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Opinion: A vision for the future

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The best fictional stories I’ve ever written started with the last line.

When a writer has vision, the path is clear. J.K. Rowling knew professor Dumbledore would die before she ever penned a word.

Writing – good writing – is an art. The finished product is painstakingly assembled word by work, brick by brick.

The business leaders in this year’s Dynamic Dozen are writing their own stories. They’ve created and crafted their companies though years of hard work and long nights. They’ve placed the bricks and set their paths. They have vision.

Springfield Business Journal’s Dynamic Dozen awards are ranked based on revenue and growth percentage, but money is only part of the equation – vision is another.

GigSalad co-founder and CEO Mark Steiner has vision. During our 30-minute conversation for the article in this publication, he told me of his goal to become a $100 million company. At $4.2 million for 2015, up 164 percent over three years, he’s on the right path.

Unlike the toil of the writer’s pen, which at some point ceases, the work of these leaders is never done. There aren’t enough bricks to finish the project because the project always is a work in progress.

As part of a new reporting format for special products this year, SBJ writers asked each leader a set of questions. One showcased their vision: In terms of growth, where is the tipping point?

Phil Melugin, CEO for the No. 1 company two years in a row, doesn’t see one.

“I don’t see it probably for the next five years,” said the Phoenix Home Care Inc. leader. “There will be no tipping point. The need is too great.”

No. 6 CEO Thomas Douglas already is talking about his next acquisition.

“I think in the next five years, it continues to grow exponentially, probably some more acquisitions on the road map,” said the JMark Business Solutions Inc. leader.

For most, vision breeds success and the Dynamic Dozen list is chock full of repeat honorees, with nine of this year’s winners previously making the list.

With a record for most D12 appearances, Citizens Memorial Healthcare moves up five spots to No. 5 on the list. With three-year revenue growth of 21 percent and multiple construction plans in the works, CMH shows no signs of slowing.

Rounding out the repeaters club, MaMa Jean’s Natural Foods Market and Penmac Personnel Services also hit the five-year mark, S&H Farm Supply hits year four, JMark Business Solutions and Burgess Aircraft Management tally three years, and Pheonix and GigSalad return for a second year.

HealthcareFirst also makes its way back to the dozen. The company had a five-year run in the late 2000s, ranking as high as second. The comeback kid brought in $31.32 million last year, putting its three-year growth rate at 43 percent. Congratulations to all the 2016 Dynamic Dozen award-winning companies and individual honorees from the entire SBJ staff.

Like the pages of a good book, the stories of these companies are compelling. I can’t wait to see what chapters they write next.

Springfield Business Journal Features Editor Emily Letterman can be reached at eletterman@sbj.net.

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