In a special episode, we check in on some of our past Spotlight and STeMie award winners to see how they are progressing, or digressing, today... Read the Transcript

Dr. Amy Vanderbilt Host & Chief Strategist the TrendPOV Show http://DrAmyVanderbilt.com

Host, Writer, Producer & Director at The Trend POV Show Founder & Chief Strategist at TrendPOV.com Owner at Trend Factor Press

This week, we take a look back at some of our Spotlight and STeMie award winners and how they are progressing, or digressing, today. We can all learn from successes and failures but we can learn even more from those companies that seek continued success. Thriving as a boutique hotel group, ETC implemented Hotel Evolution by Runtriz. Today, ETC is releasing a concept called “gotel” very soon that focuses on the entire customer experience at the hotel. Runtriz has taken their success in the states to the global audience and has entered the retail space. Let’s switch to the food industry and examine three companies from Utah that we focused on in 2008. The first of these, the Beehive Cheese Company, creates unusual cheeses that have won numerous awards across the globe. The company continues to impress cheese lovers all over the world. Recently at the World Cheese Awards in London, UK Beehive won two bronze medals against competition from across the globe. Amano Chocolate also continues to grow and succeed in a business that has made the news more often than not in the past two years. They are doing so well, in fact, that they have inspired knockoffs. Finally, Culinary Crafts is part of a growing trend among small and growing businesses to source their products using local producers. The company, named Best Caterer in Utah for seven years straight, continues to grow and blaze new trails with an executive team that is doing all of the right business moves. Amtrak (one of our favorite STeMie’s) refused to offer tickets through travel sites such as Travelocity and Orbitz and did not capitalize on industry trends that would not only make their customers’ lives easier but also their own, including electronic check-in. So how is Amtrak doing today? Very well, in terms of ridership. Customers don’t seem to mind but there still seems to be a lack of technological progress. So for now, we’ll keep the STeMie in place and hope for continued improvement from this giant of the rails. The opportunity to catch up with these companies has afforded us some key lessons. ETC and Runtriz are pushing the state of the art further all the time. Beehive Cheese continues to harvest Utah-style innovation and customer connection. Amano Chocolate continues to focus on brand and high standards. Culinary Crafts is keeping standards high and buying local. Lastly, Amtrak retains their title after tentative progress. Catching up to the rest of the travel world is proving to be arduous but is paying off, even at that slow pace.