Opinion: Dynamic Dozen tell intriguing stories of success

The 2007 Dynamic Dozen companies are a varied bunch, with several industries, including hospitality, health care, automotive and construction, represented by the companies on the list.

The common thread, as usual, is growth.

• Headquarters must be in SBJ’s readership area – the area within a 50-mile radius of Springfield.

• Companies must have annual revenues of at least $500,000 for each of the last three years.

• Companies can nominate themselves or be nominated by an outside party, and then they must complete applications, providing their gross revenues for each of the last three years.

Judging is performed independently by CPA firm Elliott, Robinson & Co. Companies are chosen based on gross revenue growth for the past three years – not including trade dollars or donations – and results are tabulated with a formula that incorporates both dollar and percentage growth.

It’s important to the integrity of the Dynamic Dozen competition that companies all follow the eligibility rules, and this year, it took some investigative action by Editor Eric Olson to make sure all of the companies actually met the criteria, and in particular, had their headquarters in the appropriate area.

Two companies – Incredible Pizza Co. and Healthcarefirst Inc. – gave us pause. A few years ago, we reported that Incredible Pizza was moving its headquarters to Tulsa, Okla. So when the company popped up on Dynamic Dozen, it was time to do some digging. As it turns out, Incredible Pizza did move an operations office to Tulsa, where there’s also a corporately-owned pizza-and-games eatery. But since its inception, the company has been a registered Missouri location with its actual headquarters right here in Springfield.

Olson spoke with Incredible Pizza owner Rick Barsness, particularly after a quick check of the company’s Web site referred to “Tulsa headquarters.” We’ve verified, though, that the company is, in fact, Springfield-based, and the Web site has been updated.

Another 2007 Dynamic Dozen honoree, Healthcarefirst Inc., traces its roots to Texas. No worries, though. The company, originally lured to Springfield by City Utilities’ underground hosting facility in Springfield Underground, moved its headquarters to Missouri and relocated to a brand-new office building in Ozark about two years ago.

As you read the stories of the 2007 Dynamic Dozen companies, you’ll note that for some companies, acquisition has become an important tool for growth. Other companies are “thinking outside the box,” changing direction to meet customer needs or to generate additional revenues.

Whether you’re reading about a company you’re familiar with or a company you’ve never heard of, here’s hoping that you will learn something new, just as we did in putting this publication together.

Here are a few teasers to get you started:

• Which company is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a specially fabricated 1957 Chevy dubbed “The Chubster”?

• Which company has Springfield’s mayor as one of its partners?

• Which company relies on U.S. and Russian satellites to help contractors find accurate reference points?

• Which company started out as “two guys tinkering on a borrowed computer”?

• Which company is branching out to offer car rentals and area rugs?

• Which company donated more than $19 million to its community in 2006?

• Which company’s founder was initially turned down for financing by four Springfield banks?

The answers to these questions are in the following pages. Happy reading!

Maria Hoover is Springfield Business Journal features editor. She can be reached at mhoover@sbj.net.[[In-content Ad]]