Fast Lane

31. Magnum Staffing Services Inc., Houston, TX
Staffing services
Caroline Brown, Darrel O. Brown
Began: 1996 w/108 employees; 365 employees
Initial investment: $70K from friends/family
1997 sales: $4.16M

32. Hired-Hand Green Inc., Bremen, AL
Commercial greenhouse manufacturer
Steven Crider, Grant Crider, Shawn Crider
Began: 1996 w/17 employees; 38 employees
Initial investment: $250K from bank loan
1997 sales: $4.06M

33. International Security & Trading, Miami, FL
Security equipment
Augusto Perez, Jesus Gonzalez
Began: 1995 w/3 employees; 10 employees
Initial investment: $25K from savings
1997 sales: $6.04M

34. National Service Solutions, Moorestown, NJ
National facility management services
James H.B. Hoff
Began: 1996 w/10 employees; 15 employees
Initial investment: $300K+ from priv. investors, savings
1997 sales: $4.03M

35. Grits Inc., Birmingham, AL
Southern-themed embroidered goods
James C. Ford Jr., Deborah R. Ford
Began: 1996 w/5 employees; 18 employees
Initial investment: $100K from priv. investors, credit card, savings
1997 sales: $4.02M

36. Sente Financial Corp., Sacramento, CA
Mortage lending services
Marc Ely, Susan Ely
Began: 1995 w/3 employees; 60 employees
Initial investment: $400K from savings
1997 sales: $5.96M

37. TERRA Constructors Ltd., Denton, TX
Geo-technical contracting
George Koelling, Dennis Collins, Chris McGhee, Virgil Jarnagin, Rick Graves
Began: 1996 w/20 employees; 25 employees
Initial investment: $600K from savings
1997 sales: $3.95M

38. DMR & Associates Inc., Sacramento, CA
Staffing services
David H. Waldschmitt
Began: 1995 w/3 employees; 7 employees
Initial investment: $150K from savings
1997 sales: $5.81M

39. Curbs Plus Inc., Rossville, GA
Roof curbs & accessories
Marc Brower, Ken Herrick, Steve Jensen, Jon Steed
Began: 1996 w/15 employees; 50 employees
Initial investment: $425K from priv. Investors
1997 sales: $3.83M

40. CNG Communications Inc., Tucson, AZ
Telecommunications products & services
Paul Bishop
Began: 1995 w/25 employees; 78 employees
Initial investment: $150K from savings
1997 sales: $5.74M

This article was originally published in the June 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Fast Lane.