Business In The Fast Lane
Top Growth lists take the pulse on the region's economy
BY CORY S. HOPKINS AND CHRISTINA H. DAVIS
Worcester Business Journal Staff Writers
View Lists For Top Growth Companies |
Growth, no doubt, is a valuable thing.
But the recipe for growth can vary. That much is clear from this year's WBJ Top Growth lists, which seek to identify the fastest-growing private, public and nonprofit companies in Central Massachusetts.
At the top of this year's private companies list are three very different firms.
At number one on our private companies list - with 663 percent three-year revenue growth - is Framingham-based packaging firm Sourcentra. Growth at the 11-year-old company has come to Sourcentra because it takes over all aspects of packaging for its clients, from the design stage to the execution.
Meanwhile, Westborough-based eClinicalWorks has achieved 488 percent revenue growth over the past three years thanks to a solid product - electronic medical records - and a conservative management plan. Optasite of Westborough - which occupies the number three spot on the list - has found success through painstaking research that has enabled the company to become the fifth largest cell phone tower management company in the United States. For more detail on each of the top three private firms, check out their profiles on pages 16 through 18.
On the public company side, tops on the Top Growth list is Evergreen Solar, which has seen its revenue heat up by 338 percent from 2004 to 2006, thanks in part to the increasing interest in renewable energy sources, like the solar panels the company manufactures.
On the nonprofit side, a subsidiary of Fallon Community Health Plan - Summit ElderCare - has posted astounding growth. The organization - which provides care for the elderly - has seen its revenue nearly double over a three year period, an astounding feat for a nonprofit, and one that shows the increasing demand for elder-care services.
A Different Twist
But there's more than one way to look at our lists.
Take, for example, Sourcentra. The company has only seven employees, the same as last year. Were the private companies list ranked based on employee growth over the past year, well, Sourcentra wouldn't be on anybody's list.
But with those seven employees, Sourcentra has managed to grow its revenues nearly seven-fold in the past three years, landing them not only on our list, but also Inc. Magazine's list of top-growing companies, where it ranked 250 out of 500.
Certainly, companies like Sourcentra prove you don't have to be big-time to experience big-time growth.
But there's a flip side to that coin. Were this list organized by three-year revenue growth based on dollars, rather than percent growth, certainly the region's big boys would shine brightest.
Clinton plastics giant Nypro Inc. placed at number 29 on this year's list. Not bad, but kind of a shame, really, when you consider they added more than $229 million to their bottom line between 2004 and 2006.
In terms of dollars, that dwarfs Sourcentra's $2.6 million growth over the same span.
So perhaps growth should be characterized as some kind of combination of dollars and percentages. Were that the case, Westborough medical-records company eClinicalWorks would reign supreme. eClinicalWorks is the only company that would crack the top five, never mind the top 10, of both lists, regardless if they were organized by percentage growth or pure dollars. Certainly, a company is growing when it adds $31.7 million, or 488 percent, to the bottom line in three years.
As difficult as it is to determine growth, it is certainly harder to sustain it. But three companies from last year's top 10 made it onto this year's as well - Enterprise Cleaning Corp. of Worcester, Z Resource Group Inc. of Westborough and Integrated Process Technologies in Devens.
Public Scrutiny
And the picture on the public company side would also be very different if we ranked the list based on stock price growth. While Evergreen Solar's stock grew 73 percent from the end of 2004 to the end of 2006, Applix Inc. - a Westborough-based software maker ranked at number 7 - would take the top spot with 122 percent growth. But next year, it's unlikely Applix will make our list, because majority control of the company was recently secured by Cognos of Ottawa, Canada, and we only include companies that are based in Central Massachusetts on our Top Growth lists.
Another decent performer on the stock side is Perini Corp. of Framingham. At number 8 on our list based on revenue growth, the company would be near the top with its 84 percent growth.
But no matter how you rank our lists, the story they tell is simple: growth is good.
The Art And Science Behind WBJ Top Growth
How do we do it?
BY CHRISTINA H. DAVIS
One of the greatest resources to readers of the WBJ are our lists.
Of all the lists we compile, however, our Top Growth lists are probably the most important, and the most challenging.
They are the most important because they identify the companies that are the ones to watch. Having a place on our Top Growth lists, whether a company is privately held, publicly traded or not-for-profit, is a noteworthy achievement.
For this reason, we take great pains to do as much research as we can while compiling the three lists featured in this issue. We solicit nominations for the list via our web site and the WBJ Daily, our e-mail news alert. We also pore through media accounts to see who has gotten press for being on the move.
We do require that private companies disclose revenue figures in order to gain placement on our list. We also require that a private company have three straight years of revenue growth, and that it had at least $1 million in revenue for the most recent fiscal year.
For public companies and nonprofits, the job is a little easier, since there is a finite number of both in the region. However, if you think your company belongs on any of our lists, please send an e-mail to editorial@wbjournal.com.
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