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CXO Honorees Leading from the C-Suite

Salt Lake City—Once a class of title reserved for one or two at the top of the organization, the C-Suite has expanded in response to business complicating and changing with the times. On Thursday, Utah Business honored 15 of the state’s finest members of the C-Suite, from CFOs, COOs and beyond in its annual CXO of the Year Awards. The event was hosted by KSL-TV‘s Deanie Wimmer.

“These days, many experts have a seat at the boardroom table, including digital marketers, information technology professionals, sales leaders, human resources experts, and more,” said Donnie Welch, publisher of Utah Business magazine. “All of our honorees today have been successful in leading their teams through challenges towards a shared vision of success. Each of them contributes their expertise and their vision to the C-Suite.”

Kelly Echols, attorney at Stoel Rives, which was the presenting sponsor for the awards, said while there are always challenges in business, the stories of the hurdles cleared by those being honored were inspiring.

“The demands of raising capital and managing money flow—those are challenges every company has to face,” he said. “These honorees have overcome those challenges.”

For some of the honorees, the award, and the business culture that cultivates the environment to make such a strong field of candidates and honorees possible, is a demonstration of Utah’s robust economy. Sue Fellows, executive vice president of customer experience at Workfront, moved to the state to take the job, and was impressed by the peers she found herself amongst.

“The business community here is amazing. It’s full of incredibly smart and passionate and driven business leaders that have been very welcoming to me,” she said.

John Knotwell, Chief Revenue Officer at RizePoint, echoed her sentiments, and said that strong tradition of business leadership fuels the strong economy.

“One of the reasons we’re continuing to be vibrant and be the brightest star on the flag is because of our business community,” he said. “I feel really honored to be among you, as I’ve read your bios and learned about you.”

Of course, no leader can accomplish success by themselves, noted several of the honorees.

“None of us have reached this alone,” said Dan Macuga, Chief Communications Officer at USANA Health Sciences. “It’s fortunate to work with a great group of people pushing you higher.”

With a spirit of excellence and collaboration, good leaders can become great leaders, and set the next generation up for even greater success, said Everett Crane, Chief Financial Officer at Young Automotive Group.

“Those who achieve any level of success in their careers, there’s obviously a team, a large network behind them,” he said. “We all stand on each other’s shoulders to attain that success.”

Read about all of the 2017 CXO of the Year honorees here.