PART I: THE 50 FASTEST-GROWING CHICAGO BUSINESSES

Crain’s Chicago Business recently published a list of the city’s 50 fastest-growing companies, noting its annual roundup “could be one of the best indicators of the marketplace at the moment.”

The list is determined by businesses that have recorded the largest revenue gains over the past five years. In addition, Crain’s asked the companies’ CEOs how they achieved such impressive success.

Since there are 50, the list will be broken up into two parts, consisting of 25 each.

Here are the top 25 fastest-growing companies:

1. Agave Loco LCC

• Industry: Consumer Products & Services/Retail
• Type of Work: Makes and sells Rumchata
• Local Employees: 1
• 2013 Revenue: $52.1 million
• Five-year Growth: 611,724%
• How it grew: Change is sales strategy
• Location: Vernon Hills

2. Maven Wave Partners LLC

• Industry: Business Services
• Type of Work: Information technology consulting and provider of Google’s cloud computing platform
• Local Employees: 61
• 2013 Revenue: $15.6 million
• Five-year Growth: 8,089%
• Reason for Growth: Partnered with Google
• Location: Chicago

3. Honey-Can-Do International LLC

• Industry: Consumer Products & Services/Retail
• Type of Work: Makes home storage products
• Local Employees: 70
• 2013 Revenue: $33.3 million
• Five-year Growth: 7,236%
• Reason for Growth: Prepared and credible, allowing it to sell its products to major retail chains including Target, Wal-Mart, Aldi and Amazon.
• Location: Berkeley

4. Peerless Network Inc.

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Telecommunications
• Local Employees: 55
• 2013 Revenue: $90.4 million
• Five-year Growth: 6,135%
• Reason for Growth: Works with large carriers
• Location: Chicago

5. Ahead LLC

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Information technology consulting and services
• Local Employees: 93
• 2013 Revenue: $216 million
• Five-year Growth: 3,669%
• Reason for Growth: Spread beyond the Midwest without the financial aid of external investors
• Location: Chicago

6. Market6 Inc.

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Web-hosted retail software and data analytics
• Local Employees: 25
• 2013 Revenue: $15 million
• Five-year Growth: 1,977%
• Reason for Growth: Implementing data analytics to provide demand forecasting for retailers
• Location: Deerfield

7. Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc.

• Industry: Health Care
• Type of Work: Manufactures and distributes generic injection drugs
• Local Employees: 77
• 2013 Revenue: $244.8 million
• Five-year Growth: 1,939%
• Reason for Growth: Partners with global manufacturers to produce cheap drugs
• Location: Schaumburg

8. Textura Corp.

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Offers subscription software platform to construction professionals that automates bill paying and sending of legal documents
• Local Employees: 224
• 2013 Revenue: $35.5 million
• Five-year Growth: 1,932%
• Reason for Growth: Focuses on a specific, targeted customer base
• Location: Deerfield

9. Catamaran Corp.

• Industry: Health Care
• Type of Work: Pharmacy benefit management services
• Local Employees: 1,000 (*company estimate)
• 2013 Revenue: $14.8 billion
• Five-year Growth: 1,613%
• Reason for Growth: Acquisitions
• Location: Schaumburg

10. Load Delivered Logistics LLC

• Industry: Transportation/Logistics/Distribution
• Type of Work: Logistics Management Services
• Local Employees: 56
• 2013 Revenue: $44.5 million
• Five-year Growth: 1,266%
• Reason for Growth: Specializes in refrigerated shipping targeted for the food and beverage industry
• Location: Chicago

11. Paragon Micro Inc.

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Provides IT services including hardware and software for businesses
• Local Employees: 60
• 2013 Revenue: $98.1 million
• Five-year Growth: 1,254%
• Reason for Growth: High performance among sales representatives
• Location: Lake Zurich

12. Mack Industries Ltd.

• Industry: Construction & Real Estate
• Type of Work: Investment property development and management
• Local Employees: 38
• 2013 Revenue: $47.1 million
• Five-year Growth: 1,101%
• Reason for Growth: Buys low and sells high
• Location: Tinley Park

13. Access Media 3 Inc.

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Private cable television provider for the multitenant market (e.g., apartments and college dorms)
• Local Employees: 92
• 2013 Revenue: $45.7 million
• Five-year Growth: 1,035%
• Reason for Growth: Acquisitions that expanded its customer base
• Location: Oak Brook

14. L2T Media LLC

• Industry: Media & Marketing
• Type of Work: Digital marketing
• Local Employees: 45
• 2013 Revenue: $21.3 million
• Five-year Growth: 943%
• Reason for Growth: Referrals
• Location: Evanston

15. Singlehop LLC

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Hosted IT service provider for business software and websites
• Local Employees: 85
• 2013 Revenue: $29.1 million
• Five-year Growth: 941%
• Reason for Growth: Provides individual clients with an automated server setup
• Location: Chicago

16. Healthcare Solutions Team LLC

• Industry: Business Services
• Type of Work: Health insurance
• Local Employees: 8
• 2013 Revenue: $20 million
• Five-year Growth: 934%
• Reason for Growth: Personalized sales
• Location: Lombard

17. Brad’s Deals

• Industry: Consumer Products & Services/Retail
• Type of Work: Offers online and printable coupons
• Local Employees: 46
• 2013 Revenue: $17.4 million
• Five-year Growth: 837%
• Reason for Growth: Facebook likes
• Location: Chicago

18. Madison Construction Co.

• Industry: Construction & Real Estate
• Type of Work: General contracting
• Local Employees: 80
• 2013 Revenue: $65.8 million
• Five-year Growth: 808%
• Reason for Growth: Takes on challenging construction projects
• Location: Orland Park

19. Gogo Inc.

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Provides in-flight wireless Internet services for commercial airlines
• Local Employees: 517
• 2013 Revenue: $328.1 million
• Five-year Growth: 792%
• Reason for Growth: The first company to create an in-flight wireless Internet network
• Location: Itasca

20. Rightpoint Consulting LLC

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Develops websites, intranet and apps
• Local Employees: 102
• 2013 Revenue: $21.3 million
• Five-year Growth: 755%
• Reason for Growth: Prioritizes user experience
• Location: Chicago

21. Impact Advisors LLC

• Industry: Business Services
• Type of Work: Provides healthcare technology consulting
• Local Employees: 22
• 2013 Revenue: $43.1 million
• Five-year Growth: 726%
• Reason for Growth: Obamacare mandates
• Location: Naperville

22. Coyote Logistics LLC

• Industry: Transportation/Logistics/Distribution
• Type of Work: Third-party transportation logistics
• Local Employees: 915
• 2013 Revenue: $1 billion
• Five-year Growth: 680%
• Reason for Growth: Targets growing companies
• Location: Chicago

23. Gorilla Group

• Industry: Tech & Telecom
• Type of Work: Designs and develops E-commerce websites
• Local Employees: 84
• 2013 Revenue: $16.1 million
• Five-year Growth: 572%
• Reason for Growth: “Savvy positioning”
• Location: Chicago

24. Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants

• Industry: Consumer Products & Services/Retail
• Type of Work: Restaurant and winery chain
• Local Employees: 427
• 2013 Revenue: $94.4 million
• Five-year Growth: 553%
• Reason for Growth: Expanding locations
• Location: Countryside

25. Trisect LLC

• Industry: Media & Marketing
• Type of Work: Marketing
• Local Employees: 137
• 2013 Revenue: $21.5 million
• Five-year Growth: 550%
• Reason for Growth: Smart-hiring
• Location: Chicago

Next article: Good-paying jobs you can get without an expensive four-year degree

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Kevin Hoffman is a Reboot Illinois staff writer who graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in journalism, political science and international studies. He believes keeping citizens informed and politicians in check is the best way to improve Illinois and bring about common sense reform.  Follow us on Facebook.