Indiana's growth 100.

• Position: Excelerations 1998 - Tabular data only - Top 100 companies in Indiana - Directory

TECHNOLOGY

ADVANCED MICROELECTRONICS Vincennes

Lead entrepreneurs: Steve Burkhart, Mark Gerkin

Company founded: 1985

Growth 100: 1997, 1996, 1995

Products/services: Computer service and repair company and retailer of computer hardware.

Challenge: Getting employees to present the image we want. We want customers never to battle with voice mail.

Future: We began at zero in 1985, had over $21 million in sales in 1997 and have forecast $76 million in 2007.

Recognition: Ranked in the top 500 fastest-growing firms in the U.S. by Inc. magazine in December 1995.

Growth 100 benefits: Each event we have attended has been right on target and beneficial.

AUCTOR CORP. Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneur: Michael E. Bauer

Company founded: 1991

Growth 100: 1997, 1996, 1995

Products/services: Information technology and systems.

Beginnings: The thrill, excitement and fear shared by four people with an idea and the willingness to assume risk to bring their idea to reality.

Challenge: Hiring, training and retaining people who are extremely competent and share the values of the corporation.

Growth 100 benefits: The opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.

BAKER HILL Carmel

Lead entrepreneur: Mark Hill

Company founded: 1983

Products/services: Information systems integrator, specializing in front-end integration tools for commercial banks.

Beginnings: Early customers were very difficult to come by, and when we got one, we treated them very well.

Challenge: Attracting, challenging and mentoring our team.

Growth 100 benefits: In 1997, selected by Microsoft as a finalist in the Industry Solution Awards for Retail Banking.

CENTILLION DATA SYSTEMS INC. Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneur: John M. Cauffman

Company founded: 1987

Growth 100: 1997, 1996

Products/services: Telephone billing software, text and image storage and retrieval software.

Challenge: Will continue to be finding, training and keeping a high-quality and highly qualified technical staff.

Future: Tremendous promise for nimble, entrepreneurial software companies that find product niches offering rapid growth potential but, at the same time, are not subject to domination by the software giants.

COMMNET PLUS INC. Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneur: Chris P. Kendig

Company founded: 1990

Growth 100: 1997, 1996

Products/services: Engineered data network integration and consulting.

Challenge: To be proactive in the fast-paced environment of data communications.

Company's proudest moment: Every time we provide another successful turn-key solution for our customer.

COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS INC. Indianapolis

Cliff Arellano

Company founded: 1983

Growth 100:1997

Products/services: Data network engineering, telephony systems & engineering, structured cable systems and engineering, and customer-support services.

COMTECH: COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY INC. Plymouth

Lead entrepreneurs: Judith A. Currens, James W. Daugherty II

Company founded: 1987

Growth 100: 1997

Products/services: Computer data cabling, installation of wireless technologies and fiber optics.

Challenge: Managing our growth so that we don't burst the ever-expanding bubble we are sitting on.

Future: We will see a switch from wired networks to wireless networks.

CREW TECHNICAL SERVICES Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneurs: Kathy Reehling, Jerry Adkins

Company founded: 1995

Products/services: Consulting and staff augmentation in engineering, technical writing and information technology.

Beginnings: The name CREW is an acronym meaning Contracted Resource Engineering Wizards.

Challenge: We are trying to recruit the same people that Microsoft, IBM and other Fortune 100 companies are looking for.

Company's proudest moment: Being named a Preferred Vendor to Eli Lilly and Co.

Recognition: Kathy selected as one of the Indianapolis Business Journal's "40 Under 40."

C/SOFT INC. Carmel

Lead entrepreneur: Howard Bates

Company founded: 1994

Growth 100: 1997, 1996, 1995

Products/services: Information technology specializing in client/server application development, intranet/Internet solutions and network integration services.

Recognition: Inaugural Growth 100 awardee, identified as the sixth-fastest-growing company in the Indianapolis area.

Growth 100 benefits: Networking with peers and excellent seminars.

CYBERMETRIX INC. Columbus

Lead entrepreneur: Christine Mulholland

Company founded: 1992

Products/services: Custom computer software and hardware.

Growth 100: 1997, 1996

Beginnings: Formed to develop data acquisition and analysis systems.

Challenge: Managing growth and maintaining profitability.

Future: Partnering approach allows us to add value for our customers.

IMAGINE PRODUCTS INC. Carmel

Lead entrepreneur: Dan Montgomery

Company founded: 1991

Products/services: Developer and marketer of software for the professional video, film and broadcast industries. Product names: The Executive Producer and Image Mine.

Beginnings: Pioneered portable personal-computer-based videotape logging.

Challenge: Keeping up with the fast-paced change of technology.

Future: Ever-increasing market as many companies begin to share their media assets across intranets and the Internet.

INDESIGN LLC Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneur: Jerry Gotway

Company founded: 1997

Growth 100:1997

Products/services: Engineering design and development services, specializing in the design, development and introduction of telecommunications products in the consumer marketplace.

Beginnings: Established by a team of engineers formerly from Bell Laboratories.

Future: More companies are choosing to outsource a portion of their engineering design work.

INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneur: Dr. Don Brown

Company founded: 1994

Products/services: Software-based, integrated voice/data/messaging system to replace traditional PBX/switching hardware with an open systems software platform running on an NT server.

Challenge: Courage to design a product capable of taking on the entire telecommunications establishment.

Future: Plan to go public in the first half of 1999.

Recognition: 1997 Product of the Year award, Computer Telephony magazine. 1998 Top 25 Technologies, Byte magazine.

OFFICE TECH INC. Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneur: David Shonkwiler

Company founded: 1988

Products/services: Custom and commercial software development.

Beginnings: Started in 1988 in a spare bedroom. Currently is a premier provider of conversion services to Automatic Data Processing.

Challenge: Hiring and retention of qualified technical personnel - availability is at an all-time low.

PC MAX Bloomington

Lead entrepreneurs: Christian Frederickson, Nathan Stohr, Dr. Matt Fornefeld

Company founded: 1996

Products/services: Computer hardware and services, specializing in retailing and upgrading systems.

SOLUTION TECHNOLOGY INC. Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneur: Jeff Tetter

Company founded: 1997

Products/services: Value-added retailer offering sales and installation of "high availability" computing systems.

Challenge: Attracting qualified, innovative personnel. Interested? Call us today!

Future: Our primary markets currently include Indianapolis and Chicago. Others are planned.

Recognition: In September 1998, after only 18 months in business, IBM named Solution Technology as one of its three best resellers in the U.S.

SSCI INC. West Lafayette

Lead entrepreneur: Sarah "Sally" Byrn

Company founded: 1991

Products/services: Solid-state laboratory serving the pharmaceutical industry.

Challenge: Wisely handling our rapid growth.

Future: Being able to get better drugs on the market faster.

T2 SYSTEMS INC. Danville

Lead entrepreneurs: Michael Simmons, Steven Howard, Richard Mershon

Company founded: 1994

Products/services: Development, installation and support services for parking information systems targeted at universities and mid-sized to large municipalities.

Beginnings: Started with a great idea and no capital.

Company's proudest moment: The institution of a profit-based bonus plan for our employees.

Recognition: Indianapolis Business Journal's top 20 fastest-growing Indianapolis-area privately owned companies.

TERRONICS DEVELOPMENT CORP. Elwood

Lead entrepreneur: Ed Escallon

Company founded: 1985

Products/services: Electrostatic coating process technology.

Beginnings: A handful of competent people, sited in a Civil War-era farm.

Future: To get the word out to people who seem to all be from Missouri and reticent to spend money even with a very rapid payback on the best high-speed electrostatic coating technology in the world.

VECTOR TECHNOLOGIES Indianapolis

Lead entrepreneur: Harold J. Apple

Company founded: 1991

Growth 100: 1997

Products/services: Software and services focused on life insurance policy administration in headquarters locations.

MANUFACTURING

ADAPTIVE MICRO-WARE, INC. Fort Wayne

Lead entrepreneurs: Robert J. Kniskern, Thomas Skillicorn

Company founded: 1981

Growth 100: 1997, 1996

Products/services: Electronic design, embedded microprocessors, video compression, ATM, PCB design, layout and FPGA design.

AUBURN CLUTCH CO. INC. Garrett

Lead entrepreneur: Steven R. Booher

Company founded: 1997

Products/services: Manufacturer of light and medium-duty off-highway clutches.

Beginnings: Rebirth of Auburn Clutch was a result of purchasing off-highway product line from Dana Corp.

Challenges: To expand market size and share. Seeking out new opportunities worldwide.

Why customers choose us: A quality name since the 1930s and a dedicated focus on this product line.

BALL SYSTEMS Carmel

Lead entrepreneurs: Thelma Ball, Mark Ball

Company founded: 1980

Products/services: Manufacturer of metal beverage and food containers.

BANGS LABORATORIES INC. Fishers

Lead entrepreneur: Leigh B. Bangs, Ph.D.

Company founded: 1988

Growth 100: 1997, 1996

Products/services: Specialty chemicals for medical diagnostics business.

Beginnings: Worked for a large profitable company until the business was spun off to a much smaller company that was not profitable. (I thought I could run an unprofitable company...