The 37th Annual Corporate Report 100

Growth Like This Is Almost . . . Poetic

Some companies are on the revenue rebound after 2020; some made it through
the virus asymptomatically. Here are 100 who finished 2021 in the pink of health.

That saying about how history may not always repeat itself, but it often rhymes?

Well, consider 2022 a classic exam-ple of historical iambic pentameter. If you look at economic conditions today and the types of companies doing well—and, in a lot of cases, not so well—there are some lines that seem to have been by Robert Frost or Maya Angelou.

Just think about it: A generation ago, in 2002, America was coming off a tough stretch that included the tech stocks crash of 2000 (crypto ring a familiar tone?). It was dealing with a recession that began the previous year (and, 20 years later, finds itself in technical terms at the onset of another). And the world was about to be rocked by large-scale military operations as the U.S. drew the cross-hairs on Iraq (this time, the global economic pain is being inflicted by Russia’s military in Ukraine).

Next year’s Corporate Report 100, then, might have a completely differ-ent flavor than this year’s celebrating corporate growth between 2018 and 2021. But for now, this installment is rife with examples of successful banks and home builders, as financial services and home construction con-tinue to thrive in an economy of haves and have-nots.

By one measure, the overall health of growing companies has improved over the 2021 Corporate Report 100. Just a year ago, No. 100 squeaked its way onto this list with growth of just over 46 percent during the previous four-year period. This year, No. 100 (a bank, of course), laid its claim to the final spot by raising the growth bar more than 11 percentage points, finishing north of 57 percent.

Triple-digit growth? Glad you asked: Whereas last year 49 companies clocked in with growth of more than 100 percent, an even 60 companies turned the trick between 2018 and 2021.

More than a third of the companies on this year’s CR100—38, to be precise—broke into this fast-growth roster for the first time. That was up sharply from the even two dozen that made their debut in this lineup a year ago. The implications of that? For 38 companies in high-growth mode by the end of 2020, revenue percentages have cooled substantially.

The interesting thing about meas-uring growth over a four-year period is the way major fluctuations in any one company’s numbers are smoothed out. But a lot is riding on chance—whether a steep decline occurred in a baseline year or in the two years that followed. In those cases, recovery during a fourth-year can provide some extra oomph!
to companies seeking to make this list.

So things will really start to get interesting over the next two years, and especially into 2024 when 2020—a year we’ll all remember well forever—becomes the baseline. 

For now, though, enjoy this year’s Corporate Report 100 and get to know the many new faces emerging on the business scene in the Kansas City region.