KAYSVILLE—It was an evening of celebration at the Davis Chamber Business Awards banquet last week as local businesses were recognized for their contributions to the county. The annual event honors businesses in four categories with three nominees in each. 

Categories included: Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Employer of the Year and Innovation Award. Winners were Staker Parsons Materials and Construction – Business of the Year; Goldenwest Credit Union – Employer of the Year; Championship Martial Arts – Small Business of the Year and RETEGO Labs – Innovation Award.

Caleb Collier, owner of Championship Martial Arts started his business when he was 17. “I was still in high school,” he said. “I loved karate and martial arts. My brother and I were 10 and 11 and we were always fighting and wrestling so my mom told my father that he needed to find  a solution to end the fighting and arguing. He signed us up for karate. It taught us discipline and respect for each other.”

Collier said they were 16 and 17 when they started the business. “We called it fighting brothers karate. We used a room in the basement. Then when I was 21 I found a commercial space in Kaysville and went full time. My brother went onto his own career but those are some great memories for both of us.”

Since his commercial business opened in 2005, Collier said it’s never stopped growing. “We have 960 students training over all of our locations. Our main one is in Kaysville, we have one in Syracuse and just opened one in Bountiful a few months ago. We have 12 full-time employees and about 10 teenage assistant instructors. It’s fun giving the opportunity to students to have as a career.”

The most rewarding part is working with the kids, he said. “I love to teach them that they can do hard things and they can get up when they fall down. I want them to be as cool as they can be. Every kid is awesome, sometimes they just don’t know it.”

It’s really more about finding success in life, said Collier. “It helps them learn how to be in front of people and be confident in what they really love doing.”

RETEGO Labs, a water testing service in Bountiful, has been working with large companies and multinational corporations but more recently started to work with schools and residential homes. “We decided there was a need in the consumer’s home when we were all locked up in our houses during COVID,” said John Briggs, VP of Marketing. “We had the picture of going inside of a home. No one had ever done that. We give the answer to a question nobody asks.”

Briggs said it’s hard to tell good water from terrible water just looking at it. “If you had two cups of water they would look the same. That’s where the name RETEGO comes from. It’s latin for reveal or recover. We can show exactly what’s going on. We can show what’s happening and what will happen.”

RETEGO provides lab quality data right on site, he said. “Then we use that knowledge to design a customized system for your needs. If you notice your in-home plumbing is failing or your water heater is going out every few years you should have your water checked.”

Repairmen always blame it on the equipment but really something is going on inside the home, said Briggs. “About 70 percent of homes were built before the lead and copper rule so there’s a good chance for the potential of pipes corroding away and getting into the water. Also, if you turn the water off in your house and when you turn it back on it has a brownish tint to it that tells you that you have a problem and you should do something.”

It’s not the city’s fault, he said. “It’s not Bountiful or Clearfield, etc. the problem is inside the house. The water is only as good as the container, which is the plumbing, in your house.”

The evening ended with the presentation of the Legacy Award to Tage Flint, recently retired General Manager of Weber Water Basin Conservancy District. The Legacy Award is the highest honor the Executive Board of the Davis Chamber can bestow and is designed to recognize individuals or institutions that have demonstrated a significant positive impact on Davis County, sustained over years.  

Flint’s father also received the award 20 years ago. “It means a lot,” he said. “I saw how much it meant to him. I’m humbled by it (award) and I’ll never take it for granted. It means a tremendous lot to me.” λ