Download the 2010 OC FAST-GROWING PRIVATE COS List (pdf)
Orange County’s top fast-growing private companies saw sales rise 23% in the past two years to $12 billion, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The list, our fourth annual of fast-growing private companies, ranks 69 businesses by revenue growth for the 12 months through June from the same period in 2008.
This year’s list is smaller and the growth rate is slower than in years past.
Our first three lists included 100 companies, which saw 50% growth in 2007, 40% in 2008 and 34% in 2009.
Blame the recession: The period measured for this year’s list bookended the national recession, which ran from late 2007 to mid-2009.
That actually makes this year’s group of fast-growing private companies even more notable—they managed to grow rapidly during the worst downturn in generations.
Some companies actually saw a drop in sales for the 2009 period, during the heart of the recession. They were able to make the list with a gain in sales for the 2010 period that took them above where they were two years earlier.
No. 19 Irvine-based Net Systems Inc., a wholesaler of computers from Apple Inc., was one such company. It saw revenue of $36 million for the 12 months through June, up 112% from the same period in 2008.
But from 2008 to 2009, the company saw sales fall 7% as a downturn in technology spending played out, according to Chief Executive Fares Koudsi.
As in years past, smaller companies that are more apt to post big revenue gains stand out on the list. They include technology companies, marketing firms and medical device makers.
The list also includes several larger companies with hundreds of millions or even billions in yearly sales.
Yet what makes the fast-growing private company list unique is that it is something of a spectacle, with many quirky companies. Some are likely to be new to many.
Among them are No. 17 Costa Mesa-based Textopoly, a text messaging marketing agency, and No. 24 Aliso Viejo-based Lexipol LLC, which helps train police and keep their policy manuals up to date.
The offbeat companies make the list what it is—a fun look at fast-growing, entrepreneurial companies that have found sometimes unconventional niches.
More than half of the companies on this year’s list are newcomers, a high rate of fluctuation that’s unheard of on our other lists but isn’t unusual here.
It’s a reflection of the dynamic nature of fast-growing private companies, where there’s always a new crop waiting to spring up and displace anyone whose growth hasn’t kept pace.
All but four of the top 10 companies this year are new, including No. 1 Irvine-based U.S. Lighting Technologies, which makes and installs energy-efficient lighting for governments and utilities.
U.S. Lighting topped the list with estimated 4,659% sales growth for the two years through June. For the 12 months ended June, U.S. Lighting had sales of $24 million, up from $503,526 for the same period in 2008, according to Business Journal estimates.
A $30 million, multiyear contract signed last year with New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. was a big factor in the company’s debut on the list.
About the List
The fast-growing private companies list includes OC-based businesses owned by an individual, a group of people, families, venture capitalists, private equity firms or other investors. Companies had to have sales of at least $300,000 for the 12 months through June 2008 to be considered.
Publicly traded companies and subsidiaries weren’t considered. Neither were locally owned and run offices of national service firms.
The list’s terminology can be a little confusing. We technically measure companies based on two years of growth—revenue for the 12 months through June versus the same period through June 2008.
But that actually means we look at three years’ worth of revenue: for the 12 months through June 2008, June 2009 and June of this year.
To come up with the list, the Business Journal solicited entries through our paper and website. More than half of the companies on the list submitted revenue numbers for consideration.
The rest we culled from our other relevant lists—private companies, minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses and others—to get names we knew should be on there.
Figures for some companies are Business Journal estimates in cases where we have good reason to believe they’ve seen growth.
Like all our lists, fast-growing private companies is a work in progress. We’ve surely missed some undiscovered companies that would make our list. We look forward to broadening our ranking with new companies next year.
