New England Technology Fast 50
The 2000 Fast 50 and Rising Stars will be honored at a gala awards ceremony on September 13th at the Sheraton Ferncroft Resort. The companies' CEOs and employees are invited to the event to celebrate and witness the countdown that will reveal their ranking on this year's list. A cocktail reception begins at 5:30, with dinner and the awards presentation beginning at 7:00.
The numerical ranking will be published in a supplement to Mass High Tech and other publications this fall. This year's winners are listed alphabetically below. All companies that participate in the New England program are also entered into Deloitte & Touche's national recognition program, the Technology Fast 500.
Fast 50 Program Qualifications:
To qualify for the Fast 50, a company must have been in business a minimum of five years, with 1995 operating revenue of at least $50,000 and 1999 operating revenue of at least $1 million. It must be a technology company, strictly defined as one that develops proprietary technology which contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues; manufactures a technology-related product; devotes a high percentage of effort to research and development of technology or uses proprietary technology to significantly improve the delivery of technology services. To qualify for the New England Technology Fast 50 program, the company must also be headquartered in the state of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont or Maine.
Rising Star Qualifications
In recognition of the fact that technology companies are maturing more quickly in the new economy, this year's Fast 50 program includes the Rising Star category, honoring technology companies that have posted significant revenue gains and have been in business a minimum of three years. Ten companies have been recognized as Rising Stars on their way to becoming a New England Technology Fast 50 company, and will be separately ranked with the Fast 50 on September 13th.
New England - A Hot Bed of Internet Activity Illustrating New England's leadership role in the new digital economy, seven of the top 10 Fast 50 companies and eight of the 10 Rising Star companies provide Internet technology or Internet-related software. "New England Fast 50 companies are playing a starring role in developing the infrastructure for the digital economy, in addition to bringing new biotechnology and medical devices products to market," said William Lee, managing partner of Hale and Dorr LLP and co-chair of the New England Technology Fast 50 program. "We wish to congratulate them and to thank them for the economic contributions they've made to our region and beyond."
Continued Growth Contingent on Ability to Hire Talented People Fast 50 companies continue to identify their ability to sustain impressive growth rates as a function of their success in hiring talented people. As a group, the New England Fast 50 plans to increase their payroll 63% by year end. "The Fast 50 companies have demonstrated winning employee recruiting and retention strategies," said Steve DiPietro, Deloitte & Touche partner and co-chair of the New England Technology Fast 50 program. "With human capital now even more difficult to attract than monetary capital, they will have to continue to be aggressive in the fight for talent share."
A Fast 50 survey showed 39% of the companies will use professional recruiters and 19% will use the Internet as their primary recruiting channel. "Recruiting using the Internet is rapidly becoming the primary and most effective way of attracting and selecting all levels of talent, including executives," says Bill MacKenzie, Deloitte & Touche partner and practice leader of the Human Capital Advisory Services in Boston. "Many leading companies are now using the Web to source and screen candidates and even conduct virtual interviews."