As Corporate Report 100 passes from its teenage years to its twenties, Ingram’s has taken a look back at the first few years to see how different the list of the 100 fastest-growing companies in the Kansas City area looked, compared to today’s list.
Sprint Campus
As one might expect, the advancement of computers has played a huge role through the years. The number of computer-related businesses has grown steadily, while the use of computers is now a given, rather than an option.
The other obvious trend is the growth in the number of companies that are service businesses, rather than retail or wholesale sales, manufacturing or construction. Three of every five companies listed on this year’s list can be qualified as “service” companies.
Here are a few interesting tidbits that jumped out after a review of the last 20 years.
- In 1986, the first year of Corporate Report 100, there were almost no computer-related companies. In just one year, there were eight, including the top two and three of the top four in 1987. Three of the top six were computer-related in 1988. In 1995, the 10th edition of Corporate Report 100, 12 companies were directly related to the computer industry. On this year’s list, there are 19 companies that derive their primary income from production, maintenance or support of computers, and practically every company depends on computers in the daily function of their business, from architectural to insurance to financial and even to service companies.
- The top company in 1986 was US Telecom Communications Services Company, a subsidiary of United Telecommunications, Inc. Shortly thereafter, United Telecom merged with operating units of GTE Corp. to form US Sprint, a long-distance carrier that chose Kansas City as its home. Today, Sprint is the largest employer in Kansas City, with more than 16,000 of their firm-wide 60,000 employees calling this area home. Sprint did not make this year’s list, because it’s hard to grow dramatically when your base year (2001) showed gross revenues of $26 billion. Sprint did grow through 2004, but only to $27.4 billion. With the 2005 merger with NEXTEL, we can only guess how big that number will be in the coming years, or if Sprint will even qualify with the possible move of the company’s headquarters to Reston, Va.
- The second-ranked company in 1986 was Hafkemeyer BMW, which later moved to its current location at I-35 and Shawnee Mission Parkway in Merriam (now known as Baron BMW). Overall, in 1986, 20 of the 100 companies were auto dealers. That number shrunk to nine in 1987 and six in 1988. There is one (Bob Allen Ford at 98th) on this year’s list.
- In 1987, 10 companies in the medical/healthcare industry were on the Corporate Report 100 list. They ranged from a temporary nursing service, Favorite Inc., which came in ranked 14th, to pharmaceutical manufacturing giant Marion Labs, which was ranked 96th. In the 10th anniversary issue in 1995, that number had held fairly steady, with nine companies in this field. On the 2005 list, there are five companies in the medical/healthcare industry.
- In 1987, the following disclaimer was given in what was then called Corporate Report/Kansas City (the magazine’s name was changed to Ingram’s in 1989): “Companies in the banking, insurance, underwriting, real estate sales, construction contracting and hospital industries were excluded from the list due to the difficulty of equating their growth and/or incomes to sales.” Apparently that has become easier, because 23 of the 100 companies on this year’s list are in one of those categories.
- Of the companies listed on the list of all-time winners, three appeared on the first list in 1986: Lockton Companies (appearing this year for the 14th time); DST Systems (the seventh time); and Marion Labs (a.k.a. Marion Merrill Dow and Aventis Pharma-ceuticals), which has appeared seven times but is not on this year’s list for obvious reasons.
- Four others, including all-time top honoree Cerner Corporation, made their debut in 1987. Center is on the list for the 15th time. Wrenn Insurance (ninth time in 2005), Consolidated Lumber (eight times) and DeBruce Grain (seventh time in 2005) appeared in the second year.
- The breakdown of industry categories in 1986 showed that 29 were involved in wholesale business, 27 were involved in retail, 23 were involved in manufacturing, 16 were in service and five were in transportation other than the car dealers. Just one year later, service companies jumped to the forefront. Nearly half—43—were service companies, while manufacturing took 28 places, retail took 16, wholesale took 11 and transportation too two. Service-based companies maintained the top spot in 1988, the third year of the program, with 41 spots, followed by manufacturing (23), wholesale (21), retail (12) and construction (three). By 1995, service-based companies took up well over half (63) of the spots. Of those, 12 were involved in the staffing or training industry. Retail was second with 25, followed by manufacturing with eight and wholesale with four. Ironically, there were no construction companies in the top 100 in 1995. In 2005, 60 companies qualified as service companies. The remainder were fairly evenly divided between retail (16), construction (eight), manufacturing (seven) and wholesale (six).
- Most of the companies were based in Kansas City, Mo.; Kansas City, Kan.; and Johnson County, Kan. on the first list, but the areas covered spread quickly. In 1986, 46 were from Kansas City, Mo. Johnson County had 26 and Kansas City, Kan., had 11. The three areas made up 83 of the 100 companies listed. In 1987, that number had shrunk to 72, with Kansas City, Mo., holding a 35 to 31 lead over Johnson County. Just five were from KCK. KC, Mo., saw an increase to 38 percent in 1988, while Johnson County dropped to 28 percent. KCK also grew to 10 companies. Interestingly, in 2005, the number of companies outside the “heart” of the metro was nearly back to the original ration. Only 19 companies are based outside those three areas on this year’s list. Johnson County had the most with 41, followed by Kansas City, Mo., with 35. Kansas City, Kan., had just five.
- Missouri hosted 63 of the 100 companies in both of the first two years, but by 1988, Kansas was gaining and Missouri held only a 55-45 lead. Kansas hosted 46 of the 100 companies and Missouri hosted 54 in 2005.
- Among the companies that have appeared most often in Corporate Report 100 (at least seven appearances), the year with the most debuts is 1991, with six, followed by 1987 and 1992 with four.
We can only guess what the next 10 or 20 years might bring. Maybe there will be a new industry that affects every other industry like computers have in the last 20 years. Only time will tell. Ingram’s Magazine plans to be right here working on the front line to unveil and showcase business trends in the greater Kansas City area.