The service sector surprises no one by steaming ahead at full speed, while the construction industry raises eyebrows with its substantial growth.
Although the recovery is officially underway from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a cloud of uncertainty still hovers
over the American business landscape.
Many unsettling questions still linger. Will there be a double-dip recession? How long will it take for credit to loosen up? When will the unemployment decline?
In the face of uncertainty, it is interesting to examine companies that are growing despite adversity. It is in this light that HispanicBusiness magazine releases its annual issue listing the 100 fastest-growing Hispanic-owned companies in America.
As a group, the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies brought in a heady $10.9 billion in revenue in 2009 — more than double the $4.7 billion they posted in 2005.
The ascent is particularly impressive when you consider that during the same year, the nation's 500 largest Hispanicowned companies suffered the steepest drop in combined revenues since we began compiling data 28 years ago. Granted, the 225 percent average five-year growth of this year's featured fi rms was surpassed by last year's average of 350 percent. On the other hand, last year's list had more growing to do: the $10.9 billion taken in by this year's crop far outstrips the $8.5 billion earned by last year's companies.
The Leadership of the 100
As the nation looks to regain its economic footing, these companies are leading the charge, chipping away at stubbornly high unemployment.
The 10 companies on the list boast the highest roster of workers: 20,251. T at surpasses the amount they employed five years ago by an impressive 7,900-plus. In comparison, last year the five-year increase stood at 5,900.
Topping the fastest-growing list for the second year running is MicroTech, a Virginia-based information technology firm that services more than 60 government agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. armed forces.
The six-year-old company's annual revenues have soared exponentially, from $3.4 million in 2005 to $39.1 million in 2008 to an eye-popping $65.5 million in 2009. Likewise, its employee base has snowballed from 20 in 2004 to 250 in 2008 to 348 last year.
"We look very hard for ways of improving ourselves daily," MicroTech CEO and President Tony Jimenez told HispanicBusiness magazine. "People want to do business with the best. Our secret is that everyone here wants to be the best. We're not satisfied with second or third."
MicroTech is among 51 companies on the list that are part of the service sector, which, like last year, dominates the directory, accounting for 56 percent of total revenues.
The distant runner up is construction, with 20.5 percent of total revenues, followed by wholesale, with 9.4 percent. T e remaining 15 percent comprise fi nance, manufacturing, energy, automotive, retail and transportation.
Though this year's top three industries also dominated last year's list in the same order, one of them — construction — has undergone signifi cant changes.
For starters, despite the real estate collapse, construction's 20.5 percent share of the list's overall revenues marks a significant increase over last year's 12 percent. On the other hand, the number of construction companies on the list fell from 22 to 18.
This suggests that while the recession hit hard, the hardy survivors garnered significantly more work than before.
