Idaho Falls Chamber hosts Mayors’ Business Day on April 19
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There is a little more than a week before the Mayors’ Business Day, scheduled this year for April 19 at the Shilo Inn.
Hosted by the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce and mayors of Idaho Falls and Ammon, the event began in 2008. This year features presentations and panel discussions on a variety of subjects.
The theme is a “Talent Pipeline.” This refers to the reality that a lot of longtime skilled workers are going to be leaving their jobs in the next five to 10 years and that young, trained people are going to be needed to replace them if eastern Idaho’s economy is to keep moving forward.
The keynote speaker is Todd Pedersen, founder and CEO of Vivint Inc. Pedersen started the company in 1999 as APX Alarm and built it into one of the largest residential security companies in North America. In 2010 he rebranded it to Vivint and launched an innovation center to create smart home products. Under Pedersen’s leadership, Vivint evolved from a dynamic startup into a smart home technology company with 9,000 employees and more than a million customers.
In 2012 it was acquired by the Blackstone Group for more than $2 billion. In 2013, Vivint was named to the Forbes’ list of America’s Most Promising Companies. In 2015, Vivint was one of 500 companies on the Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers.
Pedersen went on to launch of Vivint Solar, which had a $1.1 billion IPO in 2014 and became the second largest residential solar power provider in the United States.
He was named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 for the Utah Region. He was also named Utah’s Entrepreneur of the Year by Mountain West Capital Network, voted one of Utah’s 10 Coolest Entrepreneurs by Utah Valley BusinessQ, and was inducted into the David Eccles School of Business Hall of Fame.
Tickets to the event are $60 for chamber members and $75 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.idahofallschamber.com.
This story was originally published in BizMojo Idaho. It is used here with permission.