Good Thursday morning.

• 🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 100.

This newsletter is 959 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Utah defense contractor CenCore has launched a coalition of businesses that plan to work together to win defense and intelligence agency contracts.

Why it matters: The group — dubbed the Integrated Warfighter Ecosystem (IWE) — could make smaller businesses more competitive in an industry where startups often don't have the resources to wait years for a big government payday, CenCore CEO Adam Fife tells Axios.

Zoom in: The collaboration comes as Utah leaders are trying to beef up the state's defense and aerospace industry.

How it works: About 150 businesses — including 15 in Utah — offer up individual parts for systems that meet specs so complex that normally "no single service provider can meet or match" the requirements.

Case in point: About a dozen of the group's members recently contributed software, drones, anti-jamming features for communications, navigation tools, and other components to protect supply chains and transport routes from attacks.

• "None of those companies by themselves could have responded to that [request] — or even two or three of them," Fife says.

Between the lines: The vast majority of IWE members are small to midsize businesses. Many are veteran-owned.

• Some have never worked with the Defense Department.

Friction point: Fife, who previously worked in the Middle East as a counterterrorism advisor, says those partnerships can help sidestep gear mismatches that cause problems in the field.

• In some of his tasks, incompatible equipment meant "you had to separately look at six different systems to then manually mesh it all together so you could kind of understand what you're looking at," he says.

Driving the news: IWE, which first took shape about 18 months ago, is starting its inaugural summit Friday at CenCore's new 55,000-square-foot facility in Payson.

Context: CenCore makes mobile high-security rooms, called SCIFs, and data centers. It employs about 1,700 people, including about 120 in Utah.

• Last month, it won a hush-hush intelligence contract. (Fife declined to describe it in detail.)
• Before that, it won a $44 million contract to build up to eight relocatable SCIFs at Navy sites in the Atlantic.

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The Salt Palace was quiet yesterday as one of its mainstay events kicked off in another time zone.

State of play: After more than 20 years in Salt Lake, the Outdoor Retailer trade show is now underway in Minneapolis.

Friction point: Show organizers announced the move last year after determining the Salt Palace couldn't accommodate it during a yearslong renovation.

Catch up quick: For decades, outdoor gear creators came to Salt Lake to display their innovations and convince retailers to carry their products.

• Twice a year, the summer and winter shows packed downtown with parties and music at the outdoor industry's biggest celebration.

Friction point: That changed after 2017, when retailers and vendors called for a boycott of Utah after the state's Republican leaders supported Trump's efforts to dismantle public lands protections, especially at national monuments.

• The show decamped to Denver for a few years and returned to SLC in 2023 — after the pandemic made in-person trade shows much smaller affairs in most industries.

By the numbers: Some 275 exhibitors are attending its first Minneapolis show, Axios' Kyle Stokes reports.

• During the pre-COVID shows, more than 1,000 exhibitors descended on SLC, and retailers erected multi-story booths.

The bottom line: SLC isn't the same without OR, but OR isn't the same either.

Tell a gear fiend

⚖️ Senate President Stuart Adams, whose relection campaign ended in June after losing his GOP primary race, is threatening to sue his critics for defamation, including State Auditor Tina Cannon. (Salt Lake Tribune)

• In response, Cannon said she "refused to be bullied by President Adams, and I certainly won't be bullied by Mr. Adams."

🩺 The University of Utah opened a new $215 million facility yesterday to house the new Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. (Deseret News)

⛴️ A legislative committee voted yesterday to explore discontinuing the Lake Powell ferry, citing the reservoir's record-low levels that prevent the vessel from running and the $500,000 annual cost to maintain it. (FOX 13)

Whiskey Street's owners were awarded a $1 million loan by the city this week to install a new rooftop patio as the beloved bar and eatery undergoes a nearly $4 million rebuild.

The big picture: The funding comes about a year after a fire tore through downtown's nightlife hub, destroying Whiskey Street and other neighboring businesses.

• Of the five restaurants and bars that were damaged or ravaged by last year's blaze, only two — White Horse Spirits & Kitchen and Eva — have reopened.

Driving the news: The city's Community Reinvestment Agency board, made up of the Salt Lake City Council, approved the loan Tuesday.

• The patio will be a totally new addition to Whiskey Street's one-story operation before the fire.

What's next: The bar's owners plan to reopen at the end of the year, KSL reports.

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Salt Lake City's 999 Ride has been a cherished tradition among bicyclists for more than a decade.

State of play: Each Thursday, hundreds of bikers meet in the city's 9th and 9th neighborhood at 9pm and cruise through the city.

Yes, but: The weekly tradition has faced criticism by the police and longtime participants who say the event has become too disruptive and unsafe.

You tell us: What's been your experience with the 999 ride?

• Hit reply to this email to share your thoughts. We may use your responses in a future newsletter.

🧤 Kim is ready for sweater weather.

🎃 Erin would be happy enough just to build her Halloween decorations outdoors without risking heat stroke.

This newsletter was edited by Astrid Galván.