The Winners’ Circle
by chris becickia

What with War Emblem making a determined run at the Triple Crown, Seabiscuit topping the bestseller charts, and Dr. Bill Reed’s Perfect Drift providing the most local sports excitement since Joe Montana retired, 2002 has proved an exciting year for the sport of kings.

The metaphoric horse race that is Ingram’s Corporate Report100 has been exciting as well. If anything, adverse track conditions have made it more interesting. Some Kansas City companies stumbled out of the gate. Others grew winded down the home stretch. But the classic "mudders"—those that run strong despite a sluggish economy—showed that even on a slow track the race still goes to the swift.

Truth be told, Gabe Murphy’s Communitech.net ran away from the field. By the time the other competitors crossed the finish line, Communitech was already out to stud on the farm of its new owner, Interland, down in Atlanta. Murphy, in fact, graciously disqualified himself and returned to Kansas City to present the win, place and show awards to three other studly competitors.
Who are these companies and how have we selected them? The criteria, we admit, are relatively simple—we look at growth figures for the last four years. The companies’ 2001 revenues must have been at least a million dollars with figures to substantiate their growth in the previous three years. So are these the companies to bet your bottom dollar on even if it’s their first year in the Top 10? We can only tell you that past performance has been excellent, and if it is a harbinger, then go ahead and wager big.

The Top 10 contenders present an interesting picture of Kansas City business. We often point with pride to the fact that we are not industry specific and thus can weather assorted economic downturns better than neighboring cities too dependent on oil prices or technology or insurance. No, a middle ground is the best place to stand, we say with pride. So this year we see, in the 10, three companies that deal with finding or retaining employees, three companies that advise others what to do with their money, their advertising, or the biotech industry, two manufacturers, a feisty telephone company, and one "hi-tech" company—a far different field from last year’s where half the Top 10 were technology- or Internet-based.

Of the Top 10, eight are new to Corporate Report 100, although one, The Masters Inc., is a sister company to VSR, which has made the cut before. The kind of speed the Top 10—and those in the rest of the pack as well—represents may well be unsustainable, for good reasons. Companies’ growing pains can be substantial—confusion and even chaos may often reign. Rules change. People come (and go). Processes fall apart in the rush.

Building a solid corporate culture and dedicated employees in the midst of all this can be challenging, to put it mildly. That’s why these featured companies, champions all, deserve our kudos and cheers, our admiration and respect. For when the starting gates opened, no matter how foreboding the track, these chargers were all off, running and gunning for the finish line.

The Win, Place and Show winners of the 2002 Corporate Report 100 gathered at the Equine Center of Silvertooth Fahey Farm to accept their awards. The farm and lake are part of 32 estate homesites among the rolling hills just north of the intersection of Noland and Bannister roads in Lee’s Summit. The manicured green belts, white rail fences and owner Ernie Wassmann made the winners feel like they had stepped into the world of mint juleps and the Kentucky Derby.