By Pete Julius
Business 2.0 magazine revealed their list of the 100 fastest growing technology-related companies. Interestingly enough, nearly 25% of the companies on the list are located in the Midwest. The Midwest has traditionally been known as a manufacturing-based economy, but as the national economy shifts into a service-oriented economy so does the Midwest. California is home to 33 of the fastest growing technology-based businesses. The second closest is not even close. Massachusetts has a total of eight companies in the ranking. Massachusetts is closely followed by Pennsylvania with six companies.
It is not much of a surprise to see business services as the top industry sector since the national economy has been migrating from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy. Electronics is second with 21% and software at 20%.
The ranking consists of primarily medium to large companies. Eighty-nine of the companies contain at least $100 million in revenue for the calendar year 2003. Hewlett-Packard was the largest company with nearly $75 billion in 2003 revenue. The smallest company on the list reported $52.5 million.
Not all of the companies in the list experienced job growth. Only about seventy-five percent of the companies had any job growth. In fact, only 43% of the companies experienced greater than 10% growth. Enzon Pharmaceuticals had the largest job growth with 150%. Business Objects was the next closest with almost 83% growth in jobs.