The largest minority-owned companies based in Orange County combined for revenue of $10.91 billion for the 12 months ended in December and 8,016 local jobs as of last month, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
Top-ranked Kingston Technology Co. in Fountain Valley and Irvine-based Vizio Inc. together accounted for nearly three-fourths of the revenue for the entire list.
Annual comparisons for this year’s list are difficult because of an increase in the number of companies ranked. Last year’s list included 33 companies with annual revenue of $7 million or more. This year’s list has 45, an increase owed to improved research methods.
The annual list includes companies that are at least 51% owned by Latino-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans or Native Americans, including immigrants and native-born individuals.
The Business Journal generally follows federal guidelines on designations of minority status, which exclude individuals of Arab, Iranian, or Armenian descent, and others.
Twenty-one companies reported reven- ue increases. Of those 21 companies, more than half posted double-digit gains. Twelve companies saw revenue declines, five were flat, and seven were Business Journals estimates.
Job Growth
The 45 companies collectively grew local employment by more than 120 jobs during the 12 months through February, a 1.6% increase from a year earlier, and slightly ahead of the recent pace for job gains in Orange County overall. Companywide employment among the companies on the list grew 2.2%, with an addition of 509 workers, to 23,853 total.
The totals on employment were helped by the larger number of companies on this year’s list.
The addition of newcomers to the list couldn’t offset a dip in revenue, which fell by 2.6%.
The decline on combined revenue was due largely to Kingston, the world’s largest memory products maker for computers and consumer electronics, and the long-standing No. 1 company among minority-owned businesses in OC.
The Business Journal estimates the company saw $5 billion in sales in 2012, down about 9% from 2011.
The decline was fueled by slowing demand and dropping prices on DRAM products, the most common type of memory used in computers and other consumer electronics, and Kingston’s biggest source of revenue.
Bad Year for PCs
2012 was a down year as far as total industry revenue, said Mike Howard, senior principal analyst for DRAM & Compute Platforms for Englewood, Colo.-based market tracker IHS Inc. “It was another lousy year for the PC.”
Global shipments of PCs and laptops, which consume the most DRAM, dipped 3.7% in 2012, according to Framingham, Mass.-based market researcher International Data Corp.
“That dynamic is shifting more and more as DRAM is getting consumed by smart phones and tablets,” Howard said.
Kingston’s decline was partially offset by growing demand for its smaller line of flash memory products and solid-state drives, which use chips instead of spinning disks to store data.
Without Kingston, the other companies on the list grew sales by 3.6%.
The Business Journal estimates Vizio posted sales of $3.1 billion in 2012, up 3.3%.
The company entered the PC market last year with a line of desktops and ultrabooks equipped with Windows 8 that are distributed by big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Costco. The estimate on Vizio’s revenue for 2012 includes a prorated portion of an estimated $120 million in sales of its debut tablet, which was released in mid-2011.
Those gains, coupled with strong demand for its sound bars and other accessory products, likely offset sales drops from its largest business line of flat TVs, which saw its first drop in U.S. sales last year since their introduction more than a decade ago.
M S International
No. 3 M S International Inc. in Orange saw sales grow 14.1% to $445 million last year. The $55 million increase was the second-highest dollar-amount growth among the listed companies. M S International was established in 1975 by Manu Shah and his wife after they moved to the U.S. from India. The company received a Family-Owned Business award from the Business Journal in 2010.
M S International sells granite, marble and other natural stone products for commercial and residential uses. It operates distribution centers in 12 states and has five offices abroad, and likely saw a boost from the recovering real estate market in 2012.
No. 15 Wahoo’s Fish Taco in Santa Ana moved up three spots after posting sales of $54 million, up 58.8% from 2011.
Part of the growth stems from the company changing its reporting standards last year to include all franchisees, according to Chief Executive Mingo Lee.
The chain opened its first East Coast location in New York City last year as part of a growth strategy launched in 2009 with an aim of doubling its number of franchised units over the next five years.
Wahoo’s, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, counts more than 60 locations nationally, with more than half in Southern California.
The company added 375 employees, taking it to 1,000 people companywide, up 60%. That was the largest employee gain on the list.
No. 40 Alternative Technology Solutions Inc.—an IT services provider based in Aliso Viejo and a newcomer to the list—posted revenue of $8.7 million in 2012, up nearly 78% from 2011. The company had the largest percentage jump in revenue on the list.
Among the main contributors to growth was an expansion of the company’s use of Salesforce.com “to meet the high demand of manufacturers and distributors moving to cloud,” according to Chief Executive Vivian Keena.
Alternative Technologies was among 13 newcomers to the list.
Other Newcomers
Others included No. 14 Digital Peripheral Solutions Inc. in Anaheim, which posted sales of $55 million, up 22.2% from 2011, and No. 23 Irvine-based IT service provider Solugenix Corp., which reported revenue of $24 million, up 26.3%.
Digital Peripheral operates under the name Q-See and makes advanced surveillance equipment and accessories for homes and businesses.
Download the 2013 OC’s LARGEST MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES list (pdf)
