Fast Lane

61. National Structures Inc., Syracuse, NY
General contracting & construction management
Dominick Madia, Robert Milne
Began: 1996 w/2 employees; 7 employees
Initial investment: $40K from savings
1997 sales: $2.59M

62. Simple Network Communications, La Jolla, CA
Web site hosting services
Robert Bingham, Mark Hopperton, Tim Traver
Began: 1996 w/4 employees; 24 employees
Initial investment: $10K from friends/family, credit card
1997 sales: $2.51M

63. Alliance Telecom Services Inc., Miami, FL
Long-distance services reseller
Hugo Vizcarra, David Guerra
Began: 1996 w/3 employees; 7 employees
Initial investment: $200K from friends/family
1997 sales: $2.49M

64. Bird Co., Palo Alto, CA
Commercial print sales & production
Patrick J. Bird
Began: 1996 w/1 employee; 1 employee
Initial investment: $25K from bank loan, savings
1997 sales: $2.49M

65. Control Solutions Inc., Lexington, KY
Industrial control system designs
Tracey Holder, Jim Graham, Earl Camic, Roger Cox, Gary Bomar
Began: 1996 w/5 employees; 20 employees
Initial investment: $30K from savings
1997 sales: $2.45M

66. Bri-Mar Manufacturing Inc.,Chambersburg, PA
Hydraulic dump trailers
Brian Wise, Marcus Blank
Began: 1995 w/5 employees; 25 employees
Initial investment: $36K from friends/family, savings
1997 sales: $3.66M

67. Telecom Labs Inc., Seattle, WA
Voice & data network systems
Doug Graham, Bruce Shelby
Began: 1996 w/15 employees; 23 employees
Initial investment: $350K from bank loan, savings
1997 sales: $2.44M

68. Rick's Uptown Market, Sacramento, CA
Grocery store
Rick Miller
Began: 1996 w/12 employees; 18 employees
Initial investment: $100K from priv. investors, savings
1997 sales: $2.44M

69. Dascom Systems Inc., St. Paul, MN
Videoconferencing systems/educational services
Dan Takkunen, Scott Apfelbacher
Began: 1995 w/2 employees; 11 employees
Initial investment: $120K from savings
1997 sales: $3.59M

70. Next Generation Health Services, Gilbert, AZ
Health-care business/technology services
Matthew A. Nielsen, John Nielsen
Began: 1996 w/1 employee; 50 employees
Initial investment: $15K from owners' capital investment
1997 sales: $2.36M

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