Ranks of the professionals: largest firms in a dozen categories reflect improved economy.

• Author: Taylor, Mike

Last year, ColoradoBiz took a different path in its annual ranking of the state's top professional-service companies, as we asked readers to vote for their preferred firms in 10 industry categories. In past years we ranked companies by size--typically by number of employees because many companies in fields such as law and accounting tend to resist disclosing revenues.

While that vote was revealing, we're letting those outcomes lie fallow for at least a year to give 2004 winners and contenders time to jockey for the top spots. In the meantime, in this issue we're reverting to our traditional approach of ranking the state's top five companies by sheer size in a dozen different industries.

Not surprisingly, some of last year's readers' choice winners reappear in this issue as Colorado's biggest in their industries. Bigger may not always be better, but big companies do tend to have more clients, more brand awareness and more employees--all of which helps in a popular-vote format.

Thus, two of last year's readers' choice winners--RE/MAX (real estate) and McClain Finlon Advertising--also top this year's ranking in terms of company size. Moreover, Hensel Phelps Construction Co. in Greeley, one of the top four vote-getters last year in a general-contractor balloting that was judged "too close to call," shows up again this year as the largest Colorado-based contractor.

Several new industry categories have been added since ColoradoBiz undertook the ranking of professional-service companies three years ago. Initially we ranked companies in six meat-and-potato professional industries: accounting, architecture, law, advertising/PR, general contracting and engineering.

Last year, real estate was added as a category, and this year's rankings have been further enlarged to include commercial lenders, executive search firms, investment managers and financial planners, HMOs and PPOs, and venture-capital firms.

The diversity of the dozen industries requires flexibility in how they're ranked. Accounting firms, ad/PR firms, architectural firms, engineering firms, general contractors and law firms are all ranked by number of Colorado employees; executive search firms are ranked by 2004 Colorado revenues; Colorado-based commercial lenders are ranked by assets; Colorado-based investment managers and financial advisors are ranked by managed assets; real estate companies are ranked by number of Colorado agents; and venture-capital firms are ranked by capital under...