Everest Connections LLC

Gross Revenue: 2004: $38,916,440 2001: $1,555,650 Growth 2,401.619% Full-time employees: 170

In a battle against multi-billion-dollar corporations, Everest Connections is making inroads in the communications industry. Everest was the first cable company to offer cable, Internet and home phone service in one package, saving their customers 30 percent over the three services billed individually. Now that their chief competitor offers the same “bundle,” CEO Phil Spencer says Everest still has one more edge. “People don’t come up to me and say, ‘You’ve saved me money over what I was paying before,’ even though we’ve done that. They say, ‘I love your customer service. I love getting a live person when I call.’” “You’re not calling a big call center somewhere else or in another country. You’re calling right around the corner.”

Phil Spencer, Elaine McCoy, Rod Siemers and Ken Johnson.
1st Year

Tactical Stop-Loss LLC

Gross Revenue: 2004: $17,860,586 2001: $1,142,145 Growth 1,463.776% Full-time employees: 21

There’s no shame in finishing third on a list like Corporate Report 100. CEO Jim Fox joked, “When you’re only No. 3, you’ve got to really try harder.” Tactical Stop-Loss is in the business of managing general underwriter aggregate and spec coverages for employer health plans. They have grown through a strategy of pursuing excellence in service and marketing, plus looking for acquisitions of similar companies that may be struggling. “Success is like a jig-saw puzzle; it’s finding pieces that fit with what we’re trying to do where, we can strengthen a weakness by combining efforts.”

Terry Griffth and James Fox

2ndYear

BuiltToLastHome.com

Gross Revenue: 2004: $1,647,592 2001: $108,521 Growth 1,413.432% Full-time employees: 9

It doesn’t take long in a conversation with President Doug Perry to find out where he attributes credit for his company’s growth. “I tried to find the smartest person to emulate who had the best advice on how to treat people and how to build business. It turned out that that’s Jesus of Nazareth,” he said. BuiltToLastHome.com started as BuiltToLastFurniture, but added numerous kinds of home furnishings: “everything for the home, all built to last,” Perry says. The company now carries more than 200,000 different products. Most of the business comes from the Internet, and Perry’s goal is to expand more into the Kansas City market.

Doug Perry
1stt Year

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