L-R: Jeanette Prenger, Kevin Prenger,
Fanny-Jo Sansone & Doug Bleam
ECCO Select
Gross Revenue: 2000: $2,768,397 1997: $342,632
Growth: 707.98%
Full-Time Employees: 40
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in midtown Kansas City, ECCO Select is in the business of helping companies meet their IT staffing needs. Over time, ECCO Select has developed an ever-expanding network of individuals and small, specialized companies with expertise in emerging business technologies. The company sees itself neither as a "body shop" nor as a "domineering consulting house" but rather as a
client-friendly value-driven service.
CEO Jeanette Prenger and her colleagues, high among them husband Kevin, attribute ECCO Select's success to "steady PR and client interaction combined with excellent service." The company has returned to a more steady growth pattern following a wild Y2K (remember Y2K?) driven surge in business during 1999. Says Prenger, "It's harder and funnier than I ever thought it would be, but we're having a great year."
L-R: Gerald Duran & Don Weiss
Conseva
Gross Revenue: 2000: $4,805,000 1997: $730,000
Growth: 558.22%
Full-time Employees: 43
This Overland Park-based company, which began operations in 1993 as Step 1, Inc., is now officially "Conseva." (Some say ConSEEva, some say ConSAYva). It has not, however, strayed from its original mission, which was to provide training in the Kansas City area to professional computer programmers. Conseva now offers a suite of over 60 courses in computer languages and web development technologies. Says CEO Don Weiss, "Our 82% placement rate isn't just a marketing slogan."
In 1999, the company began offering an innovative IT Career Fast Track program. The ten-week program gives high-aptitude students the skills equivalent to an entry-level programmer with one year's experience. Last year, Ingram's readers named Conseva the "best computer training company" in Kansas City. Privately held, Conseva has shown a profit in each year of its existence and is now debt-free.
L-R: Mike Polston, Michelle Polston,
Larry Poston & Barbara Polston
ASAP Communications
Gross Revenue: 200: $2,306,000 1997: $406,000
Growth: 467.98%
Full-time Employees: 12
An independent provider of cellular and paging products and services, the cleverly named ASAP Communications has prospered during the wireless revolution, Operating out of Overland Park, under the guidance of CEO Barbara Polston, ASAP strives to offer the best product and support in the industry and has done so since 1995.
Polston and staff credit their success to the company's "old fashioned, family style approach." Working with Barbara full time are sons Larry, Jr. and Michael, both vice presidents. Says Polston, "We just try to offer quality service and the best product at the best price."
Just as they ranked in 2000, Conseva (aka Step 1) and ASAP Communications round out Ingram's Corporate Report 1000 as #9 and #10 respectively.