WOMEN LED COMPANIES - new data

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) today released the sixth ranking of the 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/led companies in North America in its annual program sponsored by American Express OPEN, the small business division of American Express. The Top 50 generated a combined $3.2 billion in 2012 revenues and collectively employed 24,000 people in 2012.

“We are so pleased to continue our partnership with American Express OPEN in honoring these trailblazing women and their amazing accomplishments.”

Happy Family, which offers a complete line of organic meals and snacks for families based in New York, has taken the top spot for 2013. Shazi Visram, founder and chief executive officer saw her 10-year-old company’s revenue quadruple in two years from $13.3 million in 2010 to $62.3 million in 2012.

Strategic Communications, a Louisville-based provider of technology services, tripled her company’s employment within a two year span to take second place this year. Kathy Mills, chief executive officer, has also nearly doubled the company’s revenues from $23.1 million in 2010 to $41.2 million in 2012.

“This year more than half of the companies in the Top 50 are new to the ranking and this trend illustrates how diverse women-owned and led companies are,” said Marsha Firestone, Ph. D., president and founder of WPO. “We are so pleased to continue our partnership with American Express OPEN in honoring these trailblazing women and their amazing accomplishments.”

Research commissioned by American Express OPEN earlier this year shows that the number of women-owned firms pulling in $10 million or more in annual sales has jumped by 57% over 10 years.

“American Express OPEN is honored to support this elite group of women who represent the full spectrum of industries and have become leaders within the women business community,” said Randi Schochet, vice president at American Express OPEN. “Entrepreneurship is an exciting option for women, and the honorees we recognize today are excellent role models for women entrepreneurs, focusing on growth and thereby creating jobs and boosting the economy.”

All submitted companies were ranked according to a sales growth formula that combines percentage and absolute growth. From this list, the 50 Fastest were selected. To be qualified for the ranking, businesses are required to be privately held, woman-owned/led companies in the U.S. or Canada and reached annual revenue of at least $500,000 in 2007 and $2 million in 2012.

More about the 2013 WPO Top 50:

• The average revenue grew from $24.9 million in 2008 to $64.5 million in 2012
• Founded the business: 90%
• Average age: 47
• Average number of projected 2013 employees: 641

In order to help the Top 50 continue to seize even more business opportunities, each of the honored business owners will be offered a $500 American Express gift card.

All 50 companies will be honored at a special event hosted by American Express OPEN at the 2013 WPO Annual Conference in Dallas, TX on May 2, 2013. The awards reception will take place from 6 – 9PM at the Fairmont Dallas Hotel.

The WPO’s 2013 Top 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies are:

		Entrepreneur Name		Company Name		City, State/Province
1		Shazi Visram		Happy Family		New York, NY
2		Kathy Mills		Strategic Communications		Louisville, KY
3		Shelly Sun		BrightStar Franchising, LLC		Gurnee, IL
4		Tiffany Crenshaw		Intellect Resources		Greensboro, NC
5		June Ressler		Cenergy International Services, LLC		Houston, TX
6		Sue Bhatia		Rose International, Inc.		Chesterfield, MO
7		Anita Emoff		Boost Technologies		Dayton, OH
8		Kathleen Croddick		Suite K Value Added Services, LLC		South Brunswick, NJ
9		Lani Hay		Lanmark Technology		Vienna, VA
10		Ranjini Poddar		Artech Information Systems, LLC		Cedar Knolls, NJ
11		Tracy Balazs		Federal Staffing Resources, LLC		Annapolis, MD
12		Lori Ann Blaker		TTi Global		Rochester Hills, MI
13		Phyllis W. Newhouse		Xtreme Solutions, Inc.		Atlanta, GA
14		Claudine George		ICONMA LLC		Troy, MI
15		Joy Taylor		TayganPoint Consulting Company		Lambertville, NJ
16		Sarah Valentini		Radius Financial Group, Inc.		Norwell, MA
17		Jacqueline B Wilson		American Fashion Network, LLC		Manlius, NY
18		Elizabeth Elting		TransPerfect		New York, NY
19		Therese Tucker		BlackLine Systems		Los Angeles, CA
20		Terry Lehmann		True Green Enterprises, Inc.		Boca Raton, FL

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Would you ask how women led firms have done in the past 10 years?  Well here is your answer, which should be no big surprise.....

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Marillyn Hewson probably does not fit your notion of what a defense company CEO is like. The Lockheed Martin chief is so self-effacing that for years Mike Hardin, dean of the University of Alabama's business school, didn't know exactly what Hewson did for a living, even though she sits on his school's Board of Visitors. If you go to see her at her Bethesda, Md., office, chances are good she'll greet you with a warm smile, hand you a bottle of water, and, if it happens to be a Monday morning in the fall, offer a lively recap of the previous Saturday's University of Alabama football game. (She earned an undergraduate degree in business and a master's degree in economics from the school.)

Hewson's good nature belies a toughness developed during the course of a 30-year career at Lockheed Martin (No. 59 on the Fortune 500). "Don't ever underestimate or think that she doesn't have a backbone or position because she does," says Bruce Tanner, chief financial officer of Lockheed. The daughter of a longtime civilian employee of the Army, she worked in four of the company's five business units. Hewson, ranked No. 19 on Fortune's2012 Most Powerful Women list, was tapped to become chief operating officer of the company, a gig she expected to be her last at Lockheed. Then the company's CEO-in-waiting, Christopher Kubasik, was forced to resign amid revelations that he'd had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. The company immediately elevated Hewson to the COO job, and less than 60 days later she became CEO, her 20th job at Lockheed. "Nineteen was a quick turn," she jokes.