Album VC is seven-for-seven on backing Utah tech “unicorns,” the industry term for privately held companies that achieve the $1 billion valuation benchmark.

How are they doing it?

“A lot of investors are focused on doing a high volume of deals,” said Album partner John Mayfield. “We’ve come to kind of a model and cadence, investing in two startups per partner per year, a pace far slower than most for a venture fund our size.”

Why Juneteenth has a different meaning in Utah this year

You may have an extra holiday in June this year — Utah is recognizing Juneteenth for the first time as a state holiday this Monday.

Why it matters: Juneteenth is the day that celebrates the day the last slaves in the United States found out that they were finally free — a day two months after the Confederate Army surrendered in 1865 and about two and half years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.

How is it celebrated? Education, music and food are big parts of this holiday. Salt Lake City has a list of sponsored events you can attend.

Read more about Juneteenth at Deseret.com.

Read more about what the celebration means to members of the Black community at KSL.com.

More in Politics

• What’s in Mitt Romney’s revised child allowance bill — and who’s co-sponsoring it? (Deseret News)
• Why Sen. Mike Lee says COVID lockdowns, violent entertainment factors in mass shootings (Deseret News)
  
• Utah breaks ground on $165M North Capitol Project as old state office building comes down (KSL.com)
• In our opinion: What do we gain in the proposed Senate gun compromise? (Deseret News)

FROM OUR SPONSOR UTAH BUSINESS

Forging a new workforce path

Utah Business is honoring the women who are impacting industries like government, education, healthcare, nonprofits and technology. Do you know a woman who helped a company go public, inspired coworkers to think differently or challenged assumptions about leadership? Nominate the leaders you know before nominations close on June 17.

COVID-19

• Dr. Fauci tests positive for COVID-19 (Deseret News)
• COVID-19 vaccines may be available for Utah children under 5 as soon as next week (Salt Lake Tribune 🔒)

Faith

• The pivotal decision that led Tabernacle Choir organist Richard Elliott into his music career (Deseret News)
• Severe flooding at Yellowstone National Park affecting Latter-day Saints (Church News) 

Education

• Pregnant student who asked for help was told to drop class, civil rights review finds (Deseret News)
• Ex-Salt Lake City school board member to spend 15 years in federal prison for producing child porn (Salt Lake Tribune 🔒)
  

Southern Utah

• Iron County growers propose 115 new wells into Escalante Valley groundwater (St. George News)
• Utah's MMIWG task force holds listening session in Cedar City (Axios Salt Lake City)
  

Northern Utah

• Cache Valley man receives kidney transplant after wife joins kidney swap program (Herald Journal News)

Wasatch Front

• Salt Lake wants to keep Bees in place as it seeks major neighborhood changes (KSL.com)
  
• Critics blast Ogden airport; mayor hopes airlines will return (Standard-Examiner)
• Family outraged over burial mishap at Midvale City Cemetery (KSL.com)

The West

• How active is the Patriot Front white supremacist group in Utah (Deseret News)
• When will Yellowstone National Park reopen? (Deseret News)
• Liz Cheney: From Republican royalty to exile (Deseret News)

The Nation

• Fed levies biggest rate hike in 30 years in battle to quell inflation (Deseret News)
• How do you stay safe in a heat wave? (Deseret News)
• First self-driving crash data released, but questions of safety remain (Deseret News)
  

The World

• Will Utah host another Olympics sooner rather than later? That’s still to be decided after IOC meeting (Deseret News)

Trending

• What is a ‘Disney adult’ and what does it have to do with religion?
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• Internet Explorer is dead (Deseret News)
• ‘Lightyear’ has already been banned in 14 countries— before its official release (Deseret News)
  

Sports

• We asked Danny Ainge about the Boston Celtics’ title run. Here’s what he said (Deseret News)
• Jazz bring in Memphis prospect Josh Minott for workout, and why it was intriguing (Deseret News)
• Snow Canyon’s Luke Anderson crushed adversity out of the park in 2022, named Deseret News Mr. Baseball (Deseret News)