UF Centers Name Fastest Growing Companies In The State

September 23, 1996

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida project has identified the fastest growing companies in Florida, a list of 86 businesses that have created more than 3,000 jobs.

The Tampa company topping the list has grown by almost 4,000 percent, according to figures from Florida 100, a program set up jointly by the University of Florida’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Center for Accounting Research and Professional Education in the College of Business Administration.

As Florida 100 expands, the annual list will be used to help businesses manage their growth, assist local government in attracting high-growth businesses and formulate public policy.

“There has been an amazing number of jobs created in Florida because of these companies,” said Michael Plater, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. “These 86 companies created an additional 3,340 jobs in Florida over the last three years.”

The companies identified were an assortment of different businesses, with no one industry seeming to dominate in terms of growth. Physicians Healthcare Plans Inc. In Tampa, with a three-year growth of 3,838 percent, was selected as the top growth company.

“There were a number of medical companies, and a large number of technical companies, in the communications and electronics fields,” Plater said. “Despite the state’s emphasis on tourism, there were few retail companies and tourism-related firms.”

The companies were ranked by sales growth over a three-year period. The companies had to be located in Florida, be an independent or privately-held corporation and have sales between $100,000 and $25 million in fiscal year 1993. Young, rapidly growing companies such as those identified in the survey face unique issues and challenges. The Florida 100 program intends to play a role in addressing these issues.

“A new council for high-growth firms out of the Center for Entrepreneurship will provide these companies with a variety of services and information,” Plater said. “We will also attempt to provide student interns and conduct telephone customer satisfaction surveys
for firms on the council.”

Another purpose of Florida 100 is to assist local government in attracting these high-growth companies.

“We want to identify the resources and community attributes that helped make these companies successful, and present these findings to local and state governments interested in attracting more business,” Plater said. “We want to find what parts of the local environment act as catalysts for growth.”

All the top 86 businesses are invited to a conference at the Radisson Airport Hotel in Orlando on Dec. 5. The daylong conference will feature a series of seminars on topics identified by the businesses as important. The conference received corporate sponsorship from Arthur Andersen, Coopers & Lybrand, Deloitte & Touche, the law firm of Gunster, Yoakley, Valdes-Fauli and Stewart, and Raymond James & Associates Inc. The corporate sponsors and College of Business faculty will give the seminars.

“The seminars were all identified by the firms as topics they wanted more information on,” Plater said. “They include customer service, financing, joint ventures, managing cash flow and corporate managing.”

Individuals interested in finding out more about the conference should contact the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at (352) 392-0213.