, something that’s impossible when we’re talking. It also forces salespeople to think about what they really do and then express it in a way that pulls prospects closer. On one occasion, the president of a company asked what I did. I responded by saying, “I help CEOs avoid embarrassing themselves.” Looking confused, he said, “Can you explain that?” I did, saying, “I help them recognize that they are too close to the business to manage the company’s marketing objectively.” As long as salespeople are “stuck” with the “elevator speech” mindset, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to actually engage others. They give their little “speech” about what they sell, instead of initiating a conversation that draws the other person into a dialogue. Without this involvement, potential buyers tune out. The shift from “elevator speech” thinking to an “engaging conversation” is not difficult. When you think about it, it begins with asking the key question, “What is it that I really do for my cus-tomers?”

John Graham, a marketing and sales con-sultant and business writer, lives in Boston. He can be contacted at (617) 774-9759 or [email protected].

Why 'elevator speeches' defeat sales


If ever there was a monthly U.S. employ-ment report that yielded more than a little confusion, the November release would be the ticket. There was literally something for everyone with an axe to grind — especially Democrats and Republicans.

The Democratic View The optimistic pro-Democratic Party, pro-President Obama contingent gleefully noted the sharp drop in the nation’s unemployment rate from 9 percent in October to 8.6 percent in November. This is the lowest level since March 2009. This group also noted the fact that the number of unemployed people (those seeking work in the past four weeks) dropped from 15,041,000 in November 2010 to the current level of 13,303,000 in November 2011 They noted the total dropped by 594,000 people last month alone. The “Dems” also noted the sharp decline in the “underemployment rate,” which includes the formally unem-ployed, those working part-time who would prefer to work full-time and those discouraged workers who are not seeking a job but would accept one if offered, from 16.2 percent in October to 15.6 percent in November. This group also noted that in addition to the estimated 120,000 net new jobs in November (very close to the consensus fore-cast of 125,000 jobs), the two prior months were revised higher by a total of 72,000 jobs. This group, seeking to retain the Presidency and control of the Senate, regain the House of Representatives as well as thousands of elected positions around the nation, noted that the U.S. economy has added at least 100,000 net new jobs for five months in a row. Almost as important as the sharp drop in the nation’s unemployment rate was the employment story being told by the “house-hold” survey, wherein the unemployment rate is derived. Democratic supporters noted that this survey of 60,000 households monthly has seen the addition of 1,280,000 net new jobs during the past four months alone, versus only 534,000 net new jobs in the larger “establish-ment” survey (140,000 businesses represent-ing roughly 440,000 worksites), the source of the “official” 120,000 employment increase (www.bloomberg.com). The Democratic view argued that the smaller survey is more sensitive to what is happening with small-business startups and expansions and agricultural jobs than the larg-er survey. This factor, combined with the surge in “temporary” employment positions in November, suggests that the much larger estab-lishment survey will soon indicate much more acceptable levels of American job creation, thereby contributing to widespread Democratic success in the November 2012 elections.

The Republican View The pro-Republican, pro-anyone-but-Barrack Obama for President in the elections now just 11 months away, not surprisingly saw things quite differently. This contingent noted that the addition of 120,000 net new jobs in November in an economic expansion now celebrating a two-and-a-half-year birth-day is abysmal. This group, seeking to retain the House of Representatives and regain the Senate and the White House, also noted that more than one-half of the net jobs reported were in retail trade and with “temp” agencies, not exactly the highest of income-producing jobs.

The “Repubs” noted this is particularly true given the massive and unprecedented amount of fiscal stimulus in the economy (as characterized by budget deficits averaging more than $1.3 trillion annually during the past three years). The Republicans also noted that the unprecedented monetary stimulus being served up by the Federal Reserve should also be contributing to much stronger U.S. econom-ic growth and much stronger job creation, per-haps 250,000-400,000 net new jobs monthly. This view suggests that it is the fear of more and more government spending, the fear of more and more government intrusion into our lives (think Obamacare,) the fear of higher

tax rates on people who invest and hire others, the fear of ongoing trillion dollar annual budget deficits for as far as the eye can see that has shaken the confidence of employers, leading to soft levels of new job creation. The Republican group noted that the primary reason the nation’s unemploy-ment rate declined sharply was that an estimated 315,000 discouraged workers left the labor force, stopped looking for work, and were therefore

no longer counted as unemployed. They noted that if the estimated labor force had remained unchanged, the unemployment rate would have been 8.8 percent. They pointed out that it is one thing for the unemployment rate to move lower based on strong job gains; it is something quite different when much of the decline is tied to workers leaving the labor force. Republican boosters noted the overly optimistic portrayal of the sharp drop in the unemployment rate as conveyed by the liberal media. They suggest that the positive spin of the November report could lead hundreds of thousands of formerly discouraged workers back into the labor market. The net result could see the unemployment rate soon move back to between 8.7 and 9 percent. This group noted that average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls actually declined by two cents (down 0.1 percent) in November, with a 12-month rise of 1.8 percent. This is hardly a positive development when consumer inflation this calendar year will be near 3.5 percent. The GOP noted that the smaller “house-hold” survey can be extremely volatile and should not be counted on as evidence of much stronger job creation to soon be picked up in the establishment survey. This group noted that the American economy has regained less than one-third of the eight million plus jobs lost during 2008 and 2009 alone despite massive government stimulus.The Nicest House in a Bad Neighborhood

Recent U.S. employment data, combined with a jump in consumer confidence, gains in manufacturing and solid auto sales suggest that U.S. economic growth has improved versus a lousy 2011 first half. Ironically, such improve-ment is taking place as Europe faces likely recession, China and India are slowing, and other emerging market nations are struggling. Stay tuned.

Jeff Thredgold is the only economist in the world to have ever earned the CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) international designa-tion, the highest earned designation in profes-sional speaking. He is the author of econA-merica, released by major publisher Wiley & Sons, and serves as economic consultant to Zions Bank.

Pick your poison

Jeff Thredgold

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Marketing genius is per-haps the most appropriate way to describe Donald J. Trump’s newest incarnation as the announced host — he can hardly be called a “mod-erator” — of a post-Christ-mas Republican debate sponsored by Newsmax, the conservative maga-zine. Why did several can-didates, including poten-tial victim Jon Huntsman, instantly agree to join this spectacle? The problem immediately faced by any candidate who might not wish to risk being “fired” by

the Donald onstage as millions watch is how to politely decline without being “fired” in a super-

heated blast of publicity right now. As President Obama discovered ear-lier this year, the press eagerly latches onto Trump at every oppor-tunity, even when he sounds utterly deranged. With the possible exception of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann

— who seems to have established an actual friendship with Trump — these unfortunate Republicans cannot relish the prospect of an

encounter with America’s tower-ing ego. Whatever Trump’s inten-tions, how will he be able to resist upstaging, one-upping, contradict-ing and perhaps even humiliating each of them in turn? And which of them will want to talk back smack to a publicity machine with his own “Fox and Friends” weekly time-slot called “Mondays with Trump”? It is hard not to feel a bit sad for the Republicans today, although they have certainly brought this on themselves. Ed Rollins, the legendary Ronald Reagan aide who worked for the Bachmann campaign until earlier this year,

expressed what many party stal-warts must be feeling: “Who made Trump the kingmaker? This cam-paign has been enough of a circus without making him the ringmas-ter.” The only sure winners in this gong show are Trump himself and his sponsors at Newsmax, who can count on high ratings and mas-sive media attention. Their con-stituencies will not be displeased no matter how Trump behaves. As Newsmax chief executive Christopher Ruddy told The New York Times, “Our readers and the grass roots really love Trump.” But Ruddy’s remark could

mean reopening a can of worms that in a saner world would remain tightly closed. Roger Stone, the ex-Richard Nixon operative, for-mer Trump consultant and full-time political schemer, warned that while the casino magnate’s role will be “interesting,” there could be dire consequences for the other participants. “Trump may appear more appealing a candidate to those watching than those he is moderating,” he said.

Joe Conason is the editor in chief of NationalMemo.com.

Copyright 2001Creators.com.

Trump? The Republican primary is now officially a "Gong Show"

Joe Conason


The joys of Christmas do not include coping with crowds at shopping malls or wracking your brains trying to figure out what to get as a gift for someone who already seems to have everything. Books are a way out of both situations. You don’t even have to go to a bookstore, with books so readily available on-line. As for the person who seems to have everything, newly published books are among the things they probably don’t always have. One of the most enjoyable new books I read this year was a biography titled Stan Musial: An American Life, by George Vecsey. Musial was one of the great hitters in the history of baseball, with a lifetime batting average of .331. This biography, however, is more about Musial the man, and the era in American life in which he lived, which makes it more

three-dimensional. It is a good read, and may be especially appre-ciated by people old enough to remember that era and the values that prevailed in that era, which Musial exemplified. Another new and very differ-

ent book about a bygone era that I enjoyed was The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, by Marc Levinson. It is about the rise and fall of the A&P grocery chain,

once the largest retailer in the world, with 15,000 stores, and renowned for

its high quality and low prices. But this is more than an eco-nomic story. It is a human story about a family that dedicated itself to making its business the best it could be — and how the death of the last member of that family was followed by A&P’s decline into oblivion. Two far less uplifting books

were published this year but both contain important charges of pro-found and dangerous corruption. The first is titled Injustice, by J. Christian Adams. He charges the Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder with turning a blind eye to widespread election fraud and intimidation, when those who are committing these acts are black. The other book is FDR Goes to War, by Burton W. Folsom and Anita Folsom. The romantic legends of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that whole generations have been taught in schools, on television and in the movies have been debunked by a whole series of history books, of which this is the latest and perhaps the most devastating — and painfully rel-evant to our current president. Economist and columnist Walter Williams’ new book this year is Race and Economics. You don’t need to know any economics to read it, but you will know some

after you do. If you believe that things like minimum wage laws or government regulations in general help low-income minorities, you will find it hard to keep believ-ing that after this book bombards you with hard facts and hard data, going back for decades. Ann Coulter’s new book this year, Demonic, is in the tradition of her other books with one-word titles, a blend of very sharp wit and thoroughly researched facts. It will delight Ann Coulter’s fans and may cause those few liberals who read it to be at risk for apo-plexy. Although Demonic was pub-lished before the “Occupy Wall Street” movement got under way, its subtitle was prophetic: “How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America.” Its theme is how mob thinking and mob actions have long been common on the left, whether in academia, the media or the streets. One chapter is titled, “You Can Lead a Mob to Water,

But You Can’t Make It Think.” Another writer whose series of books likewise blend wit and wisdom is Theodore Dalrymple, a British doctor who has lived in various countries around the world. His latest book this year is titled Anything Goes, and its theme is the degeneration of Western culture, to the accompaniment of unthinking rhetoric. My all-time favorite among Theodore Dalrymple’s books is “Life at the Bottom.” It is based on his chilling experiences work-ing in a low-income, predominant-ly white neighborhood in Britain. It is a classic examination of the moral squalor produced by the welfare state and its ideological rhetoric, regardless of race.

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.

Copyright 2011Creators.com

Christmas books

Thomas Sowell


Documents

The Enterprise - Utah's Business Journal, Dec. 12, 2011