Chasing the Cheetahs: Firms reflect on growth spurts, offer tips

Southwest Missouri is a native habitat for "cheetah firms."

In the 26-county Ozarks region that encompasses Springfield, Joplin and Branson, there are 1,090 cheetah firms - defined by the Missouri Department of Economic Development as companies that doubled their employment between 2001 and 2006. According to DED, Missouri is home to more than 6,200 such companies, 99 percent of which employ fewer than 100 people.

During the five-year period studied, Missouri's cheetah firms boosted the state's employment with 130,000 new jobs.

Springfield Business Journal and Joplin Tri-State Business spoke with seven business owners whose companies meet the cheetah criteria. Here's what they had to say about the hunt for growth and their advice for other companies on the prowl.

Maria's Mexican Restaurant

In 1997, Maria's Mexican Restaurant had just three employees filling carry-out orders from a tiny space on East Walnut Street.

Maria's co-owner Monica Guest enlisted her mother and brother to launch the business that she envisioned would someday become a sit-down restaurant. Guest reached that goal in 2001, when she opened Maria's at 406 South Ave. with husband Chris.

Since that time, the downtown Springfield eatery - known for its tacos and speedy service - has grown to some 30 employees, but Guest said the restaurant wasn't always packed during the lunch hour.

"Early on, it was very slow-going," she said. "It's not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of hard work."

The Guests hired a manager in 2003 to help run the growing restaurant, but delegating the workload didn't come easy. Monica Guest became concerned about losing business if Maria's patrons saw a change in the consistency of food or the level of customer service.

Despite an industrywide slowdown in the restaurant business, Maria's annual revenues have bucked the trend, Guest said. February sales were $11,000 higher than in February 2008. The restaurant hasn't had to reduce its staff size, and Guest said she recently hired more kitchen help.

Next up: A south Springfield Maria's to cater to customers who don't want to drive downtown.

D3 Technologies

Kevin Schlack, president of Springfield-based D3 Technologies, said his 10-year-old company hit its stride in 2002 as the U.S. economy emerged from one of the shortest recessions on record.

Schlack started the computer-aided design consulting firm in 1999 with just five employees, all young adults working out of a single office in Springfield. D3 now employs 40 people at nine offices in five states.

In its infancy, the company worked to define its specialty - 3-D design, product data management and customized manufacturing technology.

"Our growth accelerated once we figured out what that perfect recipe was," Schlack said, pointing to the quadrupling of staff to 24 between 2001 and 2006.

Last year, D3 hit its employment ceiling at 50 people. Over time, Schlack said he broadened his company's benefits package to attract and retain talent, which has been - and continues to be - a challenge.

"We had to go from being a small firm with limited to no perks or benefits - other than a very competitive salary - to being a company that offers full benefits," he said.

But offering employment with enticing benefits is only half the equation, Schlack said. Hiring the right person for the job requires due diligence, and he admitted to making some personnel mistakes in the past.

Schlack's best advice to business owners: Be directly involved in hiring decisions and rely on outside experts when necessary.

Joplin Floor Designs

Duane Hukill opened Joplin Floor Designs in 1993 with a partner and a part-time employee. The business now employs nine workers and - despite the recession - Hukill said he is looking to add another.

Hukill assumed control of his family's Seneca-based flooring business in 1991 and moved it to Joplin under a new name two years later. In 1995, he moved it to a high-profile 32nd Street spot and has expanded the building several times.

Sales - and the number of employees - grew along with the size of the store. Hukill said growth accelerated when he began taking on commercial projects in 2004.

"We've never had a drop, but I'm wondering if this (year) will be the first," Hukill said, noting that residential remodeling and commercial business remains strong, but new home construction is slow. Each segment previously provided a third of the business, Hukill said, but commercial construction is now 50 percent and new residential construction is only 10 percent.

"Managing cash flow - getting more money in as more money was going out" proved to be the biggest challenge the business faced, Hukill said. "Second to that was managing personnel ... getting the right people at the right places."

Hukill said he benefited from his parents teaching business skills and from his wife, Holly Hukill, joining the business in 1999. She manages the finances while Hukill handles sales.

Meanwhile, Hukill is keeping his head up: "The economy is down, admitted, but I'm not going to let it put me in the dumps."

Insight Solutions

Dan Williams acquired Insight Solutions on the back end of the company's growth spurt.

Williams purchased AAA Mailing Services in November 2005 and reinvented the mailing company as Insight Solutions in early 2008.

The acquisition of a printing company in August 2007 enabled Williams to expand his services to include design, printing, software solutions and Web site development. A one-stop marketing shop is what customers want, Williams said.

"I saw about a year and a half ago that being in the mailing business exclusively was not going to get us where we needed to be," he said.

At its peak in 2006, Insight Solutions employed 25 people to handle the heavy demand created by its customers, which included Bass Pro Shops.

"We were at full capacity," Williams recalled. "It was like you couldn't ever miss a beat."

Employees ended up putting in extra hours on evenings and weekends to print and process the constant stream of orders, many of which were placed by customers in the booming mortgage industry. Williams said he debated whether to add a second shift, but decided instead to hire part-time help.

"I wish I had that problem today," he said.

Williams said larger competitors such as Canada-based Quebecor Inc. are driving industrywide consolidation by gobbling up smaller print and design shops. While the workload is smaller than just three years ago, it's more manageable now, he said, and software solutions are a conduit for higher-margin jobs.

Williams' best advice to business owners: Check auctions and liquidation sales for discounted equipment to boost capacity.

Electronic Check Services

A local bank opened the doors to growth for Electronic Check Services Inc. in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The Springfield-based check processing and recovery business found its launching pad in Great Southern Bank. In 1999, the Springfield-based bank agreed to process point-of-purchase transactions for Electronic Check Services, which then catered to convenience stores primarily in Missouri and Kansas.

"That was a very significant stepping stone for us," said Dennis Winfrey, the company's founder and board chairman.

Winfrey said the partnership enabled the company to grow from five employees to 10 in 2006. The company now employs 13 who handle accounts in 47 states, and 2008 revenues were $16 million, he said.

"It just kept spreading with tentacles," said Winfrey, who owns the company with son Derron.

Springfield-based Pyramid Foods - formerly RPCS Inc. - became an Electronic Check Services client in 2000, and the company now serves numerous grocery store chains in Missouri and other states, Winfrey said.

In 2008, Electronic Check Services landed Ace Hardware as a client. And this year, the company acquired a contract with Iowa-based Shazam Corp. to provide check conversion technology for 1,500 small banks throughout the Midwest.

Winfrey's best advice to business owners: Base your operations in Springfield.

When he started Electronic Check Services in 1997, Winfrey opened offices in Springfield and Kansas City to test both markets. After just a year, he closed the Kansas City office.

"The work ethic of employees is without question," Winfrey said of the Springfield employment pool.

Thunder Grafix

A conservative approach to growth has generated consistent expansion since Thunder Grafix opened in 2000, said vice president Nicole Tate.

The Joplin-based sign company specializes in lettering for the trucking industry but also produces banners, T-shirts, business cards and specialty printing. The company serves clients in 46 states, Tate said.

"The key to our success has been building a rapport with our clients that builds loyalty," she said.

Tate's husband, President Jeff Tate, worked in the sign industry for 20 years before the duo started Thunder Grafix.

They began adding workers by hiring a part-time employee and then a full-time office coordinator. Finding the right person for the new positions proved to be the most difficult task, Nicole Tate said.

"The biggest challenge was turnover, finding the right person," she said. "When you have a small group, the interpersonal relationships are magnified," Tate added.

The company grew to seven employees by the end of 2008, but economic conditions and other factors prompted Thunder Grafix to reduce its staff to five.
"It was a difficult decision," Tate said. "When you employ only seven people, you are part of that person's life."

The business experienced a similar slowdown following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which taught the Tates a lesson.

"That left us in a good position to weather our current economic tides," Tate said.

Up next: digital printing and growing employees' skill sets, she said.

Andy's Frozen Custard

Andy's Frozen Custard experienced its strongest growth in the late 1990s, but the Springfield-based chain didn't stop there.

In the early part of this decade, the company continued to add stores and employees, said President Andy Kuntz. Today, Andy's has 13 stores - seven franchises and six corporate locations - in Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Illinois. Roughly 20 employees are needed to run each store, Kuntz said.

"Our biggest problem was probably just finding good help and enough of it," he said, noting the low unemployment rate at the time. "We were very, very particular."

Andy's took out radio ads soliciting clean-cut high school or college-age applicants who were willing to commit to at least one year with the company, Kuntz said.

In return, Andy's pays its employees a competitive hourly wage - now $8 an hour in Springfield and $9 in Branson, Kuntz said.

"You want to keep quality of service that your customers expect and demand," he said. "It's important from a hiring standpoint to draw quality applicants."

Selling new franchises has been a goal for Andy's since 2004, but Kuntz said the company has shifted its focus to helping existing franchisees open new stores in their respective markets.

A northwest Arkansas franchisee is set to open her second store in Fayetteville this year, Kuntz said. Hiring young custard-makers and cashiers is the next order of business.