UTAH'S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES.

• Position: Brief Article

LS MICRO TOPS THIS YEAR'S LIST

Being named as one of Mountain West Venture Group's "Utah 100" or ""Top 25" has become a badge of honor for Utah's successful businesses - a recongition boasted on corporate letter-heads, in advertising and news articles.

The annual awards to Utah's 100 Fastest Growing Companies and Top 25 Revenue Growth Companies are objectively bestowed in recognition of a five-year record of sales growth -- business prowess boiled down to its simplest, most measurable terms.

This year's Utah 100 winner, LS Micro, is a newcomer to the competition.

A Salt Lake County-based company founded in 1994, LS Micro resells computers and computer parts.

Claiming the title of Top Revenue Growth Company is Zions Bancorp. also headquartered in Salt Lake Company.

Both LS Micro and Zions follow on the heels of two-year consecutive winners in 1998 and 1999, PowerQuest Corp. and Iomega Corporation, respectively. PowerQuest dipped to NO. 14 this year on the Utah 100 rankings, while Iomega dropped off the top revenue growth list altogether.

Six Years of Recognizing Utah Winners

MountainWest Venture Group a nonprofit organization fostering business growth and capital development in Utah, conceived the Utah 100 Fastest Growing Companies and the Top 25 Revenue Growth Companies competitions in 1995. Applicants must be Utah-based, U.S. corporations or partnerships, and must have been in business for at least five years. Awards are based on a company's five-year history with this past year's award winners being measured for their performance from 1995 through 1999.

While entrance into the competition is simple, coming out on top is no small feast, notes. MountainWest Venure Group President ScottNixon, a business assurance partner with Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP.

'It took nearly 200 percent growth five years just to qualify for this year's 100 Fastest Growing Companies list," says Nixon. "The five-year growth by the top 10 winners was even more remarkable. Their combined revenues increased over $135 million -- from $2.3 million combined revenues in 1995 -- for an amazing average increase of almost 600 percent."

Collectively, the Top 25 Revenue Grown Companies measured $7.4 billion in revenue for 1999 alone, representing average sales per company of approximately $300 million and a nearly $4 million increase when compared to their revenues of 1995.

What Nixon finds even more remarkable, however, are the repeat winners. "This year we honored six...