Estimated reading time 6 minutes, 24 seconds.
Spectrum Aeromed was recently recognized as one of the best entrepreneurial companies in America by Entrepreneur magazine’s Entrepreneur360 Performance Index, a premier study delivering the most comprehensive analysis of private companies in America.
Based on this study forged by Entrepreneur, Spectrum Aeromed is recognized as a company that exemplifies growth, not just in top and bottom line, but in sustainability and ability to achieve lasting success.
“We are honored to make this list among so many great organizations,” said Spectrum Aeromed chief executive officer Dean Atchison. “The criteria required to make this list is the most comprehensive we have experienced. The E360 Performance Index measures more than just sales growth. They measure growth over the past three years in the number of employees and sales along with analyzing the culture of the organization.
“While many awards and lists have one requirement, this list truly measures what it takes to be an entrepreneurial company. Companies must have great people, a winning cultural environment and robust enterprise growth. It is a comprehensive assessment of an entrepreneurial organization’s efforts to sustain growth and performance. Our extraordinary employees make it possible for our organization to qualify for a list like this and I am proud that their efforts have been recognized by Entrepreneur magazine.”
“Those honored have identified a problem, come up with a unique solution, and bravely built their enterprises around it,” said Ryan Shea, president of Entrepreneur Media. “They’ve accomplished new ways of producing sustainable growth and are an inspiration to others who want to fulfill their own entrepreneurial goals.”
Earlier in the year, Spectrum Aeromed announced it made the Inc. 5000 list for the fourth time in five years and also was named, for the second consecutive year, among the best places to work by Prairie Business Magazine.
Through in-depth surveys, the team of editors and researchers behind the E360 Performance Index collected more than 250 pieces of data from hundreds of participating United States-based companies, focusing on growth drivers and challenges, goal setting, resource allocations, and reward systems.
The analysis uncovered a subset of companies including Spectrum Aeromed, whose continued success is largely based on superior value creation for their customers, building an adaptive learning culture, and aggressive geographic expansion—making them the most dynamic firms in America today.
According to research conducted by the Business Dynamics Research Consortium (BDRC), less than one per cent of United States businesses expanded capacity three or more years out of the past five. On average, they grew by 41 per cent over the period whereas all other surviving companies lost an average of four per cent.
Based on their analysis of 19.1 million for-profit U.S. businesses, sustained growers are statistically more likely to survive and continue to grow over the next five years than any other group of businesses in the economy.
“The companies identified in the E360 Index are sustained growers, and based on our research, have proven adept at navigating the changing challenges of their marketplace to win new business and grow their output capacity year after year,” said Gary Kunkle, senior research fellow at the Business Dynamics Research Consortium and research partner of the E360 Performance Index.
Dean Atchison acquired Spectrum Aeromed eight years ago with a challenging and aggressive turn-around business strategy. The company had a good product line-up and a core team of employees to build around. It lacked many things: a brand, a marketing plan, a sales strategy, a quality management system, business discipline and a culture of excellence, to name some key deficiencies.
In 2007, the company’s new owner set a course for significant improvement. Spectrum Aeromed developed an excellent leadership team to guide the company. The leadership team invested deeply in establishing lean enterprise principles and a mindset of continuous improvement.
An AS9100C / ISO9001:2008 quality management system was implemented and the enterprise has worked diligently to develop the company’s reputation, brand, and excellent critical care transport solutions.
Spectrum Aeromed is an incredible turn-around story. The company works closely with many major aircraft OEMs as well as established patient transport organizations around the world to develop best in class EMS and HEMS patient transport solutions for rotor wing and fixed wing aircraft.
With its independently audited AS9100C quality management system in place, the company performs at a very high level for customers, consistently meeting an industry-best 98 per cent on-time delivery standard and equally strong customer satisfaction scores.
The heart of Spectrum Aeromed’s success is its employees. The team is highly engaged, caring and passionate about the company’s mission of saving lives. The company hires the best and brightest for its offices in North Dakota, Tennessee and Germany, then focuses on challenging, training and supporting this great team to continuously improve for its customers.
“Entrepreneur magazine has been an outstanding resource and advocate for the fearless leaders who take measured risks for immeasurable opportunities for the last three decades. To be recognized on this E360 Performance Index that they have developed is high praise for Spectrum Aeromed and we intend to lean into the challenge of continuing to improve and living up to our designation as an E360 company,” said Atchison.
