ACRT Inc.
Michael B. Weidner
Cuyahoga Falls — Summit
ACRT Inc. (Appraisal, Consulting, Research and Training) provides consulting regarding arboricultural, utility forest, natural resource and vegetation management. Founded in 1985, it recently completed an ownership transition to a 100 percent Employee Stock Ownership Plan, effectively securing the company’s future in the community for years to come.
Akron Felt & Chenille Manufacturing Inc.
Dan Fanelly
Akron — Summit
This sporting goods manufacturer deals in embroidery, sewing, flags and banners. In business since 1925, it has increased sales by 73 percent in the last five years and its number of employees has grown by 50 percent.
Alpha Micron Inc.
Bahman Taheri
Kent — Portage
This high-tech company specializes in liquid crystal applications for controllable eyewear. AMI, which has increased its sales 186 percent and its number of employees 117 percent in the last five years, is the first and only company to develop a patented light controlling technology that has been successfully implemented and demonstrated in Variable Transmission Eyewear on double-curved plastic substrates and with complete user control for military and commercial applications
Americup Inc.
Russell Romocean
Ravenna — Portage
This manufacturer of fluted paper cups, loaf liners and cake liners for the industrial baking and candy industries merged in July with Sunset Paper Products Inc. of Vernon, Calif. The new firm, operating under the name Sun-America Packaging Group, will operate out of Ravenna, where 20,000 feet of manufacturing space is being added to Americup’s 48,000-square-foot plant. The firm increased sales by nearly 500 percent and employment by 533 percent over the past five years.
Ameritech Steel Service Co.
James Witkowski
Streetsboro — Portage
Ameritech Steel Service Co. processes flat rolled steel at its Ethan Avenue location. It has increased its number of employees 600 percent since its founding in 1999.
Richard Angheld Real Estate
Richard Angheld
Cuyahoga Falls — Summit
Richard Angheld Real Estate is a real estate sales company, mortgage company, title company and construction company. It specializes in the purchase of condemned homes in the Akron University area, tearing them down and constructing new apartment buildings. Founded in 1969, it has increased its number of employees 433 percent over the past five years.
Applied Vision Co. LLC
Amir Novini
Akron — Summit
Applied Vision specializes in machine vision technology, which combines television cameras and computers to emulate the human sense of sight for industrial and consumer applications. The company designs software and machines that can visually inspect empty aluminum cans in a beverage production line at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 parts per minute. The firm increased sales by 282 percent over the past five years.
ASC Industries Inc.
Theodore Swaldo
Green — Summit
ASC Industries Inc. is a global producer of automotive water pumps and industrial components. Its customer focus, quality systems, service and operational efficiencies result in quality products at competitive prices. The company has increased its number of employees locally more than 66 percent in the last five years, and employs 850 people worldwide.
AWP Inc., DBA Area Wide Protective
William Fink
Akron — Summit
Area Wide Protective Services offers traffic control services to utility companies. It employs hundreds of traffic control officers or flaggers in eight states and works for some of the largest utility companies in the country. In the past five years, it has increased sales by 152 percent and its number of employees by 207 percent.
Bendon Publishing International
Don Myers III and Ben Ferguson
Ashland — Ashland
Bendon is a full-service publishing house. It sells directly to retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kmart, Barnes & Noble, Sam’s Club and numerous specialty stores. As it has grown, it has secured contracts to represent several big names in children’s entertainment, including Disney, Sesame Street, Barbie, Barney and Bob the Builder Since its inception, the firm has increased employment by 240 percent.
Cambridge Home Health Care
Nancy Diller-Shively
Akron — Summit
Cambridge Home Health Care provides nursing home health aides and homemaking services to more than 2,000 people weekly in their homes. Accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and Medicare Certified, it employs more than 1,000 health care professionals. Founded in 1994, Cambridge has increased its number of employees 114 percent since 1998 and shown revenue growth of 157 percent.
Classic Automotive Marketing Inc.
A.J. Mirabedini
Wadsworth — Summit
This full-service advertising agency, founded in 1989, has increased its number of employees 233 percent in the last five years.
Commercial Turf Products Ltd.
John Rainone
Streetsboro — Portage
Commercial Turf Products Ltd. is a manufacturer of commercial sprayers, spreaders and lawn care equipment. This company, formed as a joint venture in 1996 between LESCO and MTD Products Inc., elevated LESCO to the forefront of equipment producers with world-class manufacturing capability and the expertise to innovate. It has increased its employment base 77 percent in the past five years.
Construction Labor Group Inc.
Tim Cherotti
Richfield — Summit
Construction Labor Group Inc. leases skilled laborers to various work forces in the contracting industries. Founded in 1999, it has provided a large number of jobs to highly skilled laborers, enhancing the industry’s growth. Over the past five years, Construction Labor Group has increased sales 317 percent.
Corporate Technologies Group Inc.
Brett Harney/Jeff Sumner
Hudson — Summit
Corporate Technologies Group Inc. is a telecommunications sales agency that provides sales and service of voice, data and Internet technologies to small and medium-sized businesses in Northeast Ohio. It has continued to increase its number of employees, while other telecommunications companies downsize, and it is successful in terms of both profit and growth, increasing sales 300 percent in the last five years.
Custom Comfort
Steve Boyer and Dave Durbin
Norton — Summit
Custom Comfort provides heating and air-conditioning service throughout the region. Founded in 1993, it has increased sales by 163 percent over the past five years and increased its number of employees 225 percent.
Darko Inc.
Dean Rinicella
Twinsburg — Summit
Darko Inc. is an in-store marketing and solutions company that designs and produces POP displays, custom fixtures, signage, store environments and reimaging programs. Founded in 1974, it has increased its number of employees 221 percent in the last five years.
Edgepark Surgical
Ronald Harrington
Twinsburg — Summit
Edgepark Surgical makes ordering and receiving medical supplies easy by handling all Medicare and private insurance billing, shipping orders directly to the customer and staying on top of the latest product developments. This family-owned business, founded in 1929, has increased its number of employees 112 percent in the last five years.
ETactics Inc.
Michael Teutsh
Hudson — Summit
ETactics Inc. provides data processing primarily for medical care providers. Its services include statement and invoice design and delivery, precollections letters, health care claims, electronic document presentation, electronic bill presentation, and print and mail services. It has increased company sales by nearly 400 percent since its founding in 2001.
Family Dental Team Inc.
Dr. James George
Akron — Summit
Family Dental Team Inc. offers comprehensive dental care for all ages, with a specialization in the manufacturing and installation of dentures. Founded in 1979, the company was named to the Weatherhead 100 list in 2002 and 2003. Over the past five years, Family Dental Team has increased employment 67 percent.
Group Transportation Services
Michael P. Valentine
Twinsburg — Summit
Group Transportation Services Inc. is a nonasset-based third-party logistics service provider, fulfilling the transportation cycle for business-to-business accounts. Founded in 1995, it has increased its number of employees by 225 percent in the past five years.
HCL Ltd. (Boatmates Marine)
James Hampshire
Westlake — Cuyahoga
Boatmates Marine, recently of Akron, is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of recreational marine and outdoor products that sells to national accounts including Gander Mountain and Wal-Mart. Its revenue has increased 755 percent since its founding in 1999 and its number of employees has increased 600 percent.
Highlander Logo Products
Tom Deighan
Ravenna — Portage
Highlander Logo Products is a full-service golf and apparel personalization company that provides merchandise to consumers as well as to corporate America. The company counts among its more than 10,000 customers worldwide the United States Postal Service, Anheuser Busch, Coors Brewing Co., Campbell’s Soup, General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Snapple Beverage. Highlander has increased sales by more than $5 million over the past five years.
Hunter’s Manufacturing Co. Inc. DBA Tenpoint Crossbow Technologies
Richard L. Bedner
Suffield — Portage
This manufacturer and distributor of crossbows and crossbow-related accessories also operates a retail store. In each of its 10 years of existence, it has advanced crossbow technology through invention and/or improved design, and many of its improvements have evolved through customer and dealer input. In the past five years, it has increased sales 117 percent and the number of employees 128 percent.
ICI Networks LLC
Brian Casto
Akron — Summit
ICI Networks LLC offers consulting and products for secure wireless and mobile solutions. It increased its sales 934 percent since its inception in 2001 and its employee base 350 percent.
InfoCision Management Corp.
Carl Albright
Akron — Summit
InfoCision Management Corp. was recently named the world’s eighth largest outbound call center operation. The company is a top-50 provider of inbound and outbound teleservices for nonprofit, religious, political and commercial organizations. In business since 1982, it has increased its number of employees 100 percent in the last five years.
J. Marco Galleries
Cory Smith
Seville — Medina
J. Marco Galleries is a national mail-order catalog company and Web retailer specializing in women’s apparel, jewelry and home décor. It has recently added a new facility in Seville, helping it to create more jobs in the region. J. Marco has increased its sales by more than $5 million over the past five years.
Jarrett Logistics Systems Ltd.
W. Michael Jarrett
Orrville — Wayne
Jarrett Logistics Systems Ltd. offers transportation, logistics and supply chain management services for mid-market companies, managing customers’ supply chains through an electronic centralized routing center. The majority of its customers have distribution centers and/or manufacturing facilities in Northeast Ohio. Founded in 1999, it has increased sales more than 7,000 percent since its inception.
Katherine’s Collection Inc.
Katherine Kleski
Cuyahoga Falls — Summit
Katherine’s Collection Inc. designs and produces exclusive decorative home accessories and gifts, selling directly to retailers including Neiman Marcus. Each themed collector’s item is manufactured in limited quantities, making the items highly collectible and increasing their market value. Katherine’s Collection has increased its employee base by more than 1,100 percent over the past five years.
Land O’Lakes
Karen Darwin
Kent — Portage
The Land O’Lakes plant in Kent manufactures butter and margarine for distribution from a Land O’Lakes warehouse in New Jersey. The plant has added 33 new jobs to the region over the past five years.
LexiComp Inc.
Robert Kerscher
Hudson — Summit
LexiComp Inc. publishes — both electronically and on paper — more than 30 reference sources, with a primary focus on health information including pharmacology, dentistry, and diagnostic procedures and lab tests, etc. The company has increased sales by more than $5 million over the past five years.
Life Care Medical Services Inc.
James Caplinger
Uniontown — Summit
LifeCare Medical Services Inc. is a provider of emergency and nonemergency medical transportation, with operating locations in Richland, Knox, Summit, Medina, Hamilton and Franklin counties. It services both communities and medical facilities, and each ambulance is staffed with state of Ohio certified Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics. It has increased sales more than 2,100 percent since its founding in 1999.
Magical Farms Inc.
Tripp Forstner
Litchfield — Medina
Magical Farms Inc. raises, sells, breeds and boards alpacas, an animal indigenous to the high Andes of South America. Magical Farms is home to hundreds of alpacas, one of America’s largest and most varied herds, which roam over 300 acres. Founded in 1993, in the last five years it has increased sales by 133 percent.
Mercury Distributing
Joseph Lawlor
Medina — Medina
Mercury Distributing is a full-service wholesale distributor of children’s products to businesses and organizations involved in child safety. The company has upgraded and developed its commercial real estate and added more than 20 employees over the past few years. Mercury Distributing has seen growth of more than 3,600 percent in its revenue over the past five years.
Mortgage Consulting Services Inc.
David Smith
Akron — Summit
Mortage Consulting Services is a full-service mortgage broker. Founded in 2001 with one employee, today the firm employs 31, with a goal of expanding to between 100 and 120 within the next three years.
OEConnection
Charles Rotuno
Richfield — Summit
OEConnection is a business-to-business e-marketplace. Its corporate partnerships include General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Daimler Chrysler and Proquest (formerly Bell and Howell). OEConnection is designed to create a densely populated inventory and purchasing system, linking OEMs to automotive dealerships and wholesale customers to purchase original equipment parts. OEConnection’s 75 employees work on end-to-end technology solutions for this highly focused supply chain management system.
PackShip USA
W. Michael Jarrett
Orrville — Wayne
PackShip USA provides packaging, shipping and logistic services for hard-to-ship, high-value items. By aligning the business with fast-growing sales channels such as Web sales, e-commerce business sites and eBay, PackShip grew as consumers’ confidence in online purchase security grew. Its business has evolved into solving packaging problems for large, fragile and big-ticket merchandise such as cars, boats and antiques. Both sales and the number of employees are up more than 400 percent over the last five years.
Performance Elastomers Corp.
Arthur Bowen and David Spears
Ravenna — Portage
Performance Elastomers Corp. manufactures organic and silicone rubber extruded products. Over the past five years, its employee base has increased 159 percent and its sales 125 percent. Part of its growth comes from its ability to develop custom products to meet each customer’s unique application and manufacturing those products under tight quality controlled conditions.
Polystar Inc.
David Kroger
Twinsburg –Summit
Polystar Inc. is an original equipment manufacturer of corrosion-resistant secondary containment systems. Its products are designed to fill unique needs in the military and chemical process industry. Polystar products are engineered and manufactured in-house to ensure high standards in structural integrity and quality, which helped its sales grow by more than 400 percent over the past five years.
Portage Precision Polymers
Douglas Hartley
Ravenna — Portage
Portage Precision Polymers was founded in 2002 as a custom compounder of synthetic and natural rubber products. Its high-tech laboratory facilities develop new formulations and compounds to meet manufacturers’ specifications. Portage Precisions’ growth can be attributed in part to its employees, who are specialists in the rubber industry with more than 50 years accumulated experience, as well as to its expanded distribution channels.
Precision Powder Coating Inc.
Chris Paxos
Canton — Stark
Precision Powder Coating Inc. has increased its employee base 130 percent over the past five years and its sales by 150 percent.
Ramco Specialties Inc
Richard Malson
Hudson — Summit
Ramco Specialties Inc. manufactures internally threaded fasteners. Its products, such as weld nuts and washer assemblies, are sold worldwide. Ramco products have a unique locking feature that meets stringent military standards that also demand competitive prices.
Ravenna Marine Inc.
Mark Gintert
Ravenna — Portage
Ravenna Marine sells fun as well as boats. Its 10,000-square-foot showroom displays boats for every water sport. But its sales growth, approximately 600 percent over the past five years, can be attributed to its corporate partnership program with major retailers such as Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart. This year, Ravenna will host 16 boat shows in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.
Ray’s Discount Drug Inc.
Thomas Abdallah
Akron — Summit
Ray’s Discount Drug Inc’s owner agreed to remain in downtown Akron and remodel his property after the city acquired its location a few years ago. As one of downtown’s few retail establishments, Ray’s has increased its employee base by nearly 90 percent over the past five years.
Rovisys Co.
John Robertson
Aurora — Portage
Rovisys provides electronic engineering services and custom software products to facilitate technology integration with industrial processes across a wide spectrum of industries. Rovisys employees specialize in providing solutions in the manufacturing disciplines including biotech-pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, plastics, polymers and power generation. The company experienced employee growth of 62 percent over the past five years.
Sequoia Financial Group
Thomas Haught
Akron — Summit
Sequoia Financial Group provides custom-tailored wealth management services. Over the past five years, Sequoia has increased its sales and its employee base more than 200 percent. Its staff first listens to clients’ plans, hopes and aspirations, then provides programs customized to meet each client’s goals and comfort level and delivers strong financial results.
Shared P.E.T. Imaging
Randy Skiles
Canton — Stark
Shared P.E.T. Imaging provides positron emission tomography used by physicians to help detect and treat diseases. The technology looks similar to CAT and MRI scans; however, it is noiseless and motionless. Shared P.E.T. Imaging offers fixed site equipment as well as mobile products. Its sales growth of 2,600 percent and the growth of its employee base by 9,200 percent over the past five years is due in part to its facility management options and joint venture models.
Schmid’s Service Now
Tim Schmid
Wooster — Wayne
Schmid’s Service Now is a residential and light commercial HVAC service and installation company. Its specialized services, which include indoor air quality control and duct cleaning, contributed to growth of more than 200 percent in its sales and its employee base over the past five years.
Spectrum Diversified Designs Inc.
Sheldon Goodman
Streetsboro — Portage
Spectrum Diversified Designs Inc. creates, distributes and obtains patents products for storage and organization for both homes and businesses. Spectrum offers traditional as well as modern products designed for functionality and performance. Over the past five years, improved cost efficiencies contributed to Spectrum’s employment growth of approximately 57 percent.
SS&G Financial Services
Mark Goldfarb, Robert Littman, Mark Stepka
Akron — Summit
The accounting, business consulting and management firm employs about 275 people in Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus, Kentucky and two Cleveland offices. Over the last five years, it has averaged about 20 percent growth each year. The firm moved into its 9,000-square-foot Springside Drive office in Akron six years ago. Now, with about 100 employees at that location, it is planning to rent an additional 10,000 square feet in a neighboring building to house some of its divisions and accommodate future growth.
Techni Graphic Systems Inc.
Dee Vaidya
Wooster — Wayne
Techni Graphic Systems Inc., a software services company that converts maps and satellite photographs into digital data, was founded in 1993. The company is building a 25,000-square-foot facility in Wooster and is planning a spring 2005 move-in. The company is also diversifying its commercial software with PinPointer, which maps businesses; MxVision, which tracks nursing home information; and PlotFinder, which helps cemetery managers track sales of real estate parcels. Over the past five years, the company has increased sales 294 percent and its employee base 100 percent.
Technical Consumer Products Inc.
Ellis Yan
Aurora — Portage
TCP’s design engineers work with manufacturing engineers to provide continuous product improvements and develop innovative product lines. One example is a fluorescent light that lasts up to 10 times longer than conventional lights and uses only one-quarter of the energy. The innovations have helped the company grow its sales by 367 percent and employee base by 119 percent over the past five years.
Vexor Technology Inc.
Joseph Waters
Medina — Medina
Vexor Technology Inc. is an industrial waste processing and recycling company. Over the past five years, its employee base grew by more than 350 percent to keep up with strong sales. Along with industrial waste management services, Vexor provides annual household pesticide, paint and propane collection, along with year-round drop-off waste disposal services.
Viking Forge
Roger Koeberle
Streetsboro — Portage
Viking Forge is a new-age steel-forging manufacturer that uses highly technical computer systems to provide custom forgings with tight tolerances. Viking’s state-of-the-art cutting, forging and finishing equipment allows for quick changeover and tightly managed costs. Its employee base grew more than 70 percent in the past five years.
Walden Co. Ltd.
Robert Rosencrans
Aurora — Portage
Walden Co. operates Walden Country Inn and Stables, Walden Golf and Country Club and offers luxurious living in custom-designed Walden Homes. Walden’s architecture incorporates natural surroundings harmoniously with customized designs. It sales have grown more than 550 percent over the past five years.
WhiteSpace Design Group
Keeven White
Akron — Summit
WhiteSpace Design Group specializes in business-to-business and business-to-consumer communications, corporate identity and branding solutions, packaging design, tradeshow event planning and Web development. Its award-winning employees also work with clients to create television and radio advertisements, helping WhiteSpace increase sales nearly 250 percent over the past five years.
Worens Group Inc.
Stafford Worley
Streetsboro — Portage
Worens Group Inc. is a manufacturer and distributor of a variety of products for the agriculture industry. Farmex products, its moisture sensing equipment used for grain, hay and silage testing, are sold worldwide. Worens also offers tractor linkage replacement parts and electric fence systems. By covering a variety of needs within its focused industry and growth through acquisition, Worens increased its employee base 275 percent over the past five years and its sales 118 percent.
