Meet the 2024 Mountain West honorees

Brock is the CEO & Co-Founder of AdCellerant.

AdCellerant provides businesses access to high-quality digital marketing technology and solutions through partnerships with media companies and agencies. Focused on generating results and growth for businesses of all sizes, AdCellerant offers best-in-class technology and software, award-winning customer service, expert education and exceptional operational support to ensure customer campaign performance.

Leveraging proprietary technology called Ui.Marketing, AdCellerant effectively connects businesses with their ideal customer at the right time. With an easy-to-use and agile digital advertising tool, users can manage the entire buyer’s journey from a quick and accurate, while comprehensive, proposal creation, campaign launch to campaign performance, all within a single platform.

Dan is the CEO of Ardent Mills.

Ardent Mills is committed to transforming how the world is nourished. As the premier flour-milling and ingredient company, Ardent Mills cultivates the future of plant-based solutions to help customers and communities thrive. With operations in more than 40 locations that specialize in flour, quinoa, pulses, organic and gluten-free products, Ardent Mills is driving emerging nutrition and innovation across plant-based ingredients. Their holistic portfolio empowers it to meet the complex needs of today’s customers while focusing on the growing needs of tomorrow’s consumer. 

Their investment in a culture of food safety is inspired by a desire to increase access to safe, healthy, affordable food and ingredients for customers and consumers across the continent. From sourcing; to processing and preparation; to testing, packaging and transportation, Ardent Mills’ quality and safety procedures remain at the highest standards.

Daniel and Hannah are the Co-founders, Co-owners & Co-CEOs of Ballerina Farm L.L.C.

Ballerina Farm offers customers the opportunity to buy farm-raised products along with a host of other goods by first-generation farmers through social media, as well as popular baked goods produced by in-house bakers and non-food goods developed from scratch. Ballerina Farm also offers resale of a handful of white labeled products from a variety of vendors, local and foreign and ships perishable products nationwide and nonperishables worldwide.

Matt is the Founding Partner & CEO of BMC Investments.

BMC Investments is a highly disciplined, vertically integrated real estate investment firm generating industry-leading returns through acquisition, development and management of various property types throughout the US. BMC focuses its investment strategy on creating long-term value in its assets and generating strong risk-adjusted returns. The company is able to outperform similar companies by procuring attractive investments in its areas of focus; utilizing a measured and disciplined investment process with rigorous focus on risk management; leveraging best-in-class operating systems and processes; and attracting, retaining and developing great people.

Tony is the CEO & President of Christensen Inc.

Christensen Inc. is renowned as a leading supplier of fuel products on the West Coast, offering a comprehensive range of fuels and fuel additives. It stands out in the industry for its comprehensive solutions, top-quality products and an unwavering commitment to customer service. The company is a trusted partner for businesses across various sectors, providing tools and services that simplify fuel, lubricants and propane management. With their customer-centric approach, each client is treated like family and ensured all deliveries and services are executed with precision and care.

Dr. Chabon is the CEO & Chief Scientific Officer of Foresight Diagnostics.

Foresight Diagnostics is a privately held cancer diagnostics company and CLIA-registered laboratory. The company has developed a novel liquid biopsy testing platform for the measurement of minimal residual disease (MRD) that is significantly more sensitive than existing tests (with a detection limit below 0.0001%, or one part per million). The improved sensitivity of Foresight’s MRD assays can provide actionable information to physicians and biopharmaceutical companies to enable more personalized treatment approaches for patients with solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

Dr. Lichty is the CEO & Founder of Forge Nano.

Forge Nano optimizes material performance to enable better products with its proprietary Atomic Layer Deposition technology, Atomic Armor, that allows for the application of thin coatings to the surface of materials or objects in order to enhance the underlying substance’s performance and durability. Forge Nano technology has been adopted into multiple commercial markets, such as lithium-ion batteries and semiconductors, to impart improvements to materials, which enable high-performance products.

Lance is the President & CEO of Groove Technology Solutions.

Groove is a technology solutions provider supporting four underlying pillars of technology: Managed Services (television service, phone systems, and internetand Wi-Fi), Digital Infrastructure (structured cabling and wireless systems, including distributed antenna systems), Safety & Security (video surveillance, access control systems, unit entry door locks) and Smart Building Technology (smart thermostats, video entryphone systems, smart locks, leak detection and other Internet of Things devices such as parcel lockers and electric vehicle chargers). Groove provides these services for the hospitality, senior living, student housing, prisons, RV parks and multifamily housing industries.

Aaron is the CEO of HeroDevs, Inc.

HeroDevs partners with open-source authors to offer comprehensive solutions for sunsetted open-source software. Its Never-Ending Support products ensure businesses remain secure and compliant, even as their depended-upon open-source packages reach end of life. Alongside this, their elite team of software engineers and architects provide expert consulting and engineering services, assisting clients in migrating from depreciated packages and modernizing their technology stacks.

Madeline is the CMO, Whitney is a Co-Founder and Natasha is a Co-Founder of Ivy City Co.

Ivy City designs, manufactures and sells size-inclusive dresses to women all over the world, specializing in all ages and stages from newborn to 5X, and is well known for its matching mother/daughter dresses. Ivy City is passionate about empowering women and is committed to being owned and operated by women. Now, with 68 employees, 65 of whom are women, and 800,000 followers on Instagram, NBC News listed Ivy City as one of the 125 Best Women-Owned Brands, and Ivy City has been featured in People magazine, OK, the New York Post, CNN, Forbes, ET, Pop and more.

Ben is the CEO of JobNimbus.

JobNimbus is the leading provider of CRM and ERP solutions for the roofing contracting industry, managing every aspect of the job from lead to close, to project management and material order, all the way to final invoice and payment collection.

Justin is the CEO of Medstar Transportation.

Medstar provides professional, on-demand, non-emergent transportation services throughout the Pacific Northwest. Starting as a well-respected door-to-door service, the long-established company has grown to be the trusted go-to for its passengers to and from their vehicles when the requested destination is reached.

Their operators and drivers are friendly and courteous all while respecting the people they serve. They are each trained in first aid, CPR, passenger assistance, and defensive driving, and are blood borne pathogens certified,making them well qualified to care for those who travel under the Medstar name.

Jeff is the Co-Founder & CEO and Erica is the Co-Founder and President of Momentous.

Momentous is the anti-supplement supplement company on an unwavering quest to democratize high performance by making the same knowledge and products the world’s greatest athletes use available to the general public. Momentous helps consumers know exactly where the supplements’ ingredients they are taking were derived from, what results they will see and why, and what are the best next steps to take on their wellness and fitness journey.

Jeremy is the CEO of Murphy Door.

Murphy Door specializes and has patented the hardware, technology and designs to make hidden rooms out of every boring door into functional furniture that creates space with a wow factor. Winner of the 2022 Indoor Product of the Year by The National Association of Home Builders at the International Builders Show and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company for five years straight, Murphy Door has been featured on almost every home improvement show on DIY and HGTV. The company has two factories in the USA in Utah and Kentucky with a partner factory in Nantes, France; specializes in direct-to-consumer sales online; and supplies home improvement stores like Home Depot.

Curtis is the Founder & CEO of Nursa.

Nursa is a nationwide platform that exists to put a nurse at the bedside of every patient in need quickly and safely, removing the financial strain and operational gaps of traditional staffing methods. Nursa’s real-time technology enables hospitals, health systems, skilled nursing facilities and community organizations to easily secure qualified, local nursing talent for per diem shifts. Founded in 2019 and built on the bedrock granite of Lake Bonneville in Salt Lake City, Nursa is trusted by a growing community of more than 1,500 facilities and 100,000 nurses nationwide and is accredited by The Joint Commission.

Molly is the CEO of Pushpay.

Pushpay is the leading payments and engagement solution provider for mission-driven organizations. Pushpay’s solutions include a donor management system, custom community app, a church management system (ChMS) and video streaming tools that simplify engagement, payments and administration, enabling customers to increase participation and build stronger relationships with their communities.  Pushpay’s all-in-one solution, ChurchStaq, delivers a best-in-class, fully integrated ChMS, custom community app and giving solutions geared toward customers in the faith market. It helps customers streamline engagement and delivers technology to help churches reach, connect with and cultivate lasting relationships with people in their community. In addition, Pushpay recently acquired Resi Media in August 2021. Resi Media provides an all-in-one video delivery platform that specializes in high-quality transmission for web, multisite and on-demand streaming. The addition of Resi enables Pushpay to offer end-to-end live streaming technology for churches, nonprofits and corporations. Pushpay currently has more than 14,000 customers across the globe and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, with three additional offices, including one in Auckland, New Zealand.

Jason is the Chief Executive Officer of Riot Platforms, Inc.

Riot’s core focus is bitcoin mining, the process by which real-world resources (energy and compute) are utilized to maintain and secure the bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin mining incentivizes honest behavior and is what makes decentralization and trustless accounting in bitcoin possible. Riot builds, owns and operates industrial-scale data centers where its specialized bitcoin-mining computing hardware is deployed and operated, and is effectively converting low-priced surplus energy into bitcoin, which it either sells or holds on its balance sheet. Riot executes a proprietary power strategy in reducing the cost of power by curtailing its load when grid demand is high, a unique approach, as bitcoin mining can be interrupted at any time.

Darren is the CEO of Smith Teamaker LLC.

Smith Teamaker is an artisanal beverage company whose mission to enrich lives through exceptional tea experiences is enabled by its integrated, omnichannel business model and operated by Teamakers who thrive within “Head, Heart and Hustle” culture.

Alejandra is the CEO of The Tendit Group.

The Tendit Group is a provider of exterior facility maintenance and infrastructure services, operating across Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Its comprehensive suite of services includes pressure washing, asphalt maintenance, window cleaning, pavement striping and marking, landscaping, snow removal, fencing, hauling and power sweeping. 

The diverse clientele served by Tendit Group encompasses property managers, commercial enterprises, hospitals, schools, contractors, restaurants, retail establishments, municipalities, airports, utilities, homeowners’ associations and various government agencies. Demonstrating a steadfast commitment, Tendit Group delivers exceptional solutions tailored to the unique needs of its esteemed customers throughout the expansive Mountain West territory.

Currently comprising 11 companies with a collective experience of more than 600 years, the Tendit Group remains a trusted force in providing specialized services.

Mike is the CEO of VLCM.

As Utah’s biggest provider of IT solutions, VLCM sells a lot of different technologies to many different companies. With more than 500 vendor partners covering an array of technology spaces such as networking, storage, cybersecurity, big data, cloud, communications, end-user computing and beyond, VLCM provides various solutions to customers of all sizes throughout Utah and the United States. 

With a vendor-agnostic and people-focused approach and business model, VLCM connects its skilled engineers with companies looking for technology solutions, while learning about their needs and then recommending, implementing and supporting the best solution.

Brandon is the CEO & Founder of Xevant.

Xevant is the first end-to-end SaaS solution at the epicenter of pharmacy analytics and a complete technology partner to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and their end customers. Xevant’s solutions provide automated access to real-time data and insights from dozens of sources that empower health care stakeholders to solve the access, quality and cost issues plaguing the US health care system to positively impact more than 50 million lives.

Xevant offers a full spectrum of pharmacy optimization and management while disrupting an antiquated market through its novel approach to transparency and automation, allowing it to become the chassis and engine under the entire pharmacy data analytics market. Xevant is at the forefront of industry change for PBMs as customers who bear the cost of drugs are seeking partners that deliver real cost savings, and partners with some of the largest PBMs, consultants and brokers successfully penetrating the hospital market as the only approved in-patient hospital solution.

Shawn is the CEO of Zerorez, Inc.

Zerorez’s proprietary technology allows business owners to start their own carpet cleaning companies, with approximately 100 licensed territories across three countries, including several corporate-owned franchises. Zerorez is deeply commited to its customers by removing toxicity from the cleaning processes in homes and businesses and by prolonging the life of their carpets, with a mission “to be your most trusted partner in creating clean and healthy environments.” Their technicians are certified in the art and science of carpet cleaning, including identifying fiber, yarn, carpet construction, style type, finishes, soiling conditions, cleaning science and methodology, and equipment.

Zerorez, Inc. is known for its progressive and eco-friendly carpet cleaning methods and has earned the prominent certifications placing the company at the pinnacle of industry recognition.