By Barbara Rattle

The Enterprise

Moxtek, an Orem-based manufacturer of high-tech components for X-ray and optical systems, is planning to more than double the size of its corporate campus.

Currently occupying five buildings measuring about 20,000 square feet each at 1231 N. State St., the company has received approvals from Orem City to construct an 83,000 square foot, two-story, state-of-the art structure just west of its current facilities.

While the project still must still be approved by Moxtek’s parent and grandparent companies abroad, which is expected in April, plans call for the building site to be improved this year and for construction to begin in 2013.

“In 2011 we acquired some property west of our current building. There are some auto shop buildings and other structures on it and those will be torn down,” said CFO Nathan West. “The building will be adjacent to State Street, run along State Street as close to the street as we can be.

“We’ve had record growth the last two years and we’re on track to do another record year in 2012,” West said. “We hired about 30 employees last year and this new facility will require hiring too, probably 20 to 30. It will increase our production capacity, if we use the whole building, by 50 percent.”

The new building will also be used not only to expand existing business, but to perhaps enter into new business sectors as well, although West declined to elaborate.

Moxtek employs roughly 190 people, all but two of them in Utah.

Ray West (no relation), the firm’s business development director, said Moxtek was founded by a Brigham Young University chemistry and physics professor in 1986. The firm’s X-ray components are most commonly found in X-ray analysis equipment used to determine the composition of a material. Its optics components are used primarily in projectors. The firm, which sells its products globally, was purchased in 2004 by Polatechno Co. Ltd., a Japanese firm that consists of a joint venture between Nippon Kayaku Co. Ltd. and Arisawa Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

By Brice Wallace

The Enterprise

A decade from now, fliers using Salt Lake City International Airport will see a completely revamped facility.

A $1.8 million airport redevelopment project, expected to take eight to 10 years, will result in a single terminal sporting a long east-west corridor, more concession options and gates able to accommodate all types of planes.

Airport spokesperson Barbara Gann told the Utah Board of Tourism Development that the project is needed to address seismic risk, provide “right-sized” facilities, solve operational problems, improve customer service, accommodate growth and maintain competitive costs.

“We were never designed to be a large hub airport,” Gann said. “We were an origination/destination airport. The airfield is used differently when it’s a hub. We’re also designed to serve 12 million passengers and we’re serving 20 [million]. So you can see the difference and why we need to start expanding.”

The oldest parts of the airport, Terminal 1 and concourses A and B, are 51 years old. Terminal 2 and Concourse C are 34 years old. The newest elements are Concourse E and the International Terminal, at 16 years. “We’re dealing with aging facilities that aren’t serving us well,” Gann said.

Construction will start in 2013 on rental car service facilities and in 2015 on the new terminal. The terminal and concourse will open in 2018. Only terminals B, C and D will remain, although a decision about their future likely would be made between 2022 and 2026. If they are demolished, there is a possibility of a second, northern concourse being built and connected to the other concourse with a “people mover.”

Gann noted that the airport will remain open during all elements of construction and demolition. The goal is no disruption of service, although passengers will see some changes to roads, buildings and access, she added.

When the project is complete, travelers will arrive and depart from different levels and find that all 74 gates will handle all types of aircraft — from smaller, regional jets to large planes used by mainline carriers. The airport currently has 86 gates, but 30 use “ground loading.”

“So this [project] is really not about expansion as much as it’s about efficiency,” Gann said.

Board chairman Joel Racker said the changes will come about sooner than most people fathom. “When Barbara says eight to 10 years, I know that seems like a long ways out, but when they announced City Creek, it seemed like that was forever away when that thing was going to be done, and now it’s opening next month,” he said. “So it’s crazy how fast time goes by and with the discussion of a another potential Olympic bid, it’s really scary how fast time flies.”

The project will be funded with $631 million in airport cash, $557 million in general airport revenue bonds backed by passenger facility charges, and other sources.

Project details are available at slcairport.com.

By Barbara Rattle

The Enterprise

The assets of Page Brake Warehouse, a Salt Lake City-based parts distributor serving the heavy-duty vehicle aftermarket in the Rocky Mountain region, have been sold for the second time in less than a month.

Fleet Brake, a Canadian firm, bought Page’s assets in late January, then promptly decided to sell them to The Woodlands, Texas-based FleetPride on Feb. 2 in order to concentrate on its business in Canada. FleetPride bills itself as the nation’s largest aftermarket distributor of heavy-duty truck and trailer parts.

Page Brake executives could not be reached for comment. Page Brake is now answering its telephone as “Page Brake FleetPride.” Page’s assets consisted of locations in Salt Lake City. Vernal, St. George, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls and Pocatello. Page was founded in 1946.

A trade publication account of the transaction reported that the asset sale to FleetPride was made pursuant to a court order issued by the District Court for the Third Judicial District in and for Salt Lake County and a definitive agreement signed by a state-appointed receiver. A spokesperson for Fleet Brake said she was unable to answer any questions about the deal. Hooversonline indicates Page has annual revenues of about $14 million.

“We are excited to start 2012 off with a new acquisition. These five new locations are representative of our desire to establish presence in new markets, as well as our approach to strengthen existing networks,” FleetPride president and CEO W.M. McGee said in a prepared statement. “In order to maintain our leadership position in the marketplace, we will continue to acquire independent operators who can significantly accelerate our growth plans and profitability. We are always monitoring the landscape for potential purchases in conjunction with our organic growth strategy.”

FleetPride has more than 225 locations in 41 states, carrying heavy-duty parts for buses, tractor-trailers, waste disposal trucks and large off-road vehicles, as well as providing repair services. FleetPride’s 400,000-plus SKUs (stock keeping units) are ArvinMeritor, Federal Signal, Ingersoll-Rand and Roadmaster. It also offers private-label products and rebuilt (in-house) parts. FleetPride is owned by the Bahrain-based investment firm Investcorp and other investors.

By Brice Wallace

The Enterprise

A legislative bill that would require heating, ventilation and air conditioning technicians to be licensed failed to advance to a vote in committee but could resurface later in the current session or during interim committee meetings later this year.

SB160 is sponsored by Senate Assistant Majority Whip Peter Knudson, R-Brigham City, who said advances in HVAC technology warrant licensing and training called for in the bill.

“Basically, it boils down to training, making sure those who service today’s technology have the background, experience and education to do that which the public expects,” Knudson told the Senate Business and Labor Committee, which ultimately moved to its next agenda item without voting on SB160.

Among the supporters were members of the Rocky Mountain Gas Association, a trade association for residential and light commercial contractors. John Hill, the association’s executive director, said 33 other states require HVAC licensing and that Utah’s bill also calls for two years of formal training for licensed residential heating and air technicians. Like licensing laws for electricians and plumbers, it also calls for continuing education. SB160 grandfathers those who have been in the industry and can prove long-term training or its equivalency.

Currently, HVAC techs must pass a certification exam. The association offers a two-day exam-preparation class, but even home inspectors have enrolled and passed the certification test, he said. “We believe that more education and training are required and are of importance for both the public’s safety and health,” Hill said.

Many homeowners mistakenly believe HVAC techs are licensed, and having a more-educated, licensed workforce would protect homeowners and the techs themselves from such dangers as carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.

“It will improve the public health and safety, it’s going to create a better educated workforce and improved work product, homeowners will save money and enjoy improved comfort, and it does promote the energy policy of the state because an educated technician will size the equipment right, he will vent the flue gasses correctly and actually save money in the long term for the homeowner,” Hill said.

Dean Dyatt, on the RMGA board and also a technical support employee for an HVAC distributor in Salt Lake, said such improvements would come years from now if the bill is passed. “We’re not necessarily going to see an improvement tomorrow or next year or five years but the HVAC industry has tried for 20-30 years to have some form of licensure put in place and there’s not been an improvement over that time,” Dyatt said.

Clay Thornton, an owner of Thornton Plumbing & Heating and the RMGA board president, said problems with HVAC system installations are more prevalent than problems with plumbing. “I can’t believe that the HVAC industry does not have to participate in a training program like the plumbers and electricians,” Thornton said.

The bill is not a matter of “gatekeeping” to keep people out of the industry, he said. “Proper training could teach contractors how to do better installations. … I don’t see that we want to keep good, qualified people out of this industry. We want them in there but we want them properly trained,” he said.

“I think that it’s a little unfortunate that we’re the only trade that has no licensing requirement,” said Ryan Snow, president of Western Heating & Air Conditioning and a member of the RMGA board. “We’re not asking for very much to get our industry to be raised to a higher level.”

But Taz Biesinger, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Utah, said his group opposes the bill. The association wants an educated and informed workforce, but SB160 “goes several steps too far.” He suggested that a better route would be more specialized certifications for HVAC techs.

Biesinger said “turf wars” and “turf protecting” are big issues in the industry. An HVAC tech who finds a minor electrical problem is unable to fix it because it’s not within their work scope. The same is true for plumbing problems that are discovered. The association favors certification for cross-training in the different disciplines “and we can be assured that they are qualified to do those things we’re asking them to do,” he said. Instead, under SB160, an HVAC tech would face a four- to six-year commitment to advance from apprentice to master and attain the two years of required formal education, he said.

Currently, HVAC contractors are required to be licensed but individual techs are not, but the contractors want to hire qualified workers. “The representation that these [HVAC techs] are unqualified, untrained, unlicensed people is a little bit of a twist of really what the reality is,” Biesinger said.

“The home builders association sees this as really gatekeeping, an attempt to try and prohibit people from working in the industry and the business and would really, we think, increase costs over time,” he said.

Biesinger said he favored interim committee discussion because he believes there is room for compromise. Several committee members agreed that the bill needed further discussion by stakeholders. Two said they have concerns about the grandfathering component after seeing photos of poor installation work by some current HVAC techs.

“[In] the testimony, they said it would be 25 years before it would ever take effect,” said Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake. “I think as we take a look at the health and safety of individuals between now and then, I think it’s something that should be addressed in the next home that’s built, not something that’s built 25 years from now.”

By Brice Wallace

The Enterprise

A bill designed to help business owners with personal property tax costs stalled in a Utah legislative committee.

HB41 received much discussion but no vote during a meeting of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee as people questioned whether the measure would result in too much of a tax shift onto Utah residents.

The bill would exempt from taxes the first $25,000 of taxable tangible personal property for businesses. Currently, the level is $3,500, although a consumer price index component has moved it to about $3,800.

“My motivation for this is hearing from a lot of small-business constituents that say if there’s one thing they’d like to eliminate [it’s] personal property audits,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Patrick Painter, R-Nephi.

Painter acknowledged that, from a practical standpoint, the bill would not eliminate audits but it might lessen the likelihood.

“If there’s anything that I’d like to give to the small-business owners in this state for hanging in the last three or four years of this recession, [it] is a break on some of their equipment personal property [tax],” Painter said. “If I can make life easier for them, then I’m all for it, and that’s basically what the bill does.”

About 50,000 businesses statewide would benefit from the bill, but it would result in a tax shift of about $12 million. Painter said business owners would see a rise in business real estate taxes and homeowners also would see personal property taxes rise, typically $7 to $12 on a $200,000 home, depending on the county. Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville, said that shift might be “a little too drastic on some of our residents.”

Salt Lake County Assessor Lee Gardner said the bill will not change the number of audits his office conducts although it might shift “what categories we look at.” Of 27,000 personal property accounts in the county, about 16,000 would fall under the $25,000 threshold, he said. Of $65 million collected annually in personal property taxes in the county, about $4.8 million would be exempted under the bill — “not an inconsequential amount,” he said. Gardner added that he opposed the bill because the decrease in the tax base effectively would increase the tax rate.

Still, Painter said small-business owners could benefit, not only from the exemption, but, if fewer are audited, the cost of lost time when handling audits. Candace Daly, Utah director of the National Federation of Independent Business, concurred, calling some audits “brutal” and time-consuming. “The time and the burden on small businesses to track all of these items is crazy. … It takes them away from the work that they’re supposed to be doing,” she said.

Daly also noted that businesses pay sales taxes when they purchase items, only to see them taxed over and over again as personal property.

The Revenue and Taxation Interim Committee had recommended the bill.

By Barbara Rattle

The Enterprise

A Florida-based manufacturer of components for the window and door, fencing, and pool and patio industries is preparing to open a distribution center in Utah County and is mulling the idea of moving both its headquarters and its manufacturing operations here.

Weldon Industries, based in Tampa, plans to break ground in the coming weeks for a 67,000 square foot office/warehouse facility at approximately 601 W. 700 S., Pleasant Grove. The company will occupy a little less than a third of the structure, which will take about six months to complete, while the remaining space will be made available for lease to other tenants, said Mark Weldon, president and CEO of Weldon Industries.

Weldon, who moved with his family to Park City roughly two years ago, said distributing products from Florida to the West — including Salt Lake City, where he said the company has “lots of customers” — is difficult, so it was natural to open up a distribution center in the western U.S.

Design-Build Contractors Inc., Alpine, will act as general contractor. The building was designed by Pleasant Grove architect Curtis Miner.

The Utah facility will complement Weldon Industries’ 75,000 square foot operation in Tampa. Overall, the $15 million-a-year company, founded in 2004, has more than 100 employees, some 70 of them in China. Weldon said he hopes the Chinese operation can be shuttered and that work can be moved to Utah; he is considering seeking incentives from both the state and local municipalities.

“The costs have gotten so high in China,” Weldon said. “There’s a duty that people pay and the government collects. Every time their currency gets stronger, everything at Walmart and everywhere else, by the time it gets to the end consumer, ends up costing so much more. The bottom line is a mass exodus out of China that’s been taking place for quite a while.”

Expanding in Florida also poses problems, according to Weldon.

“The property tax system that they have there is just way too expensive for the people of the state. When property taxes and insurance make up more than 40 percent of the monthly expense for housing, housing stops,” he said. “Utah seems as a state to overall have their act together, which is nice. It seems to be run a whole hell of a lot better than Florida. Park City is a beautiful little enclave and it’s a great place to raise a family.”

Imagine being able to sit down with more than two dozen of Utah’s top business leaders to talk about their secrets of success, including their philosophies on ethics and business.

That’s exactly what University of Utah finance professor Cal Boardman had the opportunity to do. Over the course of two years, Boardman interviewed such Utah business luminaries as Jon Huntsman, Ezekiel Dumke Jr., Robert Garff and 23 other Utah executives to learn firsthand their approaches to doing business. Utah has been ranked No. 1 for business by Forbes magazine the last two years in a row.

Boardman’s 40 hours of videotaped conversations have been distilled into a one-hour documentary presenting personal stories that are insightful, inspiring, candid and unexpectedly moving. “Ethically Speaking: Perspectives From Utah Business Leaders,” airs Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. on KUED-TV.

KUED’s Erik Nielson used Boardman’s interviews as the basis of the documentary, which includes additional interviews with Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma; Carl Richards, certified financial planner, illustrator and author of The Behavior Gap who blogs for the New York Times; Donald Herrin, U of U professor of family and consumer studies; and Kristina Diekmann, U of U professor of business ethics.

As Nielsen watched the interviews, he saw some common themes. In “Crucible Stories,” business leaders talk about transformational moments in their lives. For Rodney Brady, past president of Weber State University, it was a teacher who told him to list everything he wanted to achieve in life. For Ezekiel Dumke Jr., it was a visit to the Hoover Dam, which his father built. For Marilyn Tang, founder/owner of Certified Handling Systems, it was getting a loan from her then-boyfriend when banks refused to give her a loan to start a business because she is a woman.

“Philosopher’s Dilemma” includes an interview with the late Obert C. Tanner, who spent his mornings teaching philosophy at the University of Utah and his afternoons at his jewelry plant. His successful O.C. Tanner Co. sprang from his desire in 1927 to give his students more than a piece of paper when they graduated. He had pins made for them. “As my business grew,” he says, “I found myself being a capitalist.”

He had to reconcile that with being a philosopher, which he did by maintaining a profound respect for his employees, according to former O.C. Tanner Co. CEO Kent Murdock. “He believed in sharing and give-ability.”

A sociological study that followed four generations of men found that the way they treat people and their sense of altruism carried over from one generation to the next. In the film’s segment on “Fathers,” Robert Garff calls his father, who was the founder of Ken Garff Automotive Group, “my hero. He was always helping the underdog and was very compassionate.”

Rob Campbell of Wheeler Machinery Co. recalls an important lesson he learned from his father. “I wasn’t going on vacation because I said I’d be missed. Dad filled a bucket of water and said, ‘Put your hand in it. Pull it out. See a hole? They’ll be fine without you.’”

Heidi Redd, owner of the Dugout Ranch, credits her father with allowing her to “pursue my adventures” while Barbara Zimonja, former president/CEO of Premier Resorts International, says she was influenced by her grandfather telling her, “You may get married, but you’ll always have your own checking account.”

In the “Money for Giving” segment, Jon Huntsman, founder/CEO of Huntsman Corp., reveals a difficult childhood marked by poverty, hardship, his mother’s illness and death and his father’s toughness. At age 13, he helped support his family, who sometimes lived on scraps from the meat market. He paid for transportation and all family medical costs, in addition to his own costs. He described his upbringing as “pathetically harrowing and difficult and sad.”

Huntsman’s official biographer Jay Shelledy calls him a remarkable individual, “driven by family, his religion and giving back.” When he was first married and still struggling, he would take $50 out of his $300 paycheck to help families less privileged.

“Many men and women build businesses and enterprises for the sake of enriching themselves,” says Huntsman. “That’s never been of great interest to me. My greatest interest has been helping the needy and those who suffer, the homeless, abused women and children, underserved young men and women who need scholarships, and, of course, cancer victims.”

Many of those interviewed focused on the importance of integrity, with Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, calling it “the source of your security.” Peter Freed, owner of Lagoon, integrated the amusement park in the late 1940s, long before integration was common, simply because he saw it as “the right thing to do.”

The “Empowerment Through Innovation” segment looks at those who found a new way of doing business. Jet Blue co-founder David Neeleman created the first ticketless airline with agents working from home, which saved the company a huge amount of money.

What makes a successful business? Fred Tannenbaum, former president of Steel Encounters, claims it’s by “doing more than you have to.” For William Mouskondis of Nicholas & Co., “the secret of success is passion;” for Jim Loveland of Xactware, the secret is to “balance business life with family life;” and Rob Campbell sums it up with, “I want this place to be better because I was here.”

The program will be re-broadcast on other days during February. Check KUED listings for details.

By Barbara Rattle

The Enterprise

Ground will soon be broken for the first building in the Salt Lake City Foreign Trade Zone, a 71-acre project whose creation dates back to 2006.

Bountiful-based general contractor Sahara Inc. has been selected to build the structure, a 150,000 square foot building that will be occupied by FedEx Ground and which is expected to be complete in September. A building permit pegged the value of the construction at $6.2 million, however it is generally agreed the building permit valuations are about half market value.

FedEx spokesperson David Westrick said the building, to be located at 1095 W. 4800 W., will be larger than FedEx Ground’s existing station that currently serves the area, allowing the company to better meet customer demands in the region.

“When the facility opens, positions will transfer from the existing station and we will add to the workforce as necessary to support increased demand for service in the area,” Westrick wrote in an e-mail.

The new facility is part of a nationwide network expansion to boost daily package volume capacity and further enhance the speed and service capabilities of the FedEx Ground network. Since 2005, the company has opened 11 new hubs featuring the most advanced material-handling systems and expanded or relocated more than 500 local facilities.

The network enhancements have resulted in accelerating ground service delivery by one day or more in more than half of the United States. FedEx Ground delivers more than 61 percent of packages in two days or less and more than 82 percent of packages in three days or less.  With these changes, FedEx Ground is faster to more overall locations and FedEx Home Delivery is faster to more residential locations than any other ground carrier, Westrick wrote.

In 2006, Salt Lake City partnered with The Rockefeller Group, a New York-based foreign-trade zone (FTZ) and real estate developer to create an FTZ to boost international trade. Some 1.3 million square feet in seven buildings are expected to be constructed at the Salt Lake City FTZ, which serves as a Union Pacific Railroad intersection for eastbound freight from the three largest West Coast Ports — Los Angeles/Long Beach, Seattle/Tacoma and Oakland.

Calls to Rockefeller Group’s New York and California offices were not returned. Bob Farrington, economic development director for Salt Lake City, also could not be reached for comment. A member of the Commerce Real Estate Solutions team that is marketing the FTZ said all team members were required by contract not to comment on the FTZ’s first building.

Financial savings from U.S. FTZs are derived from a combination of benefits, including traditional savings from duty deferral, reduction and/or elimination, and logistics and supply chain facilitation. Essentially, instead of filing a Customs entry and paying U.S. duty (import tax) when a shipment arrives at a U.S. port, duty payment is deferred until the goods are withdrawn from the zone for consumption in the U.S., providing cash flow benefits, according to a document distributed by the city in 2009.

In a pure distribution FTZ environment, according to the document, merchandise from abroad can be de-consolidated and inspected and, in some cases, repairs, repackaging, labeling and marking may be performed to prepare the goods for final sale. For those products exported out of the FTZ, U.S. duty is eliminated entirely upon the export of the goods from the FTZ. Returns to vendors or destruction of product in the zone may also supplement duty elimination benefits in FTZs.

By Brice Wallace

The Enterprise

Utah’s position as an exporter continues to strengthen, but the nation’s top representative at the World Bank believes his organization can bolster export figures even further.

Speaking recently at the Salt Lake Chamber offices, Ian Solomon, the U.S. executive director of the World Bank Group, encouraged businesspeople to explore opportunities to bid on contracts through the World Bank as it works to fight poverty and improve living conditions in developing countries.

Elizabeth Goryunova, executive vice president and chief operating officer at World Trade Center Utah and director of international relations at the chamber, recently was named a World Bank private sector liaison officer, or PSLO, and Solomon said business owners can use her expertise to help them navigate the World Bank’s “complex structure.”

“Utah’s international business community continues to impress me and surprise me how strong it is,” Solomon said. “So hopefully the PSLO can provide some additional tools to help you scale up and grow further.”

For example, PSLOs can help teach companies about project time frames, finding and tracking contract opportunities, and how to engage with the World Bank to get information and expertise about particular sectors or particular countries, he said.

Through its institutions, the World Bank provides low-interest loans, interest-free credits and grants to developing countries for investment in education, health, public administration, infrastructure, financial and private-sector development, agriculture and environmental and natural resource management. The U.S. is the largest shareholder on the executive boards for the World Bank Group institutions. The bank has 187 member countries.

The World Bank has exceeded its goal to triple its lending over a three-year period. It made commitments of $106 billion in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 and has $220 billion in subscribed capital.

U.S. companies can be contractors, investors and development partners, Solomon said.

“Ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers live outside our borders, yet only 1 percent of U.S. companies export. ... And of the 1 percent that do export, three out of five only export to one country, often Canada or Mexico. There’s a huge market out there that we need to tap,” he said.

Development in low and middle-income countries is a moral, strategic and economic imperative for the U.S., he said. Among moral considerations are that one in six people in the world lives in “extreme poverty and vulnerability.” The World Bank aims to eradicate poverty and hunger, ensure universal primary education, improve gender equality, cut child mortality, improve maternal health, combat diseases and stabilize the environment.

“As the world population is growing, becoming younger and more urbanized, we’re facing increasing constraints on food and water and pressure from climate change,” Solomon said of the strategic component. “We cannot reduce conflict if we do not reduce poverty. We cannot reduce poverty if we do not achieve economic growth and development.”

The bank wants global growth to be balanced “so that developing countries have solid middle-class consumers rather than unequal and unstable societies,” he said.

“The public sector and these old public institutions are not going to solve the problems of poverty and governance around the world,” he said. “It’s going to be private firms, hopefully working in concert or in closer concert, and that’s where the bank can play a role.”

The visit was Solomon’s first to Salt Lake City. He praised the city for a “strong global outlook,” being a city with “an incredibly strong service ethic” and a desire “to get things done.”

One thing Utah has done recently is become a bigger player among exporting states. Federal statistics released the morning of Solomon’s visit showed that Utah led the nation in export growth during the first 11 months of 2011, with a 41 percent year-over-year increase. Lew Cramer, president and CEO of World Trade Center Utah, noted that Utah is the only state to double its exports over the past five years.

Utah-based Kneaders Bakery and Cafe, a chain of regional restaurants open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plans to launch a number of new locations this year.

The firm just opened a location in Logan — its 16th — and plans 2012 openings in Heber, Ogden, City Creek (Salt Lake City) Saratoga Springs, The Shops At Riverwoods (Provo) and Spanish Fork, two new Arizona locations in Gilbert and Chandler, one new Denver location, one new Boise location and one new Oregon location.

The Four Foods Group has been Kneaders’ four-state development partner since 2008. CEO Andrew K. Smith said one of the key contributors to the successful expansion of the Kneaders brand is that the organization has consistently been able to work with local banks to secure traditional financing, even during the down economy. To date, banks have provided the company with more than $9 million to buy land, construct buildings and purchase equipment. The banks’ willingness to lend to the company has not slowed, as the company has performed on each loan.

“That is the key to securing additional financing,” Smith said. “Every financial institution determines who their top performing clients are, and that institution will do whatever it takes to support those clients in their future growth and needs. I have found this to be the case even more so during a downturned economy.”

In addition to securing capital, land acquisition has also become monumental in keeping Kneaders’ expansion plans on pace.

“Today, more and more developers are open to build to suit propositions from tenants like Kneaders,” Smith said. “Meaning, those tenants have a vacant piece of land that isn’t generating any solid cash flow. So instead of trying to sell that land at a loss, land owners are willing to chase their original investment with an additional sum of money to get a secure, constant flow of cash by occupying that land with a strong tenant.”

That is also the case with inline retail space.

“Vacancy isn’t good for developers or property owners,” Smith said. “They want to fill the space, so there is increasing negotiating power on the tenant’s side. However, the market is also starting to be flooded with other great opportunities, and many companies are realizing that now is the time to try to grow their business. As long as those companies can find the capital they need, they will be growing. That is what I believe is going to be a major factor in getting us out of this down economy much faster than we all anticipate.”