The show airs in over 50 countries on Fox Business News and Bloomberg.
“It just gets our name around the world,” said Harvey Stewart, in describing what appearing on “Worldwide Business with kathy ireland” means to his company.
Stewart and business partner Darrin Mitchell flew to California on Tuesday and were interviewed by Ireland on Wednesday.
Following the interview, which was taped for the August show, the camera was switched back on for a brief Facebook Live post that went out over the Internet Wednesday afternoon.
“So the guy picked up the camera and he turned it on and he said, ‘OK, we’re live, let’s go,’ ” Stewart said in describing how quickly that Internet piece came together.
By Thursday morning the Facebook post had had over 10,000 hits, Stewart noted.
But that’s peanuts compared to the 275 million viewers the show can potentially attract.
“It’s massive. It’s all over the world,” Stewart gushed.
At a glance
- Trout River Industries, a manufacturing company in Coleman that started with a dozen employees just 17 years ago, already has trailers working on four continents.
- They have 105 employees and have been maintaining two shifts at their plant for more than a year.
- Production has been increasing at a rate of 25 to 30 per cent a year.
During the Facebook Live segment, Stewart and Mitchell both did a shout-out to their families, and Mitchell paid tribute to the “100 and some” employees in P.E.I. and to the dealers and partnerships around the world who have made it all possible for the company that got its start in 1999. The company has grown into the world’s leading builder of live-bottom trailers.
In the Facebook Live segment, Ireland makes reference to the trailers’ safety and money-saving features for the trucking industry.
Trout River now has trailers on the roads in four continents, and Stewart says he has no doubt that they will make it onto the roads of the other three continents soon.
“There are some other people calling,” he revealed. “We’ll continue to work at that.”
A film crew from the show will be in P.E.I. next week to get onsite footage.
Although Ireland will not be accompanying the film crew to P.E.I., Stewart said having Ireland’s “stamp” is huge for his company. With Ireland’s own worldwide sales listed at over $2 billion annually, Stewart has no doubt she has already made it to the seven continents.
The Hollywood taping all started with a call from the show about two months ago.
“They found us on YouTube, on the Internet, and they said ‘Here’s a company that’s coming up through the ranks, that’s globally doing things around the world. Let’s give them a call and ask them if they’d come on the show,’” Stewart said.
As soon as the company owners figured out the opportunity was real, they were onboard.
It was clear from the Facebook Live piece that Stewart and Mitchell were enjoying the experience. It seems the crew enjoyed it, too.
“They said, ‘You two are about the most different pair we’ve ever had here,’” chuckled Stewart in paraphrasing their reaction.
