Stiles on 5,000 Fastest-Growing Business List

Grand Rapids, MI, August 28, 2007--Stiles Machinery, a maker of flooring manufacturing equipment, said it was included on the first-ever Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country.

The Inc. 5,000, an extension of Inc. magazine’s annual Inc. 500 list, catches many businesses that are too big to grow at the pace required to make the Inc. 500, as well as a host of smaller firms. Taken as a whole, these companies represent the backbone of the U.S. economy.

"The Inc. 5,000 provides the most comprehensive look ever at the most important part of the economy – the entrepreneurial part," said Inc. 5,000 Project Manager Jim Melloan.

"The expansion of the list has allowed us to tell the stories of larger companies, older companies, and a wealth of companies in industries like manufacturing and construction that are underreported in the business media."

The 2007 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2003 through 2006. To qualify, companies had to be U.S.-based and privately held, independent – not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies – as of December 31, 2006, and have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2003, and $2 million in 2006.

In 2006 Stiles reported its best financial results since 2000. "We are projecting a healthy sales increase this year," said Peter Kleinschmidt, president. He credits an across-the-board upswing in demand from all the industries the company services for Stiles’ double-digit growth rates.

The largest business category in the Inc. 5,000 is construction with 561 companies totaling $27.1 billion in reported revenue, followed by manufacturing with 515 companies totaling $18.6 billion.

As a distributor of woodworking equipment, Stiles focuses primarily on manufacturers of kitchen cabinets, store fixtures, furniture, closets and architectural millwork. Stiles also provides equipment and services to manufacturers in the plastics, metals, composites and related industries.

Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Stiles employs 412 people and has regional offices in North Carolina, Connecticut, Texas and California.

The Midwest region led the Inc. 5,000 list with 1,046 of the fastest-growing companies, followed by the West with 884 companies. The Southeast comes in a close third, with 872 companies, followed by the Northeast with 782 companies, and the Mid-Atlantic region with 606 companies.

The 2007 Inc. 5,000 reported median revenue of $9.4 million and median three-year growth of 140%.