Steve Down is a Utah-based, Oregon-raised entrepreneur and business owner. He is best known as the founder of Even Stevens - a sandwich chain founded in 2014 - as well as the founder of The Falls Event Center, a chain of small event centers across the US, founded in 2011.
In his earlier years, Steve Down was involved in the securities and insurance industries. Then, in 1996, Down made headlines when he and his company, Investors Dynamics Corporation (IDC), were subject to litigation by the SEC regarding allegations of operating a multi-level marketing pyramid scheme. In 1998, final judgement was made and the defendants consented to court orders without confirming or denying allegations. IDC was told to cease operations and barred him from "association with any broker, dealer, investment company, investment adviser or municipal securities dealer" for two years. In 1999, after financial troubles, Down founded a finance-coaching company called Financially Fit. In 2013, Down published a book on personal finance, titled Financially Fit for Life. In early 2017, Down and Even Stevens made local news after Even Stevens had provided over 1 million sandwiches to non-profits. In mid 2017, several papers reported that Steve Down and the Falls Event Center are currently being investigated by the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission and are subject to an SEC Wells notice, with an investigation not yet resulting in any determinations.
Video Steve Down
Biography
Down attended BYU from 1979-1980 and 1983-1985 with no declared major. He did not complete any degree.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Down worked as a FINRA-registered employee at multiple firms, including North American Management, Inc., Richards Investments, and Intermountain Financial Services, Inc.
Investors Dynamics Corporation
Investors Dynamics Corporation (IDC) was registered on February 24, 1992 by Steve Down. Down owned this company for almost 9 years until January 23, 2001.
In 1996, Steve Down and IDC were subject to litigation by the SEC regarding allegations of operating a multi-level marketing pyramid scheme from October 1994 through March 1996: In 1998, final judgement was made and the defendants consented to court orders without confirming or denying allegations. The court ordered permanent injunction against Investors Dynamics Corporation and Steven L. Down and barred him from "association with any broker, dealer, investment company, investment adviser or municipal securities dealer" for two years. The court waived disgorgement and determined not to impose civil penalties based on the demonstrated inability of the defendants to pay. An administrative proceeding was later filed following the final judgement.
Maps Steve Down
The Falls Event Center
The Falls Event Center is a company Steve Down founded in April 2011, which provides event spaces across the country for small events, such as weddings, with an open vendor policy. The Falls Event Center currently has 8 operating event centers in 5 states, including: Gilbert, Arizona; Roseville, California; Fresno, California; Elk Grove, California; Littleton, Colorado; McMinnville, Oregon; Trolley Square - Salt Lake City; and St. George, Utah.
According to The Oregonian, there is a planned event center in Beaverton, Oregon, however, construction has halted and the company owes the city upwards of $33,000. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, there is also a planned event center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Falls paid $1.75 million for an old railroad building in early 2017, but construction has halted and no construction permits have been issued.
In mid-late 2017, several papers, including The Oregonian,The Star Tribune, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Phoenix Business Journal, The Sacramento Business Journal, The News Register, The Elk Grove Laguna News,, The Roseville & Granite Bay Press Tribune, and The Oklahoman reported that Steve Down and the Falls Event Center are currently being investigated by the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
On December 20th, 2017, Roseville City Council initiated tax foreclosure proceedings on one of The Falls Event Center's most profitable venues - opened in Roseville, California on March 1st 2017 with an assessed value of $4.3 million - due to failure to pay $9,330.66 in Mello Roos fees, delinquent since April 10th, in addition to unpaid property taxes totaling $26,105.60, delinquent since December 12th. It was also made public that The Falls Event Center LLC has deeper problems elsewhere, such as owing approximately $130,000 in unpaid taxes for centers in Sacramento and Fresno counties, while a former high-ranking official claims The Falls Event Center doesn't have the money to pay a $500 landscaping bill in Roseville, let alone visions of hotels suggested by Steve Down.
On December 28th, 2017, it was made public in The Oklahoman that a planned $10 million redevelopment of one of the last abandoned buildings along the Bricktown Canal in Oklahoma is on an indefinite hold amid allegations of investment fraud, SEC investigation, lawsuits and a battle over the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. The Falls Event Center was still unable to win approval for the project as of September 2017.
Even Stevens
Down opened the first Even Stevens restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah in 2014. For every sandwich the restaurant sells, a percentage of its profits are put into a Sysco fund, allowing non-profits in the local area to buy ingredients to provide food through their various organizations.
In the first 6 months of operating, Even Stevens had donated profits valued at 30,000 sandwiches to non-profits. In early 2017, it was announced that Even Stevens had donated profits valued at over 1 million sandwiches to non-profits.
Other ventures
Financially Fit & Wealth Heart Corporation
Down founded Financially Fit under the name Wealth Heart Corporation in June 1999. This company operates as a financial coaching company.
Steve Down's Public Relations and Business Development Officer of Financially Fit, Clark Gardner, was sentenced to seven years of probation in 2016 after pleading guilty to four counts of felony securities fraud in Utah.
CE Karma
CE Karma is a professional dental continuing education organization founded by Down. It currently operates in 33 states.
Storm Maker Media
A media company that Steve Down owns in Salt Lake City, mainly for use in conjunction with Steve Down's companies.
Blue Hat Ventures & Blue Hat Construction
A construction company acquired by Steve Down & his brother, David Down.
Wings and Waves Waterpark
The Wings & Waves Waterpark is an operating waterpark in McMinnville, Oregon, acquired as a portion of his purchase of Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum's assets to use for his McMinnville Falls Event Center.
SEC investigation
On July 23, 2017, The Oregonian reported that Steve Down and The Falls Event Center were under SEC investigation.
On September 15, 2017, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported that Down and his company, The Falls Event Center, are subject to an SEC Wells notice, which means the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission plans to bring enforcement action against them. This investigation is reportedly looking into The Falls Event Center's possible sale of unregistered securities to investors, allegedly using schemes to defraud.
On September 23, 2017 Steve Down was interviewed by The Oregonian, stating that "The Falls Event Center lost $8.5 million in the first half of 2017 on $2.5 million in revenue." Federal SEC investigators began looking into Down's organizations in October 2016 and he reported this to investors August 5 of 2017. Down claims he sold some WWII planes from the McMinnville museum in order to pay for losses caused by this SEC investigation.
Lawsuit against media leaks
As a result of the media coverage of the aforementioned SEC Investigation and Wells Notice, a lawsuit was filed against two local Oregonians for $25 million in lost profit & damages with claims of leaked information. This was later refiled as a $20 million suit.
On the 17th of August 2017, one of the businessmen drafted a letter to the Securities and Exchange commission expressing concerns about investors continuing to invest with Down and his operations, stating that, "In the public interest, I would like to recommend that Steve Down and his companies be shut down as soon as possible before additional people are harmed in light of unpaid payroll and workman's compensation taxes and evidence of an ongoing Ponzi scheme. This is rendered especially urgent in light of my and my colleagues' recent discovery that Steve Down Companies has been taking investments from elderly investors, and may have improperly handled their retirement account assets."
As reported in the News-Register on December 7th, 2017, the "local business men" responded to the lawsuit, seeking dismissal based on the grounds of anti-SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation) laws. In the reported press release, the two men assert that the lawsuit violates the law because it targets them for allegedly speaking out against financial misconduct and impropriety at one of Oregon's most popular and important non-profit educational institutions, the well known Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. The Falls Event Center claims this will be vigorously argued against, while the motion to dismiss claims the Falls Event Center cannot prove by substantial evidence that any of the defendants' statements were false or directly caused any harm, particularly in light of the ongoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into The Falls Event Center's possible sale of unregistered securities to investors, allegedly using schemes to defraud in what the local business men have been accused of calling a 'Ponzi Scheme.'
See also
- Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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