BusinessTN

AC Entertainment produces over 500 events a year in over 20 markets, including Knoxville, where the company manages the Tennessee Theatre and Bijou Theatre. In 2000, with co-creator Superfly Productions, the company launched the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, arguably the most relevant annual music event in America. The partnership, which also puts on outdoor music festival Vegoose, purchased Bonnaroo's Manchester site in January 2007, settling in for the long haul. Earlier this year, AC acquired Nashville-based Great Big Shows, producers of Nashville's Dancin' in the District and Vanderbilt University's Rites of Spring.

A full-service transportation company that broke away from Key James Brick and Supply in 2006, AAT specializes in truckload, less-than-truckload and supply chain management services. In July, sourcing, logistics and transportation magazine Inbound Logistics selected AAT (from a pool of more than 500 companies) as a Top 100 Third-Party Logistics Provider for 2009. Though the economic downturn has resulted in fewer overall shipments and made it difficult for AAT to find new customers, AAT has diversified its customer base, focusing on alternative energy and government shippers.

Allied Modular Building Systems manufactures modular buildings, walls and offices, touting them as efficient, cost-saving and environmentally friendly. The company maintains a LEED AP-certified staff, and through its commitment to a "go-green attitude"—as well as its ability to adapt to consumer ideas—Allied Modular Building Systems has secured contracts with NASA, Nike, Toyota, Boeing Co., and the U.S. government. The company has spent more than $1 million on Microsoft software, which, combined with custom project management software, allows it to track a product from start to finish. It services all 50 states with manufacturing facilities in California and Tennessee, with the goal of adding more facilities in the future.

Each month, Internet users stream tens of billions of videos, a trend that shows no signs of slowing. American Music Channel offers roughly 15,000 mainstream music videos on demand via record label agreements forged by Willis, the former CEO of Country Music Television (CMT) and a co-founder of the first company ever to take video over DSL (mPhase Technologies). Also a general entertainment destination and community for music fans, American Music Channel appears to be the first Web "channel" to put video and fan content side by side with a social network connecting music fans and independent artists. The cumulative effect is to seamlessly mingle indie and mainstream content—allowing all artists an equal shot at worldwide exposure and all music fans a unique opportunity to find new music. The company seems a capital infusion away from becoming the record label of the future.

Founded in 1990, APO is the worldwide leader in 3-D glass production. The company made the 125 million official 3D glasses distributed for use during the January 2009 Super Bowl for commercials. Other clients have included Sports Illustrated (for its annual swimsuit issue). APO is riding the wave of the 3-D boom occurring in the Hollywood movie industry. This past summer, amidst a nationwide recession, APO expanded its office space in Bartlett.

Aqua-Chem began solving water purity issues in 1929 with its introduction of the first "packaged" boiler system. Since then, many industries have sought out Aqua-Chem to provide reliable, durable and often transportable water purification systems. The military, for instance, used Aqua-Chem's Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units and Tactical Water Purification Systems in Operation Desert Storm, to provide clean water during a cholera epidemic in Rwanda and to aid flood victims in North Dakota.

In 1994, David Schuermann, practicing as DMS Architects, and Joey Hagan, practicing as a sole proprietor and leasing office space from DMS, joined forces to found Architecture Incorporated. The company is a full-service architecture and planning firm that performs commercial, institutional and residential architecture, and specializes in historic preservation, adaptive use, renovation/restoration and National Parks Service Certified Projects. Architecture Incorporated recently expanded its focus to include planning, neighborhood reconstruction and the multifamily housing market.

This seven-year-old staffing company, which specializes in placing accounting and finance professionals, offers employers several types of hiring services: permanent strategic recruiting services, contract-to-hire services and financial project based consulting services. Since its inception, ARG has staffed more than 100 positions exceeding $5 million in annual compensation through its direct hire division. Averaging significant year-over-year revenue growth, ARG continues to expand despite the economy. In February, the Knoxville company opened a Chattanooga office to better serve its East Tennessee client base.

Founded in 2002, Asentinel holds the only A-to-Z U.S. patent in telecom expense management for its groundbreaking software, Asentinel 6.0. The company boasts that the software, which automates the handling of telecom and IT invoices, has saved clients millions of dollars. Clients include various Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 companies and government entities. Well-known names include Family Dollar, Ticketmaster and Regions Bank. The company recently branched out into professional and managed services, and between this latest offering and the company's expansion plans for new European markets, growth is expected to continue.

Avondale Partners is an investment firm that services private and public middle market companies as well as institutional investors in North America and the United Kingdom. A debt-free, employee-owned investment-banking firm, it contrasts sharply with larger investment firms facing severe financial difficulties. Capitalizing on subprime credit crunch staffing cuts, Avondale has increased its employee count from 82 to 98 over the last two years. The firm's growth can be attributed to the expansion of its institutionally focused equity research product. That product, along with the firm's recently added private client wealth management segment, is expected to contribute to future growth as well.

Bob Cox Camper Country has provided East Tennessee with options in recreational vehicles for almost 40 years. While dealerships across the state and nation are shuttering their businesses, Bob Cox Camper is growing. The company's Internet parts business, which allows it to sell all over the world, tripled between 2008 and 2009. Founded by Bob Cox in 1971, Bob Cox Camper Country is a family business, with daughter Stacie Cox Waters following in her father's footsteps.

Founded in 1949 by Raymond C. Hand, this family beer distributorship is now under third-generation ownership. Under the leadership of the elder Hand's grandson, Charles Hand Jr., what was once just Budweiser of Clarksville has made three acquisitions over the last three years. The most recent brought the former Beasley Distributing Co. of Soddy Daisy into the fold, bringing the distributor's beer sales total to a combined 10 million cases annually and its employee count to about 330 employees regionally.

C3 is a management and information technology consulting firm focused on project leadership for companies going through growth or change. The certified Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) works with companies of all sizes (from small startups to Fortune 100 organizations) to help them streamline processes or use technology to solve business challenges. Profitable since its inception in 2005, the 44-person company is currently focusing on health care IT initiatives and health care business process reengineering, both of which support a popular topic, health care reform.

Founded about nine years ago, CCI provides secure online confirmation services that improve the end-to-end turnaround time for fulfillment of audit confirmation requests. Confirm technology can help streamline the confirmation process, increase client privacy, avoid fraud and eliminate paper storage. The company already supports thousands of registered accounting firms and financial institutions. As banks increasingly require auditors to use CCI services and the industry continues to undergo regulatory changes, CCI's growth prospects look promising.

CareHere specializes in providing on-site health care through employers in an effort to make health care easier and more affordable. The company provides employers, physicians, employees and dependent patients with online appointment schedules, lab notices and graphed interpretation, electronic medical records, medical trends and more. Presently, CareHere manages more than 80 clinics nationwide and plans to expand on-site limited pharmacies to full pharmacies and to extend electronic medical records to other caregivers.

Launched three years ago by brothers Colin and Parker Polidor, Cell Journalist provides a turnkey platform that allows users to capture breaking news and other events with cell phones, digital cameras and video recorders and submit the images directly to a specific Web site. Inspiration for the company came from the suicide bombings that shook London in 2005, as London citizens armed with handheld phones submitted images to media outlets that weren't prepared to receive and process such large amounts of user-created content. Today, Cell Journalist's clients include major players such as E.W. Scripps, Raycom, Gatehouse Media, Young Broadcasting, Dispatch Publishing and Media General. With the rise of "citizen journalism," the influx of iPhones, Blackberries and other gadgets, and a downward economic shift in the publishing industry resulting in the need for cost-cutting strategies, Cell Journalist's future looks bright.

Founded in 2003, the company originally provided IT services to small businesses in the Nashville area out of Holland's home. But over time, the demand for Web services increased, and now the company focuses on providing clients with strategy, planning, execution and on-going management services. It has 22 employees and was honored as one of the "10 Most Dependable Web Design Firms in the Southern U.S." by independent California research firm Goldline Research in the April 2008 issue of Entrepreneur. Due to the economic downturn, CentreSource has been able to attract larger clients looking to cut costs. Clients include Belmont University, Fazoli's and Warner Brothers Records.

Honing in on an untapped advertising niche 15 years ago, Malham founded what's now the largest full-service ad and marketing agency geared toward personal injury lawyers across the country. But the serial entrepreneur, who is a finalist for the 2009 Ernst & Young Alabama/Georgia/Tennessee Entrepreneur of the Year award, didn't stop there—he created additional companies dedicated to serving the profession that's admittedly often the butt of jokes. Examples include Legal Intake Professionals, launched in 2000, which is a 24/7, 365 days-a-year specialized call center made up of 60 specialists dedicated to providing new case intake for injury lawyers in more than 100 firms across the nation. Other business units under Malham's umbrella, such as Stuff4Lawyers and the EXPNetwork provide clients innovative tools for competitive advantage in their markets. The latest company, Med View Services, employs registered nurses and legal nurse consultants to assist injury lawyers in more effectively and efficiently screening their medical malpractice cases. cj Advertising's goal is to build and represent the top 50 personal injury brands in the United States, and with 36 firms in 76 markets already in the fold, the company is well on its way.

Claris helps clients, including some of the country's largest specialty medical practices, forego upfront capital costs and move IT to an operating expense. East Tennessee's largest IT solutions provider, the 11-year-old company supplies clients throughout the Tennessee Valley, western North Carolina and northern Georgia with managed services solutions, network implementation and integration solutions, IT support services, and professional consulting services aimed at designing, deploying and managing IT services. The company works to improve client efficiency, enhance productivity and protect the bottom line. Near-term growth opportunities lie in the offsite data storage and disaster recovery services arenas.

Community Ties provides consulting, case management, therapy and licensure/certification review services to individuals with special health care needs, as well as quality improvement and consulting services to private or public health care service providers. The company—which already has operations across the country, including corporate offices in Tennessee, a therapy services division in Florida, and a licensure/certification review division in Hawaii—has plans to expand into multiple states this year. Community Ties also assists individuals enrolled in Tennessee's Home and Community-Based Medicaid Waiver with determining the health care services they require and their eligibility for federal, state and local programs. As the health care industry seeks more effective and efficient ways to serve people, the Community Ties model has positioned the company for aggressive growth.

Former U.S. military personnel with a desire to make a difference founded CMSS in 2006. CMSS is a diverse business that specializes in construction, logistics, IT, infrastructure and security. CMSS has grown from a $7 million company in 2007 to a projected $80 million company in 2010. It has current projects in Iraq and Afghanistan and humanitarian efforts ongoing in Africa. CMSS develops solutions that fit the clients’ requirements, local culture and laws and wider international conventions. CMSS operates U.S. based offices in San Antonio, Texas and Maryville. It also maintains offices in Iraq, Afghanistan, Eastern Europe, Africa, Turkey and Jordan. Because of the planning and carefully executed efforts of hiring well qualified personnel, expert consultants, joining the right organizations and securing their footprint in Afghanistan, CMSS is poised for a great future.

Launched in 2004, Cumberland Consulting Group is a national technology implementation and project management firm serving ambulatory, acute and post-acute health care providers. The company works to help clients improve their business performance and advance the quality of care they deliver. Recently, Cumberland was included in the Healthcare Informatics survey of the top 100 health care IT companies by revenue. (The company's health care IT revenue has nearly doubled in the past two years.) Cumberland was also recognized as one of the "Seven Small Jewels" of the consulting profession by Consulting Magazine, making the company the first-ever Nashville-based firm selected.

A network services and managed security provider, Cybera's solutions integrate all enterprise applications, including private intranet, Voice-over IP, credit/debit transaction processing, public wi-fi hotspots and IP video. Founded by Duffey in 2001, the company has about 80 employees and reports strong growth over the past several years. Cybera expects more with its expansion as a managed security service provider and launch of a new security and compliance product called Secure Link.

Davidson specializes in management, development, acquisition, accounting and consulting in upscale and luxury full-service hotels and resorts. In the 1990s, the company shifted its focus from small, mid-scale hotels in the Southeast to more upscale, high three-star and four-star assets in larger markets nationwide. First under then-owner Wilton D. "Chick" Hill, and now under Belden and his senior management team, it's a strategy that has paid off. Now the sixth largest independent hotel management company in the nation, Davidson currently manages 36 hotels across the United States under such flags as Hyatt, Westin, Sheraton, Marriot, Renaissance, Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Radisson and Crowne Plaza. Though the economy may impact the pace of the company's 2009 growth, one positive is that Davidson is being approached by financial institutions and hotel owners in search of stronger managers to help weather the storm.

Engineering and precision CNC manufacturing company East Tech, which, among other things, makes components for nuclear and hydroelectric plants, counts TVA, Alstom Power, Astec Industries, Westinghouse and Mohawk among its major customers. Launched in 2003 by Layne, who mortgaged his house and used personal assets to get the company off the ground, East Tech recently extended its contracts with TVA Hydro and TVA Fossil. With the resurgence of nuclear power, as well as more road construction, East Tech expects to see contracts increase substantially.

Kurt Nichol and Csaba Biegl formed EDAS in 2000 to better enable transition of high-cycle fatigue (HCF) test and evaluation technologies to the commercial sector. EDAS offers services, data acquisition products and analysis software to the turbomachinery testing industry. Clients include power generation companies like GE and Siemens, jet engine manufacturing companies like Pratt & Whitney and Solar Turbines, as well as government agencies like NASA and the U.S. Navy. EDAS is currently looking into products that appeal to a broader market.

EVS focuses exclusively on the data storage industry, providing online data backup and recovery services, storage hardware sales and professional storage management consulting services. The company is poised to take advantage of cloud computing for disaster recovery, which aims to increase security, redundancy and availability while decreasing costs to its customers. Recently, EVS was named "Partner of the Year" by leading cloud backup and recovery platform provider, Asigra Inc. Despite economic weakness, storage capacity demand, storage spending and storage-related headcount appear to be resilient. As the explosion of electronic data continues to drive the market, Electronic Vaulting Services is well-positioned for the future.

A group of friends working at an international consulting firm in the Silicon Valley founded this information technology and business operations outsourcing company in 1999. Since then, the company has grown from eight consultants to more than 300 analysts, consultants and technology leaders. The company's 2004 relocation from California's Silicon Valley to Nashville's "Silicon Valley of Health Care," has allowed eMids to grow by more than 300%. The company boasts offices in Birmingham, Boston, Chattanooga and Louisville, as well as three "delivery centers" in Bangalore, India.

Businesses and organizations like Gibson Guitar, Life is Good and New York University, among others, use Emma to design e-mail marketing campaigns and online surveys. Founded as Cold Feet Creative in 2002 by Smith and Will Weaver, Emma came about when the partners built a prototype for an e-mail marketing service that they believed would stand out from all the rest. The pair asked the Belcourt Theatre to try the prototype for free (in exchange for feedback), and by 2003, Emma had 25 customers and two employees (in addition to the founders). Today, Emma has 75 employees (in Nashville, as well as satellite offices in Denver and Portland) and about 20,000 customer accounts scattered around the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and beyond.

Founded in 1996 to build computers for family and friends, Epic is now a rapidly growing communications company focused on delivering technology and networking solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses across the United States. Epic's professional services division services more than 450 organizations across the country in fields such as banking, health care and manufacturing. Its national services division is comprised of more than 600 engineers across the United States. Over the next few years, the company expects to more than double its sales revenue due to the explosive growth of voice-over IP technology.

ES&H provides construction, engineering, disaster response, facility management and training services. The company was nationally recognized for its support during the World Trade Center tragedy and has been instrumental in disaster response for multiple U.S. hurricanes, including Ivan, Katrina and Rita. Recently, Oak Ridge National Laboratory awarded ES&H its roads, grounds and maintenance service support contract and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded the company a contract to provide civil works construction services and incidental technical services in the Nashville District, as well as the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division of the USACE.

Essex is a large volume sales company that purchases or receives on consignment customer returns, overstocks, damaged box items and excess inventory from national retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers. Essex resells these items through their eight retail stores, online platforms like Overstock.com and Amazon.com, and their wholesale/export team. Since June of last year, the company has opened five new retail stores. With retail sales down, Essex has been able to purchase unsold inventory at discounted rates and then sell them to shoppers looking for bargains in a down economy.

Exhibitor Source designs and builds trade show displays and permanent on-site structures, and provides exhibit storage, installation and show management services for their tradeshow customers. The full-service event management company, which began in 1994 as part of the Skyline Exhibits network of dealers, has grown from seven to 33 employees since 1999, the year Hamari purchased the dealership from Skyline Exhibits. Though the down economy has caused companies to slow or freeze marketing and event plans all together, many are just looking to cut costs, which means Exhibitor Source has been able to attract accounts from larger/higher end competitors. Clients that have left such competitors for Exhibitor Source include Nissan, Dun and Bradstreet and Schneider Electric.

Established in 1906 in Bumpus Mills, Tenn., with assets of approximately $614,000, F&M now boasts assets of approximately $760 million, with 15 offices and four mortgage loan offices located throughout Middle Tennessee. In the past year, the locally owned community bank has opened two full-service offices and four mortgage loan offices. In Montgomery County, the bank's primary market, F&M boasts the #1 FDIC market share ranking for the past five years. Stuard, a leading Clarksville businessman and past chairman of the Tennessee Bankers Association, was named "Community Banker of the Year" by American Banker magazine in 2007.

Founded in 1993, FAMC is a full-service, professional mortgage banker licensed to provide residential mortgages across the nation (with operation centers in Dallas, Boston and San Francisco, as well as retail offices throughout the United States). While other mortgage companies are suffering from the subprime debacle and housing downturn, FAMC is flourishing. The company also recently signed on as title sponsor for Nashville's 2010 Music City Bowl.

When Froggy's Fog founders Pogue and Chris Markgraf decided to make their own "fog" for their laser tag/skating rink fun center, they couldn't have known where it would lead. Today, they're all about fog—manufacturing, distributing and selling fluids for use in simulated smoke generators, fog machines and theatrical haze machines. Named the "World's Greatest Fog" for the TV show World's Greatest in 2008, Froggy's Fog has been used in amusement parks, stage productions, laser tags, haunted attractions, fire training facilities and military training installations. Recently, Froggy's has been working on a new Web site (www.AvSmoke.com) that will cater to the aviation smoke oil sector, which is used for skywriting airplanes, acrobatic airplanes and airshows.

Since 1973, Gallaher & Associates has been helping clients and communities live more safely with the help of security and alarm services. The systems integrator designs, sells, installs and services low-voltage technology systems, including life safety, security, communications and pro audio video, as well as systems for health care, education and government clients that are largely recession-proof. Its territory includes East Tennessee, North Georgia, West North Carolina, Southwest Virginia and South Kentucky. The company, which completed an expansion of its headquarters in 2007, plans on opening a Tri-Cities area branch and expanding its Chattanooga site in the near future.

Christian entertainment and music site HearItFirst.com boasts more than 200,000 members, 140,000 unique visits per month and 1.1 million page views in the burgeoning Internet video space. The site offers videos, photos and audio streams, genre sections, artist pages, news, new releases, tour information, community and blogs. Though revenue is currently generated through advertising and promotion, affiliate sales and commissions, the company plans to benefit from subscription revenue in 2010. Relatively unique in the marketplace, HearltFirst.com is poised to capitalize on the fact that fans are increasingly turning to the Internet to engage with artists and discover new talent.

Founded in 1960 as a grading, storm drainage and earthmoving contractor, Highways has grown to include asphalt, bridge and sand manufacturing divisions. The company owns and operates five individual asphalt plants across Tennessee and lays an average of 2.5 million tons of base tone and 750,000 tons of asphalt per year. Highways has worked on projects big and small, including the Chattanooga Airport Taxiway, Cool Springs Galleria and various Wal-Mart Supercenters across the state. In addition to hoping to benefit from Tennessee Department of Transportation stimulus projects, the company is also exploring potential acquisition and expansion opportunities.

Businesses depend on phone and Internet lines working. When they're down, a business can't wait half a business day for a response. HisCall, with nearly 75 technicians in the field, works to respond within 15 minutes, a key element of customer satisfaction and the company's resulting growth. HisCall offers consultation, design, installation and maintenance services of voice & data networks. A former AT&T salesman, Luffman launched HisCall in 2000. The company now boasts more than 100 employees and a branch office in Knoxville.

Hollingsworth Cos., led by renowned Tennessee businessman Joe Hollingsworth Jr., boasts 12 million square feet of industrial property stretching from Fort Worth to Richmond to Columbus to Montgomery. Also under the Hollingworth Cos. umbrella are several related business entities, including Hollingsworth Capital Partners, run by Joe's 20-something son, Trey. Last year, HCP was the highest ranked Tennessee company in the 25-year history of Inc. magazine's 500 fastest growing companies in America. The company specializes in buying, restoring and selling investment-related industrial property nationwide.

During HometownQuotes' first two years of business, the company operated out of a bonus room above CFO Bob Klee's garage. Today, HometownQuotes is the largest privately owned company in its industry—quite a feat, considering its largest competitors have been in business for more than 15 years. With 31 employees, the company helps consumers comparison shop for insurance by connecting individuals with local, hometown insurance agents offering quotes for auto, home, life, health and renter's insurance. Recently, HometownQuotes acquired the intellectual rights and phone licensing for 1-800insurance.com with plans to elevate the 1-800 number and URL as a nationally recognized brand and household name for all things insurance.

Founded almost 15 years ago, IMI Health has migrated from being predominately a data platform provider to a data solutions company with a focus on health plans, large employers and unions, health systems, physician practices and pharmacy benefit managers. The company transforms health care data into actionable knowledge for some of the largest health plans around the country. In 2006, IMI's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) solution—which manages health care data from disparate source applications—received official certification status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), becoming one of only 11 vendors (and the only vendor in Tennessee) with certified quality software recognized by NCQA. With the Obama administration focused on comparative effectiveness and electronic pathways for clinical data, outsourcing or partnering will become increasingly necessary. IMI stands at the ready.

Eight-year-old inBusiness Services, founded by Green, Kevin Anderson and Terry Bellenfant, is the developer of 360 View CRM—relationship management software that helps financial institutions track referrals, cross-sells, customer touches, marketing campaigns, customer profitability, sales activities and more. More than 100 small to mid-size banks and credit unions in 35 states use 360 View CRM. This year, inBusiness Services released an updated version known as 360 View Premier Profitability in the hopes of continuing to help financial groups understand the needs of their customers. New partnerships with large data-processors for banks and credit unions, as well as two new products set to hit the market soon, should boost future revenues.

Based on technology developed by practicing physicians at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, ICA integrates and improves existing clinical systems to create a unified electronic health record including disease and wellness dashboards, secure messaging and real-time clinical information. Employing about 45 people, ICA delivers a cost-effective solution that leverages complete data across clinical settings to aid decision-making and improve patient outcomes. The health care IT portion of the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as well as the growth in health information exchange initiatives at the state and local levels, should positively impact ICA's revenue growth.

Founded in 2001, Iostudio specializes in Web design and Web application development, videography, graphic animation, photography, publications and call center support and print collateral. A solutions-based marketing company offering both technical and creative services, Iostudio doubled its revenue between 2006 and 2008. The company counts among its clients the Army National Guard, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing in Murfreesboro, the Tennessee Bar Association and WGFX-Citadel Broadcasting.

With 22 years in the technology-staffing field, JDResources provides clients staffing and contract sourcing solutions. The IT staffing company expanded in 2003 by creating a subsidiary, Intense Technology, to better assist companies with IT needs, an outsourcing trend for Fortune 500 businesses. Due to the challenging economy and the fact that companies have been steadily laying off employees, JDResources' outplacement services have become a key revenue stream. And while, also as a result of the economy, the company has seen competitors downsize or cease to exist, its conservative business practices have allowed it to weather the storm.

Nearly doubling its revenue in the past two years, Kenco continues to provide third-party logistics to companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, Whirlpool and Cummins. The company, whose humble beginnings 59 years ago included two employees (founders Jim Kennedy Jr. and Sam Smartt) and one facility, now boasts more than 4,000 employees, 100 facilities and roughly 25 million square feet of warehouse space in 31 states and Canada. The Kenco family of companies includes Kenco Logistics Services, Kenco Transportation, Kenco Toyota-Lift, Kenco Management Services and JDK real estate.

Launched in 1984 as a 12-person accounting firm with investments from its original founders, LBMC now encompasses eight different operating companies, employs more than 400 people and ranks as the 45th largest accounting firm in the United States. With offices in Brentwood, Knoxville and Chattanooga, the company provides accounting, human resources, technology and operations solutions. In February, it announced the formation of its newest company, LBMC Managed Security Services, which will work with clients to provide security protection from unauthorized access and sensitive information disclosure through intrusion prevention and detection services. Other current growth opportunities for the company include risk services, payment card interface (PCI) and succession planning.

With a new facility set to open in Knoxville next year, the 17-year-old M&L Sound has become one of the most well regarded audio-visual corporations in the Southeast. M&L Sound designs and installs sound equipment for churches, auditoriums, night clubs and stadiums like UT's Neyland Stadium, and also provides audio-visual touring support for entertainment icons such as B.B. King, The Beach Boys, the Dave Matthews Band, Toby Keith and Wilco. The company is currently exploring opening satellite offices in other states and positioning itself to engage in live event production management.

Launched in 1999 to provide consumers with an easy method to browse and select from thousands of magazine titles, Magazines.com is a Web site where customers can research, browse and purchase subscriptions from hundreds of publishers. Between January and March of 2008, Hitwise, an Internet traffic monitoring company, rated Magazines.com as the seventh most-trafficked site for the Shopping and Classifieds-Books category. Other growth opportunities for the burgeoning company include continuing to perfect its online subscription manager, which allows customers to track magazine subscriptions with an easy-to-use Web interface, and the fact that it's constantly adding magazine titles to its 2,000-plus catalog.

Major Commercial Cleaning is a full-service cleaning company specializing in floor care, janitorial and post-construction cleaning with accounts in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. The company serves many high-profile clients, including Cummins Station, the Ryman Auditorium, the Grand Ole Opry and Bumpus Harley-Davidson. A reduction in construction and post-construction cleaning opportunities has impacted revenues over the past year. However, new business developments have the company poised for additional future growth. The company is exploring expansion into the residential cleaning market, as well as forming an owner/operator partnership for expansion into additional geographic markets.

Founded in 2002 by IT industry veterans Jeff Wade and Bill Smith, Market Street Solutions provides services to assist clients with the installation, implementation and support of performance management software solutions. The company strives to help companies plan, monitor and analyze their business using market-leading software solutions provided by Market Street's partners, Cognos (an IBM company), Microsoft and QlikTech. Such partnerships, especially that with fast-growing software vendor QlikTech, are expected to fuel growth.

Previously known as Coptix, Medium is an integrated design and communications firm, bringing clients holistic business development through branding, graphic design, Web development, Internet marketing, social media marketing, e-commerce, software development and communications. Medium created, alongside Thinking Media, Emory University and Grady Health System, the software PictureRx, an interface that provides a simple way for people to manage and understand their prescription medication. Also built Message CMS—a new content management and Web site development system. The company recently opened an office in Chicago and also announced a partnership with Chattanooga's EPB and Alcatel-Lucent for a $226.7 million Smart Grid project in Southeast Tennessee.

In 2007, party rental equipment company MCT, founded by Joe Freedman, Jeff Terry and Tim Dodd, merged with six-year-old T&M Event Rentals, founded by McConnell and JT Terrell. The 22-employee merged business works with event coordinators, wedding planners, caterers and venues to provide equipment such as tents, lounge furniture, linen, fine china and portable restrooms. MCT's revenue growth is considerably faster than the industry average, and the company is currently looking to expand into additional markets.

Navarro is a federal contractor providing environmental services, renewable energy and energy efficiency, nuclear, national security and quality safety services. The company, which works with the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, has more than 350 employees working in 14 offices and 23 project locations. A woman-owned small disadvantaged business, Navarro has been recognized repeatedly by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country and by Hispanic Business magazine as one of the fastest-growing hispanic companies in the United States. It is currently pursuing additional work in the waste management sector.

New Constructs reads and analyzes the annual reports for more than 3,000 publicly traded companies. By "scrubbing" those reports, the nine-employee company is able to provide investors with insights into the true economic earnings of companies, including option grants, off-balance sheet financing, write-downs, reserves and pensions. The equity research firm expects Congress to use it as a tool to plug the holes in the corporate financial reporting system and bring more transparency to the market. It aims to provide Congress with a central resource that will reveal the hidden financial facts that make reported earnings misleading, provide a more accurate and standard measure of profitability, and show the future cash flow growth required to justify stock prices for all publicly traded companies.

Each day, 8,000 baby boomers, many of them business owners, turn 60 years old. As they employ exit strategies over the next five years, business advisory firm NorthShore intends to capitalize on the increase in M&A activity. The five-employee company, which was founded in 2001, provides financial advisory services to middle-market companies seeking guidance on buy/sell opportunities, mergers and acquisitions, valuations, joint partnerships, debt placement and financial restructuring.

With 6,000 employees and more than 120 distribution centers, OHL is one of the largest third-party logistics companies in the world. The company provides supply chain management solutions, including transportation, warehousing and distribution, customs brokerage, freight forwarding, and import and export consulting services. OHL operates internationally and serves the food and beverage, health care, apparel and consumer electronics industries (among others). Recently, the company signed a contract with Sara Lee Corp., making OHL the supply chain provider for all of Sara Lee's household and beverage division.

Formerly a health care consulting firm founded in 1985, onFocus recently transformed into a health care-specific enterprise performance management software company. The software company's core product, onFocus|epm (enterprise performance management), is a Web-based tool that helps hospitals and other health care organizations ensure execution and achieve targeted financial, clinical and operational business objectives across the entire enterprise. onFocus' first customer went live in 2008, and in the first half of 2009, the company sold onFocus|epm to more than 30 health care facilities with another 60 installations pending as of June.

Optimum provides the financial, health care and retail industries with IT services in enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, e-business and business intelligence solutions. A certified women's business enterprise (WBE), the company has been profitable since its inception in 2003 and now boasts 42 employees.

With expansion into retirement services, this employee benefits and human resources firm has adapted to keep growing in a changing health care environment. Founded in 1996 by Levy, who spent 11 years at Prudential Healthcare, the firm boasts more than 70 years of combined senior management experience to assist companies in their design, implementation and evaluation of employee benefits, retirement and human resources programs. Profitable from the beginning, the small firm is also known for taking care of its 20 employees, as flex hours, generous vacation time and an in-house gym/training studio landed it on Outside magazine's 2009 "Best Places to Work" list.

Parsam Technologies provides financial institutions, such as banks, credit unions and brokerages, with configurable Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. Parsam's software, uMonitor, is used by financial institutions to deliver online services, such as loan application processing, funds transfer services, data analysis and employer benefit plan management. These solutions help financial institutions provide all branch services online to customers and create new efficiencies in back office operations. As financial institutions increasingly realize that they must increase online services to be competitive and attract new customers, Parsam, which is in the process of upgrading its solutions to provide more robust offerings, seems well-positioned to assist them.

Founded in 1996 to build Web sites for physicians, hospitals and insurance companies, Passport now provides revenue cycle management solutions to more than 5,300 hospitals, clinics and outpatient facilities in all 50 states. Passport's products allow health care providers to verify a patient's address, run a credit score, take cash or credit card payments, process pre-certification requests and physicians referrals and other functions. Last year, the approximately 300-person company processed more than 130 million transactions. As hospitals struggle to maintain fiscal health, Passport, through facilitating better administrative and financial processes, is poised to help providers adapt to and emerge from economic/insurance-related challenges.

Named one of Apparel magazine's "Top 50 Most Innovative Companies" for 2008, Perfection Uniforms manufactures uniforms for police, fire and EMS workers and distributes them internationally through a network of distributors. The company has serviced consumer brands like L.L. Bean, Polo and Jones New York, as well as government agencies like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Other accolades include receiving the Uniform Market's Univator award, which recognizes innovation in the uniform industry, for three consecutive years. Recently, in keeping with the "going green" trend, Perfection Uniforms has garnered interest for its eco-friendly uniform initiative.

Personal Computer Systems is one of the largest technology providers and computer systems builders in the Southeast. Founded in 1996, PCS originally focused on computer supplies and components but quickly evolved into a full service production and service facility providing products to corporations, educational and government agencies, and resellers. The company's education segment represents about 70% of its business, and it hopes to capitalize on the fact that a major thrust of federal stimulus money involves employing technology in education. It also has a strong focus in another educational trend—distance learning.

While selling electric fencing (for horses and cattle) to farm and feed stores in the Southeast in the early 1980s, Randy Boyd began receiving inquiries about a product called Invisible Fence. When he discovered that the product was only sold through franchise dealers, he invested more than his net worth to create a radio fence of his own and founded Radio Systems in 1991. Today, Radio Systems, which employs more than 350 people worldwide and sells more than 900 products, is one of the largest pet product manufacturers in the United States. With brand names such as PetSafe, Sport Dog and Invisible Fence (Boyd now owns the company that introduced him to that initial product), Radio Systems' products include bark control systems, pet doors, pet identification collars, pet feeders, and, of course, electric fences. With the non-food pet products industry expected to reach $15 billion by 2011, Radio Systems is set to ride the wave.

Nearing its 10th year, health care administration consultancy PivotHealth assists companies in staffing senior administration positions, interim managers, IT support and organization analysis. More growth is anticipated via its expansion into satisfaction analysis (patient, provider and employee), coding and compliance services and hospital-physician strategy implementation, which involves creating business services to assist providers in improving their medical practice performance. As hospitals continue to trend toward a return to employing physicians and/or linking physicians to the hospital through a management service company, PivotHealth will continue to enjoy an increase in the number of health system requests for its services.

Premier BPO supplies outsourced business processes to businesses in various markets, including cable, telecom, software/hardware support and financial services, all over the world. By performing back office functions for its clients, Premier BPO allows them to focus on their core competencies. Though Premier BPO calls a relatively small town home, the company recently opened its second facility in China and has offices in Pakistan, India and the Philippines. With companies everywhere striving to reduce costs due to the current state of the economy, Premier BPO stands at the ready, promising to reduce expenditures related to back office functions by as much as 50%.

The 140-year-old Nashville-based branch of Northwestern Mutual is one of the largest operations in the Northwestern Mutual network, serving over 52,000 clients from its offices in Nashville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Knoxville and the Tri-Cities. A diversified financial management firm, Pruett offers clients insurance, employee benefits and investment opportunities. The company's employee and executive benefits business grew more than 30% last year, making the operation the sixth largest in the Northwestern Mutual system nationwide. That segment, along with the life insurance operation, continues to represent near-term growth potential.

In response to the first and only fatal accident that occurred at Thompson Machinery Commerce Corp., management launched an internal training management tool for Thompson and other heavy equipment dealers. The training tool soon demonstrated its value in many industries, and in April 1999, PureSafety became an independent company. Today, the company, which has earned spots on Inc. magazines 500 and 5000 list as a result of its dynamic growth, provides customizable online safety training delivery and management solutions, as well as software solutions for managing incident reporting and investigation, workers' compensation, disability and absence programs. Recent growth has been fueled by the company's December 2008 acquisition of Unique Software Solutions and its Occupational Health Manager (OHM) software suite.

RFD-TV proved "rural" has no boundaries when it went global earlier this year, starting with the launch of its channel in over nine million homes in the United Kingdom. Not even 10 years old yet, RFD-TV is the nation's first 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week television network dedicated to serving the needs and interests of people in rural areas. Programming includes shows focused on agricultural, equine and rural lifestyles, as well as traditional music offerings and shows like Hee Haw and Crook & Chase. Other units include a magazine and a theatre in Branson, Mo.

Founded about 10 years ago as a steel sales and warehouse business, Richland now has six divisions—steel sales, industrial services, custom fabrication, industrial doors, sandblasting/painting and professional engineering. The industrial-based service company has about 90 employees operating under a four-person owner/management team with more than 100 years combined experience in the construction industry. Continued growth is expected through more large water and waste water construction projects and the construction of technically advanced waste water equipment. The company is also teaming up with a Seattle outfit to pursue renewable energy.

Running Pony is an Emmy award-winning full-service video/film/digital production and communications company. Founded in 1994 by former television journalists Rod Starns and Jonathan Epstein, Running Pony's services include corporate image videos, sales and marketing presentations, TV and Web commercials, Webcasts, interactive CDs and DVDs, and multi-camera event videography. With clients the likes of FedEx, University of Memphis and Hilton Hotels, Running Pony is now one of the largest, if not the largest, production and post-production companies in Memphis. Growth opportunities exist as the company continues to educate corporate clients about the ways to use video online and as it works more closely with advertising agencies to help them find more cost-effective ways to produce broadcast commercials and non-broadcast videos for their clients.

In the past seven years, Rustici Software, which began as two guys providing freelance software development services out of a spare bedroom of Rustici's home, has grown into an 11-person company that's a global leader in SCORM products. SCORM, or Sharable Content Object Reference Model, is a collection of standards and specifications for e-learning software products. The company has a wide range of clients, including the U.S. Navy and a small software company in Budapest, and as the online learning field continues to explode over the next few decades, Rustici is well-positioned to take advantage of it.

On June 12, 2009, Saratoga Technologies announced the acquisition of Johnson City's iPlenus, marking the company's third acquisition in less than two months and its 16th acquisition in eight years. The technology solutions company, which offers products and services in computer networking, printing/copying, telecommunications, business software, programming and Internet solutions, also recently purchased Gilcom and Innovative IT, both located in Pigeon Forge. In April, Saratoga made Accounting Technology magazine's 2009 VAR (Value-added Resellers) 100 List at #44, moving up from 2008's placement of #48 and 2007's placement of #79. It is one of only two Tennessee-based companies to ever make the list.

Founded in 2007 as Simplex Diabetic Supply, Simplex Healthcare provides home delivery of medical supplies to patients with diabetes. In 2007, Simplex acquired Diabetes Care Club, and since then, the DCC brand has become the third largest mail order supplier of diabetic testing supplies for seniors, serving more than 130,000 patients. Simplex, which currently occupies 66,085 square feet of space and employs about 300 people, announced plans in August to expand its headquarters into a 91,253-square-foot-facility and to bring 300 additional jobs to Williamson County over a two-year period. Hudson is also a 2009 Alabama/Georgia/Tennessee finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Launched in 2007 by Mason and co-founder/chief technology officer Adam Solesby, Studio Now creates custom online video production platforms for its customers in multiple markets, including publishing, real estate, fashion and design, online broadcasting, and the music recording industry. The production platform manages the content development process from start to finish, connecting the customer with thousands of videographers, editors, directors, producers, animators and voiceover artists and ultimately providing syndication capabilities. The Web-based video production company, which boasts creating top-quality digital content at a fraction of the cost charged by production houses, counts among its clients Simon and Schuster, Chronicle Books, Citysearch, Ford Models, CBS Radio, Clearchannel, Playboy, the NewsMarket, and Yahoo/Rivals. For example, the company created a one-minute trailer for CBS's How I Met Your Mother. As demand for online video content continues to increase, StudioNow will continue to thrive.

In 1998, Chinese-born logistics entrepreneur Chen established Sunshine as a scaffolding and construction products manufacturer and distributor. The company has expanded to become a leading importer and distributor of construction equipment, bridging the differences between the United States and China within manufacturing. Sunshine has offices in Memphis, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta and four Chinese cities. The company is currently looking to bring in equal quality but lowered cost construction equipment to distribute in the United States.

Diesel fuel prices exceeded $4.50 in Tennessee in the summer of 2008, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. While prices have receded, biodiesel production and technology companies like SunsOil have come into focus as reliable, clean, domestic alternatives to foreign oil. Produced from raw materials such as vegetable oils or animal fats, biodiesel may very well be the fuel of the future, and SunsOil, which is exploring new sources of inexpensive raw materials for fuel production, is poised to capitalize on the country's need for an alternative.

Founded in 1972, The Buntin Group is the largest marketing communications and advertising firm in Tennessee and one of the top 100 nationwide (according to Adweek's "Top 100 Agencies" list, which ranks companies by revenue). The company has worked with several big-name clients, including Cracker Barrel, John Deere, Goodyear and O'Charley's, and was most recently selected as retail media agency of record for Oreck. Expansion of Buntin's outdoor media management division and a greater emphasis on social media are fueling growth.

The RUSH Fitness Complex opened its first two health clubs in Knoxville in 2001 and now operates 19 clubs in Tennessee and North Carolina. The RUSH doubled its annual revenue between 2006 and 2008. Though revenue will continue to grow as newer clubs mature and the economy stabilizes, adding new clubs is the company's primary revenue driver. It recently opened two fitness centers in the Asheville, N.C., area and hopes to continue to add clubs to The RUSH family in the future.

TrackPoint designs, builds and sells solar-powered trailer tracking products. The company also provides engineering services and products for customers needing custom applications for data sensing, transmission and presentation. With products and projects currently in the homeland security, transportation, commercial distribution and medical device development industries, TrackPoint is positioned to serve federal, state and local governments, as well as private industry. Impacted by diesel fuel increases in early 2008 and the economic downturn in late 2008, the company is focused on specialized applications of its technology that will result in less unit sales but greater margin on both hardware and connectivity. Management anticipates explosive growth in the near future through either an OEM partnership with an established company or through government regulations related to the tracking of untethered trailers.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in a spare room in Thomas' Memphis home, Uniguest began selling automated public PC workstations to the hotel industry so that hotel guests could access the Internet. By the end of 2004, Uniguest was servicing 111 hotel properties throughout the United States, and by 2005, the company had outgrown its headquarters and found a new one—with real office space—in Nashville. Today, in addition to supporting the largest network of public computer systems in the United States with 2,529 locations and 4,132 work stations in the hospital, restaurant, retail and hospitality industries, Uniguest also provides publishing services. The company purchased a Nashville digital sign company, Dynamic Digital Designs, in June.

The "Vaco Nation" includes 26 offices across the country, but unlike other national firms, each of the offices is its own LLC, and the majority of the office is owned by the local team. The consulting and placement firm's revenue growth is well above industry average, boasting a 63% revenue growth from 2006 to 2007, and a 71% revenue growth from 2007 to 2008. While the economy has impacted the company's permanent placement revenue, contract revenue has increased, indicating that companies still have needs for people to fill jobs but want to stay flexible and keep costs variable, rather than hire full-time employees. Future growth opportunities also include getting clients to utilize an outsourced help desk/service desk operations called Vaco Technology Services, which, the company boasts, typically saves clients about 30% over having their own help desk operations.

Providing Class II gaming platforms to markets throughout the United States since 1991, VGT is one of the fastest-growing private companies in the gaming industry. Products include LCD touch screens, stepper-reel live-draw bingo games and narrow-width gaming cabinets that let facilities place two machines in the space traditionally taken by one. The company also manufactures Live-Call Bingo, which is the top-earning bingo-based Class II gaming platform for Native American casinos. Revenues, as well as employee numbers, continue to climb year after year.

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. The financial advisory firm now has more than 320 professionals in 13 offices in the United States (it opened four last year alone) including in Memphis, Nashville, Houston, St. Louis, Chicago, Baltimore, Denver, New York and Birmingham. In August, through an acquisition, the firm even established a presence in Norway. While many financial services firms have disappeared in the past year, Wunderlich anticipates expanding to still more cities this year and seeing growth in its services, including its investment banking business.