H.J.R. 13 Enrolled

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JOINT RESOLUTION HONORING AMBASSADOR JOHN
2 PRICE
3 2013 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Chief Sponsor: Brad R. Wilson
6 Senate Sponsor: Jerry W. Stevenson
7
8 LONG TITLE
9 General Description:
10 This joint resolution of the Legislature honors the life and legacy of John Price.
11 Highlighted Provisions:
12 This resolution:
13 . honors the life and legacy of John Price as entrepreneur, philanthropist, former
14 United States ambassador, humanitarian, and founder of Price Development
15 Company, JP Realty, Inc., and Alta Industries Corporation; and
16 . honors John Price as husband, father, grandfather, and friend.
17 Special Clauses:
18 None
19
20 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
21 WHEREAS, John Price was born in Germany on August 18, 1933;
22 WHEREAS, Mr. Price fled Germany with his parents and older brother on April 8,
23 1939;
24 WHEREAS, Mr. Price graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1950;
25 WHEREAS, Mr. Price attended City College of New York in the evenings and spent
26 his days working in a variety of different jobs, each of which taught him different skills and
27 talents and eventually led him to study geology;
28 WHEREAS, in 1954, Mr. Price drove across the country in search of geology jobs,
29 which were in high demand, at the time, given the country's quest for uranium;

30 WHEREAS, Mr. Price settled in Salt Lake City after falling in love with the beauty of
31 the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountain ranges;
32 WHEREAS, in 1956, Mr. Price graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in
33 geological engineering;
34 WHEREAS, Mr. Price married Marcia Lee Poulsen on August 17, 1957;
35 WHEREAS, in the autumn of 1957, Mr. Price purchased three lots in the Avenues of
36 Salt Lake City and began J. Price Construction Company;
37 WHEREAS, Marcia, who was employed by Universal Travel Agency at the time, also
38 worked in the evenings assisting John with his new company;
39 WHEREAS, a determined entrepreneur, Mr. Price founded his second company, John
40 Price Associates, Inc. (JPA), in 1960, which evolved into Price Development Company (PDC),
41 in 1977;
42 WHEREAS, the business model was then expanded to include development, design,
43 construction, management, and most importantly, ownership of properties;
44 WHEREAS, with the company's expertise expanding, PDC quickly became one of the
45 top 25 developers in the United States as the dominant retail and industrial builder and
46 developer in the Intermountain and western regions of the United States;
47 WHEREAS, PDC pioneered new integrated building and construction management
48 concepts;
49 WHEREAS, PDC began developing enclosed retail malls, the first being the Cache
50 Valley Mall in Logan, Utah;
51 WHEREAS, over the next 27 years PDC developed 18 enclosed malls including Red
52 Cliffs Mall in St. George, Provo Towne Center, and Cottonwood Mall in Salt Lake City, with
53 more than 45 retail community centers, and a number of office and industrial park complexes,
54 totaling almost 20,000,000 square feet of building space;
55 WHEREAS, in 1975, Mr. Price oversaw the Utah's Bicentennial Arts Project as
56 construction manager, which included the renovation of the Capitol Theater and construction
57 of Abravanel Hall and the adjacent Salt Lake Art Center;

58 WHEREAS, Mr. Price's ambition and determination led him to many great working
59 relationships with both large and small companies that were willing to let him prove himself
60 capable of developing at a regional and national level;
61 WHEREAS, Mr. Price and PDC's reputation for performance, workmanship, and
62 competitive pricing opened new doors and the company flourished;
63 WHEREAS, PDC's construction division included projects for Kennecott Copper,
64 Anaconda, Alta High School, and several radio and television station buildings located in the
65 first business and industrial parks in the state;
66 WHEREAS, PDC also constructed landmark office buildings, such as City Center,
67 numerous car dealerships, and a myriad of shopping centers, grocery stores, and drug stores for
68 Albertsons, Safeway, Skaggs, Smith's, and Grand Central/Fred Meyer;
69 WHEREAS, in 1993, Mr. Price merged PDC and 83 real estate partnerships into JP
70 Realty, Inc., and formed a New York Stock Exchange listed Real Estate Investment Trust
71 (REIT), which merged with General Growth Properties in 2002;
72 WHEREAS, many of the thousands of people Mr. Price employed over the years refer
73 to their time spent working with Mr. Price as attending "Price University";
74 WHEREAS, Mr. Price was an incredible example, mentor, and teacher who would
75 expect nothing but the best and would work from dusk until dawn reading every newspaper
76 possible and researching and strategizing new innovative marketing concepts;
77 WHEREAS, Mr. Price's courage and motivation led him to accomplish some of the
78 world's most strenuous and challenging physical activities, such as numerous marathons;
79 WHEREAS, Mr. Price completed the ultimate Iron Man Triathlon event in Hawaii,
80 completed the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 desert truck racing events, trekked into the base camp of
81 Mt. Everest and climbed adjacent peaks, and climbed Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina;
82 WHEREAS, Mr. Price has always had a strong desire to lead and to give back to his
83 country;
84 WHEREAS, Mr. Price's patriotism led him to run for Salt Lake City Commissioner in
85 1957 and for the Utah House of Representatives in 1958;

86 WHEREAS, involved in Africa since 1970, including humanitarian missions, Mr. Price
87 was appointed by President George W. Bush as United States Ambassador to Mauritius,
88 Seychelles, and Comoros in 2002, and served until 2005;
89 WHEREAS, John and Marcia formed the John and Marcia Price Family Foundation,
90 which emphasizes investments in the arts and education and supports the Utah Symphony,
91 Utah Opera, Ballet West, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and numerous other arts and education
92 organizations;
93 WHEREAS, these contributions built the Price Family Holocaust Memorial Garden, the
94 Marcia and John Price Museum Building of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and, soon, the new
95 International Studies Building at the University of Utah;
96 WHEREAS, these contributions also helped to build a number of school projects in
97 Kenya, Mali, and Somaliland;
98 WHEREAS, Mr. Price currently serves as a resident scholar at the University of Utah's
99 Hinckley Institute of Politics;
100 WHEREAS, Mr. Price is the author of the book "When the White House Calls,"
101 regularly writes commentaries on Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and recently produced a
102 documentary film, "The Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon of Salt," chronicling the
103 historical significance of the Bonneville Salt Flats; and
104 WHEREAS, Mr. Price has brought great honor and distinction to the state of Utah and
105 its people:
106 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah
107 honors the life and legacy of John Price as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, former United
108 States ambassador, humanitarian, and founder of Price Development Company, JP Realty, Inc.,
109 and Alta Industries Corporation.
110 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature honors John Price as husband,
111 father of children Steven, Deirdra, and Jennifer, grandfather of Ashleigh, Chelsea, Garrett,
112 Hannah, Alexandra, Savannah, Jackson, and Lucy Sophia, and friend.
113 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to Mr. John Price.

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