NEW YORK and DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine today ranked LightEdge Solutions on its Inc. 5000 List, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies, for the fourth consecutive year. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America's independent-minded entrepreneurs, who have led companies through a rocky economy, the uncertainty of new legislation and a dramatically changing business landscape.
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"The leaders of the companies on this year's Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression," said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. "The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs."
LightEdge Solutions is a business to business provider of managed IT services including high bandwidth access solutions, virtual computing environments, security, Voice-over-IP and unified communications. The company was able to successfully manage the economic landscape by reducing expenses, doubling down on customer service and evangelizing the values of hosted IT services through a local provider.
"There was a moment of great clarity in late 2008," said Jim Masterson, chairman and chief executive officer of LightEdge Solutions. "We realized that we could do nothing and become another statistic, or we could use the economic downturn as a mechanism to reinvent ourselves. Since then we've turned the organization from a product and service focused company to a customer focused business partner."
Despite the fact that most of this year's measuring period of 2006-2009 took place during the latest recession, aggregate revenue among the companies on the list actually increased to $321.6 billion, up more than 50 percent from last year. The effects of the recession are seen, however, in the median three-year growth rate, which dropped to 96 percent from last year's 126 percent. This year's Inc. 5000 employ a record 1.4 million people, up from one million on last year's list. With unemployment remaining stubbornly high, policymakers and business leaders will do well to look to the Inc. 5000 companies for fresh ideas on achieving growth and creating jobs.
Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found on www.inc.com/5000.
Methodology
The 2010 Inc. 500|5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2006 to 2009. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by June 30, 2006. Additionally, they had to be based in the United States, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2009. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2006 is $80,000; the minimum for 2009 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. The top 10 percent of companies on the list constitute the Inc. 500, now in its 29th year.
About Inc. Magazine
Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. (www.inc.com) is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today's innovative company builders. With a total paid circulation of 712,647, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. Visit us online at www.inc.com.
About the Inc. 500|5000 Conference
Each year, Inc. and Inc.com celebrate the remarkable achievements of today's entrepreneurial superstars—the privately held small businesses that drive our economy. The Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony brings together members of the Inc. community, both a new class of Inc. 500|5000 honorees and the list's alumni, for three days of powerful networking, inspired learning, and momentous celebration. Please join us September 30–October 2, 2010, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, located minutes from downtown Washington, D.C. For more information about the 2010 Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony and to register, visit www.inc500conference.com or call 866-901-3205.
About LightEdge Solutions
LightEdge Solutions is the only hosted services partner fully dedicated to providing the breadth of communications and IT services to small and medium-sized businesses looking for a better way to focus on their core business, not the technology that supports it. For more information, visit www.lightedge.com.
LightEdge Solutions®, the LightEdge Solutions logo and Scale-on-Demand™ are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of LightEdge Solutions, Inc.
SOURCE LightEdge Solutions
For further information: Scott Riedel, Director of Marketing of LightEdge Solutions, +1-515-471-1256, sriedel@lightedge.com
