Fast Lane

11. Sunkota Construction Inc., Sioux Falls, SD
Contruction & construction management
Robert A. Fraser, Jeanette M. Fraser
Began: 1996 w/4 employees; 8 employees
Initial investment: $100K from savings
1997 sales: $8.17M

12. Angel Produce Inc., Torrance, CA
Exporter
Yukio Bito
Began: 1995 w/3 employees; 5 employees
Initial investment: $70K from friends/family
1997 sales: $11.39M

13. Digital System Technology, Irwindale, CA
Digital television systems
John T. Duggin Sr.
Began: 1995 w/2 employees; 9 employees
Initial investment: $15K from savings
1997 sales: $10.11M

14. High Point Solutions Inc., Sparta, NJ
Communications equipment distribution
Michael T. Mendiburu, Thomas T. Mendiburu
Began: 1996 w/2 employees; 7 employees
Initial investment: $1K from credit card
1997 sales: $6.7M

15. Ariston Technologies, Huntington Beach, CA
Computer memory systems
Lazaros Bountour
Began: 1995 w/2 employees; 11 employees
Initial investment: $140K from savings
1997 sales: $9.88M

16. Flooring Systems Inc., Fenton, MO
Commercial flooring subcontracting
Ron K. Komlos, Sandra K. Komlos
Began: 1995 w/15 employees; 60 employees
Initial investment: $50K from priv. Investors
1997 sales: $9.67M

17. Switch Manufacturing, San Francisco, CA
Snowboard bindings & boots
Erik Andersen, Jeff Sand, Tony Guerrero
Began: 1995 w/6 employees; 28 employees
Initial investment: $45K in equity, $500K from loans
1997 sales: $9.19M

18. SCS America, Foster City, CA
Software consulting services
Michael A. Ober
Began: 1995 w/9 employees; 50 employees
Initial investment: $200K from priv. Investors
1997 sales: $8.4M

19. Warren Electric Telecom & Utilities, Houston, TX
Utility & telecom-datacom products
Cheryl L. Thompson-Draper
Began: 1995 w/10 employees; 18 employees
Initial investment: $2M loan from previous business
1997 sales: $8.25M

20. Organic Ingredients Inc., Aptos, CA
Organic foods
Joseph J. Stern, John Battendieri
Began: 1996 w/3 employees; 7 employees
Initial investment: $300K from savings, $1M from line of credit
1997 sales: $5.32M

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