Professional Achievement Award Recipients

Each year, the Huntsman School recognizes outstanding achievements or sustained excellence of our alumni and friends through our Professional Achievement Awards. During 2018, we recognize three amazing entrepreneurs, all three of whom are recipients of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award, two of whom are loyal Aggies, for being open to opportunity and creating value for themselves and for their communities.

Sam Malouf, ‘04

President & CEO, Malouf

In trying to upgrade their bedding during college, Sam and his wife Kacie discovered an enormous markup on high-end sheets. What started as a business in their two-bedroom apartment is now a multinational company with over 1,000,000 sq.ft. of space. Malouf was recently recognized as #7 on the Utah Business Fast 50 list. In addition to running a fast-growing business, Sam and Kacie are also deeply engaged in their community through the Malouf Foundation, and especially in helping combat sex trafficking through a partnership with Operation Underground Railroad.

Amy Rees Anderson

Founder & Managing Partner REES Capital

Entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, Amy Rees Anderson is the founder and managing partner of REES Capital and of IPOP Foundation, both of which focus on entrepreneurship. She was also the founder and CEO of MediConnect Global, one of the largest cloud-based health information exchanges.

David Jenkins

President & CEO, Conservice

While working in property management, Jenkins recognized the need for a better utility billing solution in the multifamily industry. Conservice, the company he founded with two employees and one customer, now serves over 3 million units across residential, multi-family, and commercial segments across all 50 states and Canada.

2018 Distinguished Executive Alumnus

Mark Holland

Chairman & CEO, Intermountain Staffing

It’s fair to say few people have taken the full measure of their experience at Utah State, or given back in so many ways, more than Mark Holland: water bomber, student body vice president, Chairman, Huntsman School National Advisory Board, USU Trustee, donor, True Aggie.

A 1986 marketing graduate, Holland began his career as a financial planner before finding his way to Intermountain Staffing. He also founded Ascend HR Solutions, an HR outsourcing company, and more recently, co-founded Ascend Medical.

Intermountain Staffing, among the largest staffing companies in the United States, provides temporary staff for companies specializing in light industrial work, entry-level trade position and entry-level clerical positions. They have offices in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona, and they fill jobs throughout the West. In 1995 Holland founded Ascend HR Solutions, an HR outsourcing company. Ascend was listed as #17 in Inc. Magazine’s Inc 500 list in 2000 and has been included in the Utah 100 nine out of ten years in a row. The company was honored as the 8th largest revenue increase of all companies in Utah in 2010. Holland is co-founder of another high growth company, Ascend Medical, a provider of temporary doctors working throughout the U.S.

Holland attributes his entrepreneurial spirit and his leadership philosophy to his childhood and adolescence. His father passed away when he was 5 years old, and the family moved 20 times in Holland’s first 20 years. Those experiences have contributed to his personal mission statement, which states that nothing is more important than family; old friends are a most valuable treasure; and balance leads to profitability. It is also a big reason why he and his wife Wendi have provided scholarships for USU students who are single parents.

Holland views one of his roles as CEO to be the gatekeeper of culture, and a central tenet in building a healthy workplace culture is to assume good intent. “If I can assume good intent, I become healthier, I become happier, I’m nicer to be around. It leads to trust. To be able to develop a strong culture, we have to have trust,” Holland notes. Trust is also predicated on integrity. “Life is too short to make conscious decisions to compromise our integrity.”

The integration of personal values and work values has ended up contributing to the balance between life and work, and that balance has been a key to success. As Holland states, “Finding balance in an increasingly busy world creates life success alongside of work/faith/other things we put our talents to. Mix in some exercise and adventure and a passion for the Aggie Nation - that is a great recipe for success!”