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The 2006 Inc. 500
The Inc. 500 list turns 25 this year, and, like many
entrepreneurs that age, the 2006 list is interesting, innovative, and
informative. This year’s winner hails from Lowell, Massachusetts. Litle
and Co., a financial services firm, has done pretty well for itself over
the past three years. During that period, the firm posted a 5,629%
growth rate as it grew to 6, 591 employees and annual revenue of $3.4
billion. Because of the list’s 25th anniversary, Inc. has compiled some
interesting data on past Inc. 500 firms. Overall, 7,900 firms
have appeared on the Inc. 500 lists. Four firms — Capella
Education, Linksys, Monitronics International, and Starmark
International — have made the list a record seven times. Many of these
once unknown companies — Microsoft, Domino’s Pizza, Timberland — have
become household names. But, more importantly, these firms have
collectively created around a million new jobs. Here’s another amazing
statistic: Inc. compared the Inc. 500’s performance to
that of 5,795 firms who have been public traded for at least three
years. Of this group, only 33 have three-year growth rates faster than
Apex Environmental Engineering and Compliance (up 304.7% over three
years), No. 500 on this year’s Inc. 500 list. Finally, if you
wanted to understand the history of innovation over the past twenty-five
years, this list would be a good place to start. This year’s coverage
also looks back at the fate of past Inc. 500 winners, and not
everyone emerges as a winner. For example, Drypers (1993’s No. 1), a
maker of diapers, declared bankruptcy in 2000. But, a more typical and
more optimistic story is that of Altos Computer Systems, the first
Inc. 500 winner (in 1982). Like many Inc. 500 firms, Altos
grew rapidly and was ultimately acquired by a larger partner.
The 2006 Inc. 500 list can be found in the August 2006 issue of
Inc. Magazine or on-line at:
http://www.inc.com/resources/inc500/2006/
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Doing Business 2007
If you’re looking for a good
place to do business, you might consider Singapore, or even Tbilisi.
These locations come out looking good in the latest edition of the World
Bank’s Doing Business report. Singapore and Georgia both receive
kudos in the 2007 version of this annual study that assesses how
governments around the world are doing in terms of creating a positive
regulatory business environment. Singapore takes the top spot as the
most business-friendly economy (followed by New Zealand and the US).
Georgia is the most effective reformer -- followed by Romania and
Mexico. In general, this year’s report contains a lot of good news and
many developing economies are reforming their business regulations. The
most common reform is to make it easier to start a business; other
popular reforms include cutting business tax rates and making it easier
to pay business taxes. Other good news comes from Africa where business
reform is gaining momentum. Overall, two-thirds of African countries
introduced at least one business-friendly reform. But not everyone is
getting it. Several countries, led by Venezuela, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, and
Hungary, actually went backward last year as each introduced new laws
and rules that make it harder to do business.
To view the World Bank study, Doing Business 2007: How to Reform,
visit
http://www.doingbusiness.org/.
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Restless IT Workers
As the information technology (IT) industry matures, it’s starting to
feature some of the characteristics (both good and bad) of more
established industries. Take disgruntled workers, for example. A new
survey of IT workers finds that they’re not really that happy with their
current employment situation. Fifty-eight percent are looking for new
jobs, and four out of five in this group view their job search efforts
as active. Why are they seeking new jobs? More money is a big factor --
cited by 73% of the 1,000 surveyed workers. Other factors include a
desire for jobs with more advancement opportunities (cited by 67%) and a
search for more challenges (cited by 58%). Many of these workers have
been in their current jobs for several years, so the IT industry may be
in for a bit of a employment shake-up in the coming year.
The August 2006 survey of information technology workers was sponsored
by the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). To learn
more, visit
http://www.comptia.org/pressroom/get_pr.aspx?prid=1199.
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Women Entrepreneurs: Telling
Their Stories
It’s been said
that entrepreneurs love to hear stories of how other business owners
built their companies. If that’s the case, business owners are going to
love a new booklet produced by Maine’s Coastal Enterprises, Inc. and
Maine’s Western Mountains Alliance. The title says it all: Telling
Their Stories: Women Business Owners in Western Maine. The study
allows women entrepreneurs to talk about their businesses in their own
words, and it presents a compelling picture of fourteen entrepreneurs
who run a diverse mix of businesses including a dance school, an earth
moving company, and a clothing manufacturer. These entrepreneurs operate
in a region that covers 12,000 square miles with a population of less
than 150,000. In sum, the report presents a fascinating look at the
challenges and opportunities of building a business in rural America.
To access the 2006 Coastal Enterprises Inc. report, Telling Their
Stories: Women Business Owners in Western Maine, edited by Jo
Josephson, visit
http://www.westernmountainsalliance.org/PDFTellTheirStories.pdf.
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All
stories © 2006 The Public Forum Institute
Content from this newsletter may be reproduced for non-commercial
purposes with proper attribution to the National Dialogue on
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