Small Business Conference Speakers

Access to Capital: Opening Speaker

James Jackson, III was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and graduated from the University of Utah in 2002 from the David Eccles School of Business and went on to earn his MBA from the University of Phoenix in 2010. He started his career in the financial industry after school and has been there for over 20 years working in several different capacities. James is currently at Zions Bancorporation where he has been for ten years. He started in retail serving diverse businesses and is now is supplier diversity program manager where he is responsible for building relationships for capable diverse suppliers who can provide goods and services across the enterprise. In conjunction with his role at the bank, Mr. Jackson serves on several boards of directors, and is the founder of the Utah Black Chamber.

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Since its inception in 2009, the Chamber has grown to not only serve black-owned small businesses in Utah but has become the premier organization connecting and engaging Utah’s Black community and building bridges for inclusion. It has grown 400 members, established many private and public partnerships and is recognized as the most diverse chamber in the state. The US Black Chamber sees the Utah Black Chamber as one of its chamber leaders of the western US. From 2018 to 2022, the chamber grew over 400% resulting in the decision of stepping down and helping the board identify and hire a new President & CEO in April 2022 and working to grow its nonprofit arm. From the Chamber, James started or helped start several other programs to elevate Utah’s diverse community, including Living Color Utah, the Utah Small Business Alliance and in the process of starting the Black Success Center.

 

He has been a speaker and trainer for several organizations throughout the state, guiding them towards building a more welcoming environment and has written articles for Utah Business Magazine on diversity and leadership. At the end of 2020, Mr. Jackson, along with 24 business leaders around the world authored the book, “Leading Through the Pandemic: Unconventional Wisdom from Heartfelt Leaders.” At the beginning of 2022, Mr. Jackson facilitated the Utah Black Chamber’s book publication, “Black Utah: Stories from a Thriving Community,” featuring interviews of dozens of changemakers in Utah. Then in 2023, he published his own book Living With Purpose: Find Your Passion, Grow Your Influence, Maximize Your Endurance, where he inspires others to discover their purpose through sharing his journey of finding his.

 

Mr. Jackson was honored as Utah Business Magazine’s Forty under 40 (2020), Westminster College’s Unsung Hero (2018) and Omega Psi Phi Citizen of the Year (2018). In the spring of 2022, he earned his Diversity and Inclusion Certification from Cornell University. 

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Practical Solutions to Pressing Issues: Opening Speaker

Richard Haskell is a Professor of Finance at Westminster University’s Bill & Vieve Gore School of Business, having come to the university after a fulfilling career in finance and investments, and earning Masters and Doctoral degrees in Economics at the University of Utah. He also serves as the Director of The Westminster Center for Financial Wellness.

 

His research is centered around asset valuation models and methods, and the effects of capital intensity on labor markets.  He teaches higher order finance courses to seniors and graduate students in the Gore School of Business, maintains a teaching appointment in the University of Utah’s Department of Economics, and is the Managing Director of The University Valuation Group, a student-led valuation consultancy.   

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In addition to his faculty and research appointments at Westminster University and the University of Utah, Haskell maintains an active consulting relationship with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program and a range of private corporate clients.  He was recognized as one of the University of Utah’s Distinguished Alumni in February 2020.

 

Haskell and his wife of more than forty years, Leslie Jensen Haskell, raised four children whom they adore and today enjoy a growing family of grandchildren, daughters and sons. When not with his family or students Haskell can be found in his workshop, garden, or hiking in the mountains.

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Panelist: Unconventional Business Loans: Exploring Alternative Funding Options

Salt Lake Native Sara Day's entrepreneurial spirit began at the ripe old age of five with lemonade stands and bake sales on her street corner. With her cigar box full of change and precious dollar bills, the bug was born. She then went from selling the most Girl Scout cookies in her troop to eventually being on the founding team of the fast-casual restaurant chain Even Stevens Sandwiches. Sara is now the Program Manager of Training and Outreach at Utah Microloan Fund where she provides business consulting and training to emerging entrepreneurs as well as leads marketing and outreach efforts across the state. When Sara isn’t working, she is camping her way across the West, adventuring with her two big dogs, and going full-out for costume contests.

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Keynote Speaker

Bassam was born in Cairo, Egypt; before his 14th birthday, he had lived and attended school in Egypt, France, England, and the United States studying in Arabic, English, and French. This diverse upbringing shaped his core beliefs centered on multicultural globalism and humanitarianism. 

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As the son of a mother who was a chief computer engineer and a father who was a retired air force pilot with PhDs in Economics and Political Science, both of whom immigrated to the US nearly 40 years ago, Bassam's upbringing prioritized academic achievement entering high school at age 12, starting college at age 15, programming professionally at age 16, and starting his first Master's degree at age 20. He completed BS, MS, and MPhil degrees in Computer Science as well as an MBA, all from the University of Utah.

 
His early professional career was a software engineer and architect at Philips Electronics and IBM Global Services; he spent much of his career building and scaling service organizations within high-growth tech start-ups such as Siebel Systems (acquired by Oracle), Omniture (acquired by Adobe), inContact (acquired by NICE Systems), and MaritzCX (acquired by InMoment). He managed teams as large as 2,100 professionals across 18 offices around the world with responsibility for over $200m.

 
In late 2015, Bassam founded startup consultancy Mindshare Ventures followed in early 2016 with the incubation of conversational AI company AtlasRTX, the first company started, funded, and scaled within Mindshare Ventures. AtlasRTX was acquired in late 2022 by NICE Systems amid the move to AI-powered customer experience.

 
Bassam's current passions center around education, immigration, and entrepreneurship, and their impact on socioeconomic opportunity. He does so with a focus on supporting those who are underrepresented or are underprivileged. He is honored to serve on the board of trustees at the University of Utah along with a number of non-profit and association boards.

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Panelist: Hiring and Retaining Talented Employees

An accomplished HR leader specializing in talent acquisition strategies, Jeff Gardner, MBA, has a demonstrated history of building high-performing teams and driving organizational growth through innovative recruitment initiatives. With expertise in attracting and retaining top-tier talent, Jeff excels in developing employer branding strategies, fostering diversity and inclusion, and implementing employee experience programs to enhance employee engagement and reduce attrition rates. 

Panelist: Unconventional Business Loans: Exploring Alternative Funding Options

Marla Trollan was named SBA’s District Director for the Utah District Office in November 2017. As Director, she is the Chief Executive Officer responsible for directing the expansion and delivery of SBA’s various loan and business training services throughout the State of Utah.  Her work has been exceptional, especially as she assisted in helping small businesses navigate the COVID Pandemic. In 2021 Marla was Honoree award winner at the Sundance Film Festival for leading Utah through a difficult year, helping Utah’s economy, and protecting jobs. The SBA provided over $10 billion in COVID funding to Utah businesses.  

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Marla has also pushed for increasing business services in rural areas and minority equity groups, this includes her work with the Utah Small Business Alliance and her SBA Small Business Roadshow efforts.  During her time as the District Director, she has also focused on initiatives to help our lenders support small businesses and working directly with export support services to increase the STEP grant funding in Utah. During FY 23 total Utah SBA Economic Impact was $144 Billion.  
Before her work at the SBA, Marla served in various senior-level positions for multiple federal agencies where she provided leadership and supervision of public affairs, media, Congressional and legislative affairs, partnerships, state liaisons, digital communications, printing, and FOIA.

Marla earned her Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA) and her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon. She lives in Mountain Green, Utah, and enjoys spending time outdoors recreating with her husband, son, and daughter. 

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Practical Solutions to Pressing Issues: Enhancing Customer Experience and Loyalty

Rita Magalde serves as the Founder & CEO of Sheer Ambrosia Bakery, boasting over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience. Previously, she co-founded and operated a 30-person bilingual travel agency for nearly a decade, selling her share in 2008, and has subsequently spent 15 years at the helm of Sheer Ambrosia. Rita was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Business of the Year award by the Utah Black Chamber of Commerce.

...Additionally, she successfully completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative, a rigorous 14-week business education program developed by Babson College. Alongside fellow small business owners, she acquired invaluable one-on-one advice and essential skills to drive business growth. She is passionate about baklava, exemplary customer service, and supporting women navigating divorce. When she is not crafting new recipes or brainstorming innovative business strategies, Rita enjoys interior design, dancing Argentine Tango, hosting dinner parties, and traveling. Above all, Rita cherishes her role as a devoted mother to her two wonderful children.
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Practical Solutions to Pressing Issues: Telling the "Story" of Your Business

Brent founded BW Productions 2013 because he was passionate about telling stories that matter. For the last decade he has been sculpting stories through a lens and developing longstanding relationships with clients in the nonprofit, education, and business sectors. Brent is passionate about small business serves on multiple community boards and advocates for the film and video industry to be more inclusive while training the next generation of creative. When Brent isn't working he enjoys cooking spending time with his wife and daughter and traveling the world. 

Panelist: Hiring and Retaining Talented Employees

Dr. Pennington has served as the President of Granger Medical Clinic for over 20 years, playing and integral role in the clinic’s growth, and became CEO in 2019. She is also CEO of Physicians Accountable Care of Utah, the ACO developed by Granger Medical Clinic, in 2013. She joined Granger in 1992, practicing as a pediatrician until early 2020, in West Valley and Riverton.

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Dr. Pennington spent most of her childhood in Alabama, then earned her BS from Duke University, and her MD from Washington University Medical School in St. Louis. She initially came to Utah for her Pediatric Residency at Primary Children’s Hospital, before moving to Iowa to practice for 4 years. In 1992 she and her husband decided to leave Iowa and pursue options in Utah. They felt that the community spirit and the outdoor lifestyle made it the place that they wanted to raise their children.

 

Dr. Pennington has loved leading Granger Medical Clinic these many years. She enjoys the opportunity to work with many wonderful doctors and other team members, in an organization where physicians lead the way and put patients first.

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Panelist: The Utah Small Business Ecosystem - Accessing Resources for Start Ups and Early Stage Businesses

Beth Colosimo is the Executive Director of The Mill Entrepreneurship Center.  The Mill at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) offers numerous programs and assistance for entrepreneurs and small business owners.   The Entrepreneurship Center contains the Small Business Development Center, The Mill co-working and incubation space, the Veteran Business Resource Center, the Minority Business Center, Global Business Center, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, as well as numerous classes, programs, conference facilities and resource partners such as APEX Accelerator and The Center for Innovation.  The Mill has served thousands of small business owners with the mission to help entrepreneurs realize their potential by providing education, resources, and access to capital.  

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  Prior to joining SLCC, Beth owned and operated her own small business, Wasatch Home Furnishings.  Her professional career also includes working for the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, (EDCUtah) and various multinational corporations in sales.   She sits on numerous boards and organizations including the Utah World Trade Center, District Export Council, Utah Microloan Fund, and International Women’s Forum, South Valley Chamber and the US Department of State Speakers Bureau. 
  
Beth is passionate about working with entrepreneurs and small business owners and anyone looking to gain education to make a difference in their businesses and communities.  She is equally passionate about family, travel, golf, and India.  
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Practical Solutions to Pressing Issues: Enhancing Customer Experience and Loyalty

Carlos Linares is a human accelerant in business and leadership development. As an entrepreneur, educator, researcher, and change management consultant, he has worked with incredible organizations in healthcare, banking, hospitality, HR, government and NGOs. An advocate for serving others, Carlos was named one of the 20 Most Influential Hispanic Business Leaders in Utah, Champion of Collaboration by the SBA, and Distinguished Alumni of Westminster College where he earned his Bachelor’s and MBA. Carlos has a PhD in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology and serves as the Director of Organizational Development for a top telecommunications firm. Carlos is an avid traveler, voracious reader and an "OK" poker player.

Access to Capital: Navigating Investor Landscape - Exploring Types of Investors for Small Businesses

Peter Callister is a General Partner and Founder of Mountain Crest Investment Partners, a venture fund focused on seed stage startups. Mountain Crest prioritizes investments in startups with diverse management teams, with a focus on veteran inclusion, among their leadership. It takes an active approach in its portfolio and seeks to supplement its startups with talent to be able to grow and successfully exit. The firm's investment thesis is grounded in the belief that diverse teams drive better returns for investors.

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 Peter Callister is a seasoned professional and has experience as a founder as well as a funder. He has experienced the highs and lows all entrepreneurs experience, sometimes in the same day. Peter is a contrarian and is known for thriving in challenging environments and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. He believes in building teams and relationships is key in developing new ideas, technology, and change. 
 
Before joining Mountain Crest Investment Partners, Peter served as the COO of Kinect Capital (formerly VentureCapital.Org), a nonprofit based in SLC, Utah. Peter played a pivotal role in assisting 400+ startups raise $300+ million in angel and venture capital from regional investors. Peter played a key role in establishing the Park City Angels and transitioning the SLC Angels into an active angel group in 2008. Peter's expertise in streamlining processes, from deal sourcing to transaction execution, has been instrumental in driving operational efficiency and facilitating successful outcomes. 
 
Outside of work, Peter enjoys spending quality time with his family and immersing himself in outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking, and off-road adventures in his trusty green Jeep. His passion for both professional challenges and outdoor pursuits underscores his dynamic and multifaceted approach to life. 
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