August 2001 Health care sector
is a growth Nashville Tennessean, August 12, 2001 HCA Inc., American Healthways Inc. and National Healthcare Corp. are among the hundreds of health-care businesses that got their start in Middle Tennessee. That sector of entrepreneurism is still active and is one of the reasons that health-care companies make up 20% of the 2001 Music City Future 50, the awards program that annually recognizes 50 of the fastest-growing businesses in Middle Tennessee. Following the national shift from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, service businesses are a close second, occupying nine seats in the 2001 Music City Future 50. The annual program is sponsored by The Tennessean, Pinnacle Financial Partners and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Council. Consulting and manufacturing businesses, with six each, are tied for the third most popular industry group this year. The same groups led the list last year as well, but the order was consulting, health care and services. ''For a decade, the Nashville Area Chamber's Music City Future 50 Awards have been given to our area's fastest-growing, privately held companies,'' said Vic Alexander, managing partner at Kraft CPAs and vice chairman of small business for the chamber. ''These companies exemplify excellence, and their achievements help drive economic growth in Middle Tennessee,'' he said. Companies in the 2001 Music City Future 50 are relatively young, with 38 of them formed in 1995 or later. They are also employers, with an average of 62 workers as of Dec. 31, 2000, and an average of 78 today. Last year's Future 50 company averaged 47 employees at the end of 1999. They generate a total of $423 million in annual revenue, at an average of about $8.5 million per company. That compares with an average $6.7 million revenue per company a year ago. Their estimated economic impact, based on an estimation of $26,000 per employee, was $80.3 million at year-end 2000 and is $101.2 million today. Two of them — PayMaxx, the Franklin-based payroll processing company, and Christian Network International Inc., the Nashville-based independent Christian production and retail distribution company — have made the list for the fifth time this year and move into the Future 50 Hall of Fame. To be eligible for consideration in the Music City Future 50, a company must be privately owned, with headquarters in Middle Tennessee; have at least 10 employees, $500,000 in annual revenue or both; and expect revenue and employment growth of at least 10% each year for the next three years. The Small Business Council collected the nominations and PricewaterhouseCoopers tabulated the financial data to choose the top 50 of the almost 150 businesses that submitted data this year. The List Here are the 2001 Music City Future 50 companies. Unless indicated otherwise, they are based in Nashville.
|