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2002 Philadelphia 100 Find High Growth in Downturn
Outreach
2002 Philadelphia 100 Find High Growth
in Downturn
Philadelphia 100 winners find high growth in unlikely places — including accounting, technology and financial services.
Given the economy of the past year, when the Wharton Small Business Development Center (WWSBDC) began looking for nominations for the Philadelphia 100, WSBDC director Therese Flaherty had some doubts about whether they might find enough qualified applicants. The annual ranking of the region's fastest growing private companies — created by the WSBDC in partnership with the Entrepreneurs' Forum of Greater Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Business Journal — is based on sales increases over each of the past three years. "We had such bad business conditions, we weren't sure if enough companies would qualify," Flaherty said.
It turned out that she had nothing to worry about. The winners proved that you don't need a good economy or a stellar industry sector to post high growth. In a year of accounting scandals, the firm at the top of the Philadelphia 100 list was accounting staffing and accounting services company SolomonEdwards Group LLC, which grew sales by 2,562 percent between 1999 and 2001, topping $9 million. The company was able to take advantage of shifts in the industry and regulation to rapidly expand its business. And while many technology companies were in free fall, technology companies accounted for nearly a third of this year's Philadelphia 100 list, including seven of the top 10 firms. The second-ranked company on the list, InnaPhase, developed software for automating and accelerating the preclinical phase of drug development.
The list offers proof that skilled managers can overcome the curse of an industry downturn. "When you are in tough times, it is management that makes the difference," Flaherty said. "You can be sure that the companies on the list have good managers."
The average revenue growth rate for companies on the list was down from the 400 percent posted by the Philadelphia 100 last year, perhaps an indication of tougher times. But the top 100 companies still posted a healthy average of 280 percent growth over 3 years.
A Strong Infrastructure
What do the results
mean for the Philadelphia region? Flaherty said the long-term growth in
the representation of technology and financial services companies on the
list bodes well for other area businesses. Since 1990, the number of Philadelphia
100 winners in technology has gone up from 17 to 32 and financial
services has increased from 5 to 15.
"These are two sectors that one would expect to be powering a virtuous
cycle of growth," she said. "That is a really good sign for
the region. The growth in these sectors indicate that there is a good
infrastructure here now."
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For more information on the Philadelphia 100 and the 2002 winners, click here.
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