USANA to hold 18th annual convention in Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — More than 6,000 people are expected at the 18th annual USANA Health Sciences Convention that will run Wednesday through Saturday at the EnergySolutions Arena.

The Utah-based company creates and sells products for nutritional, personal care, energy and weight management, with preferred customers and associates selling throughout the U.S. and 13 other countries.

Despite a recession that has cut consumer spending and business travel dramatically, the annual USANA event easily could hit attendance of 8,000 this year.

"We think there will be more people, based on the announcement we made last week that we are going into China. We just acquired a company in China," said Dan Macuga, USANA vice president of marketing and public relations. "We have 8,000 people registered; we were expecting attendance of 6,000. The China announcement could drive the numbers up."

Attendees can expect to learn about new technologies and products that have not been made public before.

"We have several huge announcements this year — we call them 'game changers,' " Macuga said, referring to strategies that will help USANA participants build business. "There also will be some product announcements. It's going to be a very exciting three days."

Early projections indicate attendees will pour about $6 million into the local economy, and their presence will be an economic boon not only for downtown Salt Lake City but also for surrounding areas.

"Not only has USANA been one of our best clients year in and year out, but they've also been one of our best partners," said Scott Beck, president and chief executive officer of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau. "In addition to consistently producing one of the best and most entertaining trade shows, they've been willing to adjust the timing of their show if and when the possibility of Salt Lake hosting another, large-scale event overlapping with their annual convention date (arises).

"Case in point being our recent bid to host the 2012 Republican National Convention, which surely would have required the cooperation of USANA and a few other annual conventions. We're truly fortunate to have such strong and cooperative Utah-based companies with the ability to see the 'big picture' and understand the importance and impact of its actions."

Macuga said the relationship between USANA and the bureau always has been positive.

"When they called us and said the Republican National Convention might come to town and might come at the same time as our annual convention, they asked if we would move — it's a pretty big move. Of course, we agreed to do that," Macuga said. "We realized what the economic impact on Salt Lake City would be. There was no way that we would not try to accommodate them. The Convention and Visitors Bureau has always been a big help to us, and we wanted to reciprocate."

USANA's keynote speakers will include its founder, Dr. Myron Wentz; E! News correspondent Ashlan Gorse; Olympic gold medalists Jennifer Azzi and Derek Parra; former "Beverly Hills 90210" star Jason Priestley and his wife, Naomi; and Linda Armstrong Kelly, the mother of Lance Armstrong and a best-selling author.

The convention also provides an opportunity for the company to host a fundraising 5K walk/run for its charitable partner, Children's Hunger Fund. The event has raised more than $100,000.

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com