Pull to refresh
Logo
LiveSwitch expands in downtown Salt Lake City, offers free tech to small businesses

LiveSwitch expands in downtown Salt Lake City, offers free tech to small businesses

Money Moves Salt Lake City, UT local

Video communications firm ties downtown office to second-chance hiring and a small-business survival goal

Today: LiveSwitch expands downtown, offers free lifetime access

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

LiveSwitch opened a downtown Salt Lake City office on Sept. 22. The video communications firm is now offering local small businesses free lifetime access to its software if they register by Oct. 23.

The expansion includes a pledge to hire 200-300 people in the Salt Lake area, many of them people with criminal records. LiveSwitch says its platform returns an average 214% on cost and has set a goal of boosting the 10-year survival rate of U.S. small businesses by 25% over five years. For the city, the test is whether free tech plus local hiring anchors the downtown growth it has been courting.

Why it matters

Salt Lake City small businesses can lock in free lifetime access before Oct. 23 — and if the model works, other cities may copy it.

Questions about this story

Free account needed to ask — your question is kept and asked for you right after sign-up. Answers are public.

No questions yet — be the first to ask.

Key Indicators

214%
Claimed average customer ROI
Company-reported average return for businesses using its platform.
200-300
Planned Salt Lake area hires
Upper end of hiring range announced in the July second-chance initiative.
25%
Target boost to small business survival
LiveSwitch's stated five-year goal for the 10-year survival rate of U.S. small businesses.
31 days
Days until free-access offer deadline
Time from the Sept. 22 announcement to the Oct. 23 registration cutoff.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

Sign up to generate historical perspectives on this story.

People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

July 2026 September 2026

2 events Latest: Today
  1. LiveSwitch expands downtown, offers free lifetime access

    Today Expansion

    Company opens SLC office; free platform for local firms registering by Oct. 23.

  2. LiveSwitch launches second-chance hiring initiative

    Hiring

    Plans 200-300 hires, mostly business development reps, for people with criminal records.

Scenarios

1

LiveSwitch publishes strong signup numbers for SLC free offer

Possible Resolves by Nov 30, 2026

Discussed by: LiveSwitch's mission page and Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development

If 100 or more local businesses register before the Oct. 23 deadline, LiveSwitch gets an adoption story to pitch to investors and other cities. The company tracks adoption on its mission page and could publish a count. A public number would show whether the free-access offer actually moved small businesses.

2

LiveSwitch hits 200-plus Salt Lake City hires by end of 2027

Uncertain Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: LiveSwitch's July hiring announcement and Utah Business coverage

The company pledged 200-300 Salt Lake area hires, mostly business development reps, and said top performers make 150+ calls per day. Hitting the range would make LiveSwitch a notable downtown employer and validate the second-chance hiring model at scale. Missing it would undercut the expansion's promise.

3

LiveSwitch expands elsewhere, SLC office stays a small outpost

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Local economic development observers watching company momentum

If the free offer draws only a few dozen registrations and hiring stays under 100, the Salt Lake City office becomes a satellite rather than an anchor. The company could quietly shift hiring to other markets. The city would likely stop featuring LiveSwitch in its recruitment pitches.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2005-2017

Dave's Killer Bread (2005-2017)

Glen Dahl served time for bank robbery, then joined his brother's bakery in 2005 and helped build Dave's Killer Bread into the top-selling organic bread brand in the U.S. The company made second-chance hiring a point of pride, employing a workforce where roughly a third had criminal records.

Then

The brand's success proved ex-offenders could anchor a national business, and its ex-offender staff became a marketing point.

Now

Dave's Killer Bread Foundation spread the model to hundreds of companies, and 'second-chance hiring' became a recognized HR practice.

Why this matters now

LiveSwitch is making the same bet — that hiring people with records is both ethical and a competitive edge — and its Salt Lake City expansion is the test at scale.

2009-2015

Square's small business tools (2009)

In 2009, Jack Dorsey's Square shipped a free card reader that let tiny merchants accept card payments with a smartphone, removing a major tech barrier for small businesses. The pitch was that tech access, not ambition, was what held small firms back.

Then

Millions of small businesses adopted Square, and payment acceptance became a commodity rather than a luxury.

Now

The 'tech gap is the problem' framing spread across small-business software, from bookkeeping to payroll and now communications.

Why this matters now

LiveSwitch uses the same framing — free tech access levels the playing field for trades and home services — but stakes it on video and AI rather than payments.

2010-2020

Silicon Slopes (2010s)

From about 2010, a cluster of tech firms — Qualtrics, Pluralsight, Domo, and others — grew along the Salt Lake-Provo corridor, earning the region the 'Silicon Slopes' label. Downtown Salt Lake City landed its share of office space as firms sought urban campuses near the airport and light rail.

Then

The corridor became one of the fastest-growing U.S. tech hubs, and Salt Lake City's economic development team started actively courting expansions with tours and recruitment support.

Now

Tech now anchors Salt Lake City's downtown tax base, and the city uses the same playbook — tour, incentives, local hiring — that it ran for LiveSwitch.

Why this matters now

LiveSwitch's downtown office is the latest entry in this pattern, betting on Salt Lake City's talent pool, airport access, and walkable core.

Sources

(5)

More from Salt Lake City, UT

Openings, permits and council decisions in Salt Lake City, UT, in your inbox every Monday.