“Relocation Specialists”
Bonnie Barry, CCIM

2250 South Redwood Rd Suite 1 Salt Lake City, Utah 84119

Bettilyon Realty Company sold their building on third south and second east to the city of Salt Lake and relocated its office to 2250 South Redwood Rd Suite 1 in Salt Lake City, Utah in February of 2001. The company owns several business properties and specializes in providing industrial, warehouse, and office leasing. Verden A. Bettilyon founded the company in 1909, and incorporated in 1911 with five stockholders and a total capital of $5,200. Bettilyon's descendants describe him as "the original type A personality" and with reason: By 1916, the Bettilyon Home Builders Company was publishing its own newsletter, had assets of $300,000, boasted 1,500 investors, and was completing an average of one home a week.

Verden and his wife, Janet, had three boys, Verden, Lue, and Kyle, and one daughter, Aline Ruth. Both Lue and Kyle joined their father's firm and learned the business from him. Bettilyon impressed upon his sons the importance of "doing the homework" and really getting to know a piece of property before becoming involved in a transaction. He also taught them the value of integrity, both in personal life and in business. Finally, he made them understand that change is a regular event in the real estate business, and that they should adapt in order to survive in the marketplace.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Bettilyon was one of the largest, if not the largest, residential real estate companies in Utah, with an immediately recognizable trademark in its fleet of 40 white Thunderbirds. Kyle and Lue eventually brought dozens of national companies to Utah, including the American Oil Company, Commercial Credit Corp., Litton Industries, DeVoe Reynolds, Electrolux, Otis Elevator Company, Trane Company, Ryder Truck Rental, Standard Oil, F. Quest, American Pad and Paper, and Thiokol.

In 1950, the two brothers bought Bettilyon Realty and Construction from their father. And in 1965, they divided the company, with Kyle becoming president of Bettilyon Realty Company and Lue heading Bettilyon Construction and Mortgage Loan Company. They continued to work together on constructing some of the most distinctive and visible investment properties in the valley, including Decker Lake and Research Park. Kyle continued to work and golf every day until his death in 1988. The company is now owned by his wife Lael and two daughters, Bonnie Barry and Vicki Merchant.

Bonnie Barry, current president and CEO of the company, even today marvels at her father's prescience and business sense: "For the past 10 years, as I've grown and learned with this job, one of the things that I've learned is how smart my dad was. He had foresight in terms of investments and where to put his resources.

Following in her fathers footsteps, Barry gave up a career in the travel industry and studied and passed her real estate and broker licenses. She was the first woman in Utah to earn a designation as a Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM), which she describes as the real estate equivalent of an MBA.

Like her father, Barry emphasizes that the real estate business must be fun and rewarding. She recalls her father saying, "If you can't have fun, don't do it. If you don't get a big wallop out of putting a real estate deal together, forget it; do something else. To me, putting a deal together is more fun than golf, and I love to golf."

Barry says her future goals are simple: "My family and I are excited to meet the challenges of the next century with enthusiasm, integrity, and flexibility. We still honestly feel as though we're following the tradition of V.A., Lue, and Kyle."