Industry publication ranks Hagerman & Co., Inc. among "Fast Growth 100"

CRN magazine (formerly known as Computer Reseller News) has included Hagerman & Company in its “Fast-Growth 100 Company” list for 2006. This rather prestigious attainment is based on our having placed in the top 100 companies for sales growth from 2003 to 2005. Our attainment was an over-100% increase, placing us 64th on the list of top 100 companies surveyed and vetted by CRN.

We have indeed experienced a growth surge, in part due to the great improvement in the economy that began in the fall of 2003 and has continued to this day, and in part due to the recent phenomenon of growth through acquisition. So we are growing both organically and by acquisition. During the tech crash of 2000 and the doldrum years that ensued, we did refine and expand our back office systems. Having those systems in place is now enabling us to grow in an efficient and controlled manner. In addition, our old strategy of contiguous growth has given way, at this time, to expansion that is strategically important anywhere in the United States.

The Hagerman & Company, Inc. team, photographed at a recent company meeting.

As we have observed before, Autodesk policies are currently tilted toward helping growth-minded VAR organizations expand, and particularly encourage specialization in vertical technologies. The old business model followed by many resellers of specializing in a particular metro area, and selling all Autodesk technologies into that geographic space, is out of favor, and a number of resellers have had their weaker authorizations cut. In addition, many of the smaller organizations have had all authorizations eliminated.

Some of the recent growth activities include the following:

The 2003 acquisition of CAD Group brought us into the great state of Tennessee, with offices in Memphis and Nashville. This year we opened an additional facility for MCAD sales in Knoxville, and we plan to move to a larger permanent office there soon. We have additionally boosted employment in Memphis and Nashville, and we now have nine employees in Tennessee, up from four a year ago.

The 2004 acquisition of the Chicago branch of Consulting for Architects (CFA) helped make us a major player in the architectural CAD market in Chicago. In 2005 we opened a new facility in downtown Chicago at One East Wacker, to serve this important community. This office is performing well for us, and more personnel additions are planned.

In April of this year we acquired the CAD-related business of Intervision Systems Technologies in Santa Clara, California, and we will be moving into a new permanent office in nearby San Jose in mid-August. This office will initially have a staff of eight persons, serving manufacturing clients in the Bay area.

Several other acquisitions are being investigated at this time and could be announced soon. One thing that won’t change, however, is our commitment to providing excellence in technical support to our customers. We appreciate the opportunity to help companies achieve productivity growth. It’s an exciting challenge and one that will be our focus for many years to come.