The Capital Corporation

Congratulations to the top 25

South Carolina Fastest-Growing Companies 2009

 This year's winners represent a healthy cross section of industries and business categories. There are significant differences among these best-of-breed companies, but there are also remarkable similarities in how they go to market, serve their customers, create and leverage critical information systems and find success in weathering the tumultuous economic climate we are all enduring.

The25 top performers cover a broad spectrum in terms of size, industry sector and geographic locations. This year's winners span the breadth of South Carolina, from the Upstate to the Midlands to the Coast, showing that success is not driven by physical location but by strategy and customer focus.  Greenville, Sumter, Liberty, Mount Pleasant, Columbia and Ladson are all represented in the Top 10; Duncan, Simpsonville and Pawleys Island also play home to Top 25 honorees. Overall, nearly a dozen cities from across the Palmetto State are represented, with Greenville (11), Charleston/MountPleasant (4) and Columbia (3) representing the greatest number of top performers. In all, 15 of the Top 25 are companies with revenues exceeding $10 million annually, with remaining honorees having revenues under $10 million.  Median revenue for all finalists was $10.9 million; the largest entrant boasts assets exceeding $1 billion.

Direct Source Import of Mount Pleasant, Arnold Construction of Columbia, TSP of Liberty and Small Business Group of Ladson are the fastest-growing companies based on revenue increase alone, while Small Business Group, Mercom Inc. of Pawleys Island and Dennis Corporation of Columbia placed honorees in terms of employee growth.

The unveiling of the 2009 list ranking the state's companies demonstrating significant growth does indeed herald a bright future for South Carolina despite current economic challenges.