The Magazine for Growing Companies March 2014 The Build 100 What does it take to expand year after year, even through the Great Recession? Very few companies have ever done so. You can learn a lot from those that have By Scott Leibs BUILD It’s remarkably difficult to sustain growth year after year. These companies are among the elite that have managed to do it even during the worst of times • WE BEGAN THE BUILD 100 PROJECT by collecting data on more than 100,000 U.S. midmarket companies (those with 85 to 999 employees). We then looked at how many increased head count in every year from 2007 to 2012. Remarkably, fewer than 1.5 percent of the companies met that standard. Of those that did, we selected a representative sample that agreed to work with us on a longterm research project to understand the factors responsible for sustained growth. We focused on head count rather than revenue because we found that increased hiring is more predictive of future sustained growth, and that’s what this project is all about. •••• COMPANY LOCATION YEAR FOUNDED INDUSTRY 2013 HEAD COUNT 2012 REVENUE LITTLE SPROUTS MAQ SOFTWARE MARATHON DATA SYSTEMS MEDIA FUSION MOM’S ORGANIC MARKET M S INTERNATIONAL (MT) MEDIA TEMPLE NEXTCARE URGENT CARE NFRASTRUCTURE OPEN SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGIES OTHER WORLD COMPUTING PAYCOM PEOPLE’S CARE POWER HOME TECHNOLOGIES PREMIER BUSINESS CENTERS PROJECTLINE SERVICES QUANTIX QUANTUM HEALTH RECONDO TECHNOLOGY RED VISION SYSTEMS RESEARCH SQUARE SAFETY SERVICES COMPANY SALES FOCUS SIGNATURE FOODS SMILEBUILDERZ SPIGIT STRONG-BRIDGE SUMMA TECHNOLOGIES SWAT ENVIRONMENTAL TDK TECHNOLOGIES TELOGIS TENACITY SOLUTIONS 3PILLAR GLOBAL TIGER CORRECTIONAL SERVICES TISTA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TM ONE TRANSNATION TITLE AGENCY OF MICHIGAN TRISSENTIAL UNDERGROUND PRINTING UTEST VALKYRIE ENTERPRISES VDART VERENGO SOLAR VERSABAR VITALS WEBPT WINDY CITY LIMOUSINE AND BUS LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS REDMOND, WASHINGTON WALL TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND ORANGE, CALIFORNIA CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA CLIFTON PARK, NEW YORK GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS OKLAHOMA CITY CHINO HILLS, CALIFORNIA RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA IRVINE, CALIFORNIA SEATTLE DENVER COLUMBUS, OHIO GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLORADO PARSIPPANY, NEW JERSEY DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA TEMPE, ARIZONA MARRIOTTSVILLE, MARYLAND PENDERGRASS, GEORGIA LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA PLEASANTON, CALIFORNIA SEATTLE PITTSBURGH LANSING, MICHIGAN ST. LOUIS ALISO VIEJO, CALIFORNIA RESTON, VIRGINIA FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA JONESBORO, ARKANSAS ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND SPEARFISH, SOUTH DAKOTA GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN MINNEAPOLIS ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN SOUTHBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA HOUSTON LYNDHURST, NEW JERSEY PHOENIX FRANKLIN PARK, ILLINOIS 1982 2000 1984 1995 1986 1975 1998 1993 1992 1997 1988 1998 1998 2004 2002 2003 2002 1999 2006 2001 2004 2003 1998 2003 2006 2007 2003 1996 2002 2001 2001 2003 2006 1999 2005 2002 2008* 2003 2001 2007 2007 2007 2008* 1981 2007 2006 2006 EDUCATION ADVERTISING & MARKETING SOFTWARE ADVERTISING & MARKETING FOOD & BEVERAGE CONSUMER PRODUCTS & SERVICES IT SERVICES HEALTH IT SERVICES COMPUTER HARDWARE COMPUTER HARDWARE HUMAN RESOURCES HEALTH SECURITY REAL ESTATE BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICES IT SERVICES HEALTH HEALTH REAL ESTATE EDUCATION BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICES HUMAN RESOURCES FOOD & BEVERAGE HEALTH SOFTWARE BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICES IT SERVICES ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES IT SERVICES SOFTWARE IT SERVICES BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICES GOVERNMENT SERVICES GOVERNMENT SERVICES BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICES BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICES IT SERVICES RETAIL IT SERVICES GOVERNMENT SERVICES IT SERVICES ENERGY CONSTRUCTION HEALTH SOFTWARE LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION 430 99 102 110 587 738 207 905 240 113 154 548 620 350 196 211 116 315 251 517 104 500 195 218 170 130 126 137 135 150 222 129 615 85 150 777 143 116 93 120 201 281 854 750 110 122 400 $21.8 MILLION $19.4 MILLION $21 MILLION $12 MILLION $84 MILLION $457 MILLION $49.2 MILLION $90 MILLION $55 MILLION $80 MILLION $97 MILLION $76.8 MILLION $23 MILLION $19 MILLION $49.9 MILLION $29 MILLION $18.5 MILLION $33.6 MILLION $30.4 MILLION $50.6 MILLION $13.8 MILLION $29 MILLION $8.5 MILLION $67.6 MILLION $16.3 MILLION $17.4 MILLION $24.1 MILLION $26.1 MILLION $13 MILLION $10.8 MILLION $69.5 MILLION $32.1 MILLION $23.7 MILLION $12 MILLION $16.2 MILLION $13.2 MILLION $13 MILLION $22 MILLION $12.2 MILLION $17 MILLION $23.4 MILLION $22 MILLION $108 MILLION $150 MILLION $9.8 MILLION $8.9 MILLION $17.5 MILLION Copyright 2014 Mansueto Ventures LLC, publisher of Inc. magazine. Posted with permission. #C28210