Young companies charge ahead
By RANDY McCLAIN, Assistant Business Editor
The Tennessean
September 19, 2005 |
 |
 The 2005 Music City Future 50 winners are a young bunch. More than half of the companies, recognized as among the fastest-growing private companies in Middle Tennessee, have been in business five years or less.
The 2005 Music City Future 50 winners are a young bunch.
More than half of the companies, recognized as among the fastest-growing private companies in Middle Tennessee, have been in business five years or less. Roughly one-third got started no more than three years ago.
The firms, which will be honored at a banquet Sept. 29 by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, employ an average of 61 people. Average revenue is $18 million.
Add it all up and this year's Future 50 winners have roughly $900 million in annual sales, and serve as testimony to the important role that small businesses play in driving the local, regional and national economies.
The winners, picked after a financial review by Kraft CPAs, come from a wide variety of fields: technology, consulting, real estate, telecommunications, marketing and health care among them.
They all project revenue and employment growth of 10% or more for the next three years.
Owners of the Future 50 businesses define themselves as a hardworking lot.
In surveys prepared for the chamber, owners reported working anywhere from 50 to 70 hours a week to build their companies.
That hard work is paying off.
Later this month, the 14th Annual Music City Future 50 Awards will put this year's winners on a pedestal, at least for one evening.
The awards reception and banquet will be 5:30-9 p.m. Sept. 29, at the Franklin Marriott Hotel and Cool Springs Conference Center, 700 Cool Springs Blvd. E.
Tickets to attend cost $65 each and are available by contacting Lora Plauche at 615-743-3040 or e-mailing lplauche@nashvillechamber.com. Register online at www.nashvillechamber.com.
The event is organized and sponsored by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Bank of America, Kraft CPAs, The Tennessean and Mailer's Choice Inc.
Nominations for the 2006 Music City Future 50 will be solicited next summer.
The Future 50 section highlights each company and gives tips on how to build a small business, raise capital and decide on the right office space as payroll, employees and revenues grow. To visit the section, click the following link: http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BUSINESS08
©2005 The Tennessean
| 
