Richmond-Based Rainbow Station Ranks No. 4383 on the 2010 Inc. 5000 with Three-Year Sales Growth of 22%

NEW YORK, NY, August 28, 2010 (Press-News.org) Inc. magazine today ranked Rainbow Station Number 4383 on its fourth annual Inc. 5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America's independent-minded entrepreneurs. Music website Pandora, convenience store chain 7-Eleven, Brooklyn Brewery, and Radio Flyer, maker of the iconic children's red wagon, are among the prominent brands featured on this year's list.

"The leaders of the companies on this year's Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression," said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. "The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs."

The Rainbow Station private school and emergency back-up care facility for mildly ill children has nine campuses located across the nation and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Rainbow Station offers extended day nursery school and preschool programming as well as after-school and summer camp programs for children ages newborn to 14. One of the unique and highly popular features of the school is that it provides an on-site infirmary located in an architecturally separate building on the campus attended by a full-time pediatric nurse so that parents have emergency back-up care when their child is mildly ill. "The Get Well Place" has a dedicated HVAC system designed to prevent any cross contamination, and is additionally equipped with a room with reverse ventilation to further prevent the spread of respiratory illness within the infirmary. "The Get Well Place" is open to all children in the community whether or not they are enrolled in the school.

The academic program is equally innovative. "The Village" is a pint-sized village for school-aged children designed for an interactive learning experience based on freedom and choice where students attend curriculum-driven activities in specially recreated versions of an Apothecary, Arcade, Art Gallery, Cafe Rainbow, Club 5, Gymnasium, Theater, Toy Shoppe and Village Green. The school adheres to the highest standards of quality as set forth by several accrediting bodies. Rainbow Station Schools and applicable accreditations are listed on the website, http://www.rainbowstation.org.

The 2010 Inc. 5000, unveiled today on Inc.com, serves as a unique illustration of the profound changes taking place in the U.S. economy. The Government Services sector showed the biggest gain in terms of the number of companies on the list, up 33 percent from last year to 335 companies. Government Services was also the second-fastest-growing sector in terms of median revenue growth, posting a 202 percent gain over the 2006-2009 measuring period. More than half of these companies are based in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The fastest-growing sector by median revenue growth was Real Estate, now just a tiny group of 38 young, small companies, which showed 231 percent median growth over the period. (There were 121 Real Estate firms on the inaugural Inc. 5000 in 2007.) Business Products & Services is the top industry by number of companies on the list (640) and total revenue ($80.7 billion), while Health is the biggest by total employment (287,726 jobs).

Despite the fact that most of this year's measuring period of 2006-2009 took place during the latest recession, aggregate revenue among the companies on the list actually increased to $321.6 billion, up more than 50 percent from last year. The effects of the recession are seen, however, in the median three-year growth rate, which dropped to 96 percent from last year's 126 percent. This year's Inc. 5000 employ a record 1.4 million people, up from one million on last year's list. With unemployment remaining stubbornly high, policymakers and business leaders will do well to look to the Inc. 5000 companies for fresh ideas on achieving growth and creating jobs.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found on http://www.inc.com/5000.

The Hottest Regions for Fast-Growing Companies

Once again, California tops the Inc. 5000 with the most companies of any state with 684. The Golden State is followed by Texas (404), New York (353), Virginia (293), and Florida (262). All 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, are represented on this year's list.

New York boasts 410 Inc. 5000 companies, making it the top metro area, followed by Washington, D.C. (363), Los Angeles (262), Chicago (203), and Boston (189).

The Inc. 5000 at a Glance

The Real Estate sector, although small, was the top-performing industry, with a total growth rate of 189 percent. Software was second with a growth rate of 126 percent, and Telecommunications was third with 119 percent.

In total, the companies on the Inc. 5000 have created 1.4 million jobs. The Health sector is the top employer with 287,726 jobs, followed by Business Products & Services (230,066), Food & Beverage (108,344), Human Resources (107,924), and Retail (96,858).

Business Products & Services had the most companies on this year's list with 640, followed by IT Services (607), Advertising & Marketing (410), Health (396), and Government Services (336).

This year's fastest-growing company is Ambit Energy, a Dallas-based firm that buys electricity and natural gas at wholesale prices and resells the energy to customers acquired through a direct sales channel. The company saw $325 million in revenue in 2009 and a three-year growth rate of 20,369 percent.

The top woman-run company is Lexicon Consulting (No. 4 overall), based in El Cajon, California. Lexicon creates mock Iraqi and Afghan villages used to train military personnel. The firm, founded by Jamie Arundell-Latshaw in 2005, recorded revenue of $17.9 million in 2009 and a three-year growth rate of 14,018 percent. The top minority-run company is WDFA Marketing (No. 5 overall), a San Francisco-based firm that specializes in guerrilla, grass-roots, and micromarketing. WDFA, founded by Raj Prasad, posted revenue of $38.4 million in 2008 and a three-year growth rate of 13,350 percent.

The Inc. 5000 posted an aggregate revenue of $321.6 billion in 2009, up more than 50 percent from the previous year. The top five industries by total revenue are Business Products & Services ($84.7 billion), Health ($48.3 billion), Consumer Products & Services ($26.4 billion), Retail ($22.3 billion), and Government Services ($15.1 billion).

The Top 10 Inc. 5000 Companies Ranked by Growth

Rank Company Location Industry Year Founded Three-Year Revenue Growth 2009 Revenue
No. 1 Ambit Energy Dallas Energy 2006
20,369.4% $325 million
No. 2 ModCloth Pittsburgh Retail 2002 17,191.4% $15.6 million
No. 3 Luke & Associates Merritt Island, Florida Government Services 2004 16,636.6% $37.5 million
No. 4 Lexicon Consulting El Cajon, California Government Services 2005 14,017.7% $17.9 million
No. 5 WDFA Marketing San Francisco Advertising & Marketing 2006 13,969.5% $96.4 million
No. 6 Coyote Logistics Lake Forest, Illinois Logistics & Transportation 2006 13,846.8% $249.8 million
No. 7 Debt Free Associates Oklahoma City Financial Services 2006 12,376.2% $26.2 million
No. 8 LifeLock Tempe, Arizona Security 2005 11,474.3% $131.4 million
No. 9 Carbonite Boston IT Services 2005 11,207.6% $19.1 million
No. 10 KPaul Indianapolis Government Services 2004 10,925.6% $11.2 million

The Top 10 Inc. 5000 Companies Ranked by Total Revenue

Overall Rank Company Location Industry 2009 Revenue
No. 4,512 HCA Nashville Health $30.1 billion
No. 4,929 7-Eleven Dallas Consumer Products & Services $15.1 billion
No. 4,932 Toys "R" Us Wayne, New Jersey Retail $13.6 billion
No. 4,819 Univar Redmond, Washington Business Products & Services $7.2 billion
No. 3,247 Booz Allen Hamilton McLean, Virginia Business Products & Services $5.1 billion
No. 4,708 Kingston Technology Fountain Valley, California Computer Hardware $4.1 billion
No. 3,626 Mansfield Oil Gainesville, Georgia Energy $2.9 billion
No. 3,294 LPL Investment Holdings Boston Financial Services $2.7 billion
No. 1,018 Vizio Irvine, California Consumer Products & Services $2.5 billion
No. 4288 AMC Entertainment Kansas City, Missouri Media $2.4 billion

Methodology

The 2010 Inc. 500|5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2006 to 2009. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by June 30, 2006. Additionally, they had to be based in the United States, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2009. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2006 is $80,000; the minimum for 2009 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. The top 10 percent of companies on the list constitute the Inc. 500, now in its 29th year.

About Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. (www.inc.com) is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today's innovative company builders. With a total paid circulation of 712,647, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. Visit us online at http://www.inc.com.


About the Inc. 500|5000 Conference

Each year, Inc. and Inc.com celebrate the remarkable achievements of today's entrepreneurial superstars—the privately held small businesses that drive our economy. The Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony brings together members of the Inc. community, both a new class of Inc. 500|5000 honorees and the list's alumni, for three days of powerful networking, inspired learning, and momentous celebration. Please join us September 30-October 2, 2010, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, located minutes from downtown Washington, D.C. For more information about the 2010 Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony and to register, visit http://www.inc500conference.com or call 866-901-3205.

About Rainbow Station
Rainbow Station is headquartered in Richmond where it has six corporate schools with additional franchise schools located in Virginia, North Carolina and Texas for an overall total of nine campuses. Each Rainbow Station school offers private nursery schools and pre-schools with extended day programming for children ages 0-14. The three to four acre campuses include the highly unique feature of providing "The Get Well Place," an infirmary attended full-time by a pediatric nurse. The infirmary is located in an architecturally separate building on the campus and is equipped with a reverse ventilation system for children with infectious conditions such as Chicken Pox or the flu. After a quick diagnosis by the attending pediatric nurse and a medical records check, children are sent to one of four rooms based on their symptoms: The Whoozy Station for gastrointestinal illness, the Sniffle Stop for respiratory illness, the Spot Stop for chickenpox (or other contagious respiratory illnesses), and the Rest Stop for convalescent care. Academically, each campus offers a specially constructed "Village," a recreation program based on freedom and choice for the school aged child where they attend curriculum-driven activities in the Apothecary, Arcade, Art Gallery, Cafe Rainbow, Club 5, Gymnasium, Theater, Toy Shoppe and the Village Green. Additional information on the campus is available on its website, http://www.rainbowstation.org