Salt Lake City: Livability in the 21st Century

Between the mid-1970s and early 2000s, Joe’s son, Steve,
grew the company, broadening its focus, winning long-term
shuttle contracts with Wendover, Nevada, Bryce Canyon
National Park, the Department of Defense, and a dozen
others, including the 2002 Winter Olympics. In 2006,
Richard Bizzaro and Gordon Cummins of All Resort Express
(now part of their growing All Resort Group) bought and
reenergized Lewis Stages, doubling its fleet, expanding its
tour operations and contract business, and adding a very
successful facility in Las Vegas.
Undoubtedly, the most unique service ever provided by
Lewis Stages was its Department of Defense contract for
Russian Missile Inspectors under the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty from 1988-2001. This one-of-a-kind
contract required Lewis Stages to transport, escort and
monitor two dozen Russians, whose official job was to make
sure the Hercules (now Alliant-Tech) missile plant at Magna
did not make anything that violated the treaty.
“Our company sent daily reports to the Pentagon,” says
Steve Lewis, vice chairman of Lewis Stages. “The challenge
was to keep the Russians from succeeding in their covert
mission of snooping on local military sites as we hosted their
social and shopping expeditions into the unknown wilds of
U.S. capitalism. The company’s
unofficial mission was to show
them the heart and hospitality of
their Cold War enemy and the
vitality of our system.”
Steve notes this definitely
worked. “Their initial hostility
and misconceptions soon softened,”
he says. “They carried a
different ‘truth’ back to the USSR.
Initially, they thought
Kmart (their favorite stop)
was a staged propaganda
shopping-feast, just to
impress them. Later, we
witnessed ‘Glasnost’ and
the meltdown of the Soviet
Union through the frightened
eyes of Russian
inspectors who didn’t
know if they would be
employed or imprisoned
when they returned home.”
Lewis Stages’ 250 employees
operate from the Salt Lake Bus
Depot, 549 West 500 South,
Salt Lake City, Utah; the Las Vegas
Bus Depot, 2880 North Nellis
Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada;
and Executive Offices, 1500
Kearns Boulevard, Park City, Utah.
The company’s charitable activities include support of
Rotary International, Boys and Girls Clubs of America,
Muscular Dystrophy Association, The Road Home, Friends
of Animals and many others.
T H E M A R K E T P L A C E
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