On Friday January 15^th, 2010 Red Herring announced its Global 100 award winners in recognition of the leading private companies from North America, Europe, and Asia, celebrating these startups' innovations and technologies across their respective industries. "We are thrilled to win our 7th prestigious business/technology award in the past year and 2nd international award" said Jack Grum, EVP and co-founder of Weather Trends International. "Everyone here at WTI has a contagious passion for what we're accomplishing and that's manifested in the fact that clients renew year-after-year at an amazing 97% retention rate - so hat's off to our loyal customers who made this award possible." Added Grum.

Red Herring's Global 100 list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising new companies and entrepreneurs. Red Herring editors were among the first to recognize that companies such as Google, Yahoo, Skype, Netscape, Salesforce.com, YouTube, and eBay would change the way we live and work.

"Choosing the best out of the previous three years was by no means a small feat," said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. "After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed down our list from 1,200 potential companies to 200 finalists. Trying to get it down to 100 companies was a task upon itself. The top 100 companies who were chosen should be extremely proud, the competition was difficult."

Red Herring's editorial staff evaluated the companies on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy, and market penetration. This assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the track record and standing of startups relative to their sector peers, allowing Red Herring to see past the "buzz" and make the list an invaluable instrument of discovery and advocacy for the greatest business opportunities from around the world.

Forbes #5 America's Most Promising Companies
2009 Award WINNER!
Weather Trends International

Weather Trends International is proud to announce that it has been ranked #5 on Forbes 2009 Top 20 list for America’s Most Promising companies. WTI was selected from thousands of companies across the U.S. and is the only company on the list in the tri-state metropolitan area (New York-Pennsylvania-New Jersey). The list is available on Forbes.com now and will be in the magazine this week (October 5th issue).

Forbes performed an exhaustive search to compose this list of young, vibrant companies with high growth potential. Slickest technology, size of market, experience of management team and meeting product cycle benchmarks were just some of the criteria considered by Forbes and a partner team, Venture Alliance. As quoted by Forbes, inclusion on this list “of small, dynamic companies with this kind of growth potential is sure to make venture capitalists salivate”.

“We were excited a month ago when we were a featured finalist but to be ranked #5 in the final list is an absolute honor,” said Bill Kirk, CEO of Weather Trends International. “I am very proud of our passionate and dedicated employees who take care of our loyal clients who took the leap of faith that long range business-weather planning is real and actionable,” added Kirk.

See Weather Trends Forbes Video
Press Play Button

May 13, 2009: Weather Trends International, the global leader in year-ahead business weather guidance for retailers and suppliers, announced today it has won the "Red Herring 100 North America" award, a prestigious list honoring the year’s most promising private technology ventures in North America.

The Red Herring editorial team selected the most innovative companies from a pool of over 1,200. The nominees were evaluated on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries.

This unique assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the actual track record and standing of a company, which allows Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list an invaluable instrument for discovering and advocating the greatest business opportunities in the industry.

"This year was especially difficult," said Alex Vieux, Publisher and CEO of Red Herring. "There were so many great companies producing really innovative and amazing products that we had a difficult time selecting the top 100 winners. This year’s winners have truly set themselves above the rest in an extremely challenging economic environment.”

For over 10 years, The Red Herring 100 North America award, open to private technology companies headquartered in North America, has been given to the top 100 tech companies based upon their technological innovation, management strength, market size, investor record, customer acquisition, and financial health. During the several months leading up to the announcement, hundreds of companies in the telecom, communications, security, Web 2.0, software, hardware, biotech, and clean tech industries sent in their submissions to qualify for the award.

The CEOs of the 200 finalists were invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Conference in San Diego, where the Red Herring Top 100 were announced May 13th, 2009.
“We are honored to have won this award with so many great and innovative companies competing this year. The passionate and dedicated employees that have made WTI an industry leader deserve all the credit for making Weather Trends International a 2009 Red Herring 100 Winner.” said Bill Kirk, CEO Weather Trends International.

ABOUT RED HERRING 100

To be selected as a Red Herring 100 winner or finalist is a mark of distinction and high honor. Only 200 companies are chosen as finalists out of a pool of thousands. Of those finalists we selected 100 companies as winners. To decide on these companies the Red Herring editorial team diligently surveys entrepreneurship around the globe. Technology industry executives, investors, and observers regard the Red Herring 100 lists as invaluable instruments to discover and advocate the promising startups that will lead the next wave of disruption and innovation. Past award winners included some of the worlds most successful and admired technology, internet, software, communications, entertainment/media, security/defense, biosciences and energy companies such as Google, Yahoo!, Salesforce.com, YouTube, and many other emerging technology companies.

Weather Trends International won a Stevie Award for Most Innovative Company of the Year in The 2009 American Business Awards ceremony on June 22nd 2009. The awards were presented during ceremonies at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City hosted by Cheryl Casone of Fox Business Network and broadcast nationwide on radio by the Business TalkRadio Network.

More than 200 executives across the country participated in the judging process to determine the Finalists and Stevie Award Winners from more than 2,600 entries. Stevie Awards were presented in over 40 categories including Best Overall Company of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the year among other individual awards.

In accepting the Stevie for Weather Trends International, Bill Kirk CEO said, “It’s a true honor to win such a prestigious award which validates the contagious passion our employees have for our collective success in support of our very loyal customers. Year-ahead business-weather forecasting across the globe is no easy task and to be singled out from the 366 weather companies in the U.S. is a testament to just how special our technology is,” added Kirk.

“Weather Trends International competed against more than 2,600 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry and despite very tough economic conditions, many organizations and individuals continue to perform well,” said Michael Gallagher, Founder and President of The Stevie Awards. “The results of the 2009 ABAs thus far are a testament to the resilience, creativity, and hard work of American organizations, executives and workers.”

This is the second technology/business award presented to Weather Trends International in 2009. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists and Stevie Award Winners are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba

ABOUT THE STEVIE AWARDS

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com Supporting sponsors of The 2009 American Business Awards include High Performance Technologies Inc., John Hancock, Lifelock, RCN Corporation, Softpro, and Ultimate Software. Media sponsor is the Business TalkRadio Network. Localization partner of the 2009 Stevie Awards is Lionbridge.

Each year the Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal selects 20 of the most accomplished and sharply focused individuals under the age of 40 with a strong track record of achievement. Weather Trends International’s Matt Alonso, Director of Systems Operations is a 2009 Award Winner. Matt is a brilliant meteorologist with an undergraduate meteorology degree from Millersville University and is pursuing an Executive Masters in Technology Management from the University of Pennsylvania, co-sponsored by Wharton. “Matt has been instrumental in the architecture of WTI’s proprietary data warehouse consisting of terabytes of global historical and year-ahead forecast data while also managing the development of WTI’s award winning client portal Myskeye.com. We are very proud of Matt in his accomplishments” said Bill Kirk, CEO Weather Trends International. Matt organized the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) Forum, a thriving network of thousands of meteorological professionals across the globe who contributed to the newly created state-of-the-art WRF numerical model. Congratulations Matt!

Weather Trends International FINALIST in the ABA 6th Annual International Business Awards for MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANY
OF THE YEAR 2009

Weather Trends International is recipient of a 3rd technology/business award with Certificate of Finalist recognition in The Most Innovative International Company in the 2009 International Business Awards. The International business awards are the only global, all-encompassing business awards program honoring great performances in business.

Nicknamed the Stevie® for the Greek word “crowned,” the awards will be presented to honorees at a gala dinner on Monday, September 14th at the ST. Regis Hotel in New York City. Honorees were selected from more than 1,700 entries received from organizations and individuals in more than 30 countries. “Despite the harsh economic climate, entries to the IBA’s actually grew a bit this year, and that illustrates the increasing importance of The International Business Awards worldwide,” said Michael Gallagher, President of The Stevie Awards. A complete list of 2009 honorees is available at www.stevieawards.com/iba

American Solutions for Winning the Future, is a unique tri-partisan organization designed to rise above traditional gridlocked partisanship and to provide real significant solutions to the most important issues facing our country.

Weather Trends’ CEO and Co-Founder Bill Kirk was selected as Entrepreneur of the Year in Pennsylvania. He was awarded this honor at the 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Dinner held on October 7, 2009 in Washington, DC.

American Solutions recognizes entrepreneurs who can fundamentally shift power in America from politicians to small business, from lobbyists to entrepreneurs, and from bureaucrats to investors.

Weather Trends International announced today it has been selected as a finalist for Red Herring's Global 100 award, a prestigious list honoring the year’s most promising private technology ventures from around the world.

The Red Herring editorial team selected the most innovative companies from a pool of 1,200. The nominees are evaluated on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries. “We are honored to be considered for this prestigious award, our 7th in the past year and 2nd international award” said Bill Kirk, CEO Weather Trends International.

This unique assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the actual track record and standing of a company, which allows Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list an invaluable instrument for discovering and advocating the greatest business opportunities in the industry.

"This year was especially difficult," said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. "Despite the global economic situation, there were many great companies producing really innovative and amazing products that we had a difficult time narrowing the pool and selecting the finalists. Now we’re faced with the arduous task of selecting the final 100 winners of the award. We know that this year’s crop will grow into some amazing companies that are sure to go far."

Finalists for the 2009 edition of the Red Herring Global 100 award are selected from the regional recipients or finalists of the Red Herring 100 awards in 2007, 2008, or 2009 ranging from Asia, Europe, and North America. For the past three years, the award has been given to the top 100 global technology companies based upon their technological innovation, management strength, market size, investor record, customer acquisition, and financial health. During the several months leading up to the announcement, hundreds of companies in the telecommunications, security, Web 2.0, software, hardware, biotech, and clean tech industries sent in their submissions to qualify for the award.

The CEOs of the 200 finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Global Conference in Laguna Niguel, California, January 12-14, 2010. The Top 100 winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony at the event.