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YEARS<br />
2008-2017<br />
A look back at the past <strong>10</strong> years of the<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies Awards<br />
Strategies for managing growth - Thoughts on the next <strong>10</strong> years<br />
Updates on past honorees - Notable milestones & records
TLCA would like to thank<br />
the local communities<br />
as we celebrate our<br />
th anniversary!<br />
<strong>10</strong><br />
“Named one of America’s Fastest-<br />
Growing Private Companies, TLC<br />
Associates is committed to operational<br />
excellence and a clearly defined goal:<br />
delivering program results with which<br />
our customers are satisfied and returning<br />
a positive ROI back to our clients.”<br />
T
JUNE 2017<br />
Chief Executive Officer<br />
& Publisher<br />
John F. Lohman<br />
Vice President<br />
Aspen N. Lohman<br />
Chief Operating Officer<br />
& Associate Publisher<br />
Andrea Rhoades<br />
Editor & Chief Content Officer<br />
Adam Moore<br />
Writers<br />
Chase Castle<br />
Dave DeWitte<br />
Angela Holmes<br />
Photographers<br />
Bill Adams<br />
Emily Bettridge<br />
Sarah Binder<br />
Brian Draeger<br />
Angela Holmes<br />
Graphic Design Manager<br />
Becky Lyons<br />
Graphic Designer<br />
Julia Druckmiller<br />
Media Consultants<br />
Kris Lacina<br />
Kelly Meyer<br />
Event Media Consultant<br />
Rhonda Roskos<br />
Marketing & Distribution Manager<br />
Jean Suckow<br />
Event Marketing Coordinator<br />
Ashley Levitt<br />
Contents are registered to Corridor Media Group.<br />
Reproductions or other use, in whole or in part, of<br />
the contents of the publication without permission<br />
is strictly prohibited.<br />
FROM THE PUBLISHER<br />
Marking a milestone<br />
The Fastest Growing Companies awards program, now in its <strong>10</strong>th year, has been<br />
one of our most satisfying projects here at the Corridor Business Journal.<br />
Before these awards were given, many of the entrepreneurs<br />
we now recognize were producing great economic<br />
development accomplishments through their businesses,<br />
but very few people outside of their company and<br />
vendors knew about them. That was a shame.<br />
It’s akin to a tree falling in the forest – if nobody<br />
hears it, does it make a sound?<br />
These entrepreneurial endeavors, and the wealth that<br />
they create, are important lessons for our region to hear,<br />
so that their successes can be replicated and nurtured.<br />
After all, growing our own companies in the Corridor,<br />
rather than competing to recruit outside businesses, is<br />
the best long-term approach to economic success.<br />
As we’ve mentioned numerous times in the CBJ<br />
over the past decade, these fast-growing companies are the so-called “gazelles”<br />
in economic development parlance, and are coveted by development and community<br />
officials.<br />
Those same officials should conduct a thorough examination of these companies,<br />
and see what incentives, if any, helped them accomplish what they have<br />
accomplished – and then see what else can be done to help them grow even<br />
more. This publication should help.<br />
It’s exciting to look back over these the past decade and see the impact these<br />
<strong>10</strong>0 companies have made on our region. We’ve circled around with some of the<br />
fastest companies to appear on our list for updates, and analyzed data on our<br />
past winners to look for deeper trends and takeaways that might offer clues for<br />
future assistance.<br />
It’s a cliché to say that a business can grow too fast, but a review of our lists<br />
over the past decade reveals multiple casualties attributable to that. Running or<br />
working for a fast-growing company is certainly exciting, but can be challenging<br />
in many other ways. That’s why those companies that have been on the list multiple<br />
times should get some additional attention.<br />
Clickstop is the leader in that category, with the Urbana-based online retailer<br />
appearing a record seven times over the past decade. The company has grown<br />
from a one-man show to more than <strong>10</strong>0 employees and nearly $36 million in<br />
revenue. It’s an amazing story that you can read more about inside the pages of<br />
this magazine.<br />
We would also like to thank our partner, Honkamp Krueger PC, as we recognize<br />
a decade of the CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies program. The Dubuquebased<br />
firm has confidentially compiled the revenue numbers from these <strong>10</strong>0 private,<br />
for-profit companies for the past <strong>10</strong> years. We couldn’t have done it without<br />
them and their expertise and discretion.<br />
We hope you enjoy this look back, learn more about these high-performing<br />
companies and their leaders, and then consider what we can do as a region to<br />
foster the creation of more of these companies.<br />
2345 Landon Road, Ste. <strong>10</strong>0<br />
North Liberty, IA 52317<br />
319.665.NEWS<br />
www.corridorbusiness.com<br />
John Lohman<br />
CEO & Publisher<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 3
CONTENTS<br />
STRATEGIES:<br />
Sustaining growth is no easy task.............. 6<br />
LEADERS:<br />
Clickstop rides the e-commerce wave...... 28<br />
ANALYSIS:<br />
<strong>FGC</strong> by the numbers.................................. 30<br />
FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES:<br />
Through the <strong>Years</strong> 2008-2017..................... 9<br />
6<br />
2008: Asoyia LLC....................................... <strong>10</strong><br />
2009: Bochner Chocolates........................ 12<br />
20<strong>10</strong>: Thomas L. Cardella & Associates.... 14<br />
2011: MediRevv......................................... 16<br />
2012: Midwest Microwave Solutions........ 18<br />
2013: Lattice Communications................. 20<br />
2014: Midwest Microwave Solutions........ 22<br />
2015: Spotix.............................................. 24<br />
2016: Moxie Solar..................................... 26<br />
2017: Sitler’s LED Supplies....................... 32<br />
28<br />
4 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
FROM THE ACCOUNTANTS<br />
Technology paving the way for<br />
Corridor's Fastest Growing Companies<br />
We are excited to once again partner with the Corridor<br />
Business Journal for this year’s Fastest Growing<br />
Companies awards program. For <strong>10</strong> years we<br />
have been honored to be part of this competitive<br />
and prestigious award. Year over year, Corridor-area<br />
businesses continue to adapt and grow to the rapidly<br />
changing world we live in, and it’s been fun to<br />
watch these exceptional companies as they travel<br />
along their journey.<br />
Each year, we review the applicants’ financial<br />
statements and tax returns for the past three years<br />
to determine their overall percentage of growth,<br />
and the numbers have been amazing. We have seen<br />
greater than 400 percent growth in some cases, and<br />
companies have come within a decimal of a percentage<br />
point from each other to take the top spots.<br />
Most impressive are the companies who have made<br />
the list multiple times, which is an amazing accomplishment.<br />
If a business continues to make the top<br />
five or <strong>10</strong> each year, it means their revenue is effectively<br />
doubling annually, which is pretty powerful.<br />
One of the biggest trends we have seen over the<br />
years is the growth of technology and web-based<br />
companies. This comes as no surprise considering<br />
the mobile and digital world we live in, but the way<br />
these companies are successful is where it really gets<br />
interesting. Nearly every traditional industry has had<br />
to adapt to be more mobile and web-based, and that<br />
has in turn opened the door for entrepreneurs to<br />
step in and use their technological acumen.<br />
Rather than create new products or try to compete<br />
in traditional industries themselves, entrepreneurs<br />
are developing ways to help those industries<br />
perform more efficiently. For example, we already<br />
have companies that develop and manufacture<br />
heavy equipment; those companies that fall in the<br />
fast-growing category are instead coming up with<br />
ways to digitally manage the diagnostics on the<br />
equipment and provide better insight on its performance.<br />
Likewise, our health care systems have established<br />
staff, equipment and facilities, but entrepreneurs<br />
are coming up with better ways to manage<br />
their data and patient information so doctors can<br />
make better, more informed decisions.<br />
We also have seen an uptick in web-based retailers<br />
who have gone off the physical grid and exclusively<br />
operate online. These retailers are essentially<br />
like a mini-Amazon – they order products and resell<br />
them to the consumer. Without the overhead<br />
of a traditional physical location, these retailers can<br />
grow at a faster rate and meet their customers wherever<br />
and whenever they are online. It’s a game that<br />
people with a good sense of technology, distribution<br />
and marketing have jumped on,<br />
and it’s working here in Eastern Iowa.<br />
Furthermore, the growth we have<br />
seen has been encouraged and supported<br />
through some excellent economic<br />
stimulus programs such as<br />
tax incentives and historical districts.<br />
Growing companies in need of more<br />
space can make the investment to<br />
expand and build what they need,<br />
thanks to strong working partnerships<br />
with local and state economic<br />
development initiatives. More than<br />
half of all the entries over the course<br />
of the program have come from the Cedar Rapids<br />
metro area, while the rest have been fairly evenly dispersed<br />
throughout the Corridor, indicating that economic<br />
partnerships and overall community support<br />
has been strong for companies looking to expand.<br />
Moving into the next <strong>10</strong> years, based on the<br />
trends, we anticipate more entrepreneurs developing<br />
technologies and solutions to support industries<br />
and companies that already exist here in Eastern<br />
Iowa. Industries like health care, manufacturing,<br />
education, investments and services, and engineering<br />
are all going to need mobile and web-based<br />
solutions to support their operations and systems.<br />
Those who can find their niche and can figure out<br />
how to solve problems using technology, data and<br />
algorithms are the ones who will continue to grow<br />
and succeed in today’s digital world.<br />
As a fastest growing CPA firm in the U.S. for the<br />
past seven years, we can relate to these companies,<br />
which have found ways to carve out a niche, grow<br />
and sustain their business. Many of these are people<br />
we work with daily. We get it, and we understand<br />
where they’re headed. Their success is inspiring and<br />
the support locally is encouraging. We look forward<br />
to being a part of the next <strong>10</strong> years of this program,<br />
and we can’t wait to see what these companies come<br />
up with next.<br />
Kyle Kunz, CPA.CITP<br />
Partner<br />
Honkamp Krueger PC<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 5
STRATEGIES<br />
Sustaining growth<br />
is no easy task<br />
By Dave DeWitte<br />
dave@corridorbusiness.com<br />
Corridor<br />
business<br />
leaders<br />
discuss the<br />
challenges<br />
that come with<br />
high-growth<br />
companies<br />
EDC CEO Curt Nelson, in the organization’s offices earlier this year.<br />
It typically gets harder to stay on the CBJ’s<br />
annual list of the Corridor’s Fastest Growing<br />
Companies after the first year or two of<br />
making an appearance, and yet it’s a feat that<br />
some companies have managed repeatedly.<br />
The challenge for “repeaters” is that it’s easier to grow,<br />
percentage-wise, from a small revenue base than from<br />
a larger one.<br />
“The percentages work in favor of a smaller company,”<br />
said Kris Gulick, who had worked with some of<br />
the ‘fastest’ companies as president of Entrepreneurial<br />
Services Group before selling the company in January.<br />
“They can have a high rate of growth for a few years or<br />
so, but their size catches up with them.”<br />
Mr. Gulick says being in the right industry at the<br />
right time can make a huge difference in how fast a<br />
6 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
company grows, as past booms in telecommunications and<br />
e-commerce have benefited Corridor companies. But perhaps<br />
the biggest factor in determining which companies keep coming<br />
back is profitability.<br />
“You could have significant growth, but if you do not have<br />
positive earnings, you cannot sustain higher sales volumes,”<br />
Mr. Gulick said. He added that profitability isn’t a requirement<br />
for making the fastest-growing list, but definitely comes<br />
into play in determining which companies keep coming back<br />
and which ones don’t.<br />
Curt Nelson, CEO of the Cedar Rapids-based Entrepreneurial<br />
Development Center (EDC), has also seen some patterns<br />
after years of working with growth-stage companies, some of<br />
which have made the CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies list.<br />
“If you get the ingredients and the execution right, it’s<br />
pretty straightforward,” Mr. Nelson said, defining “the ingredients”<br />
as:<br />
n Leadership: In addition to being strong leaders themselves,<br />
the company’s leadership must define the culture<br />
that drives a company.<br />
n Talent: Having the right people in the right places, and<br />
keeping them motivated so that they stay in the company<br />
and continue to perform well.<br />
n Resources: Although the obvious one is money, today’s<br />
businesses need the right technology, information, location,<br />
office environment and human resources to succeed.<br />
n Strategic fit: The business has to offer a product or service<br />
that it can use to generate profitable demand, and may<br />
have to change its product or service as factors in the marketplace<br />
such as competition, technology or market demographics<br />
change.<br />
TrueNorth Companies CEO Duane Smith, shown in his Cedar Rapids office. The<br />
company has appeared on the CBJ’s Fastest Growing list three times.<br />
“The better you get at all those things, year-upon-year, the<br />
more likely you are to be successful,” said Mr. Nelson, who<br />
wrote about the ingredients in his book, “The Recipe for Business<br />
Success,” and has explained them at seminars.<br />
When a high-growth business begins to fade, he says it’s<br />
often because its leaders lost focus on the ingredients that<br />
were making it successful. They may have lost the edge of providing<br />
the most responsive customer service, or their product<br />
that was once the best on the market may now be far down<br />
the list.<br />
“You have a nice restaurant in town and there’s nobody<br />
else there, and nobody else wants to open a restaurant,” Mr.<br />
Nelson said. “You feel like you’re a great restaurateur because<br />
there’s nobody there to compete with.”<br />
The arrival of a major competitor may force that business<br />
to not only refocus on its execution, but to redefine itself to<br />
differentiate its offering from the competition’s, he said.<br />
High-growth companies can also stumble when their<br />
founders don’t accept their own limitations, and fail to bring<br />
in more experienced and educated leaders who can better address<br />
the challenges of growth.<br />
“It’s an issue that comes with every business that gets<br />
started,” Mr. Nelson said. “Businesses get started by people<br />
who can build the widget and make the product. They don’t<br />
usually get started by the person who can build the company,<br />
STRATEGIES PAGE 33<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 7
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8 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
Through the <strong>Years</strong><br />
2008-2017<br />
The Corridor Business Journal’s annual Fastest Growing Companies<br />
awards program has been a frequent source of excitement and inspiration over<br />
the past decade, with some of the region’s most successful companies taking<br />
their turn in the top spot. We revisited our reporting on each year’s<br />
No. 1 company, and followed up with them to see how they’re doing now.<br />
ANTICIPATE CHANGE<br />
INNOVATE AND GROW<br />
Happy <strong>10</strong> years of “Fastest Growing” to Corridor Business Journal!<br />
2007 was a great year, wasn’t it?<br />
www.beamedirevver.com<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 9
2008’S FASTE<br />
Asoyia LLC<br />
Based in Iowa City<br />
Established in 2004<br />
851% growth (2 times on list)<br />
What we wrote then:<br />
Asoyia, a maker of a zero trans fat soybean<br />
oils, was named the Fastest Growing Company<br />
in the Corridor in 2008, topping the<br />
list with 851 percent growth.<br />
Asoyia is a fledgling name in agriculture<br />
circles and has brought attention to its new<br />
hometown, Iowa City, in recent months. In<br />
March, Forbes.com ranked Iowa City eighth<br />
among its Top <strong>10</strong> Up-and-Coming Tech Cities,<br />
specifically naming Asoyia’s presence as<br />
a reason for the designation.<br />
The company was started in 2004 by<br />
25 farmers in Winfield, a farming community<br />
45 miles south of Iowa City. It moved<br />
to Johnson County in 2007 to be closer to<br />
business partners, such as Cargill in Cedar<br />
Rapids.<br />
Securing the bottom line, Asoyia recently<br />
received $4 million from new investors. The<br />
company also recently signed an agreement<br />
with Pioneer to promote a genetically modified<br />
1 percent low linolenic soybean.<br />
Meanwhile, Asoyia has expanded distribution<br />
into Illinois, hired two business development<br />
managers and received a grant<br />
through Iowa State University to promote<br />
its next generation product.<br />
“We’re still a relatively small company.<br />
We intend to continue to operate our business<br />
that way; we don’t intend to add 1,000<br />
people and become a very large bureaucratic<br />
corporation,” said President Greg Keeley.<br />
“We just want to do what we do as best as<br />
anybody can do, and we want to be the<br />
leader in this whole low trans fat or trans<br />
fat-free food market. It’s a $25 billion-plus<br />
market – it’s a huge market and we’re not<br />
going to be the next Wesson oil, but we’re<br />
definitely going to be a major player in the<br />
specialty oils market.”<br />
Asoyia President Greg Keeley compares the company’s journey thus far to a roller coaster ride while<br />
accepting an award at the Corridor Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies breakfast May 28, 2008.<br />
What’s happened since:<br />
Less than two years after being named the Corridor’s Fastest Growing Company,<br />
Asoyia closed its doors.<br />
Former CFO Bob George told the CBJ in a March 20<strong>10</strong> article that the company<br />
closed because the price at which the company could sell its soybean oils did<br />
not cover the cost to produce them.<br />
“We had gotten investments and venture capital money came in and they<br />
helped sustain that for awhile, but the cost structure was just too heavy and eventually<br />
collapsed, based on what we could sell the oil for,” Mr. George said. “It<br />
was considered kind of a premium product, and in a down economy, people just<br />
don’t pay premium, regardless of the extra value the oil might have had from a<br />
health standpoint, as well as a stability standpoint and use in application and<br />
things like that. It had some advantages – if you did the cost analysis from the<br />
standpoint of its uses, it was a better product in the long run, but in down economic<br />
times people see a premium price and they just don’t take the time to ><br />
<strong>10</strong> CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
gigi@corridorbiznews.com<br />
tim@corridorbiznews.com<br />
$1.50<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s<br />
CORRIDOR<br />
Rapid<br />
growth<br />
Asoyia named<br />
Corridor’s Fastest<br />
Growing company<br />
By Gigi Wood<br />
FOCUS:<br />
FASTEST GROWING<br />
COMPANIES<br />
Featuring the CBJ List<br />
of Fastest Growing<br />
Companies<br />
CEDAR RAPIDS/IOWA CITY CORRIDOR’S INDEPENDENT LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS WEEKLY<br />
JOHN RICHARD<br />
Asoyia President Greg Keeley compares the company’s journey thus far to a roller coaster ride while<br />
accepting an award at the Corridor Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies breakfast May<br />
28. Asoyia was named the fastest growing company of the Corridor, with 856 percent growth over a<br />
three-year period.<br />
It comes down to five principles.<br />
That's what Greg Keeley, president of<br />
Asoyia, told an audience last week at the<br />
Corridor Business Journal’s Fastest Growing<br />
Companies breakfast. Asoyia, maker of a<br />
zero trans fat soybean oils, was named the<br />
fastest growing company in the area.<br />
It was one of roughly 25 businesses to<br />
be nominated for the award; 15 were recognized<br />
at the breakfast at the new Kirkwood<br />
Community College’s Center for<br />
Continuing Education in Cedar Rapids.<br />
Companies had to earn at least<br />
$350,000 annually and were ranked<br />
based on the percentage increase in revenue<br />
experienced from 2005 to 2007.<br />
Companies submitted tax forms or audit<br />
statements to participate.<br />
“We got a good cross section of companies<br />
applying,” said Gordon Epping, a<br />
partner with Honkamp, Krueger & Co.,<br />
who evaluated the entries. “We had some<br />
big companies with some great, large sales<br />
apply but they didn’t have the percentage<br />
increase and didn't make the cutoff.”<br />
Asoyia topped the list with 856 percent<br />
growth. Mr. Keeley shared with the audience<br />
five principles all entrepreneurs need to follow<br />
to succeed in today’s business world.<br />
“Entrepreneurs are all about growth<br />
and not about cost reductions or laying<br />
off workers,” he said.<br />
Business owners need a great product,<br />
should spend wisely, hire great people<br />
and need passion, Mr. Keeley said.<br />
“Find great people,” he said. “Not<br />
good people, but great people.”<br />
Asoyia is a fledgling name in agriculture<br />
circles and has brought attention to its new<br />
hometown, Iowa City, in recent months. In<br />
March, Forbes.com ranked Iowa City<br />
Auto parts<br />
Company opens a new<br />
NAPA auto parts store after a<br />
long search for the right spot.<br />
PAGE 5<br />
The century mark<br />
Electrical and telecommunications<br />
wholesale supplier<br />
Terry-Durin Co. marks<br />
<strong>10</strong>0 years.<br />
PAGE 8<br />
eighth among its Top <strong>10</strong> Up-and-Coming<br />
Tech Cities, specifically naming Asoyia’s<br />
presence as a reason for the designation.<br />
The company was started by 25 farmers<br />
in 2004 in Winfield, a farming community<br />
45 miles south of Iowa City. It<br />
moved to Iowa City last year to be closer<br />
to business partners, such as Cargill in<br />
Cedar Rapids.<br />
Asoyia’s soybean oil is made from soybeans<br />
with only 1 percent of linolenic<br />
ASOYIA continues on page 12<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
Credit counselor<br />
stresses paying<br />
debt is best use<br />
By Tim Kenyon<br />
June 2 - 8, 2008<br />
IOWA<br />
Economic<br />
stimulus<br />
check<br />
spending<br />
varied<br />
Using an economic stimulus check can be<br />
the first move for consumers to fix their<br />
troubled finances, according to a Cedar<br />
Rapids credit advisor.<br />
“I had a client last month that I put on<br />
a debt-management program and we<br />
looked at the check as a source to start<br />
debt reduction. That seemed to work good<br />
for us; we’re telling others the same thing,”<br />
said Kathi Moss, a housing and credit<br />
counselor at Consumer Credit Counseling<br />
Service in southeast Cedar Rapids.<br />
The $152 billion federal measure provides<br />
tax rebate checks of up to $600 per<br />
working individual and $1,200 per married<br />
couple, plus $300 per child for families with<br />
children. It also includes new tax incentives<br />
for job-creating business investments.<br />
Continuing to pay down debt without<br />
adding to it again is the next challenge,<br />
Ms. Moss said.<br />
“So many people are truly living on the<br />
STIMULUS continues on page <strong>10</strong><br />
Fastest Growing Companies 2008<br />
(Ranked by percentage revenue increase from 05-07)<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Asoyia LLC Iowa City 851<br />
2 Hybrid Transit Systems Inc. Cedar Rapids 818<br />
3 Express Auto Delivery Cedar Rapids 621<br />
4 MobileDemand Hiawatha 312<br />
5 kor Cedar Rapids 235<br />
6 ServiceMaster 380 Cedar Rapids 197<br />
7 Geonetric Cedar Rapids 156 1<br />
8 Reminisce North Liberty 144<br />
9 Genova Technologies Cedar Rapids 115<br />
<strong>10</strong> Iowa Northern Railway Cedar Rapids 89<br />
11 Bankers Trust Co. Cedar Rapids 89<br />
12 VIPS Cedar Rapids 73<br />
13 OPN Architects Inc. Cedar Rapids 72<br />
14 World Trend Financial Cedar Rapids 67<br />
15 RuffaloCODY Cedar Rapids 59<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification. 1 Figure from 04-06.<br />
“We had gotten investments and<br />
venture capital money came in and<br />
they helped sustain that for awhile,<br />
but the cost structure was just too<br />
heavy and eventually collapsed, based<br />
on what we could sell the oil for.”<br />
We Put Your Pets First<br />
– 2016 Fastest Growing Company Honoree –<br />
- Bob George, Former CFO of Asoyia<br />
think about how it will last longer in a fryer.”<br />
Saving the company would have required too much of an<br />
investment, he added.<br />
“Based on the numbers, it was going to take a significant<br />
amount of additional capital to try to get the cash flow positive<br />
and we just didn’t see a buyer on the horizon who was<br />
going to be willing to do that, let alone existing ownership,”<br />
Mr. George said.<br />
– Angela Holmes<br />
319-743-0554<br />
www.petersenpethospital.com<br />
420 Colton Circle NE, Unit 3, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 11
2009’S FASTE<br />
Eric Bochner, president of Bochner Chocolates, stands in his southern Iowa City<br />
manufacturing center in 2008.<br />
Bochner Chocolates<br />
Based in Iowa City<br />
Established in 2003<br />
427% growth<br />
What we wrote then:<br />
“The dirty secret of Bochner Chocolates is growing up, I never liked<br />
chocolate. I never really enjoyed chocolate,” said Eric Bochner, president<br />
of the chocolate manufacturing company. “It was only when<br />
I went to Europe and got a chance to try European chocolate that I<br />
began to like it.”<br />
Bochner Chocolates was named the Fastest Growing Company<br />
in the Corridor for 2009, with 427 percent growth from 2006-2008.<br />
Bochner produces high-end chocolates at its factory at 1419 Waterfront<br />
Drive in Iowa City and sells them at its retail store on the<br />
Coralville strip. His newest venture, Chocolate Block, is a retail store<br />
that sells the chocolates from his factory that don’t meet the company’s<br />
high-quality standards, at a lower price. Mr. Bochner refers to<br />
the discount chocolates as “selling champagne at beer prices.” The<br />
Chocolate Block, which opened about a month ago, is located at<br />
Pepperwood Plaza on Highway 6.<br />
“It’s doing much better than I even expected, that’s for sure,” he<br />
said. “The price point is lower, so you have to have more customers<br />
come in to do a certain amount of business and we’ve been seeing a<br />
huge influx of customers.”<br />
The company also sells its chocolates to other retailers<br />
and other venues, such as hotels. Additionally, it produces<br />
products under license for other companies, including<br />
a licensee of Hasbro.<br />
All this comes after a year when Bochner had to shut<br />
down for two months because of floods. The company was<br />
forced to dismantle $6 million of equipment. It took 36<br />
hours to take apart and 60 days to piece it back together.<br />
But business is brisk once again. Since opening five<br />
years ago, Bochner has doubled its manufacturing operation<br />
and will need more room before long.<br />
“We’ve had to increase the ability to make products,<br />
we’ve had to increase our capacity to package products,<br />
we’ve had to increase the variety of the products we package<br />
and make, so I say our capabilities have expanded a<br />
lot over the last five years,” Mr. Bochner said. “Our factory<br />
here is definitely going to max out in the next year<br />
or two. If we continue to grow even at reasonable rates<br />
comparable to what we’ve been doing, this factory’s going<br />
to max out and we’re already trying to envision what<br />
we’re going to do next.”<br />
What’s happened since:<br />
Bochner Chocolates’ presence in the Corridor was short<br />
but sweet.<br />
Founded in 2003, the Iowa City chocolate manufacturer<br />
increased its revenue between 2006 and 2008 by<br />
427 percent, making it one of the <strong>10</strong> fastest companies<br />
honored in the first decade of the CBJ’s Fastest Growing<br />
Company competition.<br />
“Growth on some level is natural because it’s either<br />
grow or die,” Eric Bochner, president of Bochner Chocolates,<br />
told the CBJ in 2009. “I’d say it’s been a natural<br />
evolution of what our original vision of what our company,<br />
what we, were going to do.”<br />
In November 2012, Bissinger’s Handcrafted Chocolatier<br />
of St. Louis acquired Bochner Chocolates for an<br />
undisclosed amount, in part for access to the equipment<br />
found at the company’s Iowa City facility, according to<br />
news reports. That equipment, along with “several key<br />
people,” relocated to St. Louis later that year, and founder<br />
Eric Bochner assumed the position of senior vice president<br />
of operations and private label sales, according to<br />
trade publication Candy Industry.<br />
“Combining our advanced technology model with<br />
Bissinger’s extensive sales and distribution network will<br />
elevate Bissinger’s to levels the company has never seen,”<br />
Mr. Bochner said in a press release announcing the sale.<br />
“I am very excited to be a part of the next chapter of<br />
Bissinger’s long and distinguished history.”<br />
Ken Kellerhals, Bissinger’s president, said the purchase<br />
would help his company transform into a premier<br />
boutique chocolatier with a national presence.<br />
12 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
Eric Bochner, president of Bochner Chocolates, stands in his southern Iowa City manufacturing center in 2008. Bochner Chocolates was named the<br />
Fastest Growing Company in the Corridor this year with a three-year growth rate of 427 percent.<br />
gigi@corridorbiznews.com<br />
PAGE 3<br />
PAGE <strong>10</strong><br />
BOCHNER continues on page 11<br />
tim@corridorbiznews.com<br />
IMPACT continues on page 2<br />
$1.50<br />
FILE PHOTO<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s<br />
By Gigi Wood<br />
It’s a company with a secret.<br />
“The dirty secret of Bochner<br />
Chocolates is growing up I never liked<br />
chocolate. I never really enjoyed chocolate,”<br />
said Eric Bochner, president of<br />
FOCUS:<br />
FASTEST GROWING<br />
COMPANIES<br />
Featuring the CBJ List<br />
of Fastest Growing<br />
Companies<br />
CEDAR RAPIDS/IOWA CITY CORRIDOR’S INDEPENDENT LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS WEEKLY<br />
CORRIDOR<br />
Fastest growing companies honored<br />
Bochner Chocolates wins with 427 percent growth<br />
Bon appetite<br />
The Chef’s Table brings French<br />
cuisine to remodeled downtown<br />
Iowa City space.<br />
Top entrepreneur<br />
Dennis Henderson with Ready<br />
Mobile is the 2009<br />
Entrepreneur of the Year.<br />
the chocolate manufacturing company.<br />
“It was only when I went to Europe and<br />
got a chance to try European chocolate<br />
that I began to like it.”<br />
Mr. Bochner shared anecdotes about<br />
his career and business at the Fastest<br />
Growing Companies breakfast May 19<br />
at the Coralville Marriott. Bochner<br />
Chocolates was named the fastestgrowing<br />
company in the area by the<br />
Corridor Business Journal. The event recognized<br />
the top 15 fastest growing companies<br />
in the Corridor.<br />
Companies had to earn at least<br />
$350,000 annually and were ranked<br />
based on the percentage increase in revenue<br />
experienced from 2006 to 2008.<br />
CORRIDOR<br />
Combination<br />
seeks maximum<br />
impact<br />
Access Iowa,<br />
Next Generation<br />
Commission merge<br />
under chamber<br />
By Tim Kenyon<br />
May 25 - 31, 2009<br />
ImpactCR seeks to boost Cedar Rapids’<br />
ranking among top-rated “Next City”<br />
communities for young professionals to<br />
live and work.<br />
“Fourth place isn’t good enough anymore.<br />
The next generation is ready to tell<br />
employers it’s time to include them more,”<br />
said Christian Fong, co-chair of the new initiative<br />
that merged Access Iowa and the<br />
Cedar Rapids Next Generation Commission.<br />
The group’s new name of ImpactCR<br />
and its logo were unveiled at a press conference<br />
last week that touched on Cedar<br />
Rapids’ recent No. 4 ranking on a list of<br />
cities with a population of <strong>10</strong>0,000 to<br />
200,000, according to the Madison, Wis.-<br />
based Next Generation Consulting.<br />
Merger talk began in January when<br />
Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of<br />
Commerce President and CEO Shannon<br />
Meyer recommended the idea. Uniting<br />
the two groups with similar missions<br />
under the resources of the chamber forms<br />
a powerful partnership, Ms. Meyer said.<br />
“This is strong people pushing at the<br />
same boulder going up a hill,” added Mr.<br />
Fong, who directs capital markets for<br />
Aegon USA Realty Advisors in Cedar<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
Fastest Growing Companies 2009<br />
(Ranked by percentage revenue increase from 06-08)<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Bochner Chocolates Iowa City 427<br />
2 MD Orthopaedics Wayland 335<br />
3 Riverside Casino & Golf Resort Riverside 224<br />
4 Clickstop Inc. Urbana 196<br />
5 Expense Reduction Analysts Hiawatha 139<br />
6 Innomatix LLC Iowa City 126<br />
7 Hybrid Transit Systems Inc. Cedar Rapids 120<br />
8 TMone Iowa City <strong>10</strong>7<br />
9 AES Corp. Cedar Rapids <strong>10</strong>6<br />
<strong>10</strong> Sign Productions Inc. Marion 87<br />
11 Dynamic Broadband Cedar Rapids 72<br />
12 Bankers Trust Co. Cedar Rapids 67<br />
13 Asoyia Inc. Iowa City 53<br />
14 Geonetric Cedar Rapids 51<br />
15 Ready Mobile Hiawatha 49<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
“We had to acquire a like-minded company with stateof-the-art<br />
capabilities that complement Bissinger’s heritage,<br />
quality, strategy, products and sales network,” he<br />
said. “This is the perfect fit for Bissinger’s.”<br />
Despite a pledge by Bissinger’s to keep the Coralville<br />
store open under the Bochner name, the shop closed its<br />
doors in May 2013. The production plant closed soon after,<br />
and The Chocolate Block shut its doors by summer 2014.<br />
The move resulted in the local loss of about a dozen<br />
full-time employees, according to news reports, although<br />
Bissinger’s said the acquisition created about 40 positions<br />
at its St. Louis plant.<br />
– Chase Castle<br />
Growing and advancing the<br />
Ponseti Method of clubfoot<br />
treatment at home and around<br />
the globe since 2004.<br />
MD Orthopaedics, Inc.<br />
MD Molding<br />
manufacturer for MD Orthopaedics, Inc.<br />
www.mdorthopaedics.com<br />
Bochner Chocolates’ former retail operation<br />
near Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville.<br />
WE’VE MADE THE LIST!<br />
CBJ Fastest Growing Company Honorees<br />
MD Ortho<br />
2009<br />
20<strong>10</strong><br />
2011<br />
MD Molding<br />
2013<br />
2014<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 13
20<strong>10</strong>’S FASTE<br />
TLC & Associates Founder and President Thomas Cardella, photographed at the CBJ<br />
offices earlier this year.<br />
Thomas L. Cardella & Associates<br />
Based in Cedar Rapids<br />
Established in 2007<br />
919% growth (2 times on list)<br />
What we wrote then:<br />
“We really focus on the basics each and every day,” said Thomas Cardella,<br />
founder and president of Thomas L. Cardella & Associates, which<br />
debuts on the Fastest Growing Companies list with 919 percent growth.<br />
“The spirit of my team … is that they’re extremely hard working,<br />
they put in hours that you couldn’t ask anyone to put in, because<br />
that’s how they feel about the company,” he said.<br />
TLC & Associates began opening call centers in Iowa in 2007 and<br />
has been racking up the awards during the past few years. It was<br />
named the Best in Class Call Center last year, and founder Mr. Cardella<br />
was recently named first runner-up for Call Center Leader of<br />
the Year award by the International Quality and Productivity Center,<br />
(IQPC) an industry organization.<br />
Last month, the company was also named one of the Top 50<br />
Outbound and Inbound Teleservices Agencies by Customer Interaction<br />
Solutions magazine. Cardella & Associates ranked No. 13 in<br />
outbound calls and 25th in inbound calls by the magazine.<br />
Before starting TLC & Associates, Mr. Cardella ran Access Direct,<br />
a telemarketing company he created in 1995 in Cedar Rapids. Access<br />
Direct, as does TLC & Associates, worked with global Fortune 500<br />
companies on inbound and outbound sales calls.<br />
“The companies we work with every day are worldwide<br />
companies with billion-dollar market caps,” he said.<br />
Access Direct was bought by Precision Response Corporation<br />
(PRC) in 2000, and Mr. Cardella became CEO<br />
before retiring from the firm in 2004. PRC closed its<br />
Coralville call center in 2006.<br />
With his new firm, Mr. Cardella has tried to open call<br />
centers in towns where Access Direct once operated.<br />
“We’ve tried to remain in those communities,” he said.<br />
TLC & Associates operates call centers in Cedar Rapids,<br />
Coralville, Keokuk, Marshalltown and Cedar Falls, and<br />
opened a Grinnell location last year. The company employs<br />
800 people, but expects to be up to 1,000 workers by July.<br />
“We’ll continue to expand our footprint throughout<br />
Iowa,” Mr. Cardella said. Since the company’s inception,<br />
each call center has expanded and now employs 60-200<br />
workers each.<br />
“We’re definitely hiring a lot of people,” he said. “We<br />
consistently have had a great workforce, we have intelligent<br />
people, we have a strong work ethic and those are<br />
hard to find outside of Iowa.”<br />
What’s happened since:<br />
With a 919 percent two-year growth rate in 20<strong>10</strong>, Thomas<br />
L. Cardella & Associates was easily “fastest of the fast”<br />
in the first decade of the Corridor Business Journal’s<br />
Fastest Growing Companies competition.<br />
Founder and President Tom Cardella credits the company’s<br />
people and location for much of its success in the<br />
customer contact center industry, which included another<br />
high appearance on the Fastest list in 2011.<br />
“We’re about six times larger in revenue than when<br />
we won our first Fastest Growing Companies [award]<br />
in 20<strong>10</strong>,” Mr. Cardella said. TLC & Associates has been<br />
ranked the ninth-largest integrated contact center operator<br />
in the United States, and Mr. Cardella thinks “the<br />
future’s really bright right now.”<br />
Hiring the right people has made the difference for<br />
TLC & Associates, Mr. Cardella said.<br />
“We opened this company specifically in Iowa to capitalize<br />
on the work ethic and the culture of our folks,”<br />
Mr. Cardella said. “That translates to our clients’ customers.<br />
In the last 12 months, we’ve probably spoken to 12<br />
million to 14 million people on the phone. Every one of<br />
those calls has to be as good as the last, or you get a bad<br />
reputation in the industry. It’s rare that I ever get a client<br />
complaining about a poor phone call, and that just says<br />
something about the quality of our name in the industry.”<br />
TLC & Associates employs more than 1,000 in<br />
Iowa at customer contact centers in Cedar Rapids,<br />
Keokuk, Marshalltown and Ottumwa. It also opened<br />
a smaller contact center in the Dominican Republic<br />
this spring, which it plans to grow to add Spanish and<br />
14 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
gigi@corridorbiznews.com<br />
Thomas Cardella, founder and president of Thomas L. Cardella & Associates, speaks after accepting<br />
the Fastest Growing Company award at breakfast last week at the Cedar Rapids Marriott.<br />
PAGE 3<br />
PAGE 5<br />
CARDELLA continues on page 12<br />
johnk@corridorbiznews.com<br />
AIRPORT continues on page 4<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s<br />
$1.50<br />
By Gigi Wood<br />
It’s all about the basics.<br />
That’s what the fastest-growing company<br />
in the Corridor practices on a daily basis<br />
and is how it beats the competition.<br />
“We really focus on the basics each and<br />
every day,” said Thomas Cardella,<br />
founder and president of Thomas L.<br />
Cardella & Associates, which debuted on<br />
the Fastest Growing Companies list with<br />
919 percent growth.<br />
To apply for a spot on the Fastest<br />
Growing Companies list, businesses had<br />
to earn at least $350,000 annually and<br />
were ranked based on the percentage<br />
increase in revenue experienced from<br />
2005 to 2007. Companies submitted tax<br />
forms or audit statements to Honkamp<br />
Krueger & Co., which tabulated the results.<br />
The Corridor Business Journal began the list<br />
in 2008, when the now-closed Asoyia<br />
ranked first with 856 percent growth. In<br />
2009, Bochner Chocolates was ranked No.<br />
1 with 427 percent growth.<br />
The top 15 companies on the list were<br />
recognized at a breakfast May 25 at the<br />
Cedar Rapids Marriott. Mr. Cardella attributed<br />
his company’s success to his workforce.<br />
“The spirit of my team, which I’m sure<br />
is the spirit of everyone’s in this room, is<br />
that they’re extremely hard working, they<br />
put in hours that you couldn’t ask anyone<br />
to put in, because that’s how they feel<br />
about the company,” he said.<br />
He wants that enthusiasm to carry over<br />
to management.<br />
“When I’m hiring for our management<br />
team, the first thing I look for is do they<br />
have passion, I look for fire in the belly,”<br />
he said. “I want people who feel from<br />
down here (pointing at stomach) not from<br />
CEDAR RAPIDS/IOWA CITY CORRIDOR’S INDEPENDENT LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS WEEKLY<br />
CORRIDOR<br />
‘A fire in the belly’<br />
FOCUS:<br />
FASTEST GROWING<br />
COMPANIES<br />
Featuring the CBJ List<br />
of Fastest Growing<br />
Companies<br />
JOHN RICHARD<br />
up here (pointing at head).”<br />
Additional awards<br />
Cardella & Associates began opening call<br />
centers in Iowa in 2007 and has been racking<br />
up the awards during the past few<br />
Optimism increases<br />
The Corridor Poll finds<br />
positive signs about the<br />
local economy.<br />
Another award<br />
Founders of Iowa City startup<br />
J&J Solutions named<br />
Entrepreneurs of the Year.<br />
years. It was named the “Best in Class Call<br />
Center” last year and founder Mr. Cardella<br />
was recently named first runner-up for<br />
Call Center Leader of the Year award by<br />
the International Quality and Productivity<br />
Center, (IQPC) an industry organization.<br />
“The interesting thing about that is<br />
IQPC had never awarded that to the vendor<br />
side of the business, typically those<br />
have only gone to companies with internal<br />
call centers; so we beat out companies like<br />
FedEx Latin America, Nikon, a couple<br />
major insurance companies, we beat out<br />
some major talent,” Mr. Cardella said. “We<br />
attribute that to how we treat our clients<br />
and how we conduct our business.”<br />
Bradshaw begins at<br />
airport June 28<br />
By John Kenyon<br />
May 31 - June 6, 20<strong>10</strong><br />
CORRIDOR<br />
Expanding<br />
air service<br />
top priority<br />
for director<br />
Expanding air service, addressing the perception<br />
of high fares and marketing what it<br />
has to offer are among the first tasks for<br />
Tim Bradshaw, the new airport director for<br />
The Eastern Iowa Airport.<br />
“I intend to meet with our business<br />
partners in the community,” he said. “To<br />
show them what we can accomplish, and<br />
work with them to get the service they want<br />
and meet their business needs.”<br />
Mr. Bradshaw was named last week and<br />
will start on June 28. He replaces Dan<br />
Mann, who left in late January after<br />
announcing his resignation at the end of<br />
2009. Mr. Bradshaw is currently the deputy<br />
executive director and chief operating officer<br />
for the Louisville Regional Airport<br />
Authority in Louisville, Ky.<br />
He will earn $141,086 annually, which<br />
is the same salary that Mr. Mann was earning<br />
when he left.<br />
He said air service is the most-talked<br />
about aspect of every airport, and that The<br />
Eastern Iowa Airport has a good foundation<br />
there. Still, there is room for expansion,<br />
he said, noting that an analysis of the<br />
final destination for travelers departing<br />
from Cedar Rapids supports the idea that<br />
some direct flights could be added.<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
Fastest Growing Companies 20<strong>10</strong><br />
(Ranked by percentage revenue increase from 07-09)<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Thomas L. Cardella & Associates Cedar Rapids 919<br />
2 Ready Mobile Hiawatha 177<br />
3 SecurityCoverage Cedar Rapids 168<br />
4 AES Corp./AE Systems Corp. Cedar Rapids 138<br />
5 Clickstop Inc. Urbana 126<br />
6 MD Orthopaedics Wayland 123<br />
7 Ovation Networks Cedar Rapids 75<br />
8 Service Master Avenue<br />
of the Saints Marion 67<br />
9 Expense Reduction Analysts Inc. Hiawatha 66<br />
<strong>10</strong> Involta LLC Cedar Rapids 60<br />
11 Raining Rose Cedar Rapids 35<br />
12 Innomatix LLC Iowa City 31<br />
13 TMone Iowa City 28<br />
14 RuffaloCody Cedar Rapids 26<br />
15 Bankers Trust Co. Cedar Rapids 25<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
French-speaking agents, and is aiming to open a satellite<br />
office later this summer in Denver.<br />
As Mr. Cardella spoke with the CBJ in March, TLC & Associates<br />
was also preparing to announce a contract with a home warranty<br />
company that will bring 75-<strong>10</strong>0 additional jobs into Iowa.<br />
He said the company is looking at expanding one existing Iowa<br />
location, and has been in conversations with economic development<br />
leaders in Kentucky and West Virginia about opening<br />
customer contact centers in areas of high unemployment.<br />
Having an experienced team has lowered the challenge factor<br />
of executing on TLC’s strategic plan, Mr. Cardella said, noting<br />
that some members of its core management team “have been<br />
together for 20 years now.” But the company has also had to<br />
work harder for growth because the market isn’t growing as fast.<br />
TLC has focused on providing customers with accountability<br />
and value, Mr. Cardella said, and has benefited from<br />
strong word-of-mouth advertising among prospective clients.<br />
Mr. Cardella doesn’t see TLC’s run ending anytime soon.<br />
Because it has no outside investors, it’s under no timetable to<br />
sell out, and Mr. Cardella says he likes the people part of the<br />
business. He has praise both for the company’s older workers,<br />
some of whom are in their 60s and 70s, and for the new<br />
contingent of high school students that the company brought<br />
in for evening work last year. He’s also getting to know more<br />
international employees.<br />
“Every day is different,” he said. “It’s a people-based industry<br />
and I get to meet people all over the U.S. and the world, so I<br />
learn different perspectives from knowing those people.”<br />
– Dave DeWitte<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 15
2011’S FASTE<br />
MediRevv CEO Chris Klitgaard in his Coralville office earlier this year.<br />
MediRevv<br />
(Precision Revenue Strategies)<br />
Based in Coralville<br />
Established in 2007<br />
292.2% growth (5 times on list)<br />
What we wrote then:<br />
“Coming in at No. 1 on the list with 292 percent growth is Precision<br />
Revenue Strategies (PRS), a Coralville-based health care revenue cycle<br />
company. Basically, PRS takes the outstanding bills that patients<br />
aren’t paying their doctors or hospitals and works with the patients<br />
to get those bills paid.<br />
“We are strictly focused on helping providers with insurance receivables<br />
or insurance claims that have gone unpaid,” said President<br />
Chris Klitgaard. “What happens a lot of times is providers, hospitals<br />
or physician groups, can’t staff <strong>10</strong>0 percent of that volume that<br />
comes through. What inevitably occurs is that there are a certain<br />
percentage of their claims, whether it’s 5-20 percent, that they can<br />
just never touch.”<br />
Most company leaders will credit their employees with the business’<br />
success. For PRS, its employees are the mainstay of the company.<br />
“There are two or three things that we sell everyday here; first is<br />
our people,” Mr. Klitgaard said. “Ninety percent of our people have<br />
college degrees. And while that in and of itself isn’t necessarily the<br />
end all be all, we’re trying to get a more articulate, more<br />
professional, more analytical person who can understand<br />
how insurance companies work, such that they can take<br />
the benefits a patient has, and explain to a patient when<br />
we call to ask them for their balance owed.”<br />
Workers are such an important part of the equation<br />
at PRS, the employee culture manual is based off Tony<br />
Hsieh’s book, “Delivering Happiness,” which outlines<br />
Zappos’ model for improving profits by improving<br />
corporate culture. Last year, when employees asked for<br />
more paid time off, Mr. Klitgaard doubled it. When they<br />
requested an employee shower to rinse off following<br />
lunchtime workouts, he declined, only because there is<br />
no room for one in the facility.<br />
The method seems to work. PRS started in 2007 with<br />
six employees. Now it has 70. The company has yet to<br />
advertise for a job opening because every hire has been<br />
generated by employees recommending the company to<br />
friends and family.<br />
Part of PRS’ competitive edge also comes from its<br />
willingness to outline its costs to clients.<br />
“When we go price out on a deal or bid out a deal or<br />
provide an estimate, starting from the financial piece, we<br />
show our cost model to these providers so they know exactly<br />
what they’re paying for,” Mr. Klitgaard said. “That’s<br />
something that a lot of people in this [industry] simply<br />
don’t do. It’s usually a shell game and that used to frustrate<br />
me so bad.”<br />
Mr. Klitgaard has high hopes for PRS looking forward.<br />
“We’re a little over a $4 million company now,” he<br />
said. “We’d like to be a $50 or $60 million company in<br />
<strong>10</strong> years. That would put us as one of the larger companies<br />
in this space. Not the largest, but the top 30 percent,<br />
top 40 percent.”<br />
What’s happened since:<br />
Things began to change quickly for Precision Revenue<br />
Strategies after it was named the Corridor’s Fastest<br />
Growing Company in 2011. That July, the company rebranded,<br />
changing its name to MediRevv.<br />
The name reflects the company’s market in medical<br />
revenue, while the two Vs represent a revved-up engine,<br />
CEO Chris Klitgaard said.<br />
In 2012, business “started booming,” and MediRevv<br />
added more employees, Mr. Klitgaard said. That September,<br />
the company moved its operations from its home at<br />
the corner of Highway 965 and Oakdale Boulevard to<br />
its current location a half mile away, at 2600 University<br />
Parkway.<br />
“We needed a big footprint and there weren’t a lot<br />
of options,” he said. “We wanted to stay in the Iowa<br />
16 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
Pictured above are employees from Precision Revenue Strategies, which ranked first in the 2011 Fastest Growning Compaies list. The top 20 companies<br />
were honored at the Fastest Growing Companies breakfast May 24.<br />
FaSTeST continues on page 4<br />
COraLviLLe continues on page 16<br />
PAGE 3<br />
PAGE 15<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s<br />
$1.50 Cedar rapids/iowa City Corridor’s independent loCally owned Business weekly May 30 - June 5, 2011<br />
john richard<br />
By Gigi Wood<br />
gigi@corridorbusiness.com<br />
It’s as easy as A, B, C.<br />
Readers of the Corridor Business Journal<br />
encounter a lot of acronyms and industry<br />
terms in their weekly issues. Phrases such<br />
as CEO (Chief Executive Officer) are fairly<br />
easy to understand.<br />
Talk like, “Internet retailer of ratchet<br />
straps” starts to become a little more complicated<br />
when reading about companies<br />
such as Clickstop. It took awhile to under-<br />
COrriDOr<br />
Precision Revenue Strategies No. 1 on list<br />
stand the concept of “rugged tablet PCs”<br />
Coralville-based<br />
that Mobile Demand sells. Now, most<br />
people know about, or even own, tablets.<br />
company is a UI<br />
There’s a bit of a learning curve. But<br />
that’s the price, or rather, benefit of be-<br />
spinoff, of sorts<br />
coming versed in the Corridor’s most innovative<br />
and fastest growing companies.<br />
Twenty of those companies were celebrated<br />
May 24 at the Coralville Marriott,<br />
during the 2011 Fastest Growing Companies<br />
breakfast hosted by the CBJ.<br />
Within this issue, the CBJ unveils the<br />
top 20 Fastest Growing Companies for<br />
the year. To earn a spot on the list, businesses<br />
had to meet a number of criteria.<br />
First, companies had to earn at least<br />
$350,000 annually. Those companies<br />
then submitted three years of tax forms<br />
or audit statements to Honkamp Krueger<br />
& Co., a Hiawatha-based accounting<br />
firm, which independently tabulated the<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
results. The winners were selected based<br />
on their growth during the previous<br />
three years.<br />
The list was started in 2008, when the<br />
now-closed soybean-oil-producer Asoyia<br />
ranked first with 856 percent growth.<br />
Bochner Chocolates was ranked No. 1 in<br />
2009, with 427 percent of growth.<br />
Interesting trends surfaced in this<br />
FOCUS:<br />
Fastest<br />
Companies<br />
Featuring the CBJ List of<br />
Fastest Companies<br />
JOHNSON COUNTY<br />
Property buys<br />
raise ire in<br />
residents,<br />
officials<br />
Coralville council<br />
calls them necessary<br />
By Gigi Wood<br />
gigi@corridorbusiness.com<br />
Area residents during the past two weeks<br />
witnessed first-hand the process of government,<br />
as well as media, when reports<br />
surfaced about three property purchases<br />
in and near Coralville.<br />
The Coralville City Council published<br />
its meeting agenda on May 20, prompting<br />
media reports about three property purchases<br />
on the docket.<br />
First up was the purchase of 723 Edgewater<br />
Dr., the last residence remaining<br />
along the Iowa River near the Coralville<br />
Marriott. The city has been buying out<br />
the properties since the flood of 2008. According<br />
to federal flood regulations, the<br />
land cannot be redeveloped.<br />
“We can’t develop it because we used<br />
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management<br />
Agency) funds to buy it; it will be all open<br />
space,” said Coralville Councilor John<br />
Lundell.<br />
Mark Brown, owner of 723 Edgewater<br />
Dr., his father’s home, has been the lone<br />
holdout during the buyout process. The<br />
other homes have been demolished and<br />
crews have raised the road to serve as an<br />
earthen berm during future flooding. Additional<br />
work this summer will add additional<br />
mitigation improvements to the<br />
On the go<br />
Clickstop President Tim<br />
Guenther shares the secrets<br />
of his company’s success.<br />
Noodle house open<br />
Noodles & Co. opens location<br />
in Coralville.<br />
Fastest Growing Companies 2011<br />
(Ranked by percentage revenue increase from 08-<strong>10</strong>)<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Precision Revenue Strategies Inc. Coralville 292.2<br />
2 Health Solutions LLC Hiawatha 274.7<br />
3 Skywalk Group Cedar Rapids 212.1<br />
4 Clickstop Inc. Urbana 179.9<br />
5 MindFire Communications Inc. Cedar Rapids 127.6<br />
6 MobileDemand Hiawatha 119.4<br />
7 Thomas L. Cardella & Associates Cedar Rapids <strong>10</strong>5.0<br />
8 Ovation Networks Cedar Rapids 87.5<br />
9 Crystal Group Inc. Hiawatha 84.6<br />
<strong>10</strong> Raining Rose Cedar Rapids 73.7<br />
11 HR Green Cedar Rapids 71.9<br />
12 Children’s Center for Therapy Iowa City 54.6<br />
13 MD Orthopaedics Wayland 49.7<br />
14 Geonetric Cedar Rapids 47.8<br />
15 TMone Iowa City 43.7<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
City-Coralville area.”<br />
By September 2014, the company had grown so much<br />
that it needed more space, and built a second building<br />
next door. The company leases its buildings and may be<br />
looking for more space in the future as it continues to<br />
expand, Mr. Klitgaard said.<br />
MediRevv had 70 employees when it was named the<br />
Corridor’s Fastest Growing Company in 2011; it now employs<br />
300 more, and Mr. Klitgaard expects that number<br />
to hit 425 by the middle of this year.<br />
As word of MediRevv’s success has spread, so has its<br />
business. The company had about a dozen contracts in<br />
2011; it now has 55 contracts nationwide. Keeping up<br />
with changes in health care, MediRevv launched a new<br />
coding division launched four years ago and also has a<br />
full business outsourcing division.<br />
Its continual reinvention and growth has kept the company<br />
in the Corridor’s Fastest Growing ranks. It marked<br />
its fifth-consecutive appearance on the list this year with a<br />
No. 24 ranking and 42.3 percent revenue growth.<br />
“We have to innovate with the constant evolution of<br />
the industry,” Mr. Klitgaard said. “Our most important<br />
aspects are partners, people and performance.”<br />
- Angela Holmes<br />
Hanna Plumbing & Heating<br />
would like to congratulate<br />
all the fastest growing<br />
companies honored by the<br />
Corridor Business Journal!<br />
319.377.2809<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 17
2012’S FASTE<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions’ staff pose with the company’s previous <strong>FGC</strong> trophies in their Hiawatha facility. CEO Phil Rezin is shown at center, in a red shirt.<br />
2012 & 2014’s Fastest<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions Inc.<br />
Located in Hiawatha<br />
Established in 2005<br />
419.8% growth (5 times on list)<br />
What we wrote in 2014:<br />
“No other company has claimed the Corridor’s Business Journal’s<br />
Fastest Growing Company title twice, let alone twice in three<br />
years – the new mark recorded by Midwest Microwave Solutions.<br />
With revenue growth of 419.8 percent from 2011-2013, MMS<br />
claimed top honors at the 2014 growth recognition event May<br />
20 at the Cedar Rapids Marriott, edging out Premier Staffing Inc.<br />
“Our continued growth is based more on name recognition<br />
because we’ve had great success in the field,” President Phil<br />
Rezin told the CBJ. “Midwest Microwave Solutions has products<br />
deployed worldwide, and the products we’ve had in Afghanistan<br />
the last three years have operated flawlessly.”<br />
The company was in first place in 2012 with growth of more<br />
than 516 percent and in fourth place in 2013 with growth of<br />
176.2 percent.<br />
Products from Midwest Microwave Solutions allow custom-<br />
ers to scan any communication band in existence, from microwave<br />
data links to garage door opener signals, Mr. Rezin<br />
said. They are mainstay tools used in gathering signal information<br />
to detect and analyze threats.<br />
“Knowing that our product has saved lives by intercepting<br />
a signal – that makes you feel good,” Mr. Rezin said.<br />
The company, which started with only three products,<br />
continued to add them in 2013, bringing the total in its catalog<br />
to 41. Many of the newer products modify previous designs<br />
to extend the frequency range and add capabilities.<br />
To the uninformed eye, the products appear as metal boxes<br />
with heat sinks, cable ports and an occasional switch or<br />
indicator light. Most of them are integrated by government<br />
customers into larger systems that monitor and analyze signals<br />
for threats. Nearly all of the orders are from government<br />
suppliers or original equipment manufacturers, and none of<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions’ products are exported.<br />
MMS currently employs 23 in its <strong>10</strong>,000-square-foot facility.<br />
The staff is a carefully hand-picked team of experienced radio<br />
frequency engineers and other specialists, Mr. Rezin said,<br />
calling them “the cream of the crop.”<br />
What’s happened since:<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions this year returned to the CBJ’s<br />
Fastest Growing Companies list for the fifth time in six years,<br />
coming in at No. 9 with <strong>10</strong>9 percent growth.<br />
The company’s appearance streak might have been a per-<br />
18 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
Employees of Midwest Microwave Solutions are shown at their office in Hiawatha. The company produces<br />
high performance receiver products for government and large corporation clients. The company<br />
attributes its growth to its quick turnaround time for production and its highly-skilled workforce.<br />
FAStESt continues on page 4<br />
Hiawatha • Founded: 2005<br />
www.mms-rf.com • 1st year on the list<br />
PAGE 3<br />
PAGE 7<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s Fastest Growing Companies 2012<br />
(Ranked by percentage revenue increase from 09-11)<br />
$1.50 an independent locally owned business weekly in iowa’s creative corridor May 28 - June 3, 2012<br />
CORALVILLE<br />
MMS: Radioing in at No. 1<br />
Midwest Microwave<br />
Solutions debuts at<br />
No. 1 on list<br />
By Gigi Wood<br />
gigi@corridorbusiness.com<br />
If they tell you what they produce, they<br />
would have to kill you.<br />
That may be an exaggeration, but Midwest<br />
Microwave Solutions’ products are<br />
very James Bond. Simply put, Midwest<br />
Microwave produces highly-sophisticated<br />
radios for the government and large corporations.<br />
Since their start in 2005, the<br />
company has grown from two employees<br />
to 16 and is so busy, it has to turn down<br />
orders for new designs from customers.<br />
Midwest Microwave was honored May<br />
22 at the Corridor Business Journal’s 2012<br />
Fastest Growing Companies award breakfast<br />
for coming in first place, with 516.1<br />
percent growth, amongst this year’s top<br />
25 fastest growing companies.<br />
This issue of the CBJ is dedicated to the<br />
top 25 Fastest Growing Companies of the<br />
year, which were unveiled last week at the<br />
Coralville Marriott.<br />
To earn a spot on the list, businesses<br />
had to meet a number of criteria. First,<br />
companies had to earn at least $350,000<br />
from 2009-2011. Those companies then<br />
submitted three years of tax forms or audit<br />
statements to Honkamp Krueger & Co., a<br />
Hiawatha-based accounting firm, which<br />
independently tabulated the results. The<br />
winners were selected based on their<br />
growth rate.<br />
john richard<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
Three companies, Clickstop, TMone<br />
and Geonetric, have now appeared on the<br />
list four times since it began in 2008.<br />
Appearing on the list for the first time,<br />
Midwest Microwave is a privately-held<br />
small business engaged in design and<br />
manufacture of high performance receiver<br />
products. Those receiver products give<br />
customers the capability of gathering intelligence<br />
about signals that are present in<br />
the airwaves.<br />
FOCUS:<br />
Fastest growing<br />
companies<br />
Featuring the CBJ List<br />
of Fastest Growing<br />
Companies<br />
#1<br />
516.1%<br />
growth<br />
Midwest Microwave<br />
Solutions<br />
Keep growing<br />
Involta CEO Bruce Lehrman<br />
named the Entrepreneur of<br />
the year.<br />
First pitch<br />
Entrepreneurs pitch their<br />
ideas at Pitch & Grow event.<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Midwest Microwave Solutions Inc. Hiawatha 516.1<br />
2 MobileDemand Hiawatha 421.4<br />
3 Clickstop Inc. Urbana 199.3<br />
4 Compass Commercial Services LLC Hiawatha 189.1<br />
5 Lattice Communications Inc. Fairfax 186.3<br />
6 Genova Technologies Inc. Cedar Rapids 146.4<br />
7 Ovation Networks Cedar Rapids 146.2<br />
8 Crystal Group Inc. Hiawatha 142.3<br />
9 Health Solutions LLC Hiawatha 131<br />
<strong>10</strong> Tri County Enterprises Inc. Cedar Rapids 1<strong>10</strong><br />
11 TMone Iowa City <strong>10</strong>3<br />
12 MindFire Communications Inc. Cedar Rapids 89<br />
13 Raining Rose Cedar Rapids 82.4<br />
14 World Trend Financial Iowa City 79.4<br />
15 Circle Computer Resources Inc. Cedar Rapids 70.6<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
fect six-for-six if it had entered the competition in 2016,<br />
said President Phil Rezin, but a 2015 acquisition by aerospace<br />
and electronics conglomerate HEICO led MMS to<br />
temporarily keep a low profile.<br />
HEICO is a $1.3 billion company based in Florida with<br />
products found on large commercial aircraft, regional and<br />
business aircraft and a variety of military systems. MMS<br />
joined HEICO’s Electronic Technologies Group, which<br />
counts nearly 19 facilities around the country and nearly<br />
1,800 employees, according to the company.<br />
HEICO acquired 80.1 percent of MMS in the deal, but<br />
other than some accounting procedures, not much has<br />
changed operationally, according to Mr. Rezin.<br />
“It’s going great – they’re a hands-off kind of company.<br />
I’m still the president and have full control over running<br />
the business,” Mr. Rezin said, adding that the only<br />
substantial difference is that “we’re now a large corporation,<br />
rather than a small business.”<br />
MMS has seen significant growth in recent years, as<br />
some of its newest designs have been accepted into larger<br />
defense programs with the Army and Marines, groups<br />
typically outside of the company’s traditional market<br />
space. It also benefited from the addition of transmitters<br />
to its lineup in 2014 – a move that the company “resisted<br />
for a while” to focus on its core technologies, but has since<br />
MMS PAGE 22<br />
2015<br />
2014<br />
2013<br />
2012<br />
2008<br />
Growing<br />
with the Corridor<br />
over the past<br />
<strong>10</strong> years!<br />
THANK YOU!<br />
www.worldtrendfps.com<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 19
2013’S FASTE<br />
Lattice Communications Owner and President Bruce Leventhal, accepting the Fastest Growing Companies award in 2013.<br />
Lattice Communications<br />
Based in Fairfax<br />
Established 2004<br />
325.2% growth (2 times on list)<br />
What we wrote then:<br />
“Fairfax-based Lattice came in at No. 1 on the Fastest Growing<br />
Companies list with 325 percent growth between 20<strong>10</strong>-2012. Last<br />
year, Lattice debuted on the Fastest Growing Companies list with<br />
186 percent growth and had 35 employees. The company now employs<br />
50 people.<br />
“It really is a nice moment to take a breath and enjoy our accomplishments,”<br />
said Bruce Leventhal, Lattice owner and president. “It’s<br />
very rare that we probably all take a minute to sit back and relax.”<br />
With more than 20 locations across the United States, Lattice<br />
Communications remains the largest stocking dealer of telecommunications<br />
products. The company deals in new and refurbished telecommunications<br />
shelters, cabinets, power equipment fire suppression,<br />
HVAC and generators with new monitoring systems to ensure<br />
equipment reliability.<br />
The company also produces its own line of custom concrete shelters<br />
to meet its clients’ project needs.<br />
Mr. Leventhal addressed his staff at the Fastest Growing Companies<br />
event, noting their talent and persistence have allowed the<br />
company to grow.<br />
20 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary<br />
“I’m incredibly lucky to have you guys alongside. I<br />
wanted to take a minute to say thank you to you guys for<br />
the craziness and your hard work,” he said.<br />
The growth has been consistent over the past few<br />
years, with Lattice being named No. 5 on the list in 2012.<br />
In the midst of a challenging economic climate, Lattice<br />
still managed to triple its revenue and double its workforce<br />
in 2011.<br />
One of the reasons for the quick growth is the fiber<br />
optic cable installation recently added by the company.<br />
Lattice offers aerial, underground and indoor fiber installation<br />
to help increase bandwidth, speed up connectivity<br />
and reduce costs. It also provides its own in-house<br />
turn-key construction services across the U.S. including<br />
civil, concrete, electrical and project management.<br />
“We’re a very entrepreneurial company,” said Kendra<br />
Fish, Lattice’s director of marketing. “Our growth is really<br />
dependent on our customer’s needs and we challenge<br />
ourselves to go above and beyond for them.”<br />
What’s happened since:<br />
Despite making the CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies list<br />
twice, Lattice Communications didn’t survive.<br />
The road ended somewhat abruptly in 2015 when<br />
the company sustained more than $2.5 million in flood<br />
damage to its property at 98 W. Cemetery Road in Fairfax.<br />
That triggered a series of financial events that led to a<br />
lender-directed sale of the company’s assets.
PAGE 29<br />
PAGE 3<br />
$1.50 I WWW.CORRIDORBUSINESS.COM I A LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS WEEKLY IN IOWA’S CREATIVE CORRIDOR I MAY 27 - JUNE 2, 2013<br />
Bruce Leventhal, owner and president of Lattice Communications, speaks during the Corridor Business Journals Fastest Growing Companies<br />
event May 21. Lattice, based in Fairfax, was No. 1 on the list.<br />
LATTICE CONTINUES ON PAGE 19<br />
Fairfax I Founded: 2004<br />
www.latticebiz.com I 2nd time on the list<br />
PAGE 20<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s Fastest Growing Companies 2013<br />
(Ranked by percentage revenue increase from <strong>10</strong>-12)<br />
Farmers Market<br />
Markets open<br />
across Eastern Iowa.<br />
25 Corridor companies<br />
awarded for growth<br />
By Pat Shaver<br />
pat@corridorbusiness.com<br />
CORALVILLE—Lattice Communications has grown more<br />
than any other local company.<br />
Fairfax-based Lattice was recognized for coming in at<br />
No. 1 on the Fastest Growing Companies list the Corridor<br />
Business Journal’s event with the same name on May 21.<br />
The company reported 325 percent growth between<br />
20<strong>10</strong>-2012. Last year, Lattice debuted on the Fastest Growing<br />
Companies list with 186 percent growth and had 35<br />
employees. Lattice now employs 50 people.<br />
“It really is a nice moment to take a breath and enjoy<br />
our accomplishments,” said Bruce Leventhal, Lattice<br />
owner and president. “It’s very rare that we probably all<br />
take a minute to sit back and relax.”<br />
With more than 20 locations across the United States,<br />
Lattice Communications remains the largest stocking<br />
dealer of telecommunications products.<br />
Lattice is a dealer of new and refurbished telecommunications<br />
shelters, cabinets, power equipment including<br />
rectifiers, power supply, fire suppression and HVAC and<br />
generators with new monitoring systems to ensure equipment<br />
reliability. The company produces its own line of<br />
custom concrete shelters to meet its client’s projects demanding<br />
needs.<br />
The Fastest Growing Companies event took place at the<br />
Coralville Marriott and honored the 25 companies in the<br />
Corridor. Companies had to earn at least $350,000 annually<br />
and were ranked based on the percentage increase in<br />
revenue experienced from 20<strong>10</strong>-2012.<br />
Of the 25 companies, 13 were new to the Fastest Growing<br />
Companies list. This is the sixth year the Corridor Business<br />
Journal has compiled the list.<br />
Mr. Leventhal addressed his staff, noting their talent<br />
and persistence have allowed the company to grow.<br />
“I’m incredibly lucky to have you guys alongside. I<br />
wanted to take a minute to say thank you to you guys for<br />
the craziness and your hard work,” he said.<br />
The growth has been consistent over the past few years<br />
and last year Lattice was named the fifth on the list. In the<br />
midst of a challenging economic climate, Lattice tripled<br />
revenue and doubled its workforce in 2011.<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
FOCUS:<br />
FASTEST<br />
GROWING<br />
COMPANIES<br />
Featuring the CBJ List of<br />
Fastest Growing Companies<br />
Dawn Ainger<br />
Genova CEO<br />
grows IT business.<br />
Lattice Communications No. 1<br />
BILL ADAMS<br />
#1<br />
325.2%<br />
growth<br />
Lattice Communications<br />
Fastest<br />
Growing<br />
Companies<br />
Reception<br />
Check out the<br />
event photos<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Lattice Communications Inc. Fairfax 325.2<br />
2 Compass Commercial Services LLC Hiawatha 224.8<br />
3 MD Molding Wayland 185<br />
4 Midwest Microwave Solutions Inc. Hiawatha 176.2<br />
5 Genova Technologies Inc. Cedar Rapids 171.4<br />
6 Select Structural Engineering Cedar Rapids 139.3<br />
7 MobileDemand Hiawatha 139.2<br />
8 Involta Cedar Rapids <strong>10</strong>9.3<br />
9 Crystal Group Inc. Hiawatha <strong>10</strong>8.6<br />
<strong>10</strong> MediRevv Inc. Coralville 96.8<br />
11 Circle Computer Resources Inc. Cedar Rapids 95.2<br />
12 ESP International Cedar Rapids 88.7<br />
13 LimoLink Marion 87.9<br />
14 Cedar Ridge Vineyards Swisher 86.5<br />
15 Clickstop Inc. Urbana 85.1<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
Although many jobs were lost, not all was dark after<br />
the closing. Mr. Leventhal noted in a 2015 interview that<br />
several managers and employees started their own companies<br />
after the wind-down of Lattice Communications.<br />
They included Dennis Bruce, who relaunched a former<br />
company, BDC Group, making precast concrete shelters<br />
for telecommunications gear, and Al Meyer, who started<br />
Corridor Network Construction, a fiber optic network design<br />
and construction firm.<br />
Colin Brunner started CBTel, a supplier of telecommunications<br />
shelters, towers and generators in Wyoming,<br />
and Jared Nelson started Core Electric, a provider of telecommunications<br />
and electrical installation services.<br />
Mr. Leventhal said the startup trend that followed the<br />
closing reflected the entrepreneurial spirit of the company’s<br />
workforce.<br />
One of the first employees of Lattice, Carter Kramer,<br />
had gone on to start his own company, Cellsite Solutions,<br />
almost five years before Lattice closed. Mr. Kramer ended<br />
up buying most of the assets of Lattice, with which Cellsite<br />
competed in some markets.<br />
Mr. Leventhal moved following the closure to the Chicago<br />
area, where he has worked in consulting with private<br />
equity firms and startups to mid-market organizations.<br />
The former Lattice Communications property became<br />
home to a traffic control equipment company, Advanced<br />
Traffic Control.<br />
– Dave DeWitte<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 21
2014’S FASTE<br />
A look inside Midwest Microwave Solution’s Hiawatha facility earlier this year.<br />
2012 & 2014’s Fastest<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions Inc.<br />
Located in Hiawatha<br />
Established in 2005<br />
419.8% growth (5 times on the list)<br />
MMS PAGE 19<br />
become “a source of great growth,” Mr. Rezin said.<br />
The company now counts 76 products in its catalog, many of<br />
which have been developed based on customers’ requests for<br />
enhanced capabilities.<br />
“When you have less men on the ground, you need more<br />
ears,” Mr. Rezin said. “I don’t see a slowdown in our markets.”<br />
Despite continual growth, MMS hasn’t increased its footprint<br />
much. The company doubled the size of its shop in 2012, and<br />
this year remodeled around 1,000 square feet to provide executive<br />
offices and more space for engineers, but has only added<br />
about five employees since its 2014 award. Mr. Rezin chalks that<br />
up to the company’s efficient staff and relatively flat hierarchy.<br />
“I was used to being on the floor with our engineers,” he<br />
said. “Still not sure if I like the whole office thing.”<br />
– Adam Moore<br />
The company doubled<br />
the size of its shop<br />
in 2012, and this year<br />
remodeled around<br />
1,000 square feet to<br />
provide executive<br />
offices and more space<br />
for engineers, but has<br />
only added about five<br />
employees since its<br />
2014 award.<br />
22 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
Nate Kaeding talks<br />
about kicking up biz.<br />
PAGE 31<br />
$1.50 I WWW.CORRIDORBUSINESS.COM I A LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS WEEKLY IN IOWA’S CREATIVE CORRIDOR I MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2014<br />
Phil Rezin, CEO of Midwest Microwave Solutions, talked about pitfalls to avoid when you’re technologists starting a business venture as he accepted the<br />
2014 Fastest Growing Companies Award on May 20. He urged technologists who lack a broad foundation in business to get help from experienced professionals<br />
outside the company, and to be sure not to neglect their own quality of life.<br />
MIDWEST CONTINUES ON PAGE 6<br />
Eco Lips’ Shriver takes<br />
top award.<br />
PAGE 3<br />
Hiawatha I Founded: 2005<br />
www.mms-rf.com I 3rd time on the list<br />
CBJ spotlights the top 25.<br />
PAGE 5<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s<br />
EntreFest<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions repeats<br />
Hiawatha company takes<br />
Fastest Growing honors again<br />
By Dave DeWitte<br />
dave@corridorbusiness.com<br />
CEDAR RAPIDS—No other company has claimed the<br />
Corridor’s Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Company<br />
title twice, let alone twice in three years – the new mark<br />
recorded by Midwest Microwave Solutions.<br />
With revenue growth of 419.8 percent from 2011-<br />
2013, Midwest Microwave Solutions claimed top honors<br />
at the 2014 growth recognition event May 20 at the Cedar<br />
Rapids Marriott, edging out Premier Staffing Inc. with<br />
418.3 percent growth.<br />
“Our continued growth is based more on name recognition<br />
because we’ve had great success in the field,” CEO<br />
Phil Rezin said in an interview. “Midwest Microwave Solutions<br />
has products deployed worldwide, and the products<br />
we’ve had in Afghanistan the last three years have<br />
operated flawlessly.”<br />
The company was in first place in 2012 with growth of<br />
more than 516 percent and in fourth place in 2013 with<br />
growth of 176.2 percent.<br />
A total of 25 companies were honored at the May<br />
20 event based on confidential evaluations provided by<br />
Honkamp Krueger of tax return information submitted<br />
by the companies. The list included four – World Trend<br />
Financial, Ready Wireless, Circle Computer Resources<br />
and Involta – that have made the list four times.<br />
One of the 2014 Fastest Growing winners, TrueNorth<br />
Companies, was the first to be honored by the Corridor<br />
Business Journal in three categories – Largest Privately<br />
Held Companies, Fastest Growing Companies and Coolest<br />
Places to Work.<br />
Rapid growth has characterized Midwest Microwave<br />
Solutions since its inception in 2005 as a radio frequency<br />
consulting and prototyping company by Mr. Rezin and<br />
Steve Wilson. They began producing a line of radio frequency<br />
tuners and digitizers.<br />
Mike Horn, a digital signal processer expert, joined<br />
the company in 2009, and Midwest Microwave Solutions<br />
JUSTIN TORNER<br />
opened a small shop with 1,400 square feet of space in<br />
Hiawatha.<br />
Products from Midwest Microwave Solutions allow<br />
customers to scan any communication band in existence,<br />
from microwave data links to garage door opener signals,<br />
Mr. Rezin said. They are mainstay tools used in gathering<br />
signal information to detect and analyze threats.<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
FOCUS:<br />
FASTEST GROWING<br />
COMPANIES<br />
Featuring the CBJ List of<br />
Fastest Growing Companies<br />
Entrepreneur<br />
of the Year<br />
#1<br />
419.8%<br />
growth<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions<br />
Fastest<br />
Growing<br />
Companies<br />
Fastest Growing Companies 2014<br />
(Ranked by percentage revenue increase from 11-13)<br />
RANK NAME<br />
HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Midwest Microwave Solutions Inc. Hiawatha 419.8<br />
2 Premier Staffing Inc. Hiawatha 418.3<br />
3 MD Molding Wayland 351.7<br />
4 Ahmann Properties Hiawatha 219.2<br />
5 MediRevv Inc. Coralville 191.5<br />
6 Infinity Contact Inc. Cedar Rapids 136.4<br />
7 Health Solutions LLC Cedar Rapids 118.7<br />
8 Involta Cedar Rapids 1<strong>10</strong>.5<br />
9 Bazooka Farmstar Inc. Washington <strong>10</strong>6.6<br />
<strong>10</strong> IMS Branded Solutions Marion 94.6<br />
11 Compass Commercial Services LLC Hiawatha 92.7<br />
12 Neumiller Electric Iowa City 80.9<br />
13 Innovative Software Engineering LLC Coralville 79<br />
14 Eco Lips Cedar Rapids 76.7<br />
15 Ready Wireless LLC Hiawatha 71.3<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
Our goal is to provide you with the best professional staffing solutions.<br />
Job Seekers<br />
Employers<br />
Jobs<br />
www.premierstaffing.com<br />
319-730-3890 | 1905 N Center Point Rd. | Hiawatha, IA 52233<br />
319-505-2733 | 2809 University Ave. | Waterloo, IA 50701<br />
customerservice@premierstaffing.com<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 23
2015’S FASTE<br />
General Manager Aaron Verhorevoort and Founder Scott Ramspott stand inside Spotix’ new facility in North Liberty earlier this year.<br />
Spotix<br />
Based in North Liberty<br />
Established in 2011<br />
283.6% growth (3 times on list)<br />
What we wrote then:<br />
“Few companies in the Corridor have experienced the rapid<br />
growth of North Liberty-based Spotix Inc., which sells fireplaces,<br />
fire pits, grills and related accessories to consumers and<br />
retailers, and has seen its sales more than double since 2012.<br />
The fuel for the company’s combustion? Online sales.<br />
Named overall leader of the Corridor Business Journal’s<br />
2015 Fastest Growing Companies list in its first year being honored,<br />
Spotix achieved nearly 284 percent growth in revenue<br />
from the 2012 calendar year to the close of 2014, with virtually<br />
all of the company’s sales completed online.<br />
Company founder and president Scott Ramspott said less<br />
than 1 percent of Spotix’s sales take place in Iowa, despite<br />
noteworthy local projects such as the fire pits at Vesta, Backpocket<br />
Brewery and 30hop in Coralville’s Iowa River Landing.<br />
“We truly are an e-commerce based company,” said Mr.<br />
24 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary<br />
Ramspott. “We can pick up and move anywhere.”<br />
Spotix does have a showroom at its office in North Liberty,<br />
which also houses about 60 percent of the company’s product<br />
offerings. However, that addition, made in 2012, was installed<br />
primarily to appease distributors that require stores to have<br />
one to carry their products.<br />
The company’s strong web sales have prompted demand<br />
for additional employees, with plans in place to hire a web<br />
traffic specialist, a digital marketing specialist and another<br />
salesperson as soon as possible, Mr. Ramspott said.<br />
General Manager Aaron Verhorevoort said a frequent misconception<br />
exists in online retailing that unless someone is<br />
making a purchase through Amazon or a major national retailer,<br />
the operation presumably takes place in someone’s basement.<br />
“There’s definitely a lot more that goes into it,” Mr. Verhorevoort<br />
said. “It’s probably a pretty comparable set of challenges<br />
that come from a regular walk-in customer. They’re different,<br />
but at the end of the day, they’re just as hard to overcome.”<br />
Among those challenges is making the shopping experience<br />
as intuitive and efficient as possible. To accomplish that,<br />
Mr. Verhorevoort helped redesign the company’s website in<br />
order to minimize time-consuming email and phone commu-<br />
SPOTIX PAGE 34
Joe Ahmann honored<br />
PAGE 3<br />
$2.00 I WWW.CORRIDORBUSINESS.COM I A LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS WEEKLY IN IOWA’S CREATIVE CORRIDOR I MAY 25 - 31, 2015<br />
North Liberty I Founded: 2011<br />
www.spotix.com I First time on list<br />
SPOTIX ON PAGE 19<br />
Roundup of local, regional events<br />
PAGE 29<br />
Spotix Founder and President Scott Ramspott accepts his company’s fastest growing award during<br />
the May 19 awards breakfast, held at the Coralville Marriott.<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s Fastest Growing Companies 2015<br />
(Ranked by Percentage Revenue Increase from 12-14)<br />
Entrepreneur<br />
of the Year<br />
Spotix named<br />
fastest growing<br />
North Liberty retailer’s online strategy ignites growth<br />
By Chase Castle<br />
30hop in Coralville’s Iowa River Landing.<br />
chase@corridorbusiness.com<br />
“We truly are an e-commerce based<br />
company,” said Mr. Ramspott. “We can<br />
Few companies in the Corridor have experienced<br />
the rapid growth of North Liberty-<br />
Spotix does have a showroom at its of-<br />
pick up and move anywhere.”<br />
based Spotix Inc., which sells fireplaces, fire fice in North Liberty, which also houses<br />
pits, grills and related accessories to consumers<br />
and retailers, and has seen its sales uct offerings. However, that addition,<br />
about 60 percent of the company’s prod-<br />
more than double since 2012.<br />
made in 2012, was installed merely to<br />
The fuel for the company’s combustion?<br />
Online sales.<br />
have one to carry their products.<br />
appease distributors that require stores to<br />
Named overall leader of the Corridor “That’s the long and the short of it,” Mr.<br />
Business Journal’s 2015 Fastest Growing Ramspott said. “It came to fruition strictly<br />
Companies list<br />
so we could sell<br />
in its first year<br />
products online.”<br />
being honored,<br />
283.6% Those strong<br />
Spotix achieved #1 growth web sales have<br />
nearly 284 percent<br />
growth in<br />
mand for ad-<br />
prompted de-<br />
revenue from<br />
Spotix<br />
ditional employees,<br />
with<br />
the 2012 calendar<br />
year to the<br />
plans in place to<br />
close of 2014,<br />
hire a web traffic<br />
specialist, a<br />
with virtually all<br />
of the company’s sales completed online. digital marketing specialist and another<br />
salesperson as soon as possible, Mr.<br />
A total of 25 companies were honored<br />
at a May 19 awards breakfast, with rankings<br />
based on confidential tax return in-<br />
“So immediately, we have three posi-<br />
Ramspott said.<br />
formation submitted by the companies to tions we’d love to fill,” he said.<br />
accounting firm Honkamp Krueger & Co. Although the company emphasizes<br />
(See full list on page 6.)<br />
the need for technical savvy in its hires,<br />
Company founder and president Scott Mr. Ramspott said employee chemistry<br />
and company culture are equally<br />
Ramspott said less than 1 percent of<br />
Spotix’s sales take place in Iowa, despite important – not just to Spotix, but to<br />
noteworthy local projects such as the fire<br />
pits at Vesta, Backpocket Brewery and<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
BILL ADAMS<br />
See the rankings on page 6<br />
Iowa Summer Travel<br />
Also inside this edition:<br />
Marco, Inc.<br />
Streb Construction Company and<br />
E&F Paving, LLC Celebrating 50 <strong>Years</strong><br />
The Greater Iowa City Home Builders<br />
Association Builders News<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Spotix North Liberty 283.6<br />
2 Compass Commercial Services LLC Hiawatha 239.4<br />
3 Bazooka Farmstar Inc. Washington 237.4<br />
4 Premier Staffing Inc. Hiawatha 205.3<br />
5 MediRevv Inc. Coralville 114.4<br />
6 World Class Graphics & Displays Cedar Rapids <strong>10</strong>2.7<br />
7 Ahmann Properties Hiawatha 91.7<br />
8 Eco Lips Cedar Rapids 81.5<br />
9 Health Solutions LLC Cedar Rapids 71.8<br />
<strong>10</strong> Sedna Warehousing LLC Iowa City 69.5<br />
11 Fusion Architects Hiawatha 64.8<br />
12 Sedna Logistics LLC Iowa City 64.3<br />
13 TrueNorth Companies LLC Cedar Rapids 62.9<br />
14 Perfect Game Incorporated Cedar Rapids 60.9<br />
15 ProofreadingPal LLC Iowa City 56.4<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
Ahmann’s startup record hard to match<br />
Joe Ahmann, accepting Ahmann Properties’ <strong>FGC</strong> award in 2015.<br />
At the 2016 Fastest Growing Companies award ceremony, CBJ<br />
Publisher John Lohman remarked that “there ought to be a special<br />
Joe Ahmann Award,” for the individual starting the most companies<br />
to make the Fastest Growing list.<br />
No less than four companies started by Mr. Ahmann have landed<br />
a spot on the prestigious list. He started out in 1991 with his<br />
home design firm, Ahmann Design, and in 1994 launched Ahmann<br />
Properties to maintain and manage office space for his own company<br />
and others in Hiawatha.<br />
In 2005, Mr. Ahmann created Fusion Architects to handle larger<br />
projects requiring an architect’s stamp, and in 2008 started Compass<br />
Commercial Services to offer design-build construction.<br />
Mr. Ahmann was voted the CBJ’s Entrepreneur of the Year in<br />
2015. In 2016, Ahmann-owned businesses took four spots on the<br />
Fastest Growing list, with Fusion Architects ranking highest at No.<br />
6 with 133.5 percent growth.<br />
There’s no sitting still for Mr. Ahmann. He began 2017 by starting<br />
Pivot Real Estate, which offers sales and leasing. It seems to<br />
have a high likelihood of finding a place on the Fastest Growing<br />
Companies list.<br />
– Dave DeWitte<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 25
2016’S FASTE<br />
“The Corridor’s Fastest<br />
Growing list has been a<br />
goal of mine for years, but<br />
to be on the top of the list<br />
is more than I ever could<br />
have expected.”<br />
- Jason Hall, Owner of Moxie Solar<br />
Moxie Solar CEO Jason Hall, shown in a 2015 photo for the CBJ’s Entrepreneur <strong>10</strong>1 magazine.<br />
Moxie Solar<br />
Based in North Liberty<br />
Established in 2008<br />
536.27% growth (2 times on list)<br />
What we wrote then:<br />
“When Jason Hall started to grow weary of banking, he looked<br />
to the outdoors for inspiration to enrich his life and possibly<br />
his career. Nearly a decade later, the ensuing venture that’s become<br />
Moxie Solar has grown beyond his wildest expectations.<br />
The North Liberty-based installer of solar energy systems<br />
now has about 25 employees, many of whom were the focus of<br />
an acceptance speech Mr. Hall gave May 17 at the CBJ’s Fastest<br />
Growing Companies awards breakfast, where Moxie Solar took<br />
the title of the Corridor’s Fastest Growing Company for 2016.<br />
Moxie Solar recorded a year-over-year revenue increase of<br />
nearly 1<strong>10</strong> percent in 2015, and saw its revenues grow by a<br />
whopping 536 percent from 2013-2015.<br />
“The Corridor’s Fastest Growing list has been a goal of<br />
mine for years, but to be on the top of the list is more than I<br />
ever could have expected,” Mr. Hall said upon accepting the<br />
Fastest Growing Companies award.<br />
Despite a successful banking career – which included being<br />
the youngest bank president in Iowa when he assumed<br />
the role of market president with First American – Mr. Hall<br />
“bit the bullet” by founding Moxie’s predecessor, Greenhall<br />
Industries, in 2008.<br />
In the company’s first four years, it primarily did efficiency<br />
audits, helped businesses improve their energy efficiency<br />
through things like lighting and sealing upgrades, and helped<br />
facilitate rebates for customers from their utility providers.<br />
In 2012, however, Greenhall hit a pivotal point in its development.<br />
State lawmakers approved a solar income tax credit<br />
that year that would supplement an existing federal program.<br />
With federal tax credits in place to cover up to 30 percent of<br />
solar project costs, and the state offering to match more than<br />
half of the federal credits, Mr. Hall and his colleagues saw a<br />
clear opportunity.<br />
“At that point, we extinguished the old website and we focused<br />
on solar,” Mr. Hall recalled.<br />
The company already has several notable projects in its<br />
portfolio, including a solar array atop Johnson County’s<br />
multi-million dollar Secondary Roads Facility, which opened<br />
last year on Melrose Avenue in Iowa City. Other clients include<br />
Iowa Book in Iowa City and the Mason City Public Library.”<br />
26 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
$2.00 I A LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS WEEKLY IN IOWA’S CREATIVE CORRIDOR I MAY 23 - 29, 2016<br />
THE GREATER IOWA CITY AREA HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION I www.iowacityhomes.com<br />
Members Only Tour<br />
June 3<br />
Affiliated with the National Association of Home Builders & Home Builders A sociation of Iowa<br />
teady job growth, affordable<br />
home prices,<br />
a tractive mortgage<br />
interest rates and pent-up<br />
demand wi l help the housing<br />
market continue a gradual<br />
upward trajectory in the year<br />
ahead, a cording to economists<br />
who participated in the<br />
NAHB Spring Construction<br />
Forecast Webinar.<br />
Single-Family Sector Leads<br />
Housing to Higher Ground<br />
S<br />
“Builders remain cautiously optimistic about market conditions,” factors that should make this year’s home sales the best in a decade:<br />
said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “2016 should be the first • Household formations are projected to accelerate. Betw en 2008<br />
year since the Great Rece sion in which the growth rate for singlefamily<br />
production exc eds that of multifamily. And we s single-<br />
formations than normal.<br />
and 2014, the slowdown resulted in 5.1 million fewer household<br />
family growth a celerating 2017 as the su ply chain mends and<br />
we can expand production.”<br />
• Purchase application show solid home sales that match demographics.<br />
Steady job growth has bolstered consumer confidence and<br />
rekindled housing demand. Nationa ly, payro l employment has<br />
• More owners are cu rent on their mortgages, with fewer defaults<br />
surpa sed its pre-rece sion peak by a modest margin; only a sma l<br />
and le s foreclosures.<br />
number of state stil lag behind those levels.<br />
Solid job gains include rising salaries and wages.<br />
• House prices are rising about 6% annua ly and a pear to be in<br />
line with incomes and rents.<br />
Looking a the forecast, single-family production is expected to<br />
“Demographic tailwinds are helping to propel the housing market<br />
post a 14% gain 2016 to 812,0 units and rise an additional 19%<br />
forward,” said Kiefer.<br />
to 964, 0 units 2017.<br />
Freddie Mac is projecting 5.9 mi lion total home sales this year, the<br />
Using the 2 0-2 03 period as healthy benchmark (when singlefamily<br />
starts averaged 1.3 million units on an nual basis), single-<br />
Regiona ly, Kiefer said that house price growth is the strongest in<br />
highest level since 2 06, and 6.2 mi lion in 2017.<br />
family production cu rently stands at 58% of normal activity. NAHB the South and West, with Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado<br />
project single-family production wi l rise to 64% of normal by the and Florid all posting double-digit statewide house price a preciation<br />
betw en December 2014 and December 2015.<br />
fourth quarter of this year and climb to 7% of normal by th end of<br />
2017.<br />
On the multifamily side, production ran at 395, 0 units last year,<br />
above the 31, 0 rate that is considered a norma level of production.<br />
Multifamily starts expected to decline 4% to 379, 0 units<br />
Also l oking below the national numbers, NAHB Senior Economist<br />
Robert Denk said that housing market conditions are improv-<br />
this year, and rise 6% to 402, 0 units in 2017.<br />
ing acro s nation, but the pace of the recovery continues to vary<br />
Residential remodeling activity is expected to increase 3.3% in by state and region.<br />
2016 over last year, and rise an ditional 1.3% in 2017.<br />
“A common theme has emerged,” said Denk. “The progre s of<br />
market recovery is no longer a function of the boom-and-bust cycle<br />
Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac, cited several<br />
HOUSING, PAGE 7<br />
The Forecast<br />
Best Year Since 2 06<br />
Back to Basics<br />
JUNE 2016<br />
7:00 - 8: 0 Breakfast at<br />
UICCU, North Liberty<br />
8: 0 - 5: 0 Tour Parade<br />
Homes<br />
1: 0 - 1:30 Lunch at Hi ls<br />
Bank, North Liberty<br />
Parade of Homes<br />
June 4, 5, 7, 9,<br />
1 and 12<br />
Bike Tour of<br />
Parade Homes<br />
June 11<br />
Remodelers Council<br />
June 14 - N on<br />
Board M eting<br />
June 16 - N on<br />
Iowa Va ley Habitat<br />
for Humanity<br />
Memorial Build<br />
June 20 - 24<br />
IC HBA Conference R om<br />
IC HBA Conference Room<br />
Hi ls, IA<br />
North Liberty I Founded 2008<br />
www.moxiesolar.com I First time on list<br />
MOXIE PAGE 5<br />
Look for The Greater Iowa City Area Home Builders<br />
Association newsletter.<br />
The focus topic will be Health Care: Data and Coding<br />
and the CBJ List is Fitness Centers.<br />
The CBJ Business of Life will explore regional<br />
getaways for the summer months.<br />
ST<br />
Corridor’s Fastest Growing Companies 2016<br />
(Ranked by Percentage Revenue Increase from 13-15)<br />
Moxie Solar takes<br />
title of 2016’s<br />
Fastest Growing<br />
Company<br />
By Chase Castle<br />
chase@corridorbusiness.com<br />
When Jason Hall started to grow<br />
weary of banking, he looked to the<br />
outdoors for inspiration to enrich<br />
his life and possibly his career. Nearly<br />
a decade later, the ensuing venture<br />
that’s become Moxie Solar has grown<br />
beyond his wildest expectations.<br />
The North Liberty-based installer<br />
of solar energy systems now has<br />
about 25 employees, many of whom<br />
were the focus of the acceptance<br />
speech Mr. Hall gave May 17 at the<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies<br />
awards breakfast, where Moxie Solar<br />
took the title of the Corridor’s Fastest<br />
Growing Company for 2016.<br />
Twenty-five companies were<br />
honored at the event, with their<br />
rankings based on confidential tax<br />
information submitted to accounting<br />
firm Honkamp Krueger & Co.<br />
Moxie Solar recorded a yearover-year<br />
revenue increase of nearly<br />
1<strong>10</strong> percent in 2015, and saw its<br />
revenues grow by 536 percent from<br />
2013-2015.<br />
“The Corridor’s Fastest Growing<br />
list has been a goal of mine for years,<br />
but to be on the top of the list is more<br />
than I ever could have expected,” Mr.<br />
Hall told event attendees at the Cedar<br />
Rapids Marriott. “Everything I’ve<br />
done prior to starting Moxie Solar<br />
was with an existing business I stepped into<br />
after it was already a successful operation.<br />
Moxie Solar is different to me, in that we<br />
didn’t take over from somebody else. Our<br />
team fought and struggled to create a company<br />
and a market – literally – that didn’t<br />
exist previously.”<br />
Prior to pursuing renewable energy, Mr.<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
845 Quarry Rd. Ste. 125<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
Moxie Solar<br />
shines<br />
#1<br />
However, su ply-side<br />
headwinds led by a shortage<br />
of construction lots and labor,<br />
along with tight a ce s to<br />
acquisition, construction and<br />
development (AD&C) loans,<br />
continue to hamper a more<br />
robust recovery.<br />
536.27%<br />
growth<br />
Moxie Solar<br />
Inside<br />
Hall earned a bachelor’s degree in finance<br />
from the University of Northern Iowa. He<br />
later gained first-hand knowledge about<br />
business finance as a commercial credit<br />
analyst, a mid-market lender, and as a correspondent<br />
banker for Firstar, which later<br />
acquired U.S. Bank and assumed its name.<br />
Mr. Hall eventually left Firstar to lead<br />
Next week’s CBJ<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Moxie Solar North Liberty 536.27<br />
2 Papa’s Truck & Trailer Repair LLC Cedar Rapids 223.04<br />
3 Mass Markets Iowa City 195.48<br />
4 BerganKDV Cedar Rapids 194.13<br />
5 Spotix North Liberty 169<br />
6 Fusion Architects Inc. Hiawatha 133.52<br />
7 Compass Commercial Services LLC Hiawatha <strong>10</strong>3.62<br />
8 Converge Consulting Cedar Rapids 94.33<br />
9 Hanna Plumbing & Heating Inc. Marion 82.49<br />
<strong>10</strong> World Class Graphics & Displays Cedar Rapids 81.38<br />
11 Home Repair Team North Liberty 78.69<br />
12 Tri-County Enterprises Inc. Cedar Rapids 75.94<br />
13 Ready Mobile Hiawatha 71.65<br />
14 Clickstop Inc. Urbana 70.93<br />
15 Cyber Science 3D Coralville 67.43<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
What’s happened since:<br />
Moxie Solar won the 2016 Fastest Growing title with the<br />
fifth-fastest growth rate ever recorded in the CBJ’s competition,<br />
and topped all but Sitler’s LED Supplies this year, with<br />
growth of 225.45 percent.<br />
Moxie could have what it takes to become a perennial presence<br />
on the CBJ’s Fastest Growing list. The company in April<br />
opened new sales offices in Cedar Rapids and Davenport, with<br />
the Quad Cities region led by former University of Iowa Hawkeye<br />
and NFL player, Julian Vandervelde. They’ll be joined soon by<br />
another office in Austin, Texas – a big but studied jump based on<br />
the market’s concentration of solar, favorable market incentives<br />
and its ability to balance out the weather risks found in Iowa.<br />
“We wanted to have another market that deconcentrates us<br />
from that risk,” CEO Jason Hall said. “[Austin] looked like a<br />
good market that would be good for us.”<br />
The company has also completed its integration of Green<br />
Transitions, a small Vinton-based solar firm Moxie acquired<br />
in October of last year. Former Green Transitions founder and<br />
CEO Brandon Yoder “has been going gangbusters,” since joining<br />
Moxie, Mr. Hall said.<br />
Over the last six months, the company has also started<br />
Moxie Electric, which does electrical contracting work but solar<br />
remains “far and away” the largest revenue source for the<br />
company. Moxie had its best sales and installation month ever<br />
in March, and is now pushing 40 employees.<br />
“We’ve got the right people in the right places,” Mr. Hall<br />
said. “We haven’t actually flexed the muscle in this machine<br />
yet – 2017 will be the year.”<br />
- Adam Moore<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 27
LEADERS<br />
Riding the<br />
e-commerce<br />
wave<br />
By Chase Castle<br />
chase@corridorbusiness.com<br />
Clickstop President Tim Guenther stands inside the company’s Urbana facility.<br />
Clickstop, a CBJ<br />
Fastest Growing<br />
veteran, considers<br />
new locales with<br />
eye on distribution
Clickstop recorded<br />
close to $30 million<br />
in revenue last year<br />
and is on pace to<br />
earn about $36<br />
million in 2017.<br />
Clickstop’s headquarters in Urbana.<br />
Since its founding around 2005, the e-retailer has<br />
appeared on the CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies<br />
list eight times – more than any company in the Corridor<br />
– and the latest retail projections suggest that<br />
streak will continue.<br />
U.S. Department of Commerce data for the fourth<br />
quarter of last year estimated a 14.3 percent increase<br />
in online sales over the fourth quarter of 2015, compared<br />
to an 8.3 percent increase in total retail sales<br />
for the same period.<br />
For Clickstop, which recorded close to $30 million<br />
in revenue last year and is on pace to earn about<br />
$36 million in 2017, the company’s flagship brand,<br />
US Cargo Control, has been central to its success.<br />
US Cargo Control is the largest of the five brands<br />
the company owns and operates, offering rigging<br />
supplies, flatbed truck products and moving supplies.<br />
The brand accounts for approximately 85 percent<br />
of the company’s overall sales, mainly from the<br />
brand’s trucking and transportation products.<br />
Clickstop manages its own sales teams, website<br />
maintenance and shipping, and also does some light<br />
manufacturing.<br />
Founder and CEO Tim Guenther said that moving<br />
forward, the company’s growth strategy likely<br />
calls for the continued acquisition of smaller brands,<br />
possibly as early as this year.<br />
“The team operating those smaller brands is in a<br />
situation where they’ll likely explore some acquisition<br />
of e-commerce stores and brands,” Mr. Guenther<br />
said.<br />
Longer term, the company will also entertain acquisitions<br />
related to its largest product line. An acquisition<br />
related to US Cargo Control likely won’t happen<br />
for 3-5 years, but could result in a new location, ideally<br />
along the East or West coasts, Mr. Guenther said.<br />
“Anything we acquire in another location probably<br />
doesn’t have the resources to support our US<br />
Cargo Control brand from a fulfillment center standpoint,”<br />
he said. “So we’re interested in the East and<br />
West Coast, but most of the things we’re exploring<br />
from an acquisition standpoint are smaller and not<br />
likely to include fulfillment.”<br />
That doesn’t mean that expanding the company’s<br />
shipping capabilities aren’t being considered, however.<br />
If and when one of those coastal acquisitions is<br />
made, the company will favor areas when it can build<br />
its own distribution center. Alternatively, Clickstop<br />
may seek an acquisition somewhere with existing<br />
distribution services that it could partner with.<br />
“Ideally, we’ll find an existing business that can add<br />
value through acquisition, then also fulfill our customers<br />
in that region with products we already sell,”<br />
Mr. Guenther said. “We’re an opportunistic company,<br />
CLICKSTOP PAGE 34<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 29
<strong>FGC</strong> BY THE N<br />
INDUSTRY<br />
(out of <strong>10</strong>0 companies overall)<br />
CUSTOMER SERVICE------------------------------- 40<br />
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES------------------------21<br />
MANUFACTURING------------------------------------13<br />
RETAIL----------------------------------------------------- 6<br />
REAL ESTATE/DEVELOPMENT--------------------- 6<br />
MEDICAL/HEALTH------------------------------------- 4<br />
FINANCE/INSURANCE-------------------------------- 4<br />
FOOD/RESTAURANT---------------------------------- 3<br />
TRANSPORTATION------------------------------------ 3<br />
WOMEN-LED<br />
WOMEN-OWNED/LED<br />
12%<br />
MALE-OWNED/LED<br />
88%<br />
on<br />
Lisbon<br />
Iowa City<br />
North Liberty<br />
Coralville<br />
Swisher<br />
Washington<br />
Fairfax<br />
Urbana<br />
Urbana<br />
Riverside<br />
LINN<br />
Lisbon<br />
Swisher<br />
Marion<br />
North Liberty Coralville<br />
Washington<br />
Hiawatha<br />
Iowa City<br />
Cedar Rapids<br />
Cedar Rapids<br />
Hiawatha<br />
JONES<br />
BENTON<br />
Marion<br />
IOWA<br />
Hiawatha Hiawatha<br />
Cedar Cedar Rapids Rapids<br />
Lisbon<br />
Marion<br />
Iowa City North Liberty Coralville<br />
Hiawatha<br />
Fairfax<br />
Marion Urbana<br />
Hiawatha Cedar Rapids<br />
Swisher<br />
Lisbon<br />
Marion<br />
Hiawatha<br />
Iowa City<br />
Cedar Rapids<br />
Lisbon<br />
Marion<br />
North Liberty<br />
Hiawatha<br />
Iowa City<br />
Cedar Rapids<br />
Lisbon<br />
Marion<br />
Hiawatha<br />
WHAT CITIES ARE THE FASTEST?<br />
Cedar Rapids<br />
(Ranking the hometowns of the region’s Fastest Growing Companies)<br />
Fairfax<br />
Swisher<br />
Iowa City<br />
Marion Marion<br />
North Liberty<br />
North Liberty<br />
Coralville<br />
JOHNSON<br />
Cedar Rapids<br />
Lisbon<br />
HiawathaLisbon<br />
Riverside<br />
Washington<br />
Coralville<br />
Iowa City<br />
Lisbon Lisbon<br />
Coralville<br />
Swisher<br />
Iowa City North North Liberty Liberty<br />
Iowa City<br />
Lisbon<br />
Marion<br />
Iowa Cit<br />
Iowa City North Liberty<br />
Fairfax<br />
CEDAR<br />
Urbana<br />
Swisher Washington<br />
Washington<br />
Fairfax<br />
Riverside<br />
Swisher<br />
North Liberty Coralville<br />
Marion<br />
Cedar Rapids<br />
Lisbon<br />
Hiawatha<br />
Iowa City<br />
Cedar North Liberty Rapids Coralville 49<br />
Hiawatha 12<br />
Iowa City <strong>10</strong><br />
Marion 6<br />
North Liberty 5<br />
Coralville Lisbon 5<br />
Washington 4<br />
Marion<br />
Iowa City<br />
Swisher<br />
Fairfax<br />
Washington2<br />
Wayland 2<br />
Lisbon 1<br />
Riverside 1<br />
Sigourney 1<br />
Swisher 1<br />
North Liberty<br />
Urbana 1<br />
Coralville<br />
Fairfax<br />
Urbana<br />
Riverside<br />
WASHINGTON<br />
Washington<br />
Swisher Washington<br />
Fairfax<br />
Urbana<br />
Riverside<br />
30 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
UMBERS<br />
FASTEST OF THE FAST<br />
COMPANY NAME<br />
TOP PERCENTAGES<br />
Thomas L Cardella & Assoc. 919.00%<br />
Asoyia 851.00%<br />
Hybrid Transit Systems 818.00%<br />
Express Auto Delivery 621.00%<br />
Moxie Solar 536.27%<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions (2012) 516.<strong>10</strong>%<br />
Bochner Chocolates 427.00%<br />
MobileDemand 421.40%<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions (2014) 419.80%<br />
Premier Staffing Inc. 418.30%<br />
TO NOTE:<br />
Midwest Microwave Solutions is the only company to be No. 1 twice<br />
MobileDemand and Midwest Microwave Solutions had revenue<br />
increase above 300% twice<br />
6/12 Companies with revenue increase above 300% were No. 1<br />
on the list that year<br />
Spotix (2015) & MediRevv (2011) are the only two companies to<br />
be named No. 1 with revenue increase less than 300%<br />
SOLD OR CLOSED<br />
SOLD OR MERGER - 7<br />
PERMANENTLY<br />
CLOSED - 3<br />
REBRANDED - 2<br />
ORIGINAL COMPANY - 88<br />
Hybrid Transit Systems’ COO and Partner Gerald Moore,<br />
President and CEO John Miller, and Partner Robert Helgens<br />
pose for a photo at the company’s headquarters in Cedar Rapids<br />
earlier this year. The transportation service provider reported<br />
the third-fastest growth rate in the program’s first decade, with<br />
818 percent growth in 2008.<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 31
2017’S FASTEST<br />
Corridor’s Fastest Growing Companies 2017<br />
(Ranked by percentage revenue increase from 14-16)<br />
RANK NAME HOMETOWN PERCENTAGE GROWTH<br />
1 Sitler’s LED Supplies Washington 289.99<br />
2 Moxie Solar North Liberty 225.45<br />
3 Higher Learning Technologies Coralville 190.27<br />
4 Fiberutilities Group LLC Cedar Rapids 158.85<br />
5 Katalyst Systems Impact Cedar Rapids 155.05<br />
6 Ovation Networks Cedar Rapids 151.55<br />
7 Spotix North Liberty 144.17<br />
8 Ready Wireless Hiawatha 136.9<br />
9 Midwest Microwave Solutions Inc. Hiawatha <strong>10</strong>9.19<br />
<strong>10</strong> Converge Consulting Cedar Rapids <strong>10</strong>7.15<br />
11 Ahmann Design Hiawatha 88.83<br />
12 Involta Cedar Rapids 84.54<br />
13 Hardscape Solutions of Iowa Inc. Cedar Rapids 76.31<br />
14 de Novo Marketing Cedar Rapids 71.72<br />
15 RKSJS Online DBA: IAHomes<br />
Source: The companies featured on this list submitted information to an independent auditor for verification.<br />
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STRATEGIES PAGE 7<br />
the business person.”<br />
Mr. Nelson is acutely aware of that need because it’s<br />
often one of the things that brings clients to the EDC.<br />
The center can connect company founders with business<br />
expertise and resources that can help if they aren’t<br />
ready to bring in an outsider to lead. Sometimes the answer<br />
can be hiring consultants, or even additional training<br />
for the owner to help them deal with challenges.<br />
“Business get caught in their own forest,” Mr. Nelson<br />
said. “They don’t objectively see their business<br />
from the outside, and that’s why businesses hire consultants<br />
all the time.”<br />
Focus & financing<br />
TrueNorth Companies, a three-time member of the<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies list, has been one of<br />
the companies that exemplifies sustained, rapid growth.<br />
It has kept its focus by emphasizing four “pillars” of its<br />
business model: profitable operation, client experience,<br />
dynamic culture and business development. Progress<br />
in each of those areas is carefully tracked, down to the<br />
individual employee.<br />
TrueNorth’s 20/20 Vision initiative was the result of<br />
a strategic planning process, according to CEO Duane<br />
Smith. The initiative established a goal of more than<br />
$1 billion in premiums and growing to more than 400<br />
staff members; it has also helped the company maintain<br />
focus and stay on track.<br />
Such focus is, unfortunately, more the exception than<br />
the rule.<br />
“Companies typically don’t do that,” Mr. Nelson<br />
said. “They focus on the problem of the day or the<br />
hour, and someone [the leader] is not focusing enough<br />
on the overall strategic directions, goals and execution.”<br />
Providing financial predictability to lenders has<br />
been one of the keys to the success of Cedar Ridge<br />
Winery & Distillery in Swisher, according to owner Jeff<br />
Quint, who was previously CFO of the fast-growing<br />
data services company Involta.<br />
“We are a heavy equipment and inventory company,<br />
and you’ve got to have good banking,” Mr. Quint said.<br />
“To have good banking, you’ve got to line up one good<br />
year after another.”<br />
Mr. Quint said accurate forecasting of financials and<br />
hitting those forecasts have been crucial to his banking<br />
relationships. It’s something bankers have mentioned<br />
in extending his company additional credit.<br />
“They [lenders] have told us, ‘You did what you told<br />
us you’re going to do,’” he said.<br />
Defining success<br />
High-growth businesses are often described as “gazelles”<br />
and heaped with glowing praise. Mr. Nelson is<br />
quick to point out that growth, while a worthy goal,<br />
is only one definition of success. He recalled one EDC<br />
client who simply wanted to grow his business in the<br />
Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery Owner Jeff Quint (right) stands with Head Distiller Kolin<br />
Brighton (left) and General Manager Jamie Siefken at the company’s facility in Swisher<br />
earlier this year.<br />
small town where it had started, using a style of “open book” management<br />
that empowered and informed his employees.<br />
For that company’s founder, Mr. Nelson said, it was important<br />
to follow and maintain his values and be an economic engine to his<br />
community, rather than maximize growth. It was a limiting factor to<br />
that company’s overall size, but one the founder was willing to accept.<br />
“What I’ve learned over time is people reach a point where they<br />
don’t want to continue to grow,” Mr. Nelson said.<br />
Another fact that Mr. Nelson has observed with high-growth companies<br />
is that many don’t remain independent for too long. Most entrepreneurs<br />
don’t start out their first successful business with the idea of<br />
selling it, Mr. Nelson said, but “if you build something that’s successful,<br />
someone will want to buy it.”<br />
Selling a business may end the entrepreneur’s growth story, Mr.<br />
Nelson said, but it can also set the stage for the next phase of the company’s<br />
growth, and for the entrepreneur to start again with another<br />
company. CBJ<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary 33
CLICKSTOP PAGE 29<br />
Clickstop’s Tim Guenther stands with<br />
the company’s awards, including the<br />
CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies and<br />
Coolest Places to Work honors.<br />
so that’s probably the approach we’re taking.”<br />
The company’s eye for opportunities that<br />
could compliment its distribution reflects one of<br />
online retail’s most important recent changes: expectations<br />
for fast shipping, which could work to<br />
Clickstop’s advantage.<br />
“Shipping is happening a lot faster than it ever<br />
has,” Mr. Guenther said. “It makes us wonder<br />
how long it is before these carriers figure out that<br />
being in the middle of the country is actually a<br />
pretty good place to be.”<br />
As to whether a new acquisition would carry<br />
the Clickstop name, as opposed to the US Cargo<br />
Control brand or another altogether, Mr. Guenther<br />
said the company has yet to clearly demarcate<br />
the Clickstop name and its individual brands,<br />
which also cover lifting and moving supplies and<br />
building products.<br />
“So that’s a tough one for us, and I wish it<br />
wasn’t that way,” Mr. Guenther said.<br />
Presently, Clickstop has 117 full-time and 23-<br />
part time employees, with two facilities located<br />
in Urbana, including a $2.5 million facility with<br />
warehousing and distribution space that opened<br />
on Blue Creek Drive in 2011.<br />
The company also continues to own its original<br />
office on Bing Miller Lane, which now includes<br />
a warehouse and the company’s nonprofit,<br />
Clickstop Cares. Once a roughly 53,000-squarefoot<br />
expansion of the new office is completed this<br />
summer, however, those operations will move to<br />
Blue Creek Drive. CBJ<br />
SPOTIX PAGE 24<br />
nications. With the company’s platforms now dialed in, he<br />
said he views any significant spike in email or phone contact<br />
with customers as an indicator of possible issues.<br />
“It’s actually a really good barometer for the overall status…<br />
of the content, the service, the product,” he said.<br />
Mr. Verhorevoort believes the business outlook for Spotix is<br />
positive due to economic indicators such as home construction<br />
and new home sales, which increased 6 percent nationwide the<br />
first quarter of 2015 over the same time period last year.<br />
“I think it looks like a pretty rosy picture with some slow,<br />
steady growth for the next couple of years, at least as far as<br />
big-picture, macro growth goes,” he said.<br />
What’s happened since:<br />
Spotix has kept the fire going since topping the CBJ’s Fastest<br />
Growing Companies list in 2015. The company ranked No. 5 in<br />
2016 with 169 percent growth, and No. 7 this year, at 144 percent.<br />
Although the company has a sales floor at its new facility<br />
at the I-380 Industrial Park, where it relocated in December,<br />
more than 95 percent of the company’s sales continue to be<br />
earned online.<br />
“A sale is a sale, whether it’s online or in-person out of the<br />
showroom,” Aaron Verhorevoort, now president, said. “Any<br />
sale is a good sale.”<br />
The company more than doubled its space with the move,<br />
and Spotix now occupies about 23,000 square feet, including<br />
its warehouse, in the 90,0000-square-foot building.<br />
The new space also boasts a revamped showroom, which<br />
serves two purposes, according to Mr. Verhorevoort. Like any<br />
showroom, the space allows the company to display hardware<br />
to prospective buyers. Perhaps more importantly, however, the<br />
room helps staff familiarize themselves with the products in-person<br />
so that they can better answer questions for customers online.<br />
“And that level of experience is more common in brickand-mortar<br />
retail space, but it’s not as common online,” Mr.<br />
Verhorevoort said. “That’s kind of what helps us have a little<br />
bit of an upper-hand or unique edge over the competition.”<br />
As of April, the company had 13 full-time employees, with<br />
plans to hire about six more full-time employees in 2017 and<br />
another half-dozen employees next year. Among those positions<br />
slated to be hired are sales, marketing, development and<br />
possibly 1-2 service positions.<br />
“We’re certainly still on pace for that timeline and maybe a<br />
little bit ahead of it,” Mr. Verhorevoort said.<br />
– Chase Castle<br />
34 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies <strong>10</strong>th Anniversary
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