Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. And it's guest time on the show, and we're out onsite at a real cool event: The Houston Fast 100. That is the fastest-growing companies ranked by percentage of growth 2008 over 2006. It's an event brought to you by the Houston Business Journal and several supporting sponsors. First up, in the supporting sponsor category is the lead supporting sponsor. That's Whitney Bank, and with me is Lee Mediamolle. Lee, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show.
Lee: Thank you. Thanks for having me, Russ.
Russ: So why don't you start by telling us Whitney's interest in the Houston Fast 100?
Lee: Well, this is our third year as the presenting sponsor for the Houston Business Journal Fast 100, and we felt that the HBJ's been a great advertising venue for us for a number of years, and three years ago we had the opportunity to take the presenting sponsor role, and we've been very excited to have that role this year.
Russ: Cool. Well, ranked by growth 2008 over 2006, pretty interesting 'cause I imagine that there's a lot of companies in business these days that had more revenue in 2006 than they have in 2008.
Lee: And maybe 2008 and 2009 combined.
Russ: That's right, that's right.
Lee: Yeah, we are certainly in some difficult economic times here in our country, and it's just amazing to see how these companies have been able to persevere and be a part of this list. It really is a testament to the can-do attitude and the positive and creative experience that these companies have and the willingness to succeed even though the cards are often stacked against them.
Russ: Oh, you bet. Well, in fact, speaking of that, how is Whitney Bank doing in these economic trying times?
Lee: All banks at this time are certainly having some struggles. Depending on where your geographic footprint is really depends on how your bank's performing. If you're a bank located out West, you really have some issues, but being located in the Gulf South has really been positive for Whitney Bank. Many of our clients, just like you see in the Houston Fast 100, are continuing to do well. Sure, it's not as good as it was in 2006 or 2007, but they are hanging in there.
Russ: Okay, Lee, I really thank you for spending some time with us.
Lee: Thank you, Russ.
Russ: You bet. That's Lee Mediamolle, Vice President, Whitney Bank, and the lead sponsor of this Houston Fast 100. And continuing on with the sponsors of the Houston Fast 100, I have with me now Anthony Grijalva, Jr., Vice President, G&A Partners. Anthony, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show.
Anthony: Thank you, Russ. Pleasure to be here.
Russ: You bet. Why don't you start by telling us what business is G&A Partners in?
Anthony: G&A Partners is a HR and administrative outsourcing firm, so we help companies with time to grow their business. We help them focus on their revenue-generating functions as opposed to administrative functions.
Russ: So this falls in that PEO category? Professional Employer Organizations?
Anthony: We are a PEO. It's tough to tell people that because a lot of people don't know what that means, but technically, we are a PEO.
Russ: Okay so what motivated you guys to be sponsors of the event?
Anthony: As a growing company ourselves, we were an alumnus to this event several years ago, and so that's one reason why. The other reason is the companies that are represented within the Fast 100 are the kind of companies that we have as client, so it's really nice to see the list and look down the list and know that we have several clients on the list as well.
Russ: So it makes a lot of sense for you guys to be here.
Anthony: Oh, absolutely. One of our core values for our company is entrepreneurialship, so it's good to see a lot of entrepreneurs succeeding in today's market.
Russ: That's cool. Well, Anthony, I really appreciate your giving us some of your time.
Anthony: Thank you very much, Russ.
Russ: You bet. That's Anthony Grijalva, Jr., Vice President, G&A Partners. Continuing on with sponsors of the Houston Fast 100, I now have with me Catherine Gerard, General Manager, Staples. Catherine, welcome to the Businessmakers Show.
Catherine: Thank you, Russ.
Russ: So is this the first year that Staples has become one of the supporting sponsors of the Houston Fast 100?
Catherine: It is. We are so excited about it. We love to participate, encourage the small businesses in local communities to keep moving forward with their successes.
Russ: Cool. Well, the contest, of course, measures 2008 growth over 2006. You know, it's a tough time, so do you feel that at all at Staples in Houston or are you still so new that every year is a growth year?
Catherine: Every year is a growth year, Russ. We are enjoying continued success and love the fact that we have the opportunity to keep building on that.
Russ: Great. Well, Catherine, I really appreciate you giving us some of your time.
Catherine: Absolutely. Thank you.
Russ: You bet. That's Catherine Gerard, General Manager, Staples. And continuing on with the sponsors of the Houston Fast 100, I have with me now Seth Hachmeister, Business Sales Manager with Verizon Wireless. Seth, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show.
Seth: Thank you.
Russ: Why don't you tell us about Verizon's interest in the Houston Fast 100?
Seth: Well, this is an event that we've been involved in the last few years, and it's one of our most exciting events that we help to sponsor. We believe in the Houston Fast 100. These are companies that have clearly set themselves apart from their competition in this tough economic time.
Russ: Well, I would say growth 2008 over 2006 is just having any growth is something one ought to be proud of.
Seth: Absolutely.
Russ: Well, in fact, speaking of that, tell us how are things are going at Verizon Wireless?
Seth: We have some very exciting things going on against our competition as well as continuing to increase our data speeds. That's what everything in our industry is really gearing towards is increasing our data coverage and our speeds.
Russ: What's your opinion of the group of contestants this year?
Seth: Well, we see several of our existing customers in this group so that's something very exciting for us as well as an opportunity to visit with other leading companies in the Houston area and to see how they're doing business because I think a key part of doing business is taking great ideas from other businesses.
Russ: Okay. Well, that's real cool. Seth, thank you for sharing some time with us.
Seth: Absolutely.
Russ: That's Seth Hachmeister, Business Sales Manager, Verizon Wireless. And continuing on with the sponsors of today's event, now I'm very pleased to have with me Phil Morabito, founder and CEO of Pierpont Communications. Phil, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show once again.
Phil: Well, thanks so much for having me here. It's an exciting day.
Russ: You bet. Tell us what was the thought process in Pierpont becoming a sponsor of the event.
Phil: Well, Pierpont's always worked with fast growth, successful entrepreneurial companies, and this event the Fast 100 really embodies the spirit of growth and the spirit of entrepreneurialism in making your business better and working hard and achieving those great results.
Russ: Okay. In case we have somebody that doesn't know about Pierpont Communications, tell us about the firm.
Phil: Sure. Pierpont's one of the largest communications firms in the South. We're in Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. Been around about 22 years, and we're a full-service firm that provides marketing, public relations, investor relations and public affairs services to a real wide variety of customers.
Russ: You know, we've had you on the show not too long ago talking about what one should do in these tough times. I always love your message and that is to play offense and not defense in these tough times, correct?
Phil: Absolutely. Companies that work hard and market themselves in these downturns end up benefitting greatly, and in fact, we're starting to see that right now. We are seeing slight turns in the economy, and our phone's starting to ring like crazy, and it's because we've been marketing our brains out in these tough, tough periods. So when you're visible when everyone else is invisible, you stand to benefit when people start looking for your products and services.
Russ: Okay. Phil, thanks a lot for sharing some time with us.
Phil: Thank you, Russ.
Russ: Okay, that's Philip Morabito, founder and CEO of Pierpont. Up next, the winners of the Houston Fast 100. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.
[Aflac Commercial]
Russ: This is the Businessmakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com and continuing onsite at the Houston Fast 100 event. I'm here now joined by Katie Laird. Katie, good to have you with me.
Katie: Great to be here, Russ, thanks.
Russ: You bet, and now we're gonna start talking with several of the winners. First up, I have one of the Enterprise Champions with me, Dick Didow with Catch the Moment. Dick, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show and congratulations on your being named one of the Enterprise Champion Winners.
Dick: Thank you. I'm humbled and really appreciated the opportunity.
Russ: Great. Well, tell us a little bit about Catch the Moment.
Dick: Well, Catch the Moment provides marketing services at events by engaging customers for our clients in a fun way and getting them to consider the clients' products and services. And through promotional items we can help them convert them to their client list.
Russ: Okay, that sounds pretty good, but let's be a little bit more specific. What actually do you do?
Dick: Well, we do all of that by using digital photography, so it's a lot of fun. It's innovative. It can be different each and every time it's done. Most of the time we use the green screen technology and people go up online to retrieve where survey questions can be obtained and help our clients develop their database of potential clients.
Russ: Okay and so when you use sort of the green screen technology, that means that you're actually putting in backgrounds that are selected by the person that just got photographed?
Dick: Exactly so any industry, any theme can be utilized, so if you're having a theme about space, we can make you look like you're on the moon or we can make you look like you're flying. And it's a lot of fun, and it's the one thing people will keep is a photo of themselves, and it has the logo of our client on it.
Russ: Oh, that's really cool. Well, so you do this exclusively at company events then, right?
Dick: That's right at either public events like professional sporting teams or private events, either one, and we now have 13 locations around the country, so there's not very many places we can't be.
Russ: Okay. Well, Dick, I really thank you for sharing your story with us and congratulations.
Dick: Thank you very much. I appreciate you having us on.
Katie: And next up we have an Enterprise Champion Winner and a Power Five Winner, Ken Parekh from Amsys Innovative Solutions. Welcome. Congratulations.
Ken: Thank you, Katie. It's great to be on the show.
Katie: Now tell me a little bit about Amsys Innovative Solutions.
Ken: Amsys Innovative Solutions is a full-service IT consulting firm right from technology, communications, voiceover IP phone systems, network systems, managed services. We try to portray a one-stop, complete IT solution for a client. We service clients from all ranges, from small to medium-sized businesses. And our core concept on our logo is applying intelligence. And what we believe in applying intelligence, Katie, is we try to apply technology IT intelligence in a client's business process to make them more faster, better, efficient, thus making them more productive and profitable.
Katie: So then you guys go in and, I mean, you're not just a standard plug-and-play, here's these boxes we can put in for you. I mean, you're really catering to very specific needs for your clients then.
Ken: Absolutely, Katie. What our niche is we wanna help a business grow by implementing IT the right way and not just implementing it for the reason of just set up computers and servers. We actually wanna help, and we grow when our clients grow, and we have grown 100 percent in the last three years, you know, 300 percent rate, so it's been really nice.
Katie: Fantastic. Well, good. So what's next this year? What are you excited about in the future?
Ken: We just bought another computer company, so we are actually incorporating another company in our wings, and we're trying to help their clients and give them the Amsys experience.
Katie: Excellent. Well, Ken, many, many congratulations.
Ken: Thank you, Katie.
Katie: Okay and back to you, Russ.
Russ: Okay and next Enterprise Champion Winner with me, a former guest on the BusinessMaker Show, Jerry Lasco, founder and CEO of Lasco Enterprises. Jerry, welcome back to the BusnessMakers Show.
Jerry: Thank you very much, Russ. We're thrilled and honored to be here. It's exciting day for us.
Russ: You bet. Well, I know all about Lasco Enterprises, but tell our audience about the company.
Jerry: Well, Lasco Enterprises is a management company for some wine-centric businesses. We have the Tasting Room Wine Bar and Max's Wine Dive, which is our latest restaurant concept, and that's now in Houston and Austin, and we're trying to grow it across the country.
Russ: Well, I've experienced the Tasting Room and Max's Wine Dive, and you guys seem to have really a good formula that's humming right now, right?
Jerry: Well, thanks. We're constantly working on it. It's a labor of passion, and we try to serve good food with great service in a really fun atmosphere.
Russ: I think the interview actually took place in the Summer of 2006, and you had along with you a partner, Jonathan Horowitz, and it was a real cool interview. Congratulations on being one of the Enterprise Champion Winners. Did it surprise you?
Jerry: Well, it was surprising, and it was definitely a great honor, but a little kudos to you. When we came on your show two years ago, that's when sales and revenues kicked off.
Russ: Sparked it. Thank you very much for that, but I gotta tell you, man, from what I see, it's hard to get a parking place over there sometimes at the Tasting Room. Do you think 2009 might even be bigger than 2008 despite the economy?
Jerry: We think 2009 from what we've seen so far is gonna be a great year, and 2010 is gonna be on fire.
Russ: All right, fantastic. Well, Jerry, thanks for visiting with us and congratulations once more.
Jerry: Thanks again, Russ.
Russ: And now back to Katie.
Katie: And we're back with another Enterprise Champion Winner, and it's Pallavi Dinesh, the Chief Operations Officer and a founder of Fommy.com Congratulations.
Pallavi: Thank you, Katie. I really am happy to be here.
Katie: Wonderful. Now, tell me a little bit about Fommy.com.
Pallavi: We started about six and a half years ago, and it's a company that really has all the wireless accessories you can think of for your cell phone and Smart Phone. Back then we remember there were few BlackBerries, and really in DC most of the time they were with either government employees or with really high level executives. And the whole concept of e-mail on the go had just kind of starting popping up. And, you know, we just realized there was gonna be a huge market 'cause if they wanted it, why not everyday people? Everybody would want e-mail on the go. And so we saw that there was gonna be a lack of products on the market like extended batteries and accessories and holsters and chargers and, you know, to keep people powered up and going. And as you know, if you go to like say your local Verizon store, if you go to a T-Mobile, there's a limited number of things they can carry in the store, and their focus is phones. And so we made our focus everything in addition to the phone. So we sell the phones themselves, a lot of the BlackBerries when we started out and really the accessories. And now the industry's exploded, so we're happy to be where we are. it's a great industry to be in.
Katie: Now, with the rise of iPhones and Smart Phones, what are some of the more exciting, new accessories or technologies that maybe you hadn't anticipated that are popping up?
Pallavi: Something that's really been incubation since last year, solar technology, green technology is really starting to come up. And there's a couple of products on the market right now. We have a great new product actually that just came in, a solar charger. It totally works off of solar technology. It's this great all-in-one product, totally universal, will work on all phones. It even works on laptops. It works on mobile gaming devices, and that's where you're gonna see a lot of universality, a lot of green technology incorporating different and better ways to do things and to be able to extend your battery life. And so we're seeing a lot of neat products and neat technology like that coming up.
Katie: That is wonderful, so I mean, Fommy.com definitely you guys have your eyes far ahead on the horizon.
Pallavi: Yes, we do. Yes, we do.
Katie: Well, congratulations again, and thanks for being with us today.
Pallavi: Thank you so much, Katie, appreciate it.
Russ: You're listening to The BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.
[Aflac Commercial]
Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com and continuing on with the winners from the Houston Business Journal's Houston Fast 100 Companies. I have the winner with me now, and that is Francisco Seguro, Vice President of Operations with the winning company StarTex. Francisco, congratulations and welcome to the BusinessMakers Show.
Francisco: Well, thank you so much. It's great to be here. We definitely appreciate and are so grateful for the honor.
Russ: Well, great and so, boy, significant growth. What was the actual percentage 2008 over 2006?
Francisco: 551 percent.
Russ: Just think what it would've been if it was a hot economy during that period of time. Well, for our listeners that don't know about StarTex, tell them what StarTex does.
Francisco: StarTex Power, what we do is we provide retail electric service to commercial and residential.
Russ: Okay. Now, it seems to me like there's a lot of people doing that these days. What differentiates StarTex?
Francisco: Absolutely our people. Our people are the ones that make the difference. Whether it's our service or our pricing or our sales group, we treat each and every customer as a business partner and we treat them as we like to be treated with dignity and respect.
Russ: Okay. Well, that sounds real cool. I gotta tell you, from my perspective, what I always like is when you turn the power on, it comes on. And then if I have a problem, they give me good service. But perhaps most important, when I get my bill, it's not real high. How does StarTex compare to the other providers when it comes to price?
Francisco: We're very low cost, and what differentiates us is our ability to hedge our product. You know, we're able to forecast out and offer the best possible prices in the market.
Russ: Okay. Now, hedging means you're buying ahead.
Francisco: That's correct, absolutely.
Russ: Which can go wrong, can't it?
Francisco: It can go wrong, but you know, our pricing and our sales group, they do an amazing job of supporting that and being able to forecast out as best as possible. And so far, that tool, that magic that they do works out wonderfully for us.
Russ: Well, it must be with the kind of growth that you're talking about.
Francisco: Absolutely, absolutely.
Russ: It almost seems to me that if you're a low cost provider, that maybe a continued difficult economy would actually help you.
Francisco: Absolutely would help us, but you know, in the economy that we're in today it really forces us not to only provide the low cost service but also make sure that our operations and everything else that goes on within our business is tight, controlled and manage our expenses, and that allows us to be able to support those low cost products.
Russ: Okay. How long has StarTex been in business?
Francisco: We've been in business for five years now.
Russ: And what geographical areas do you cover?
Francisco: We cover all of the Texas territory, the deregulated areas.
Russ: Okay. Well, Francisco, I really appreciate you spending some time with us.
Francisco: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Russ: And thank you for telling us about StarTex and congratulations on your victory.
Francisco: Absolutely. Thank you so much.
Russ: You bet. That's Francisco Seguro, Vice President of Operations with StarTex, and that wraps up our discussion with the winners of the Houston Fast 100. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.
