Washington Future 50

Averaging an employee and revenue growth rate of 20 percent to 30 percent, the 2009 Future 50 winning companies are doing anything but slowing down, even in a challenging economic environment. Four years ago when SmartCEO launched Future 50, the winners employed 5,000 people collectively and brought in over $2 billion in revenue. Today, the winners employ over 23,000 individuals and generate $6 billion in revenue. Some companies are on this list for the first time, while others are entering their second, third or even fourth year. "We're very pleased to be recognized again as a Future 50 company," says Phil Soucy, CEO of four-time winner MTSI. "We have been very fortunate during our 15-year history. The main reason for our success has been the ability of MTSI's technical staff to partner with our government and industry customers and to assist them in meeting their everyday and long-term programmatic and technical challenges. As we look to the future, I'm reminded of what they say in the financial investment documents - past performance does not guarantee future performance. Based on this perspective, MTSI plans to aggressively look for new ways to continue our growth in the future."

Future 50 recognizes 50 fast-growing companies in Greater Washington based on their revenue and employee growth over the past three years. These 50 companies are comprised of software developers, network service providers, information technology providers, finance, human resources and other industries. The average 2009 Future 50 winner has between 50 and 100 employees and generates $30 million to $50 million in revenue each year.

In addition to honoring Future 50 winners, SmartCEO also profiles companies as Emerging Growth and Five on Fire winners. Emerging Growth winners are young companies, some only a year old, which have experienced significant employee and revenue growth in the short time of their existence. The Five on Fire was created to recognize the next five non-tech companies as a compliment to the Future 50.

This year's winners were asked a variety of questions regarding key growth factors that have enabled them to get where are today, what they predict for their company's future growth, and what advice they give to other CEOs looking to grow their companies. David Ferguson, president and CEO of OakTree Enterprise Solutions, Inc., a first-year winner, says, "Determine what you want your company to look like three to five years from now and start to operate as if you are already there. It's extremely important to maintain positive cash flow, but within that constraint, spend the money to get the right people, systems and processes in place."

A commonality among this year's winners is to remain focused on retaining existing clients and capitalizing on the successful programs and services. Craig Abod, president of Carahsoft Technology Corp., a first-year winner, says it's all about being hands-on. "Set aggressive sales goals, execute flawlessly and carefully manage cash flow, profits, people, expenses and other business requirements," he says. "This highly principled, hands-on approach to generating results builds loyalty among a company's partners, customers and team members, and clearly sets it apart from its competition."

All winners will be celebrated at an awards event on Jan. 29, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda with over 500 C-level executives in attendance.

Editor's note: Companies represented on this list were selected through a series of criteria. Area businesses were invited to apply online in 2008. The descriptions and remarks that follow were culled from subsequent detailed questionnaires. Any remarks regarding quality of service, etc., should not be taken as the opinions of this magazine.

FUTURE 50 Winners
2020 Company, LLC
www.2020llc.com

Abraxas Corporation
www.abraxascorp.com

Advanced Programs Group, LLC
www.apg.com

American Security Programs
www.securityprograms.com

The Analysis Group, LLC
www.tag-llc.com

Approva Corporation
www.approva.net

Avineon, Inc.
www.avineon.com

Binary Group
www.binarygroup.com

BroadSoft
www.broadsoft.com

Carahsoft Technology Corp
www.carahsoft.com

Clovis
www.clovisgroup.com

CNSI
www.cns-inc.com