L-R: Fred Kennon, David Brain, Greg Silvers,
Jolynne Schroeder, Anna Baxley & Jon Weis
Entertainment Properties Trust
Gross Revenue: 2000: $55,300,000 1997: $1,887,000
Growth: 2,830.58%
Full-Time Employees: 6
Entertainment Properties Trust (EPT) is the only real estate investment trust acquiring and developing mall-based entertainment complexes. In fact, EPT is leading the re-screening of America and is capitalizing on an estimated $8.8 billion in financing needs of the first run movie exhibition industry. EPT's aptly-named CEO, David Brain, attributes EPT's growth to its ability to "step into the void created by a theater venue replacement cycle."
EPT's diverse portfolio includes five of the nation's leading first run movie exhibitors, among them Kansas City-based AMC. The development of the megaplex, that is theaters with at least 14 screens, has helped fuel demand for EPT's service and should for at least the next five years.
The company was formed in August of 1997, and went public three months later with an IPO that raised $276 million. The company's common shares beneficial interest is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol EPR.
L-R: Joe Krashlin, Jennifer Steinbrenner,
Martha Gershun, Terry Kincheloe & Eric Boles
BizSpace
Gross Revenue: 2000 $3,362,000 1997: $159,000
Growth 2,014.47%
Full-time Employees: 45
BizSpace is weathering the dot-com storm that has shipwrecked many of its competitors. The downtown KC company develops and operates Web sites that target specialized industry segments in telecommunications and technology. These sites then provide news, industry information, and online purchasing opportunities for participants within a given industry.
Under the leadership of CEO Martha Gershun, BizSpace has continued to add new Web sites to its portfolio as market conditions warrant. "We rode the Internet wave up," says Gershun, "and we're trying not to wipe out when the wave comes down." Like so many in the high-tech industry, BizSpace is watching its growing losses threaten its growing revenues. In pioneering the untested field of online trade publishing, the company has had to sort through its opportunities without the benefit of a prior history, never an easy task. At the same time, BizSpace has benefited from the increased acceptance and the sometimes turbulent maturation of online advertising. This combination has increased advertising and spurred additional e-commerce sales for the company.
L-R: Tom Murphy, Antonio Castañon,
Charles Levine & Dennis Huber
Sprint PCS
Gross Revenue: 2000: $6,300,000,000 1997: $401,000,000
Growth: 1,471.07%
Full-time Employees: 31,000
Definitely the big kid on this block. Sprint PCs built and operates the first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and provides a portfolio of advanced data communications services. The company, in fact, operates the largest 100-percent digital, 100-percent PCs wireless network in the US. It serves the majority of the nation's metro areas and includes more than 4,000 cities across the country and 80% of the American people.
Under the guidance of CEO Charles Levine, the Overland Park-based company has grown through continual, high level innovation. The company constructed the nation's largest all-digital single frequency network from the ground up. It developed the first of several affiliate agreements to develop service in the second and third-tier markets. It launched its groundbreaking Wireless Web service and followed that with the introduction of Sprint PCs Wireless Web for Business. This past year the company rolled out Voice Command, the first nationwide network-based voice-activated dialing and information service. In short, expect Sprint PCs to be back on this list for a few more years.