CEO of the Year.

• Author: Kennedy, Linda T.
• Position: Company overview

In a history-making era when CEOs across the country fell by the wayside as quickly as company revenues dropped and unemployment rose, some CEOs found their finest hour. Utah Business magazine is proud to celebrate eight of Utah's outstanding CEOs, who used their hard-earned experience and roll-up-your-sleeve-and-get-to-it work ethic to not only hold their companies together, but to lead them to exceptional success. Several of our CEO of the Year honorees credit other leaders for setting a standard they could follow. Other CEO honorees made decisions that some might consider risky business. But all of these outstanding leaders share a common belief in not settling for the status quo. Join us as we honor eight of Utah's top leaders in our 2010 CEO of the Year recognition feature.

Lane Beattie

Salt Lake Chamber

If you ever have an opportunity to listen to Lane Beattie offer business advice, you're likely to hear something that resembles an Olympic champion's mantra: work hard, do more than is expected of you, make good decisions and be willing to do the things others are not willing to do.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

They are fitting beliefs coming from a leader who helped put Utah on the map as chief Olympic officer for the state from 2000 to 2003, where he oversaw the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. It was after a winning run in that role that Beattie became president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. Today, his goal is to strengthen Utah's business community and the state's overall economy.

"Lane Beattie is a pragmatic CEO," says Marty Carpenter, director of communication and marketing at the chamber. "He's not afraid to change directions when necessary, but isn't one to take risks solely to take risks."

Beattie shifted the chamber's focus from a primarily networking organization to one that influences public policy to benefit businesses. Since then, health system reform has been a top priority for the chamber, which recently celebrating the passage of HB 188, which expands access to the health insurance market through the Utah Health Exchange. The Salt Lake Chamber also helped the business community understand and concentrate on the importance of transportation infrastructure and education. "We did it by building coalitions, collaborating and educating people about the need," Beattie says.

Under Beattie's leadership, the Salt Lake Chamber's membership grew from 4,200 organizations at the beginning of 2009 to 5,700 by the end of the year, a period when many chambers in the country were losing memberships. The Salt Lake Chamber also had its strongest sales month in the history of the organization in October 2009.

"In today's world, it is very important to stay focused and prepare for change," says Beattie. "Through it all you must apply the principles of integrity and common sense and give everything great effort."

Jack Livingood

Big-D Construction

Jack Livingood says one of his strategies for business was inspired by a Nelson Mandela quote: "There is no passion to be found playing small--in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." Livingood translates the quote to mean "think big." And since joining Big-D in 1978, thinking big has led to the construction company's success.

"During my career, Big-D has grown from $3 million in revenue to more than $600 million in revenue, and we have completed more than 100 million square feet of construction," he says. "Today we have more than 400 employees working out of six offices and throughout the Western United States."

Livingood's long-term professional vision is "to create a company that is grounded in values where there is no difference between what is said and done, to create an environment where good people can have outstanding careers, and to ultimately be the most sought after company in the business."

Cory Moore, Big-D Construction vice president, says one of Livingood's greatest skills is encouraging his employees' entrepreneurial spirit, and surrounding himself with great and influential people. For Livingood, success is a...