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Fast and faster. “Best Of” lists and report cards. That's the order of the day for this issue. No wonder we needed a year-end vacation. So welcome to 2006 and enjoy this feast of riches, starting with 35 companies whose big-time increases in revenues qualify them for ranking on our annual Fastest Growing Companies (FGC) list. For these top performers, average growth factors at well over 200%.
These folks are doing mostly everything right, but with gain comes pain, and for this year's fast companies, the speed bumps all have to do with the human side of business growth. After all, it's a truth universally acknowledged that a company in possession of opportunity must be in need of employees—but when staff numbers are doubling annually, how does a company cope? It's by far the biggest challenge. Our FGC survey respondents cited the gamut of HR issues from retaining to retraining, recruiting to compensating, to maintaining that elusive work-life balance. The fun starts on page 39.
Rutter Inc., the 2006 fast-growth leader at 2,211% over the past three years, is a case in point. The St. John's-based high-tech manufacturer has been on an acquisition binge the past few years, and employee numbers have increased 10 times over. CEO Donald Clarke admits that in the flurry of new business activity, mistakes were made in communicating the vision to new employees. His solution was to design a documented “Rutter culture” in which every new recruit is immersed. Additionally, the introduction of stock-option and stock-purchase programs will enable as many as possible to benefit financially as the company implements its four-year plan to go from $70 million in revenues to $500 million.
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Another theme that popped up this year was the environment. Whether it's small wind-power operators, biofuel suppliers, or environmental consultants, smart companies are benefiting growth-wise from demand for renewable-energy sources and greener expertise.
In the “Did you know?” department, we profile the miracle-makers in Mactaquac, N.B. Precision Metal Works is an advanced manufacturer that is the darling of sophisticated research labs in the U.S. Why? Because its vacuum chambers, in which specialized research experiments are conducted, are considered among the best in class. If you need a simulated Martian environment for any reason, don't hesitate to give them a call.
The New Year is a good time for benchmarking. Once again, the professors at the Sobey School of Business have helped us delve deeper into the practices of TOP 101 companies, providing readers with their own balanced scorecard. More than one-third of the CEOs responded to questions about six main areas that support business strategy. Practices in marketing, risk management, HR, e-business, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility were analyzed and given a letter grade. Results are OK—similar to last year's— but according to acting dean David Wicks, they're far from being exceptional. Two areas where he sees a lack of progress: HR and e-business.
Finally, we offer you our annual Best of the East. During the summer, we polled subscribers about restaurants, hotels, bars, pubs, gyms, golf, shopping, and other important leisure pursuits. As every progressive Atlantica resident knows, those who work hard must play hard, and the Best Of provides an array of fail-safe options wherever you're doing business. |
