The Utah 100 fastest growing companies.

• Author: Kimball, Suzanne
• Position: Zions Bancorp. tops list - Illustration

THIS IS A STORY OF SURVIVAL. It began five years ago when this year's 100 fastest growing companies in Utah set themselves on a Darwinian path of evolution and development that would eventually earn them the distinction of becoming a MountainWest Venture Group (MWVG) Utah 100 Award recipient. In evaluating companies to receive a Utah 100 Award, MWVG, a non-profit organization focused on business development in Utah, looks at the percentage growth of winning companies over a five-year period and ranks the top 100 highest growth companies. With 1997-2001 growth rates ranging from 250 percent to 5,500 percent, companies making the Utah 100 list in 2002 have decisively proved that it is indeed only the most fit that can survive the intense pressure of today's tough economic climate.

It's astonishing that the companies joining the ranks this year are doing so at a time when the odds of surviving at all seem bleak. Perhaps more significant is that these companies had the moxie to even apply for a Utah 100 Award in 2002. Some companies that have made the list in years past elected not to even try in 2002. "We aren't going to send in our application," one Utah CEO confided earlier this year when asked if he thought his company had a chance to again make the list. "It's been so tough it would take a miracle to make the cut."

Other Utah companies, however, doggedly persisted in competing for the award, believing in their own track records and refusing to be dissuaded by the economy's less-than-stellar performance. Take, for example, three-time winner Axiom Financial. Although the company fell from second place in 2001 to third place in 2002, Axiom employees seemed no less confident in their company's power to survive, cheering wildly at the October 17 awards ceremony and giving founder Rob Morley a standing ovation as he accepted the award.

If Axiom Financial's enthusiasm for its long-term prospects seems encouraging, this year's No. 1 ranked company, Wolf Electronix Corporation, ought to make all of Utah feel flush with hope. The Orem-based manufacturer of printed circuit boards grew an astounding 7,100 percent between 1997 and 2001, at a time when much of the IT circuit board market was floundering. "We never dreamed that we would build a business and be honored in the way we have (with the Utah 1 00 Award)," says Jim Trent, Jr., president of Wolf Electronix, which he co-founded with his father and four brothers in 1996. "I think what has helped us not only survive but grow has been that all five family members are focused on the same thing. (Working with family) is a tremendous asset - I think it's unique to have a family you can work with and build a company with."

In an environment of collapsed world trade markets and world trade centers, some might have been...