Top 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Led Companies

These women-led businesses are speeding their way to the top.

By womenentrepreneur.com | Oct 12, 2008

Opinions expressed by �鶹�� contributors are their own.

From �鶹�� Magazine‘s Leading Ladies.

1. Spartan Constructors LLC
Industrial construction, Sugar Hill, GA

Heidi Smith Price
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $350,000
2003 sales: $100,000
2007 sales: $136 million

2. Pinnacle Technical Resources Inc.
IT staffing, Dallas

Nina G. Vaca
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: $300
2003 sales: $9 million
2007 sales: $141 million

3. Temporary Housing Directory Inc.
Temporary housing & hotel placements, Castle Rock, CO

Teresa Vidger
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $281,000
2007 sales: $20 million

4. EnterForce Inc.
Managed services provider, Waukesha, WI

Marie L. O’Brien, Filippa C. Weber
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $26,000
2003 sales: $1.9 million
2007 sales: $50.3 million

5. Strategic Staffing Solutions Inc.
Staffing solutions, Indianapolis

Debra J. Maynard
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $60,000
2003 sales: $1.3 million
2007 sales: $39.4 million

6. Polaris Direct
Mailing services, Hooksett, NH

Judith Maloy, Suzanne Lampognana
Began: 2003
Initial Investment: $2.4 million
2003 sales: $2.1 million
2007 sales: $43.9 million

7. Artech Information Systems LLC
IT staffing, Cedar Knolls, NJ

Ranjini Poddar
Began: 1992
Initial Investment: $200,000
2003 sales: $16.5 million
2007 sales: $128.2 million

8. Global Resource Management Inc.
IT & supply chain management services, Suwanee, GA
Naheed Syed
Began: 1993
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $2.2 million
2007 sales: $39.9 million

9. United Scrap Metal Inc.
Metal recycling, Cicero, IL
Marsha Serlin
Began: 1978
Initial Investment: $200
2003 sales: $33.9 million
2007 sales: $172.8 million

10. Morpheus Media
Interactive advertising & marketing agency, New York City

Shenan Reed
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $2 million
2007 sales: $35 million

11. Pinnacle Petroleum Inc.
Petroleum products, Huntington Beach, CA

Liz McKinley
Began: 1995
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $19.3 million
2007 sales: $120 million

12. Sun Coast Resources Inc.
Petroleum products, Houston

Kathy Lehne
Began: 1985
Initial Investment: $2,000
2003 sales: $554 million
2007 sales: $1.1 billion

13. Salo LLC
Senior-level finance & accounting staffing, Minneapolis

Amy L. Langer
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $150,000
2003 sales: $3.4 million
2007 sales: $42 million

14. Search Wizards Inc.
Consulting firm, Atlanta

Leslie O’Connor
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $359,600
2007 sales: $12.2 million

15. TransPerfect
Translation services, New York City

Elizabeth Elting, Shirley Shawe
Began: 1992
Initial Investment: $5,000
2003 sales: $37 million
2007 sales: $156.5 million

16. MediConnect Global Inc.
Medical record retrieval & digitization, South Jordan, UT

Amy Rees Anderson
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: Undisclosed
2003 sales: $2.8 million
2007 sales: $35.6 million

17. The Saxon Group Inc.
Industrial construction, Sugar Hill, GA

Jeni Bogdan
Began: 1995
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $13.4 million
2007 sales: $81.8 million

18. Aecometric Corp.
Industrial combustion equipment, Richmond Hill, Ontario

Jill Anderson
Began: 1978
Initial Investment: $50,000
2003 sales: $1.5 million
2007 sales: $23 million

19. Kilop USA Inc.
Raw materials sourcing & distribution, High Point, NC
Christine Yumei Chen
Began: 1988
Initial Investment: $44,500
2003 sales: $3 million
2007 sales: $28.8 million

20. KellyMitchell Group Inc.
IT consulting, St. Louis

Cassandra Sanford
Began: 1998
Initial Investment: $10,000
2003 sales: $4.6 million
2007 sales: $33.6 million

21. Communispace Corp.
Online community creation & management, Watertown, MA

Diane Hessan
Began: 1999
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $2.4 million
2007 sales: $23.6 million

22. Advantage Performance Network
Travel & perfomance improvement solutions, Savage, MN

Mary Sue Leathers
Began: 1995
Initial Investment: $40,000
2003 sales: $23.3 million
2007 sales: $85 million

23. RCC Associates
General contracting, Deerfield Beach, FL

Beverly Raphael
Began: 1971
Initial Investment: $5,000
2003 sales: $34.8 million
2007 sales: $105.1 million

24. Continental Cabinets Inc.
Cabinets, Dallas, TX
Beverly Taylor
Began: 1988
Initial Investment: Undisclosed
2003 sales: $48.9 million
2007 sales: $130.8 million

25. NCompass International Inc.
Marketing agency, West Hollywood, CA

Donna Graves, Kae Erickson
Began: 2003
Initial Investment: $1.5 million
2003 sales: $360,000
2007 sales: $7.3 million

26. Camp Bow Wow
Dog day camps & boarding services franchisor, Boulder, CO
Heidi Flammang
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $85,000
2003 sales: $100,000
2007 sales: $3.8 million

27. Casco Contractors Inc.
General contracting, Irvine, CA

Cheryl Osborn
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $20,000
2003 sales: $3 million
2007 sales: $22.9 million

28. Saicon Consultants Inc.
IT consulting, Overland Park, KS

Swati K. Yelmar
Began: 1998
Initial Investment: $6,000
2003 sales: $1.8 million
2007 sales: $16.5 million

29. Outcomes Health Information Solutions LLC
Health-care data retreival, auditing & reporting, Charlottesville, VA

Wanda Kochhar
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: $60,000
2003 sales: $3.5 million
2007 sales: $24.5 million

30. MurTech Consulting
IT services, Independence, OH

Ailish M. Murphy
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $685,700
2007 sales: $10 million

31. Stratix Corp.
Mobility solutions, Norcross, GA

Bonney Shuman
Began: 1983
Initial Investment: $750
2003 sales: $38.2 million
2007 sales: $106.3 million

32. Application Development Resources Inc.
IT services, Alpharetta, GA

Daksha Choksey
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $5,000
2003 sales: $697,000
2007 sales: $9.7 million

33. Ricochet Fuel Distributors Inc.
Fuel distributor, Euless, TX

Kelly Brett-Roberts
Began: 1988
Initial Investment: $20,000
2003 sales: $7.4 million
2007 sales: $36.2 million

34. Logical Choice Technologies Inc.
Education technology integration, Duluth, GA

Cynthia B. Kaye
Began: 1994
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $19.1 million
2007 sales: $65.4 million

35. SaltWorks Inc.
Sea salt, Woodinville, WA

Naomi Novotny
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $1,500
2003 sales: $264,000
2007 sales: $5.7 million

36. Icon Information Consultants LP
IT staffing, Houston
Pamela O’Rourke
Began: 1998
Initial Investment: $250,000
2003 sales: $23 million
2007 sales: $72 million

37. SwervePoint
Promotional products & services, Danvers, MA

Juli Sinnett
Began: 2003 Initial Investment: $125,000
2003 sales: $1.9 million
2007 sales: $15.5 million

Words from The Wise

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to dig a little deeper and uncover their secrets to success.

“Sixteen years ago, we were cold calling and struggling to land our first client, The Port Authority of New York. New Jersey called us by mistake, attempting to contact a company whose name was similar to [ours]. We kept them on the phone and discussed their IT infrastructure and project needs at length. Needless to say, they became our first client. We still laugh at this.”
Ranjini Poddar, owner of Artech Information Systems LLC, No. 7
Cedar Knolls, New Jersey

“The biggest mistake we ever made was undervaluing ourselves. When we started, we were young and hungry, and we didn’t give ourselves credit for the amount of value we brought to our clients and strategies. So the lesson learned is: Don’t undervalue yourself and your expertise, and don’t let your size dictate your value.”
Shenan Reed, owner of Morpheus Media, No. 10
New York City

“It is important to take an inventory of your strengths and what you like to do. Focus on those things and get help for the others as soon as you can.”
Amy L. Langer, owner of Salo LLC, No. 13
Minneapolis

“Be a great juggler. As a woman in business, you will always have lots of balls in the air, including the activities of running your business and being strategic in your decisions to grow your business. In many cases, [you also have] the role of being a wife, a mother, a daughter and a sister. The same traits that make us great in all of these roles are the ones that you will rely on to excel in business.”
Leslie O’Connor, owner of Search Wizards Inc., No. 14
Atlanta

“Build an atmosphere of trust and respect. You must always respect the [employees and clients] you work with. Believe in your people. Make your word count. In addition, never lose focus on your next challenge.”
Jeni Bogdan, owner of The Saxon Group Inc., No. 17
Sugar Hill, Georgia

38. Strategic Staffing Solutions
IT consulting, Detroit

Cynthia Pasky
Began: 1990
Initial Investment: $60,000
2003 sales: $67 million
2007 sales: $148 million

39. Butler/Till Media Services Inc.
Media research services, Rochester, NY

Susan R. Butler, Tracy E. Till
Began: 1998
Initial Investment: $10,000
2003 sales: $7.1 million
2007 sales: $32.3 million

40. IBT Holdings LLC
Design, building & consulting services, Norcross, GA

Mylle Mangum
Began: 1985
Initial Investment: Undisclosed
2003 sales: $15.8 million
2007 sales: $53.2 million

41. Carolina IT Professionals Inc.
IT staffing, Mount Holly, NC
Phyllis Friday McConnell
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $500
2003 sales: $3 million
2007 sales: $19 million

42. Vignon Corp.
IT staffing, Dallas, TX
Kathy Hodgins Blanck
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $20,000
2003 sales: $144,600
2007 sales: $3.6 million

43. Warrior Group Inc.
Modular construction, DeSoto, TX
Gail Warrior-Lawrence
Began: 1997
Initial Investment: $1,000
2003 sales: $11.4 million
2007 sales: $41.7 million

44. Greenlite Lighting Corp.
Energy-efficient lighting products, Pointe-Claire, Quebec

Nina Gupta
Began: 1994
Initial Investment: $1 million
2003 sales: $6 million
2007 sales: $28 million

45. BrightStar Healthcare
Medical/nonmedical home-care & medical staffing franchisor, Gurnee, IL

Shelly Sun
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $100,000+
2003 sales: $1.4 million
2007 sales: $11.8 million

46. Bett-A-Way Pallet Systems Inc.
Transportation solutions & pallet management, South Plainfield, NJ
June Delany, Tracey Ursini, Betty Vaccaro, Laura Vaccaro
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: $6,000
2003 sales: $10.6 million
2007 sales: $26.2 million

47. ProActive Solutions Inc.
IT solutions, Mission, KS
Melissa Cather-Thiede
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $9.6 million
2007 sales: $37 million

48. ITI Inc.
IT & business consulting, Pearland, TX

June Reeder
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $1.2 million
2007 sales: $10.5 million

49. Trans-Expedite Inc.
Freight forwarding, El Paso, TX

Keeli Jernigan
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $29,000
2003 sales: $3 million
2007 sales: $18 million

50. LetterLogic Inc.
Mailing services, Nashville, TN

Sherry Stewart
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $50,000
2003 sales: $1.1 million
2007 sales: $9.8 million

Behind The Numbers

The 50 fastest-growing women-led companies ranking was compiled with the help of the Women Presidents’ Organization, a nonprofit peer advisory organization for independent women presidents and CEOs. �鶹�� and the WPO solicited applications from women-led businesses in North America and considered those that met the following criteria:

Must be a privately held, woman-led company in the U.S. or Canada.
Company sales in 2003 must be $100,000 or greater; 2007 sales must be at least $1 million.
Companies were ranked according to a sales growth formula that combines percentage and absolute growth. From this list, the top 50 were selected. (In cases where companies have multiple partners, only women are listed.)

Research was conducted by WPO director of communications Caitlin Jenkins, communications manager Kirsten Wynn and assistants Kat Piracha and Tanya Rosado. �鶹�� research editor James Park also contributed to this listing.