Technology
Advanced Network Solutions Inc., Joseph Aiello
Advanced Network Solutions provides information technology consulting and application service provider data hosting services. ANS, which employs 11, increased sales 167 percent during the past five years and made numerous contributions to local nonprofits. The company has built three data centers in Northeast Ohio.
Clinical Research Management Inc., Victoria Tifft
By signing contracts for significant clinical trials, and drug and vaccine development, Clinical Research Management increased its Hinckley headquarters staff from four employees to 17 during the past five years. It increased its number of employees from 132 to 209 during the same period.
Polymer Packaging Inc., Larry Lanham
During the past five years, flexible packaging manufacturer Polymer Packaging added more than 40 jobs — an increase of 141 percent — boosting employee numbers to 82. It increased its annual revenue 167 percent during the same time period.
Technical Consumer Products Inc., Ellis Yan
Technical Consumer Products develops and manufactures energy-efficient and long-life lighting products and accessories. It has been on a growth tear the past five years as annual revenue increased nearly $20 million and 87 new employees were hired. Its 2000 operations relocation to Portage County resulted in significant impact to the local tax base and brought more than 100 jobs to the region.
Manufacturing and Distribution
American Aluminum Extrusions of Ohio LLC, Darius Szczekocki
American Aluminum Extrusions of Ohio specializes in custom and standard extrusion, targeting transportation, distribution, building, linear motion and electronic OEM markets. It has increased its sales by 2,900 percent since its founding five years ago. AAEO added more than 59 employees during the same period and has a 69-person staff at its Canton headquarters.
Benchmark Craftsman Inc., Nate Sublett
Benchmark Craftsman designs, produces and services tradeshow and museum exhibits, mobile displays, showrooms, corporate interiors, retail environments and display fixtures. During the past five years, it increased sales more than 1,700 percent.
Blossom Bucket Inc., Cindy Lowry
Since 1995, Blossom Bucket has produced innovative products for the gift industry. Its niche market is products that wholesale for less than $10. Blossom Bucket experienced a five-year sales increase of more than 250 percent, while its employee base grew more than 100 percent.
CMI Industries Inc., Craig Skorepa
CMI Industries Inc., a distributor of fasteners and electric hardware, was founded in Twinsburg in 1981. Its revenue increased 117 percent during the past five years, while its employee base grew 50 percent.
Distribution Solutions, John Haneberg
Distribution Solutions specializes in the delivery of time-sensitive printed material, pool distribution and less-than-truckload freight operations. Its annual revenue increased more than 1,900 percent during the past five years, and its employee numbers grew 160 percent.
Fire-Dex Inc., Bill Burke
Fire-Dex manufactures protective firefighting clothing and emergency response apparel. Its lean manufacturing operations have led to stellar growth during the past five years — an annual revenue increase of more than 100 percent and the addition of 16 employees.
Hunter’s Manufacturing Co. Inc., Richard L. Bednar and George R. Gardner
Founded in 1994, Hunter’s Manufacturing Co. Inc./Tenpoint Crossbow is a manufacturer and distributor of crossbows and crossbow-related accessories. The Suffield-based company also operates a retail store. Its revenue increased 142 percent from 2001 to 2005, while its employee base grew from 19 to 33.
Industrial Mold & Machine, Tom Nahodil
Founded in 1988 with a vision of being a leader in the newfound art of precision CNC machining for the mold and die industry, Industrial Mold & Machine has grown to be a full-service manufacturer of high-tolerance innovative molds for many segments of the plastics industry. During the past five years, it increased its employee base 54 percent.
QT Equipment, Doug Root
QT Equipment is a distributor of support equipment for mines, heavy-equipment dealers, and heavy and highway contractors. Revenue increased 699 percent from 2001 to 2005, while its employee base grew from six to 27.
PartsSource LLC, Ray Dalton
PartsSource is the nation’s only multimanufacturer, multimodality alternative parts supplier supporting both imaging and biomed parts requests for hospital equipment. During the past five years, it increased annual revenue 3,655 percent while increasing its employee base 820 percent.
SGS Tool Co. Inc., Thomas Haag and John Haag
SGS Tool Co. is a leading manufacturer of precision carbide rotary cutting tools for the metalworking, automotive and aerospace industries. While the industry was in a slump in the early part of the decade, SGS invested in capital equipment and facilities, and in work force training and development. The result is annual sales growth of more than $6 million during the past five years and a work force of 370 employees.
Shearer’s Foods Inc., Robert J. Shearer
Shearer’s Foods manufactures and distributes award-winning snacks and does private-label manufacturing for customers. It has matched its snack innovations by growing at a tremendous rate, adding more than 140 employees and nearly doubling its annual revenue during the past five years.
Visimax Technologies Inc., Dane Clark
Visimax Technologies manufactures precision optical coatings. Annual sales increased 213 percent during the past five years, while its employee base grew 150 percent.
West Akron North America, Gregory Anderson
West Akron North America, a manufacturer of sound filtering hoses used by automobile manufacturers, was founded in 1997. The Akron-based company increased annual revenue 146 percent during the past five years, while its employee base grew from 18 people to 29.
Service
91 Wood Fired Oven, Greg Goehring and Amy Goehring
91 Wood Fired Oven is an upscale-yet-casual urban eatery with two Canton-area locations. The organization increased sales 335 percent during the past five years. During the same period, it became the largest independent restaurant employer in Stark County. Its employee base grew 163 percent, and it employs 105 people.
ACRT Inc., Michael B. Weidner
ACRT provides vegetation management, training and consulting primarily to electric utilities. It has more than tripled its revenue and profitability since 1998 while completing an ownership transition to the employees. ACRT has added more than 130 employees since 2001.
American Environmental Group Ltd., Mark Shipps
American Environmental Group provides unique and specialized services primarily to the solid waste landfill industry. It drills and installs wells, constructs pipeline systems, and fabricates and installs geosynthetic liners. During the past five years, sales increased 233 percent, while its employee base increased 260 percent.
Cambridge Home Health Care, Nancy Diller-Shively
Cambridge Home Health Care provides nursing, therapy, home health aide and homemaking services to more than 2,100 people each week in their homes. Cambridge, a Cascade Capital Award winner in seven previous years, nearly doubled sales from 2001 to 2005, and grew from 750 employees to more than 1,200.
Corporate Technologies Group Inc., Brett Harney and Jeff Sumner
Founded in 1999, this voice, data and Internet technology integration company grew revenue 123 percent from 2001 to 2005, while its employee base grew 80 percent. In an era of consolidation, it has maintained its independence and redeveloped its revenue stream from up-front payments to a residual revenue model.
Family Dental Team Inc., Dr. James George
Family Dental Team attributes its success to innovative thinking and the implementation of new ideas. The group, which has four offices in Northeast Ohio, also designs and manufactures its own dentures. During the last five years, it nearly doubled its annual revenue and added11 employees.
Gardens of Western Reserve Assisted Living Residence, Rich Piekarski
The Gardens of Western Reserve operates two facilities that provide adult residential services for seniors and those with memory impairment. In 2000, it started with two employees. Today, there are 60 at its Cuyahoga Falls location and 110 at its Streetsboro operations.
Griffith Holdings Inc., Frank Griffith
Griffith Holdings is a holding company that consists of five diverse high technology firms that help thousands of companies worldwide connect to their markets, people, processes and products through a customized combination of Internet, marketing and telecommunications services. It nearly doubled annual sales during the past five years and tripled its employee base.
InfoCision Management Corp., Carl Albright
InfoCision Management is an inbound and outbound call center provider specializing in customer acquisition, care and retention, and nonprofit fundraising. Last year alone, it created more than 400 jobs, bringing its number of employees to 3,094. The six-time Cascade Capital Business Growth Award-winner increased annual revenue by more than $40 million during the past five years.
JMT Group, Robert Zufra
The JMT Group consists of four companies — two that provide expedited and dedicated freight transportation and brokerage services, and two that provide a wide range of managed services in the HR industry. Last year, the company doubled its annual revenue from 2004 results, while its employee base grew from 345 people to 520.
Jarrett Logistics Systems Inc., W. Michael Jarrett
Jarrett Logistics Systems specializes in transportation management services for high-growth North American companies using a proprietary software system that details transit and rate information. It has increased annual revenue more than 1,300 percent during the past five years and added 10 employees.
The K Co., Christopher J. Martin
The K Co. provides energy management services. It recently made a multimillion-dollar investment in a former big-box retail building that was left vacant. It increased annual revenue nearly $7 million during the past five years.
Liberty Bank N.A., William Valerian
Liberty Bank has offices in Twinsburg, Beachwood and Solon. It serves local consumers and privately held businesses with sales of up to $25 million, and specializes in providing innovative financing and cash management services. During the past five years, its annual revenue increased 100 percent, while its employee base increased 80 percent.
Omega Laboratories Inc., John Vitullo and Jay Davis
Omega Laboratories is one of six labs worldwide that offers the testing of hair samples for drug use, and over the past five years has become the second largest player in the market. Since 2001, Omega grew from six employees to 26, while revenue increased nearly 20-fold.
PackShip USA Inc., W. Michael Jarrett
PackShip USA nearly tripled its revenue and number of employees during the last five years. The company, established in 1998, counted on the projected growth of e-commerce and the related need of packing and shipping items too large to send through UPS or the postal service. In 2002, the Orrville-based company opened an Indiana location to better serve a concentration of customers there.
Quest Service Labs Inc., Al Wilson
Quest Service Labs is a data collection solutions provider. The Twinsburg-based company provides printer service, RFID solutions, site surveys, inventory control systems and other technology-related services. Quest increased its employee base by more than 50 percent during the past five years.
R&R Sanitation Inc., Gregory Kennell
R&R Sanitation was founded in 1986. Based in Kent, this refuse collection business has increased revenue by approximately $2 million during the past five years, while its employee base grew from 32 to 46.
Ritzman Pharmacies Inc., Eric Graf
Ritzman Pharmacies is a retail pharmacy with locations in Summit, Wayne and Medina counties. The organization combines professional prescription services with natural products and education. During the past five years, it increased revenue more than $5 million. In 2005, it launched a new physician billing and collection service called Ritzman Medical Billing.
Sequoia Financial Group, Thomas Haught
At Sequoia Financial Group, the goal is to be Ohio’s most trusted financial adviser. The company offers clients a team-based approach to addressing financial plans and goals. The company more than doubled its annual revenue from 2001 to 2005, and increased the number of employees from 9 to 19.
SS&G Financial Services Inc., Mark Goldfarb
SS&G Financial Services is a regional accounting and business advisory firm providing accounting, consulting, investments, technology, payroll and health care services. It is a 2005 Legacy Award honoree, and during the past five years increased annual sales nearly $10 million, while adding 75 employees.
SS&G Healthcare Services LLC, Thomas Ferkovic
SS&G Healthcare Services is a professional services firm dedicated to serving physicians and physician practices. It combines strategic planning, hands-on practice management and health care consulting expertise. During the past five years, annual revenue increased 117 percent, while its employee base grew 130 percent.
S&V Industries Inc., Senthil Kumar
S&V Industries is a marketing agent and logistics solution provider for major U.S. original equipment manufacturers. It provides manufacturing parts produced by global suppliers. From 2001 to 2005, the company grew from four employees to 15, and annual sales grew 369 percent.
Taylor & Smith Inc., Cory Smith
Taylor & Smith operates Internet and mail-order catalogs selling women’s apparel under the name J. Marco. During the past five years, it nearly doubled revenue and added 29 employees.
Testa Companies, Paul J. Testa
Testa Companies consists of four business units — a residential and construction firm, a real estate sales company, a property management firm, and a land and project development organization. During the past five years, gross sales have tripled, while employee numbers have risen 65 percent.
VEXOR Technology Inc., Joe E. Waters
Founded in 1999, VEXOR Technology Inc. doubled revenue between 2001 and 2005. The company, which manages nonhazardous industrial waste and byproducts, added 10 employees during the same time period.
WhiteSpace Creative, Keeven White
WhiteSpace Creative is a communications and marketing firm staffed by a team of 20 award-winning professionals focused on delivering fresh solutions to marketing challenges. It has averaged 30 percent annual growth each of the past five years.