Resigned as Utah House Majority Leader to become the state's top economic development official — a position that also carries a board seat overseeing a facility he directs, and a seat on the board of a $40 million fund he founded.
Jefferson Rex Moss represented Utah House District 2 from 2017 to 2023 (succeeding David Lifferth, succeeded by Mike Petersen) and District 51 from 2023 to his resignation in May 2025 (succeeding Jeff Stenquist, succeeded by Leah Hansen), becoming House Majority Leader in 2023, succeeding Mike Schultz (who became Speaker) and later succeeded by Casey Snider. A graduate of Orem High School, he holds a BA in political science (2002) and an MBA with an emphasis in entrepreneurship and finance (2009), both from Brigham Young University, and a financial planning certificate from New York University. He resigned to accept Gov. Spencer Cox's appointment as Executive Director — his official gubernatorial cabinet bio uses the title "Commissioner" — of the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO), beginning June 2, 2025, a position that required no vote. He succeeded Ryan Starks in that role, and subsequently succeeded Starks on two other seats: the Military Installation Development Authority's non-voting board seat, and the Inland Port Authority's Incentives Subcommittee.
Moss holds or has held a long list of other board seats and affiliations. Tap a tile for details.
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JM["Jefferson Moss
GOEO"]:::center --- BH["BioHive
board"]:::shared
RS["Ryan Starks
EDCUtah"]:::center --- BH
JM --- NU["Northern Utah
Economic Alliance
advisory roster"]:::shared
RS --- NU
Moss is listed by the Nucleus Institute as the founder of the Utah Innovation Fund, a state venture fund. In 2025, H.B. 530 restructured the fund's predecessor entity into the Nucleus Institute, naming the institute the fund's sole member and manager. Moss now leads the institute that manages the fund he founded.
H.B. 530 also exempted both the institute and the fund from Utah's Open and Public Meetings Act and Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), and removed a prior requirement that board members annually disclose private equity interests to the institute. The law requires the institute to publish an annual public report by October 1 each year, listing every business that received capital and the amount, and to undergo an annual audit delivered to the state auditor and state treasurer by September 1.
| Board of Directors | Role |
|---|---|
| Rep. Val Peterson (R-Orem, HD 56; HD 59, 2011-2023) | Board Chair; also UVU VP of Administration & Strategic Relations |
| Jefferson Moss | Board Member (also CEO / Executive Director, per Nucleus's own site) |
| Sen. Kirk Cullimore (R, SD 19; SD 9, 2019-2023), Senate Majority Leader since Jan. 2025 | Board Member |
| Aaron Skonnard | Board Member |
| Cydni Tetro | Board Member |
| Troy D'Ambrosio | Board Member |
| Vic Hockett | Board Member |
Tap a tile to see how each board member connects.
Utah Code 53B-37-201(2)(b) reserves a board seat for the director of the Talent Ready Utah Program. Vic Hockett's board seat is consistent with that statutory requirement. Aaron Skonnard, a Pluralsight co-founder, has separately been identified as a director of the nonprofit behind Silicon Slopes Commons, a funding source in the same donor network that has contributed to Moss's own campaign committee (Utah Tech Leads, below).
Utah Code 53B-37-202(3) directs the institute to coordinate with GOEO on regulatory-innovation discussions. Nucleus's own partners page lists GOEO and the Utah System of Higher Education among its institutional partners — the two organizations Moss simultaneously leads or has led, alongside Silicon Slopes Utah, the STEM Action Center (where Moss also holds a board seat), World Trade Center Utah, and others.
The Nucleus Fund's own team page lists Moss as "Managing Director," alongside co-Managing Director Angela Smith and Director of Fund Operations Kristin Wihera — a fourth distinct title for Moss across Nucleus's various pages, in addition to Executive Director, CEO, and Board Member. H.B. 530 created a five-member Investment Committee, separate from the institute's board, to oversee individual fund investments. Its current members are Tara Rosander, Gary Williams, Adam Robertson, Mark Paul, and Tom Ngo.
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A["2017 & 2019-2020
Moss serves on House
Retirement & Independent
Entities Committee"]:::past --> B["2025
H.B. 530 removes the
predecessor entity's reporting
requirement to that committee"]:::past
B --> C["2025 - present
Moss leads the Nucleus Institute,
the entity no longer
reporting to that committee"]:::now
Moss has served as a board member of the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority since mid-2025. Board minutes record the following votes involving Convergence Hall, a facility operated by the Nucleus Institute:
| Date | Vote |
|---|---|
| Feb. 11, 2026 | Board unanimously approved a lot line adjustment expanding Convergence Hall's footprint, requested by the Nucleus Institute. Minutes list Moss present; no recusal is recorded. |
| Mar. 12, 2026 | Moss seconded a motion approving non-leasehold infrastructure areas for the broader development. |
| Apr. 8, 2026 | Board approved an amendment removing the Convergence Hall parcel from Phase 1. Minutes list Moss as absent. |
| May 13, 2026 | Board voted unanimously to delegate design-decision authority over "technical implementation details" to the executive director. Board member Jenny Wilson is recorded expressing concern about the scope of the delegation before the vote passed. |
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A["Feb. 11, 2026
Lot line adjustment approved
Moss present, no recusal recorded"]:::ev --> B["Mar. 12, 2026
Moss seconds infrastructure motion"]:::ev
B --> C["Apr. 8, 2026
Convergence Hall removed from Phase 1
Moss listed absent"]:::absent
C --> D["May 13, 2026
Design authority delegated to ED
Wilson raises concern; motion passes"]:::ev
Jordan Teuscher, who co-chairs the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority board alongside Moss, has received $6,750 from Moss's campaign committee since 2018 (no payments found before 2020): $250 direct on Aug. 26, 2020; $250 direct on Dec. 13, 2021; $500 direct on Aug. 8, 2022 and $250 direct on Sept. 18, 2022; $1,000 to Conservative Millennials PAC (an entity Teuscher's own campaign committee also funds) in 2023 and a second $1,000 to the same PAC in Aug. 2024; $2,500 direct in September 2024; and $1,000 direct on Jan. 14, 2026 — about four weeks before the Feb. 11, 2026 board vote on Convergence Hall's footprint.
Moss's committee has also given Douglas Fiefia $771.15 across two payments — $250 on Dec. 18, 2023 and $521.15 on April 30, 2024. Fiefia chief-sponsored HB 286 (AI Transparency) and HB 438 (a companion chatbot-safety bill), both directly relevant to Moss's current role co-chairing the Pro-Human AI Task Force.
Anthony Loubet has received more payments from Moss's campaign committee than any other recipient — ten, across 2018-2026 (no payments found before 2020), totaling $4,250. Rep. Candice Pierucci, whose campaign committee is registered under the name "Pierucci, Darlene," has received nine payments across the same 2018-2026 window, also totaling $4,250.
Combined total to these three recipients: $15,250
A UVU Foundation report from Jan-March 2021 lists Moss as COO of the UVU Foundation and Associate VP of Institutional Advancement — a paid staff role held concurrently with his HD-2 legislative seat. The exact start and end dates of this role, and whether it appeared on any legislative financial disclosure he filed at the time, have not been confirmed.
H.B. 530 requires an annual public report by Oct. 1 naming every business that received fund capital and the amount of each investment, plus an annual audit delivered to the state auditor and treasurer by Sept. 1. Nucleus's own "State of Innovation 2026" report, presented at an April 30 conference, names the Nucleus Fund's 19 portfolio companies and states an aggregate $4.9 million deployed since 2023, but does not list the amount of each individual investment as the statute requires. Whether the Oct. 1 statutory report or the Sept. 1 audit have been separately filed has not been confirmed.
Utah Code 53B-37-203(1) has the commissioner of higher education appoint the institute's executive director, who under 53B-37-203(2) must chair the board. Nucleus's own site lists Val Peterson, not Moss, as board chair, while also calling Moss "Chief Executive Officer" and, elsewhere, "Executive Director." Whether the institute is operating consistently with the statute has not been independently confirmed.
H.B. 530 removed the predecessor entity's reporting requirement to the House Retirement and Independent Entities Committee — the committee Moss himself served on in 2017 and 2019-2020, and the committee that generally reviews independent entities — and added a report to the Executive Appropriations Committee instead. Sen. Kirk Cullimore, the bill's Senate floor sponsor and now a Nucleus Institute board member, sits on Executive Appropriations. Why the report was redirected rather than simply discontinued, and whether the change was requested by the bill's sponsors or added elsewhere in the drafting process, has not been confirmed.
The Utah House Republican Election Committee PAC has a campaign-finance registration (officers by leadership title, 1123 E Fairfield Road) and a separate Division of Corporations nonprofit registration (directors Osborne/Palmer/Shultz, Kyle Palmer's Layton address). Whether these are two filings for one organization or two distinct entities sharing a name has not been confirmed.