DARRELL BACK & JIM IVINS: 21 May (Th) 7-9 SPECIAL FEATURE ON PARTNERSHIPS

DARRELL BACK & JIM IVINS will team up this evening to tackle a discussion on BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS. They will share highlights, challenges, and advice based on their 30 years working together as co-owners of Meridian Title Company, a locally-based escrow and title insurance company serving the state of Utah since 1980.


DARRELL BACK, President of Meridian Title Company, is a non-traditional entrepreneur who built his business from humble pie into a multi-million dollar corporation. He worked hard to learn the industry while putting himself through college and had the opportunity to become part-owner while working on his degree. He claims that experience and discipline have been his greatest instructors. While trying to jump-start his own entrepreneurial dreams, he lived frugally and pumped gas at a service station in order to bring home a pay check.

Darrell will highlight certain career crossroads where choosing the path less traveled reaped sweeter rewards than could have been predicted. He anchors his life in certain key principles and personal rituals which he believes can improve any would-be entrepreneur or business leader. Darrell enjoys supporting local and international humanitarian efforts and is an ambitious member of the Salt Lake City Exchange Club. He has a great sense of humor is an avid recreationalist; he enjoys pulling his 7 kids on slalom skis behind his boat (all at the same time!).


JIM IVINS, Vice-President & Attorney for Meridian Title Company, is a passionate entrepreneur and successful attorney with 40 years experience and a lifetime of local & international community service. He earned a BS in Physics & a BA in German from Brigham Young University (1969) and received his law degree from the University of Utah (1974). He was also an aviation consultant for Hughes Aircraft during Vietnam War.

At the core, Jim is a cowboy. Raised on a dairy farm and the youngest of 6 kids, Jim learned the meaning of hard work through his 4am milkings and day-in-day-out manual labor on the ranch. He is known as "the problem solver" at Meridian; he's always got a line out the door for people seeking answers. Jim's not afraid to get into the thick of tough issues, go out and inspect a property with his own two eyes, or sit down face-to-face with his clients to dissect a plat map. Jim is a lover of history, travel, and cultures; he also enjoys a good round of golf and hitting the ski slopes with his wife and 8 kids.

WILLIAM N. JONES: 22 APR. 2009 (Wed) 7-9pm

Bill Jones is a passionate entrepreneur with 50 years experience and a lifetime of local & international community service. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering & a BA in Spanish from University of Utah (1953); MBA from Harvard Business School (1955); and PhD in Management from the U of U (1960). He was also an electronics technician in the US Navy (China, Korea, S.Pacific 1944-46).

Bill has extensive entrepreneurial experience in the manufacturing & electronics fields. He was Manager & Chief Engineer of Texas Instruments (1955-1959). He then became General Manager of Ariel Davis Manufacturing Company (1959-1964). In 1964, he started Electro Controls, Inc. and purchased Ariel Davis Manufacturing; he was Owner and CEO for over 30 years. This company manufactured & distributed lighting equipment in USA and Latin America; in 1964, he started Control Lighting, Ltd. to expand in Canada.

In 1966, he organized and became CEO of Traco Manufacturing, Ltd., a company in Canada & England manufacturing & distributing propane gas furnaces, water heaters & other appliances. He was treasurer of Brookfield Products and served on the Boards of Directors for Mountain Fuel Supply, Stokes Brothers, North American Credit Corporation, Community Press, Eagles Systems International, American Synergy, & Allendale Insurance Advisory Board.

He has held several positions of civic and church leadership: Utah State Senator; Emeritus General Authority of LDS Church (Quorum of the Seventy); Chairman of the Board for Intermountain Healthcare (IHC) for over 25 years; Chairman and President of Ballet West; and Vice-President of Executive Committee for Boy Scouts of America. He enjoys tennis, skiing, & scuba diving. He also loves sculpting, classical music, ballet, and foreign languages (Spanish & French).

BILL BAILEY: 19 MAR. 2009 (Th) 7-9pm

Bill Bailey, President and Owner of Mount Olympus Waters, will discuss critical crossroads and formative life experiences.

Bill did undergraduate and postgraduate study at the University of Utah and finished at the U of U Law School in June of 1961. He is also a distinguished Military Graduate and Commissioned Officer in the United States Army.

After commencing the practice of law in 1961, he entered active duty a year later at Fort Benning, Georgia as a Tactical Officer. In 1963, Bill returned to practice law in SLC and became a partner of Mount Olympus Waters and became the President in 1974. He later founded Water & Power Technologies and sold it in 1990.

Bill served on the Board of Directors for the American Bottled Water Association (ABWA) and the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) from 1975-1996 and was the Association’s President in 1978 and again in 1990. He received the industry’s first award of Excellence from IBWA in 1987 and was inducted into the Beverage World Hall of Fame in 1989.

Mr. Bailey was a member and president of Pi Kappa Alpha, social fraternity, a member of Delta Phi, legal fraternity, and a member of Salt Lake Rotary where he served as secretary in 1999-2000. He has been very active in church and civic affairs.

He is a Utah Opera Trustee (1994 to 2002) and Chairman of the Board (1999-2002). He received the Heart and Hand Award from the Utah Symphony and Opera (2002), and is a lifetime trustee of the Utah Symphony and Opera. In addition to enjoying activities with his wife, Shirley, and his 4 kids, Bill enjoys tennis, snow and water skiing, boating, traveling, reading, classical music and opera

GENE ENGLAND: 19 FEB. 2009 (Th) 7-9pm

Gene England is President Emeritus of C.R. England Trucking, the largest refrigerated trucking company in the USA. For more than 85 years, experience, integrity and a solid track record have earned C.R. England a reputation as the nation's leading company specializing in temperature-controlled transportation products.

C.R. England's 2007 revenues exceeded $750 million. The company's more than 4,350 employees, drivers and owner-operators take pride in giving the highest quality service, safety and on-time delivery with more than 2,600 trucks and 4,100 trailers.

An industry leader in providing temperature-controlled truckloads, brokerage, intermodal and container service, C.R. England is headquartered in SLC and operates in the 48 contiguous states, Canada and Mexico and maintains terminals in California, Colorado, Texas, New Jersey and South Carolina. The company also operates six driving schools across the country.

Gene will share entrepreneurial insights learned from starting this family-owned company from scratch, cultivating a successful business model, and passing his leadership and profits to future generations. Gene is also a member of the U of U Hall of Fame and is a generous contributor to several nonprofit organizations.

GARY CROCKER: 22 Jan. 2009 (Th) 7-9pm

Gary L. Crocker is President of Crocker Ventures, LLC, a life science private investment firm. He was Utah Entrepreneur of the year in 1999. He is on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Branch of San Francisco and also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of Sorenson Capital, an LBO private equity fund. He has held senior executive or director level positions in several successful life science firms including service from 1998 to 2003 as Chairman of ARUP Laboratories, as a director of Interleukin Genetics, Inc, and LineaGen Genetics, LLC., and as a co-founder and director of Theratech, Inc. which was acquired in 1999 by Waton Pharmaceuticals. From 1983 to 1997, he was President/CEO and founder of Research Medical, Inc., a publicly traded cardiac device manufacturer acquired by Baxter International in 1997. Prior to Research Medical, Mr. Crocker was Vice President, Business Development and Director of Marketing for the Sorenson Research division of Abbott Laboratories, and an Internal Strategic Analyst for Baxter International. He was recently inducted into the University of Utah Science Hall of Fame, and serves as a director of the University's Research Foundation. Mr. Crocker earned both his MBA and also graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Harvard University.


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