Now & then.

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: North Carolina 100 - Top private companies

Our 20th annual ranking of the top private companies reflects the changes that have transformed the state's economy--as well as the companies still on the list.

Stability at the top. In more ways than one, it's characteristic of the North Carolina 100, the annual ranking of the state's largest privately held companies that Grant Thornton LLP compiles for BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA. This year's top five companies are the same, in the same order, as in 2002. Among the 25 largest companies appearing on both this year's and last year's list, only two have changed CEOs.

That doesn't mean the ranking, making its 20th appearance in the magazine, is static. While the year-to-year changes aren't drastic, the differences over nearly two decades have been dramatic, mirroring the state's changing economy. In 1984, exactly half the companies were manufacturers. This year, only a third are. Within manufacturing, the NC 100 traces the decline of the state's furniture, textile and apparel industries--only 11 of those kinds of companies appear this year, down from 29 in 1984. The biggest gains--no surprise--came in service companies, from three to eight, and construction companies, from 11 to 16. Another change is that the companies at the top are much bigger. In 1984, only six companies reported revenue of more than $200 million the preceding year. On this year's list, 22 generated that much.

Only one member of the first top 10 remains in the ranking: Rocky Mount-based Boddie-Noell Enterprises Inc., which was No. 10 then and is ninth now. It is still the largest Hardee's franchiser, with 325 in the Carolinas, Virginia and Kentucky. In 1985, it added real-estate development to its menu. "Most of the restaurants we built, we owned the real estate," says William L. Boddie, president since 1990. "So we were kind of in the business anyway." Its developments include commercial and office buildings and a resort, The Currituck Club, between Corolla and Sanderling on the Outer Banks. He says it's hard to estimate how much of Boddie-Noell's revenue comes from its real-estate operation because it fluctuates greatly from year-to-year. "We can work on a development for years before there are any sales. On the sales side, it may not sound like much. But when you look at margin, it can be better."

While Hardee's has struggled in recent years, Boddie says he's encouraged by changes made since the chain--founded in Rocky Mount--was acquired by Santa Barbara, Calif.-based CKE Restaurants in 1997. Sales have been growing in Hardee's restaurants owned by Boddie-Noell. "And the new menu, featuring the Thickburger, is being received well. We've also done a lot of major remodeling. There have been a lot of changes that have gone on, but that's a good thing. We're happy with that right now."

Change is critical, says John Huber, CEO of Charlotte-based Radiator Specialty Co., 18th on the list in 1984 and 43rd this year. The 79-year-old company makes automotive and plumbing products. "You have to constantly be changing your people, your products, your methods." Huber himself was a change--the first outside CEO for the company started by I.D. Blumenthal and still owned by Blumenthal's family. Since Huber came in 2000, Radiator Specialty has upgraded the equipment it uses to make such products as Puncture Seal and Engine Brite. "It's reinvesting in the company to make yourself as competitive as possible. A lot of companies just take the money and put it in their pocket."

He's also noticed a shift in his customer base. "We supply almost all of the major auto retail houses, and there's been a tremendous amount of consolidation there. If you're with the one that's bought, you may not have a position with the new company. On the other hand, if you have a relationship with the buyer, you can do well because the volumes are larger and you can run your plants more efficiently."

Paul Barringer, chairman of Weldon-based Coastal Lumber Co., No. 15 in 1984 and 11th this year, knows about changing customer bases. Much of his business comes from supplying furniture companies. As the furniture industry has declined in North Carolina, he has had to find new customers for Coastal's 27 mills.

The answer, he says, has been to go where the industry has gone, particularly China. Coastal generates about 35% of its revenue from exports. "That's up from about zero 15 years ago." It also ships lumber to Mexico and Canada. Even with the new customers, business is down, with revenue declining about 30% in 2002 from the previous year.

While Boddie-Noell is the only surviving name from the 1984 Top 10, it isn't the only familiar one. Such stalwarts as McDevitt & Street, Macfield Texturing, Dillard Paper and Dixie Furniture were on it then. All were acquired. Charlotte-based McDevitt & Street was bought in 1990 by London-based Bovis and is part of Australia-based Bovis Lend Lease. In 1991, Greensboro-based Unifi bought Madison-based Macfield and Stamford, Conn.-based International Paper bought Greensboro-based Dillard.

But no company in the inaugural top 10 went through as many changes as Dixie Furniture, started in 1901. In 1987, Masco, a Taylor, Mich.-based manufacturer of furniture, construction and home-improvement products, bought it and merged it with three other local furniture companies to form its Lexington Furniture Industries subsidiary. In 1986, it became part of High Point-based Lifestyle Furnishings International in the leveraged buyout of Masco's furniture makers. When Lifestyle was broken up last year, managers of the Lexington companies led a buyout that created Lexington Home Brands, which recently announced the closing of the original Dixie plant.

Another name from that first top 10 survives, but the company behind it has changed. Freight hauler Old Dominion Freight Line (cover story, August) went public in 1991.

Boddie and Huber say their companies aren't likely to undergo ownership changes anytime soon. A son of one of the founders, Boddie, 49, says more family members are in line there. The Blumenthal family wants Radiator Speciality to stay independent as well.

Barringer, who started Coastal Lumber in 1960 with two partners, has turned down offers to sell it. Now 73, he has passed controlling interest to his and his partners' children. "It's their problem...