The following Utah business people have been promoted, appointed to new positions or received awards.
- PacifiCorp, the parent company of Utah Power, has promoted Richard T. O'Brien to the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer.O'Brien, 44, has been the company's senior vice president and chief financial officer since 1995. With his new duties, he will be responsible for all energy operations, sales, marketing and energy trading and worldwide business development.
O'Brien's current financial responsibilities will be assumed by the company's treasurer, Bill Peressini, and controller, Jim Huesgen. A new CFO may be named at a later date.
- Julie Smith, owner of Salt Lake-based The Vintage Vagabond, recently won third place in the statewide Small Business Development Centers Nx Level Business Plan Writing-Start-up Business Competition.
Smith, who received a $500 cash prize, is planning a Sept. 1 opening for The Vintage Vagabond, a Victorian/French country home accessory and garden center on Highland Drive.
- Jennifer J. Johnson, a principal in Johnson & Co., the Virtual Agency, has been named to the universal accreditation board of the Public Relations Society of America. She is a Brigham Young University graduate.
- Fred Richard Day, a native of Aurora, Sevier County, and former executive director of the Poway Chamber of Commerce in southern California, has been named executive director of the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce. He succeeds Chapin Burks, who resigned in April.
Robert Cochran, who has been interim executive director, has been appointed corporate secretary, said Kerry Hepworth, chairman and president of the 800-member chamber.
- Stanley B. Parrish, president and chief executive officer of the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, has been appointed to a two-year term as chairman of the Utah Air Travel Commission board of directors. The commission is a volunteer organization promoting business, travel and tourism.