Utah’s business community celebrates local leaders’ for their service and positive impact on communities across Utah
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (April 27, 2023) – Business and community leaders gathered Thursday at the Grand America Hotel to recognize Wilford Clyde, Chair of Clyde Companies, Inc., as the 44th Giant in our City for his life as ‘a builder, not only of highways, bridges and dams, but of communities.’ The award is presented by the Salt Lake Chamber, Utah’s largest and longest-serving business association, and is recognized as the most prestigious business award given in Utah.
“Today we celebrate the contributions of a business and community leader who has done so much for our state,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “Wilford not only helped build an enduring company over numerous decades, but gave so much more to the communities he lived in. His example is one of dedication and commitment to Utah values like integrity, service and family. We could not be more excited to honor him as a ‘Giant in our City.’”
Attendees of the Giant in our City event got to view a special dance performance from the Utah Valley University Pacific Island Initiative under the direction of the New Zealand American Society; and video montages of congratulatory salutations from business and community leaders across the state.
“In my career and in my civic service, I’m grateful for all the good people who come together to make things better,” said Clyde. “With so many individuals who deserve this honor, I am truly humbled. It really does take all of us, working together, through ups and downs, to build community.”
In addition to Clyde’s recognition, the Salt Lake Chamber’s nonprofit foundation, Utah Community Builders, honored Mary Ann Lee, Artistic Director for the Tanner Dance Program & Children’s Dance Theatre at the University of Utah, with the 5th annual Lane Beattie Utah Community Builder Award. The award recognizes an inspirational individual who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to address critical community needs.
Lee was chosen by the Utah Community Builders Advisory Board, co-chaired by Lisa Eccles, president and COO of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and Clark Ivory, CEO of Ivory Homes.
“No one is more deserving of this award than Mary Ann,” said Eccles. “Her decades of dedication to the youth of our community and state have instilled confidence, creativity, and a love of the arts in thousands of children through movement and dance. Mary Ann’s impact will continue to benefit Utahns for generations to come, elevating the arts that enrich the humanity and economic vitality of our communities.”
The George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation and The Boyer Company also presented a contribution of $40,000 to the Tanner Dance Program.
Premier sponsors of the Giant in the City event included: Clyde Companies, Inc. and Zions Bank. Deseret Management Corporation, Gardner Group, Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation, Layton Construction, Merit Medical Systems, O.C. Tanner and WCF Insurance were presenting sponsors. Huntsman Foundation, Intermountain Health, Robert H. & Katharine B. Garff Foundation, Soltis Investment Advisors, Wells Fargo, Wheeler Machinery and Woodbury Corporation were event sponsors. AJ Construction Incorporated, Beehive Insurance, The Boyer Company, Bridgesource, Deloitte, Dentons Durham Jones Pinegar, Dominion Energy, Empire, Geneva Rock, George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, GWC Capital, Jackson Group Peterbilt, Komatsu, Mortenson, Mountain America Credit Union, R&R Partners, Rocky Mountain Power, Rustler Investments Inc., Southern Tire Mart, Sunpro, Sunroc, UMB Bank, The University of Utah, Wagner, Westland and WW Clyde were executive sponsors.
For more information regarding these awards and a full list of sponsors, click here.
Giant in our City Honoree bio below:
Wilford W. Clyde serves as the chairman of Clyde Companies, Inc., a premier construction services provider in the Rocky Mountain Region with headquarters in Orem, Utah. Clyde Companies was started by Wilford’ s grandfather, W. W. Clyde, in the 1920s as a road contractor in the Intermountain West. Today WW Clyde, Geneva Rock, Sunroc, Sunpro, Beehive Insurance, IHC Scott, GWC Capital, and Bridgesource are all subsidiaries of Clyde Companies.
Wilford started his career early as he rode to various jobs with his father as a young boy. Later he spent his summers working on projects in various capacities while attending college. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Upon completing his degree, he began his first job as the controller of Geneva Rock. At the age of thirty, he became the general manager and later president of the organization; growing business by tenfold over the next few years. In 2001, he was named the president and CEO of Clyde Companies and has continued to grow the company.
Over the course of his career, Wilford has been responsible for the purchase of over two dozen other businesses that have been absorbed into the Clyde Companies. He has used his leadership and organizational skills to help the business grow and expand with operations in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada. He has been involved in developing joint venture partnerships with Obayashi, Kiewit, URS, and Granite Construction. Clyde Companies’ mission statement is “Building a Better Community” and Wilford has been involved in the community throughout his career. He served as chairman of the Utah Manufacturers Association and was honored as the 1995 Businessman of the Year by this organization. He was president of the Utah Chapter of the Associated General Contractors and on the Advisory Committee of the Construction Management Program at Brigham Young University. He served as chairman of the Board of Trustees at Utah Valley University and was instrumental in starting the Clyde Institute of Construction Management which emphasizes in heavy and highway construction. He served two terms as the mayor of Springville, Utah. He also served as the president of Beavers, Inc., a national construction organization and sits on their board. Presently, Wilford is a member of the Board of Regents which supervises the Utah Higher Education System of colleges and universities.
Wilford is married to Natalie Egbert and has four daughters and 19 grandchildren. He enjoys skiing, traveling, fishing, and boating with his family.
Lane Beattie Utah Community Builder Award Honoree Bio:
Mary Ann Lee is the Artistic Director of the Tanner Dance Program (TD) and Children’s Dance Theatre (CDT) at the University of Utah, and an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Modern Dance. She trained with Virginia Tanner and was a member of CDT. She received master’s degrees in dance and French from Mills College and the University of Cincinnati, respectively.
She performed professionally with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and Moveable Feast Dance Company in San Francisco and with the Contemporary Dance Theatre in Ohio. Lee was a dance specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Artists-in-Schools program and taught throughout the US. She has been an invited guest teacher nationally and internationally. Lee continues to teach at the University of Utah in the departments of Modern Dance, Ballet, and Education, and in the TD Program.
