Russell Cellular recognized as top job creator

Russell Cellular Inc. has ranked as a top private job creator in the country in Inc. magazine's inaugural Hire Power Awards.

The awards honor the Top 100 private companies in the country based on jobs created 2008-11.

Battlefield-based Russell Cellular ranked No. 77 on the U.S. list and No. 2 in Missouri, creating 295 jobs in the three-year scope. The company employs 562, according to the list.

Russell Cellular - a Verizon agent that provides services from 160 locations in 11 states - ranked No. 1,601 on the 2012 Inc. 5000 based on percentage revenue growth between 2008 and 2011. The company recorded $73.3 million in 2011 revenues, up from $25.9 million in 2008, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

HealthcareFirst - an Ozark company that placed the highest among local companies on the 2012 Inc. 5000 at No. 1,032 - didn't rank in the top 100 on Inc. magazine's Hire Power Awards list. With 81 jobs created 2008-11, the software company ranked No. 5 in Missouri.

At. No. 29, Columbia-based Veterans United Home Loans was the highest ranked Missouri company on the Hire Power Awards list. The company, which employs 731, created 564 jobs during the three-year time frame, according to the list.

“The top 100 companies on the list have created 73,032 American jobs in the three-year period from 2008 to 2011 – an amazing feat, given that much of that job growth came during the heart of the recession,” Inc. magazine Editor-in-Chief Eric Schurenberg said in a news release. “And it isn’t just the big guys that are adding jobs. Companies with less than $50 million in annual revenue make up nearly one-third of the Hire Power list.”

With 17,330 jobs created 2008-11, Santa Ana, Calif-based security company Universal Services of America topped Inc. magazine's list of the top private job creators.[[In-content Ad]]