Competitive Value

Ex-college athletes working in Utah’s A/E/C industry reflect on how competitive sports have aided their professional careers.
By Brad Fullmer

Author’s Note: This year’s edition of UC&D’s ‘Ex-College Athletes in the A/E/C Industry’ features five individuals from four different sports—football (2), basketball, soccer, and swimming—who each immensely enjoyed their collegiate athletic careers. They have taken the lessons, experiences, and values they learned from the playing field, court and pool, respectively, and applied them to their professional careers. And they are quick to draw parallels from athletics to the real world, especially in an industry as competitive as construction and design.

Name: Dave Hogan
Title: President 
Company: Wadman Corporation 
College: Weber State University
Sport: Football; Steer Wrestling 
Years: 1986-87; 1991-92

Dave Hogan has experienced more than his fair share of tragedy in life but he’s risen above it all to become one of the major movers and shakers in Utah’s construction industry. 
Hogan, 54, has been the President of Ogden-based general contractor Wadman Corp. since April 2007, at the youthful age of 39. During his 15-plus years as the company’s top executive, he’s led Wadman to great heights, with the firm consistently ranking among Utah’s Top 10 GC’s in annual revenues, according to UC&D’s annual rankings. 
At 6-foot-2 and a stout 220 lbs., Hogan was a standout two-way football player (tailback and defensive end) at Weber High (Class of ’86) and played two seasons for Weber State University (1986-87). He also competed in steer wrestling for Weber State’s rodeo program for two years (1991-92), with a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Guatemala (1989-91) sandwiched in between. 
At the beginning of his senior year at Weber, Hogan’s father, Jack, was killed in a trucking accident outside Baggs, Wyoming, on September 3, 1985, the day before Hogan’s 18th birthday. He remembers vividly the last football game his father had seen him play, the previous week against Davis High, which Weber lost, 24-20. 
Hogan recalled, “We were ahead 20-17 in the fourth quarter and coach put in the JV kickoff team, and they ran a reverse down to the five-yard line and scored with 20 seconds left. My wife’s like, ‘You can’t even remember the kids’ names but you know exactly what happened in a football game!’ he said. 
“At 18, you lose your dad, it’s quite the deal,” said Hogan. “The community rallied around our family like no other.” The team dedicated the season to Jack Hogan, and the tiny school from Pleasant View would go on a historic playoff run in November, unexpectedly claiming the 4A State Championship, defeating the likes of much larger schools including Hillcrest, Olympus, Alta, and ultimately, Davis High in the title game, exacting a measure of revenge for the pre-season loss.  
“We had no business winning the title […] we beat Olympus and then beat Alta in the semi-finals and weren’t supposed to touch either of them,” he said. 
He earned a scholarship to Weber State and played two years at linebacker for Coach Mike Price before deciding to serve a mission. When he returned from Guatemala, he was done playing football and switched to steer wrestling, competing for Jack Hannum, who had been something of a father figure to Hogan when his father died. Hogan was equally as feisty competing in rodeo, ranking fourth in the NCAA Finals in steer wrestling in 1991. 
Hogan was also a hard worker, learning the ropes of the construction industry from his maternal uncle, Bryce Nelson. Starting at age 12, Hogan would stay with his uncle’s family in Cedar Hills during summers. He served as a “gopher” in his early years, and eventually learned how to pour concrete, use various concrete tools, framing, layout, and even doing more complex finish work as his skills sharpened. 
“I really learned a ton from him, construction-wise,” said Hogan.
He dropped out of Weber State in ’92, two days into his final year, having become disenchanted with the fact that his accounting professor and his finance professor both filed bankruptcy multiple times. “I went down to administration, got a refund, and walked out of there. I’m like, ‘I’m out. I’m going to go start framing.”
Hogan later went to work for Ogden-based R&O Construction as a carpenter and superintendent. In 1997, he was working on a Smith’s Food King remodel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when a friend of his older brother said to contact Dave Wadman. Hogan interviewed and was hired within two weeks as an estimator and project manager. Moving to the office full-time was a bit of a transition, Hogan admitted. 
“I really never projected myself in an office, like ever—it’s like putting a lion in a freaking cage!” he chuckled. “Still somedays, I’m like, ‘What in the hell am I doing’? I still like to work with my hands. I like to build things.” 
Hogan learned estimating via 10-key and “green sheets,” doing estimating takeoffs by hand while also running projects. In 2001, he was snowmobiling with friend and co-worker Rob Allred, who was Wadman’s Chief Estimator and VP of Business Development, when Allred got buried in an avalanche and died, another devastating tragedy. 
“When that happened, David (Wadman) put me in as VP of Business Development and I continued to run projects,” said Hogan. “At an early age I figured out you just move on.”
He moved up the Wadman corporate ladder to VP of Operations a couple years later, “then one day David called me and asked me to be President.” 
He credits the influence of his dad, his grandpa, and his uncle for instilling within him a strong work ethic. “Grandpa was a contract miner in Butte, Montana. He mined ore with a pick and shovel. Whatever he put in the bucket, that’s what he got paid. Dad was a hard worker [and] did whatever he needed to provide for our family.”
Hogan has been active in the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Utah, serving as Chairman in 2016. His time in that position taught him that “there are a lot of good general contractors in Utah, and even better human beings,” he said. “It was a great experience being involved, gaining a better understanding of the state legislature, how things get accomplished, and how the AGC champions rights and opportunities for contractors.”
He expressed gratitude for the Wadman family, which included learning valuable lessons from founder V. Jay Wadman, who established Wadman Corporation in 1951 and passed away in January 2013. 
“The coolest thing was going up to his office and just talking to him,” Hogan said. “You’d go up there for one question and walk out 45 minutes later with stories that taught a lesson. When they put me in as President, I went up to talk to Jay and said, ‘Man, I’ve got some big shoes to fill’. Jay said, ‘Just put your own shoes on. We chose you to run this company because we trust in you’.”
He continued, “I could never repay Dave Wadman for everything I’ve learned here […] unbelievable person.” 
“He’s got a lot of drive—he’s not afraid to tell people what to do,” said Wadman of Hogan. “If people need to be corrected, he doesn’t have any problem moving them along to the path they need to get to. He’s good at making hard decisions. He and the team have taken us to places we’d never have dreamed about. It’s been a very good thing.”
Wadman Corp. currently has 150 employees and reported another banner year in 2021 with revenues of $230 million. “They’re good, solid numbers for what we do,” said Hogan. 
Two of his five children currently work at Wadman, and his youngest son, Kohl, played football at Snow College, earning 2nd Team All-American JUCO honors last season as a linebacker. His stepson, Kyler Harsha, started as a Project Manager in April, while Kohl works in the warehouse.
Hogan believes there are a lot of similarities between the playing field and his career. 
“Whether it’s the playing field or the work environment, it’s all the same,” he posited. “It’s teamwork. It’s knowing the fundamentals and being a master of your craft. At the end of the day—and at the beginning of the day—it comes down to people.”
And he’ll always cherish the memories of playing for Weber High’s 1985 State Championship football team and the impact it had on helping him grieve his father’s death. 
“We weren’t the most talented team—we shouldn’t have won it,” he said. “We were just a bunch of rag-tag kids that played hard together and took care of each other.”
 

Name: Robby Loose 

Title: Director of HR & Safety

Company: Stout Building Contractors 

College: Brigham Young University

Sport: Swimming 

Years: 1992; 1995-98


Robby Loose was born into a sports family, and quickly realized while growing up in Washington State the value of competition. 

The youngest of four children, his father, Robert (Bob), was a college and high school football and track coach for more than 50 years. Bob was also a passionate sports fan, particularly of his alma mater, Brigham Young University, where he played football in the 1950’s. 

Loose, who turns 49 in August, followed in his father’s footsteps by competing for BYU—albeit in swimming—earning four letters in 1992 and from 1995-98 (he served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Guam/Micronesia from 1993-95). 

“Dad was a football coach, and he was okay with me playing football, but he said ‘Let’s get you into a sport where you’re not going to have to your hips replaced or your knees replaced. You want to able to move when you’re older,’” said Loose. 

Two of Loose’s siblings also gravitated to coaching professions. Dee Loose has been a swim coach for 30+ years, including a decade at BYU as an assistant coach and he currently runs Hilltop Aquatics in American Fork. Colleen Long has taught gymnastics for 30-plus years and now owns and operates Alpha Gymnastics club in Woodinville, Washington. 

Loose’s most notable achievement in swimming, he said, was being named an All-American as a senior at Woodrow Wilson High in Tacoma in 1991-92, where he swam the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. He was recruited by BYU, the University of Utah, the University of Iowa, and the University of Arizona, but said he “desperately wanted to go to the University of Washington. But my swim coach told them I was Mormon and going to go on a mission and to not look at me. I found that out after my mission.” 

He nonetheless takes pride in his career at the Y, and it made his father extremely proud to have a son attend his alma mater. “He was stoked—he loves BYU,” said Loose. 

Loose said he had a good collegiate career, earning a few conference titles in relay races and clocking a personal best time in the 200-yard free of 1:38.2. “At the time I was a solid college swimmer, but not elite,” he said. “The NCAAs back then were won with a 1:31; now they win with 1:29—they’ve broken the 1:30 barrier. Kids today are off the charts—they’re otherworldly!

Loose is relatively new to Utah and the construction industry, having been hired in October 2021 to serve as Director of Human Resources and Safety for Bountiful-based general contractor Stout Building Contractors. He had spent the previous 16 years at MAU Workforce Solutions as Director of Risk Management and Safety, living in North Augusta, South Carolina, just across the Savannah River from The Masters and and the famous course at Augusta National. 

Loose has relished his brief time working at Stout and said the principles he learned as a collegiate athlete have aided him during his professional career. 

“You are programmed for goal setting and achievement [in sports], and I would like to think I’ve brought that to Stout in the form of performance development and our application of it here among our 120 employees,” he said. “It’s fun to work in construction at this period when the pipeline for business is wide open. You’re really pushed hard to make the environment hospitable for existing employees and attractive for potential employees. And it’s so competitive.”

“Robby is driven by passion,” said James Stout, Founder of the 16-year-old general contractor. “His contribution to Stout is recognized, celebrated, and is backed with his intentional and meaningful communication, insightful initiatives, and desire to see others excel and succeed. There is no doubt that Robby approached construction with the same passion which pushed him to be an elite athlete.” 

Loose added, “If you’re an athlete, you’ve got be competitive, otherwise you get washed up. And [construction] is competition. Construction in Utah, from what I’ve observed, is a competitive, fraternal order. There is this notion that if we all work hard, (a competitor’s) success equals my success, and I really think that’s what is happening here in this pocket of America, where construction is just going crazy. It’s a different professional culture.”


Name: Brittney Boyle

Title: Director of Marketing

Company: Pentalon Construction

College: Queens University of Charlotte

Sport: Soccer

Years: 2001-03


As the Director of Marketing for Salt Lake-based general contractor Pentalon Construction, Brittney Eakins Boyle is relishing the opportunity to utilize her competitive chops in the pursuit of new construction projects.

“I absolutely think it’s the best industry for me to be in because it mixes my creative side and my competitive side,” said Boyle, who marked her one-year anniversary at Pentalon at the end of June. 

“To go after a job, or a bid, or RFP, I take those so personal. I have very little control once it gets out of my office—I don’t control the estimating or the numbers, but I keep track of every win-loss, interview, second-round bid. I’m super competitive.”

She grew up in a competitive sports family. Her father, Rich Eakins, was the all-time scorer in basketball at Juneau-Douglas High in Juneau, Alaska (his record was later broken by former NBA/Utah Jazz star Carlos Boozer) and was recruited to play at the University of Washington. Her great-uncle, Jim Eakins, was a standout 6-foot-11 center at Brigham Young University and played 10 professional seasons—eight years in the ABA (which included 100 games over two seasons for the Utah Stars) and two in the NBA. 

Boyle, 39, was born in Utah (her parents met at Dixie College) and grew up in Mesa, Arizona. She started playing competitive soccer at age 11, including with several club teams. Her family moved to Lexington, Kentucky her junior year in high school where she competed for Tates Creek High as a striker and forward.

She was recruited to play at Queens University of Charlotte (then Queens College) in Charlotte, North Carolina by coach Jonathon Brabson, one of 12 incoming freshman women that year, and played two full seasons from fall 2001 to spring 2003, before a spate of injuries caused her to cut her collegiate career short.

“My body gave out—back, knees, nose, ankles—lots of injuries, lots of surgeries,” she recalled. “I didn’t start as a freshman, but I was usually the first sub in, and started a couple games as a sophomore,” she said. “We did pretty good, we held our own.” She enjoyed the experience and ultimately graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration on marketing and pre-law. She stays in contact with several former teammates via a Facebook alumni page. 

She is also a passionate sports fan, describing herself as a “Cheesehead and a Dookie”, in reference to her love for the Green Bay Packers and Duke University. 

She started working in Utah’s construction industry in 2016 and spent five years at two different general contractors, before landing her current role at Pentalon. She has enjoyed working for the firm and has gained a better understanding of the industry—particularly the multi-family market—under the tutelage of firm President Carl Tippets. 

“That was one of the things that was enticing to come here, to being able to work under him and see how he handles his business relationships and his company,” she said of Tippets. “I’ve always liked to sit back and watch people—I got that from my grandpa when I was a kid sitting in his business meetings. So, listening to how he talks, how he phrases answers, and how he addresses questions is valuable to me. I’m able to now go into these meetings and be confident.” 

She continued, “He’s also this gentle giant in a sense—Carl’s a tall guy. It’s interesting to watch him put teams together. He’ll admit that he doesn’t know everything. We have great people in (COO) Shay Johansen and (VP of Construction) Brian Stewart.”

“I like to hire employees who have participated in athletics at the collegiate level—I firmly believe they come to the workforce with some skill sets that are advantageous for them and the company that is fortunate enough to hire them,” said Tippets. “First, they are obviously competitive by nature. That competitiveness is a directly transferable skill to the business world. Secondly, and even more importantly, they have learned the concept of team. They have learned that you win and lose as a team. Brittney comes to us with both of those skillsets. She is a winner who has learned the necessity of working as a team to come out on top.”

Boyle has immersed herself in learning as much as she can about construction marketing and is quickly finding her stride. She served on the 2021-22 board of the Utah chapter of the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS Utah) as Programs Chair and will maintain that role for the 2022-23 year. She was also named as a 2022 Elevate HER Cohort by the Zweig Group, a special task force comprised of individuals with a commitment to promote diversity to combat recruiting and retention challenges in the A/E/C industry. 

She has enjoyed marketing to the multi-family sector, saying “I prefer to do business in the private sector. My personality is very much a handshake and relationship building. I like you, you like us, let’s do a project together. I view my competitive nature as an asset because it keeps me going. I want to see who’s doing what, what is next, [and] what I can do better on the next one.”


Name: Craig Hammer

Title: Executive Director of Secondary Schools

Company: Washington County School District

College: Dixie College; University of Utah

Sport: Basketball

Years: 1978-80; 1980-82


Craig Hammer credits his high school basketball coach Dee Jensen for instilling within him a vision of what his life could be. 

“I’m who I am today because of him,” said Hammer, Executive Director of Secondary Schools for Washington County School District in St. George and a 39-year veteran of Utah’s education system. “He saw something in me I never saw in myself. He convinced me I could be more than I could be. I didn’t make a big decision in my life without talking to him.”

Hammer grew up in humble circumstances, his parents were hard-working, blue-collar folks; his father, Norman, worked at Wonder Bread in Salt Lake for 38 years. Hammer loved sports growing up and was standout four-sport athlete at Murray High (2x Deseret News basketball first-team) who also starred at Dixie College (NJCAA All-American his sophomore year), before finishing his hoops career at the University of Utah. 

During his junior year (1980-81), Hammer played on a 25-5 Utes team that won the Western Athletic Conference (13-3 record) and were a No. 3 seed in the 32-team NCAA Tournament. 

It was a team stacked with talent, including future NBA players Tom Chambers (4x All-Star) and Danny Vranes, along with Karl Bankowski and Pace Mannion. The Utes crushed Northeastern in their first game, 94-69, then faced blue blood North Carolina in the Western Regionals, held on Utah’s homecourt at the Huntsman Center. 

North Carolina was led by future NBA stars James Worthy and Sam Perkins, and packed the paint against the Utes, who shot poorly from outside and succumbed 61-56, a game that still gnaws at Hammer.

“I remember walking out of that locker room like it was yesterday—it took me forever to get over that game,” he said. “What hurt even worse, (North Carolina) didn’t get touched until they lost to Indiana in the finals. That should have been us.”

He said his main reason to play at Utah was so that his parents could see him play. “Looking back on it, I made the best decision […] they got to see every game—row 8, across from our bench,” said Hammer. “My last [home] game at the U they gave the seniors the mic; I was the only senior. That’s the first time I saw my dad cry.”

Hammer earned a Bachelor of Political Science from the U in 1983 and was strongly considering going to law school. Out of the blue, his high school principal at Murray called to see if he’d be interested in coaching at his alma mater on a part-time basis. 

“I had the greatest experience,” he said. That led to a student teaching job, and ultimately, a full-time position, where he spent six years. “I never thought in a million years I’d be a schoolteacher, ever. I got in for all the wrong reasons, but I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Besides teaching, Hammer coached football, baseball, and golf, including five years as Murray’s head basketball coach.

He earned a Master of Education Curriculum and Instruction in 1989 from the U, and in the spring of 1990 moved with his family to St. George to teach at Dixie High and serve as head basketball coach. St. George is also his wife’s hometown—they met and married while at Dixie College. 

Hammer spent two years as a teacher and two as assistant principal, before serving as principal for 13 years. He joined WCSD’s District office in 2007 at Executive Director of Secondary Schools, a role he’s held for 15-plus years. He has thoroughly enjoyed each of the different roles he’s held in his education career. 

“One of the greatest things about being principal at Dixie High, it was a smaller school with 1,200 students, and I knew every kid and they knew me,” said Hammer. “It was hard to walk away from coaching—I miss that relationship with the kids.”

He recalled a former student that died a few years ago in a car accident, and recently looking at the obituary he had saved and tearing up. “It’s like your own kid,” he said, wistfully. 

His current job has morphed into one where he is tasked with everything related to school facilities, including land purchasing, overseeing the selection of the design and construction teams, best practices, and everything in between. He said it’s been an incredible experience, one that keeps him hopping, particularly with the challenges of today’s construction climate. 

“When the district created this position—I’m the only one to have it—they put me in charge of facilities,” he said. “When I got this job, I didn’t know a yard of cement from a yard on the football field. But I brought the perspective of being a high school principal.” 

Hammer said he’s overseen the new construction or major remodel of 30 buildings, including six large high school projects, during those 15 years. 

“One of the interesting things that has happened is we used to go vertical with schools, then went to one level […] now we’re back to going vertical because of the cost of land,” he said. “Buildings are built so much better now. Of the projects we’ve built, 90% are tilt-up concrete and we’re going to get 75-plus years out of buildings. And they look like they’re still brand new. We save 20% (construction costs) going with tilt-up, and it works great for our climate. I wouldn’t try to sell that [concept] to every [school district], but it’s worked for us.”

Hammer has also served with the Utah High School Activities Association since 2009 and is currently the Constitution and By-Laws Committee Chair. In 2013, he was presented with a NFHS Citation, one of the most prestigious awards given by the National Federation of State High School Associations, recognizing individuals whose long-time contributions have had a prominent impact on high school activity programs. 

The 62-year-old Hammer is nearing the finish line of his career (he’s set a June 2023 retirement date) one he believes has been infinitely better because of what he learned competing in sports. He believes students who participate in school sports are better prepared for life post-graduation. 

“I know what athletics did for me and I know there are plenty of kids like I was before I started playing,” he said. “It opens doors and creates opportunities. Anything related to sports or other extra-curricular activities helps students. They get better grades and have better attendance.”

A year from now, “I’m hanging up my cleats and golfing full-time,” he said. “It’s been a great career. We’ve got a great (district) team, from the architect to the facilities person. It’s consumed most of my career at this level and pulled me away from the academic side. But it’s been phenomenal.”


Name: Brett Cooper

Title: VP of Marketing & Sales

Company: Roper Buildings

College: Brigham Young University

Sport: Football

Years: 2003-06


Pull quote: 

“Sports taught me how to take criticism and coaching, as well. You learn to be coachable. You have to play as a team, but really, how well do you do when performance is required, and somebody is telling you that you need to do better?”


It was literally more than five years from the time Brett Cooper played his final high school football game at Bonneville High to the time he laced up his cleats to compete on the gridiron for Brigham Young University, and remarkably, the speedy wide receiver didn’t lose much in terms of raw speed. 

“It was bizzarro. I was a freshman and hadn’t stepped on a football field for five years. I was able to maintain my speed and ran sub 4.4 40s,” he said. “I was one of the top three fastest guys every year.” 

A native of South Ogden, Cooper was one of five boys in a competitive family playing football, baseball, and running track. His father, Sam, he said, was “a legit five-star athlete” in Southern California (West Covina) and was initially recruited to play running back at the University of Southern California (USC), but blew out his knee his freshman year and ended up transferring to Utah State, where he played receiver and running back over two seasons (1968-69). Brett Cooper’s brother, Jason, also played receiver at BYU (1994-95).

At 5-foot-11 and 180 lbs., Cooper was a slot receiver, safety, and kick returner at Bonneville High, earning 4A All-State honors his senior year (’99 graduate), He was also a burner on the track, claiming back-to-back 4A titles in the 100-meter dash, including a blistering time of 10.6 seconds his senior year. 

He was recruited by a half dozen schools to play football and run track—including BYU and the University of Utah—and chose the Y, but elected not to enroll right away and instead served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Chile Osorno Mission in southern Chile from 1999-2001. 

He redshirted his first year back and then played from 2003-06 for two coaches—two years under Gary Crowton and two years under Bronco Mendenhall. His most successful season individually was his freshman year, as he led the Cougars in kickoff returns (18 returns for 435 yards). From a team perspective, his senior year was most rewarding, as BYU claimed the 2006 Mountain West Championship with a perfect 8-0 mark (11-2 overall, good for No. 16 in the final AP rankings). 

The final regular season game of 2006 is well-remembered in BYU-Utah ‘Holy War’ lore, as the Cougars went into Rice-Eccles Stadium and stunned the Utes 33-31 on a last-second 11-yard touchdown pass. The play is simply known as ‘Beck to Harline’ or ‘The Answered Prayer’ as scrambling QB John Beck slung the ball to tight end Johnny Harline, who caught the ball near the middle of the end zone, while on his knees, as time expired. 

“It was crazy,” Cooper recalled of that play. “It’s kind of a funny story. I got subbed out on that last play […} [After] I threw up my helmet and it hit the middle of the field and rolled in front of (Utah Coach) Kyle Whittingham and the whole University of Utah team, so I had to run out onto the field and grab my helmet […] and the entire (Utah) team and coaching staff were wanting to break my neck. I threw it so high it bent my face mask.” 

After graduating with a Bachelor of Spanish and Business, and a Master of Public Administration, Cooper spent 11 years in the healthcare industry as a nursing home administrator, working primarily in California and Idaho for The Ensign Group, before moving back to Utah.

He stumbled into the construction industry in 2018 via his neighbor, Dan Scarbrough, founder/CEO of Ogden-based Roper Buildings, a company that specializes in steel pole buildings and high-end barn structures. 

“I connected with Dan and he said he had a business and needed help running it and really wanted the sales department to grow,” said Cooper. “It was happenstance—we got to be friends as neighbors and I thought, ‘What if I came to work for him?’”

Cooper said he enjoys seeing the satisfaction clients get from having their projects built according to their wishes. 

“I have found it extremely satisfying to build projects that people work their entire life for—barns, shops, garages,” he said. “It’s neat to see people’s dreams realized and us being a small part of it. I’ve seen hundreds of buildings built and it’s satisfying to build what people want.”

Cooper believes his sports background has been a boon to his professional career as it taught him lessons he’s able to use in his day-to-day work.

“I’ve always said I wish anybody in the working world grew up playing sports—there is a lot you learn from sports,” he said. “You learn how to fail; you don’t win all the time. How do you take failure? Do you let it get you down, or do you get up for the next play, the next pitch, the next at bat? Sports taught me how to take criticism and coaching, as well. You learn to be coachable. You have to play as a team, but really, how well do you do when performance is required, and somebody is telling you that you need to do better? […] Sports taught me that I had to prioritize and be organized with my time to get a lot done. That’s helped a ton in my professional career.”

Black Desert Oasis

By Brad Fullmer • October 15, 2025
When Lehi-based Reef Capital Partners (Reef) initially announced plans in 2018 to build a sprawling, estimated $2 billion mega-resort with a championship-caliber golf course on 600 acres covering parts of Ivins and Santa Clara—small towns with just over 15,000 combined residents at the time—it was difficult to fathom what a project of that magnitude might look like. Fast forward seven years, and Black Desert Resort is indeed a shining oasis amidst Southern Utah's famed red rock cliffs, sitting atop an ancient lava field, with buildings strategically carved into the land to produce a resort unlike anything else. "This is the biggest project we've ever done—we feel really good where we are," said Brett Boren, President of Real Estate for Reef, acknowledging the general completion of the $290 million, 806,000-SF resort center, along with significant ongoing work—including a 1,298-stall parking garage, condominiums, and a private water park. As of September, all aspects of the main resort center were open and fully complete, with the hotel celebrating its first official year in business after partially opening in September 2024 as it hosted the inaugural PGA Black Desert Championship October 10-13. The second installment of the tournament—now dubbed the Bank of Utah Championship—is slated for October 23-26, with a third tournament signed for 2026.

Calder Richards Celebrates 20 Years of Sustainable Evolution

By UC&D • October 1, 2025
In 2005, Calder Richards Consulting Engineers formed after the merger of two smaller structural consulting firms who, interestingly enough, both started in 1986. Calder Richards has provided a steady structural support for Utah’s built environment ever since. As the firm celebrates its 20th anniversary, UC+D spoke with Managing Principals Shaun Packer and Nolan Balls to look back over the company’s history and celebrate what has helped their firm stand out to deliver solid projects in Utah and beyond. Their responses were edited for clarity and brevity. UC+D: What have been some catalytic moments for Calder Richards since that initial merger? SP: Winning the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona is the first one. The big reason for the merger between Richards Consulting Group and Calder Consulting was to build a large enough company to go after bigger projects like that.” NB: That was my first project when I was hired straight out of college. We helped design the 17-story hotel and casino, a conference center, as well as parking structures, a central mechanical building, and a pool building. Talking Stick helped get us through the downturn a few years later. UC+D: What have been your key market sectors you all have targeted over the last 20 years? NB: We were breaking into K-12 along the Wasatch Front soon after the Talking Stick Resort and it’s been our bread and butter since then. SP: Absolutely, but I credit our firm for always adapting to the current environment. We’ve been fortunate to do so much K-12, but we used to do a lot of office work, and now we are working on conversions like the Ebay Headquarters to CTE/Innovation Center for Canyons School District as the market has shifted away from commercial office. UC+D: Schools have certainly evolved over the last 20 years, how has your work as structural engineers evolved? SP: We are seeing more creative design on the architectural side, certainly. We see many more two-story designs; more windows and daylighting. But we’re utilizing more powerful tools and continually building our understanding of the structural materials that are in use more than ever—tilt-up concrete, steel columns and beams, especially—to be the architect’s trusted partner. NB: Schools have definitely changed, and we’ve had better experience in helping projects move forward successfully when we are involved earlier in the design process. As we got involved early on in West High School’s schematic design, we were able to provide structural solutions and options to accommodate the architects’ design intent. UC+D: How has company growth changed Calder Richards? SP: It’s certainly changed the number of people in our office. We started with around 10 people when we merged, and today we have 27. But we often say that we don’t want to grow just to grow—we want to grow sustainably. We don’t lay people off when works slows down, and we have an expectation that sometimes there will be overtime work, and other times you may be waiting for our next project to begin.

The (Epi)Center of it All

By By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Nested in the middle of the University of Utah (U of U) campus sits the aptly-named Impact & Prosperity Epicenter, the second living learning community (LLC) project designed on campus by Los Angeles-based Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign. After nearly a decade since their first LLC project, the award-winning Lassonde Studios (UC+D’s 2016 Most Outstanding Public Building over $10 million), Mehrdad Yazdani, the design firm’s Principal and Studio Director, said their work on a sequel was an exciting prospect for the firm, and enlisted Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects and Okland Construction to serve as the respective local architect and general contractor. Today, the Epicenter serves as a striking piece of architecture and construction, one whose curvilinear shape asks users and visitors plenty of questions. But moving from idea to execution has been a work in progress. One query from Yazdani stood out as it relates to students and the built environment, and helped begin the journey to create the Epicenter: “How does your living environment as a student impact your success as a student and as a changemaker?” A Project for an Evolving Campus Katie Macc, CEO of the Sorenson Impact Institute, said LLCs like the Epicenter and Lassonde Studios next door have been massive steps forward in advancing entrepreneurship and social impact. But both play a major role in creating “college town magic”—a phrase coined by University President Taylor Randall that invokes a vibrant campus where students can find community and have one-of-a-kind experiences. With more on-campus student housing in the works, the state’s flagship university is hoping to shed the “commuter school” label and deliver a level of desirability that matches the resources students commit to higher education. “There is some soul searching going on across university campuses,” said Macc of the challenge at hand. “We have to be convincing that going to college matters.” She said overall university enrollments across the nation are decreasing as students grapple with tuition costs, COVID and its isolating aftershocks, and a different perspective on higher education. Universities are no longer a place where students come to learn what they couldn’t learn elsewhere—remote learning and the internet have opened a fissure in that idea that will never close. Instead of that educational transaction, being at a university must include building community and creating in-person experiences only available on campus. Macc said that the Epicenter helps steer the campus experience toward the future, with design goals to create a base of operations for two changemaking organizations and a living and learning home for 778 students. The three-story commercial portion of the building, known as the “Changemaker Pavilion”, includes office space for The Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity (second floor) and the Sorenson Impact Institute (third floor). While each organization has a different focus, both are firmly invested in helping students access and create the resources needed to change the world. Each entity works hand-in-hand as owners of the Epicenter to host events and “create a full spectrum of ways for students to get involved,” said Chad Salvadore, Chief Financial Officer for the Sorenson Impact Institute. “We’re dialing in the programming to energize the student body,” said Salvadore of the work done at the Epicenter. With over 60 majors represented among the 778 students who live there, he said that the diversity of students is less a reflection of their chosen major and more a desire to reside in a space built for students to work their entrepreneurial muscles. “Living here is a mindset—you can engage across many different paths you choose.”

Goal!

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Front view of the bleachers, press box, and suites. (photos courtesy SIRQ Construction)

Four Decades of Transformation

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Over the course of its 40-year history in Utah, WSP's Salt Lake office—originally founded as Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1985—has morphed from primarily a transportation design firm to one that successfully operates in multiple civil engineering markets. The results of WSP's transformation the past decade into a more diverse outfit speak for themselves, with the 128-person Salt Lake office (with locations in Cottonwood Heights and South Jordan) posting three consecutive years of revenues over $50 million, including a record $70.1 million in 2023, and a robust $59.9 million in 2024—good for the No. 2 ranking in UC+D's 2025 Top Utah Engineering Firms rankings.

Good Career? Start Here

By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Lucio Gallegos vividly remembers the workforce development meetings he attended during his time at Ogden-Weber Tech. These career and technical education (CTE) discussions consistently focused on one thing: young people were not entering construction, and the industry needed a new approach to attract them. Gallegos recalled one member of the workforce development team, a training director with a prominent general contractor, saying, “We have been trying this for over 10 years, screw it, we’re just gonna hire them.” The Long Road Those conversations occurred nearly 10 years ago, and workforce development concerns continue to permeate the industry. The National Center for Construction Education & Research estimates that 41% of the construction workforce will retire by 2031, leading to potential gaps in skill and safety and decreases in productivity and project quality. While stakeholders have aligned on the overall goal of providing students a foundation for future success through career development, the means to achieve the ends were seemingly at odds. High schools, trade schools, colleges, and private industry took different paths to achieve their goals, with some moving in opposite directions. “I’m gonna be honest with you,” Gallegos recalled one school administrator saying, “If I promote what you’re telling me to get them over to the tech college, I lose head count. And then I lose teachers. I can’t have a school without teachers.” Jobs that took away student learning experiences, according to federal guidelines and child labor laws, made the idea a non-starter. However, after years of lobbying the Utah Legislature for a compromise between industry and education, H.B. 055, passed in 2023, provided a catalytic change in how younger people can engage with construction and other industries. High school students could participate if they were involved in a school-sponsored work experience and career exploration program. Private industry finally had the compromise it wanted. It was time to act. Big-D Charts New Path Gallegos, now the Workforce Development Manager from Big-D, joined the company in 2023 with the express purpose of creating a program that fit within the new guidelines. Gallegos said he sees career development through the lens of the immigrant experience, one he knows personally as a Mexican immigrant with a father who worked in commercial construction. “I was 9 years old and busting pins out of concrete forms with a hammer that was as big as I was,” he laughed. “I’ve got the cliché immigrant story.” That story has a theme familiar to many immigrant families, he said, one where parents say, “I want my kids not to have to work as hard as I do. I want them in school.” Add to that, it’s a law—children must attend school. Gallegos was unfazed by those obstacles. As he began planning how Big-D’s internship program would operate, he knew that engagement had to start at the elementary school level and build on personal relationships between private industry, school administrators, students, and their families to succeed. “We want to be the solution, not the obstacle to get into this industry,” said Gallegos. So Big-D removed the barriers. Students can still attend school, work towards graduation, and be available in the afternoon for sports, extracurricular activities, and the high school experience. But working was another significant part of the immigrant experience, Gallegos said, and internships needed to be paid to alleviate the family concerns. “We asked what we would pay somebody fresh out of high school who worked at Big-D,” Gallegos said. Interns have earned those same wages ever since.

It's A Knockout

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
On January 2, 1957, Gene Fullmer, a scrappy, underdog fighter from West Jordan stunned the boxing world with a 15-round unanimous decision over the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden. Fullmer captured the world middleweight championship and established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers during the late 50s and early 60s. Since then, the Fullmer name has been synonymous with boxing in Utah, with brothers Gene, Jay, and Don establishing the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym in 1978, and offering free boxing instruction and life mentoring to thousands of youths—carrying on a tradition they learned from their trainer, Marv Jenson. Their legacy of community giving will live on in the new Fullmer Legacy Center in South Jordan, a 16,500-SF facility that will serve as a permanent home to the boxing gym—after years of bouncing around to various temporary facilities—along with a museum, snack bar, and gift shop. “The Fullmers are the first family of boxing in the state of Utah—that’s well understood,” said Dave Butterfield, a founding board member of the Fullmer Legacy Foundation. Butterfield served as Chairman of the Board from June 2016 to early 2025 and was influential in helping raise money—nearly $6 million via donations to date, which includes $2 million from the Utah Legislature. Project Driven by Vision to Find a Permanent Home for Fullmer Brothers Gym It was Jay Fullmer who led the charge to teach boxing in the community. By 1978, the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym had formally opened at the Butterfield farm chicken coop in South Jordan, recalled Larry Fullmer, Don’s oldest son and the man who spearheaded the efforts for the Fullmer Legacy Center. From there, Larry said the facility moved to Riverton Elementary, an old church house in West Jordan, a sugar factory, a former fire station, and the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park in South Jordan, where it had resided since 2011. When they got word that Salt Lake County planned to transfer ownership of the park to Utah State University, Fullmer knew they needed to find a long-term home for the boxing gym. Fullmer met with Butterfield and Robert Behunin—who at the time was a Vice President with Utah State University—in 2016 and told them he just wanted a “tin shed of our own” for boxing. Behunin countered by saying, “If you want people to donate money, you need something better than a tin shed!” They quickly formed the Fullmer Legacy Foundation (FLF), and by 2018, the wheels were in motion on a building. Doc Murdock, a long-time trainer at the gym, connected Larry with his former roommate at Brigham Young University, Vern Latham, who is a Principal at Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture. VCBO offered pro-bono services initially while helping FLF put together an RFP, while North Salt-based Gramoll Construction provided value engineering and other services in an effort to get the project launched. Larry expressed sheer gratitude for the contributions of both firms in helping make the project a reality, especially for many generous donations from various foundations and individuals. “[VCBO] believed in us early on and did our first phase of planning at no charge—they have been amazing and so professional to work with,” said Larry. “Gramoll helped us get the budget done as tight as it could be. This project had the absolute tightest budget. We met weekly with architects and the general contractor to see the progress—I’ve never seen such an amazing process. Construction started in November ’23, and every time I would come to the jobsite in the first six months, I’d get emotional.” “We leaned on our relationships with contractors for flooring, ceiling, tiles, donated furniture and got deep discounts and a lot of in-kind donations,” said Phil Haderlie, Principal-in-Charge for VCBO. “To me, the story of this project is the grassroots effort of people seeing the value—this is something that came from their heart. It will have a long-lasting impact on the community.”

Significant Buzz

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
The first season is in the books for the Salt Lake Bees in its spectacular new home—the Ballpark at America First Square, the exciting new heart of Downtown Daybreak and certainly one of the premier Triple-A stadiums in the country. "It's a really cool stadium—the field looks so good!" gushed Eric Barton, Project Director for Salt Lake-based Okland Construction, while surveying the spacious 280,000 SF, 6,500-seat (8,000 capacity) ballpark. Barton said his team faced an extremely difficult construction schedule with the mandate the project had to be sufficiently ready for Opening Day 2025 on April 8, less than 18 months after the formal October 20, 2023, groundbreaking. Barton said Okland knew it was going to be a grind, with long hours and tight windows to get various milestones accomplished. "When we bid this to our trade partners, we had them bid it with the expectation of it being six days a week," he said. "We want not only your best guys, but you have to be adaptable to the plan. It was gangbusters from the start.” Up to 300 workers were onsite during peak construction activity, requiring meticulous coordination throughout. Okland even brought in Fred Strasser, a legendary project director who came out of retirement to shepherd the project through. "Fred is the genius behind getting this whole thing done," said Barton. The project was designed by Salt Lake-based HOK, who worked closely with the owner, Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Real Estate (LHMRE) and Miller Sports + Entertainment (MSE) to bring about a project that would add even more buzz to its wildly popular, 4,000-acre master planned Daybreak development in South Jordan, making it a true entertainment destination. The design weaves together best-in-class baseball experiences with year-round public amenities, including a recently opened Megaplex theater, a performing arts center, a large amphitheater, along with retail, restaurants, and apartments, with buildout continuing through 2027. Walking paths and open spaces create natural connections between The Ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood, making the area an iconic community asset and a true sports and entertainment district. Downtown Daybreak is slated to host more than 200 annual events—including the Bees’ 75-game regular season. Supporting this entertainment destination, the venue’s prominent location just off the Mountain View Corridor freeway makes it highly visible to passing traffic while providing easy access. The stadium is also connected to multiple transportation options, easily reached by walking, biking or light rail across the Wasatch Front, and by car from the new freeway corridor. The Ballpark site drops 20 feet from the loading dock to the plaza, managed through terraced spaces that echo the region’s mining heritage. Though the slope stays gentle at under 5%, carefully placed stairs and planters make walking comfortable while honoring the industrial past. The center field main entrance connects to light rail, while a formal plaza at home plate serves as a second entrance, primarily for VIP access. The street design follows Daybreak’s established standards for lighting and tree spacing. Bike racks at the light rail station and plaza make cycling to games convenient. Utah’s Landscape Shapes Design The Wasatch Mountains, visible from every angle of the ballpark, directly influenced the ballpark's design. Throughout the venue, carefully planned viewpoints frame these mountain vistas. The structure resembles this mountainous setting in its form, transitioning from solid brick and concrete at its base to lighter materials—metal and expansive glass—as it ascends. Working with Kansas City-based architectural metal fabricator Zahner, HOK and MSE created a distinctive facade using perforated metal panels that suggest Utah mountain peak silhouettes from Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County to Mt. Nebo, the southernmost and highest mountain in the Wasatch Range of Utah. These panels transform into a glowing display at night, serving as a lantern on The Ballpark’s ‘front porch’ and welcoming visitors. This connection to Utah’s landscape flows throughout the site. Angular planters guide visitors along pathways, while public spaces are arranged in terraces that echo the mountainside. The copper colors and stepped surfaces of the nearby Kennecott Mine inspired the ballpark’s materials and layout. Inside, the decor features warm copper, gold and honey tones, with textured materials that blend the natural landscape with the Salt Lake Bees’ team colors.

Firms Making Moves

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Horrocks CEO Bryan Foote (left) shakes hands with Matt Hirst, former President/CEO of CRS Engineering & Survey. Horrocks acquired CRS a year ago in a move that has proven to be a seamless fit for more than 60 CRS employees.

Q&A with Nathan Goodrich

By UC&D • August 1, 2025
Nathan Goodrich