The following article appeared in the August 27, 2007 edition of the Wilkes-Barre, PA Times Leader newspaper.
W-B Web-design company is ranked 255th among fastest-growing firms in nation by the magazine.
WILKES-BARRE – Solid Cactus added a new chapter to its short history Friday by capturing a spot on the 2007 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in the country.
The Web-design and e-commerce services provider ranked 255th, the highest placement among the two Luzerne County companies included on the Inc. magazine’s list. Pets United of Hazleton, another e-commerce company, placed 316th.
Scott Sanfilippo, president of Solid Cactus, announced the ranking to employees gathered in the lobby of the Jewelcor Building where the company has its offices.
Sanfilippo said he and co-founder Joe Palko “would have never imagined that the company that launched with just four employees, two of which were from Russia and one from New Jersey, would ever be where it’s at today.”
In its six-year history, the company has grown to 107 employees and by the end of 2009, the total work force should expand to more than 250, he said. The $3.5 million in sales recorded in 2006 is expected to “at least” double this year and the company will soon announce plans to relocate to its own building in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Drilling down further in the list, Solid Cactus was the 28th fastest-growing information technology service company in the country and the eighth fastest growing in Pennsylvania, Sanfilippo said. The company provides a variety of e-commerce services for businesses, from marketing and designing Web sites, to customer service and consulting.
“Our growth is coming from a lot of brick and mortars stores coming online,” he said. The company’s “greatest achievement to date” could not have happened without the efforts of the employees, Sanfilippo added.
Sarah Johnson joined the company in April just before graduating from the University of Scranton. The 22-year-old from Clarks Summit wanted to stay and work in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Even after studying media and information technology, the job challenges her, Johnson said. “I learn something new everyday.”
The company remains privately owned, but Sanfilippo said, it has talked about going public. “We never made that leap,” he said and still won’t rule it out.
The company’s revenues grew by 922.4 percent from 2003 through 2006, the period reviewed by Inc. in determining its selections for the current rankings.
During the same period Pets United, which sells pet products online, registered an 841.8-percent growth in revenue. Last year it reported $62.4 million in revenue and a work force of 100 as of Dec. 31.
The magazine decided to expand the list this year to include the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies and recognized several other Luzerne County businesses.
Pepperjam, an Internet marketing company based in Wilkes-Barre, ranked 575th. It was the second straight year for the company to be listed. Last year it ranked 293rd. Kristopher Jones, company president and chief executive officer, said, “2006 was an explosive year for Pepperjam and 2007 is on track to significantly exceed the previous year in terms of client acquisition, revenue, and employee growth.”
Others recognized were Gottstein Corp., an industrial service company in Hazleton, at 1,915 and Corcoran Printing of Wilkes-Barre at 3,692.