Players

Salt Lake Area
The Salt Lake Chamber honored GAIL MILLER as the 2012 Athena award recipient at the 36th Annual American Express Women & Business Conference and Wells Fargo Athena Award Luncheon.

LANE BEATTIE, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, was honored as the 2012 Communicator of the Year at the annual Golden Spike Awards.

MARK HURST, of Connect Partners, was appointed to serve as Grow America CEO. Hurst played a key role in the formation of the Grow America Springboard programs and the creation of the Grow America brand.

Black Diamond, Inc. hired MORI HIKARI as general manager of Gregory Japan. KEN KINBARA joined Gregory Japan as sales manager, while NAOKO KOJIMA was hired as controller.

Ballard Spahr real estate attorney CRISTINA CORONADO was named 2013 President-elect of CREW Utah, the Utah chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Women Network.

GRANT S. WHITAKER, president and CEO of Utah Housing Corporation, was elected secretary/treasurer of the National Council of State Housing Agencies.

Utah Valley
JIM MELVILLE, principal of Freedom Elementary, was recently honored as a National Distinguished Principal. The awards honored one public school principal from each state, five from private schools and two from India and Peru.

KATE BAXTER, a graduate student at the Romney Institute for Public Management at Brigham Young University, received the Xining International Friendship Contribution Award from Xining City, the capital of Qinghai, China. The award, which is approved by local Chinese governments, promotes public and private partnership as well as citizen diplomacy and recognizes Baxter’s efforts to foster stronger relations between the state of Utah and Qinghai province.

Wasatch/Summit Area
SUSAN SIMPSON joined Sterling Ascend Insurance Resources as vice president. Simpson has more than 30 years experience in the commercial insurance industry, primarily servicing large corporate clients throughout Utah.

Following nine years as director of hospitality for Park City-based restaurant group Bill White Enterprises, LAWRENCE ACEDO joined The Sky Lodge as director of food and beverage, overseeing Easy Street Brasserie, Bar Boheme, Sky Blue and banquets. Executive Chef KEVIN DALEBOUT moved to The Sky Lodge from Deer Valley Resort’s Mariposa restaurant. HILARY REITER joined The Sky Lodge as director of marketing and public relations. DAVID OLSON was hired as director of rooms, while MELISSA RENSCHLER was hired as human resource manager.

The St. Regis Deer Valley appointed SHANE M. BAIRD as chef de cuisine at the hotel’s J&G Grill. A member of the original 2009 opening team for J&G Grill, Baird brings to the position comprehensive knowledge of food, beverage, events and operations.

Park City Group added food industry insiders AUSTIN F. NOLL, JR. and RICHARD JULIANO to the company’s board of directors. PETER BRENNAN, who has served on the board since 2009, announced his retirement from the board for personal reasons.

BROOKE MCAFFEE was promoted to chief financial officer of Sundance Institute.

Southern Utah
RACHAEL S. JACOBY, M.D., a retina specialist, joined Richens Eye Center, where she will provide treatment for retina and vitreous diseases, including retinal detachment, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

The international humanitarian organization Heart Walk Foundation (HWF) appointed KELLI CHARLTON of St. George as the newest member of its board of directors. A Southern Utah-based nonprofit organization, HWF was established in 2004 to serve the forgotten and neglected Q’ero tribes of the Andes Mountains in Peru.