BusinessTN

"Saratoga's core offering is managing the computer networks of small- and mid-sized companies. Founded in July 2001 as a Tennessee-registered corporation that originated as a subsidiary of Cape Town, South Africa's Saratoga Software, Saratoga immediately began an acquisition campaign. To date, they have made 12 acquisitions and have grown from two employees to over 60 in just seven years. The company was recently ranked #48 in Accounting Technology magazine's 2008 national list of the country's top accounting solutions providers, up from #79 last year. (Only two Tennessee-based companies made the list.)"

"Dan Norman makes highways in the sky. The former program director of life flight helicopter services at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga—home of the first certified GPS approach—stepped out on his own to form STI in 1996. Today, his company creates GPS-capable helicopter approaches in 25 states and has been responsible for the development of 95% of all such approaches operating in the United States. Clients include the Mayo Clinic, the state of Maine, and the UT Medical Center."

"A very large home-staging company, Showhomes has 29 franchises in 19 states and is rapidly growing due to current real estate market conditions. Since its inception in 1986, Showhomes has used home staging to help homeowners and their real estate agents sell over 25,000 homes valued at over $8 billion."

"Hotel owners and operators, management companies, real estate consultants, appraisers, lenders and even entrepreneurs looking for an investment opportunity need great data. Smith Travel Research is the recognized leader for U.S. Lodging Industry benchmarking, maintaining one of the world's largest lodging industry databases and publishing an array of valued industry research materials. STR recently acquired Colorado-based RRC Associates."

"SMS provides facility management, transportation support, and security services for a number of key industries nationwide, including the aviation, health care, hospitality and retail markets. Founded 20 years ago this year to serve the shopping center industry, SMS has grown from two people and two malls to more than 13,000 employees at more than 340 locations in 43 states and the District of Columbia. Its most recent acquisition was a 1,700-employee Kentucky outfit, pushing revenues to around $330 million annually."

"SRS, specializing in construction, real estate/development and disaster recovery services, started in 2001 and is the largest African-American-owned construction management company in Middle Tennessee. The company has successfully been awarded and/or completed over 80 projects for a variety of federal entities in the past five years, including Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief services in Louisiana for Homeland Security's FEMA division."

"Chinese-born logistics entrepreneur Chen established Sunshine in 1998 as a scaffolding and construction products manufacturer and distributor. The company quickly expanded to become a leading importer/distributor of construction equipment, bridging the differences between the U.S. and China within manufacturing. Chen's portfolio of businesses now boasts offices in Memphis, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta and four Chinese cities."

"Founded as a single-purpose bakery for McDonald's in 1997, today Tennessee Bun Co.'s high-speed bun lines bake over 1,000 buns per minute and serve clients that include McDonald's, Chili's, Pepperidge Farm and O'Charley's across the Southeast U.S. and the Caribbean Islands. Aggressive growth is coming from snapping up available talent and facilities being vacated by other companies. Through the years, the company has diversified into bun packaging, bun transport and cold storage."

"A Hispanic-owned distributor of promotional products, from drink ware to candles to golf items, The Barr Group also provides printing and signage services. Growth in the promotional products industry has been steady as more and more businesses use such products in marketing programs designed by distributors like The Barr Group. The company has also partnered with other entities to offer specialty chemicals and cleaning products, fasteners and industrial products like adhesives and power tools."

"Founded in 1972, The Buntin Group, Tennessee's largest brand communications agency and one of the top 135 in the U.S., is well positioned to benefit from companies that are increasing their marketing allocation as the economy weakens. The company was recently named the agency of record for the Tennessee Lottery. Two in-house businesses—Buntin Out-of-Home Media (outdoor advertising formats) and Trialogue (three-way conversations between brands and their audiences)—are fueling growth."

"The 80-year-old family-owned residential homebuilder, originally from St. Louis but based in Tennessee since 1993, builds in 17 communities in five counties in Middle Tennessee. Out of the top 130 builders across the nation, The Jones Co. was one of only 20 that had an increase in revenue in 2007, according to Builder magazine, which ranked the company 33 spots higher this year, as the 129th largest builder in America."

"Founded by Jarrett and his son, Jeff, TNA Entertainment, home of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, is a promoter of professional wrestling events. A YouTube sensation, the company features pay-per-view and live events, as well as programming on SpikeTV. TNA boasts Orlando offices in addition to its Nashville headquarters, which recently added a 15,000-square-foot, high-definition post-production facility—the new home to TNA's weekly TV show and monthly pay-per-view events, which are aired around the world."

"Design and technology services company Tricycle has since 2002 helped commercial interiors manufacturers, interior designers and architects reduce ""sample waste"" with products and services that make specification faster, cheaper, and greener—from product development to merchandising to sampling. The company launched with a paper sample product that replaced the need for actual carpet slabs—a product that is now the norm in the industry—and which the company estimates has saved tens of thousands of gallons of oil and diverted tens of thousands of pounds of waste from landfills."

"uMonitor helps financial institutions leverage the Internet to provide a range of business services. Its flagship products are uOpen & uFund, an online account opening and funding service, and uTransfer, an online money movement service. As more banks, credit unions and financial professionals move to the online direct channel, uMonitor's revenues are likely to trend positively."

"Cofounded by Walden (a former U.S. Navy master training specialist prior to becoming a Chattanooga police officer) and his wife Amy Walden, a one-time dispatcher with the Chattanooga police department, Walden Security is one of the fastest-growing contract security companies in the nation. Since 1990, the family business has diversified geographically into sixteen states. Growth is anticipated from more federal government contracts."

"WireMasters was founded in Franklin to make parts used in the manufacture of electronic cable controls in planes, missiles, helicopters, tanks, ships—even space shuttles and satellites. Hill exercised an employee buyout of the company in 2001 using $4 million in leveraged asset bank financing. At that time, the company employed 18 people. Today, relocated to Columbia, the 92-employee company helps develop sophisticated weapons and support devices for the fight against world terrorism."

"Wunderlich Securities was founded in 1996, with eight employees in a single office in Memphis, after Wunderlich and others bought Crisler Tipton & Co., a longtime Memphis entity. Within a few years, the company, including partner and president Philip Zanone Jr., had expanded to Houston, Chicago, St. Louis and New York. Today the full-service brokerage firm has $3.5 billion in assets under management, more than 250 professionals in offices around the country, including three New York offices and operates other major business lines including investment banking."