Two Amarillo Companies Among Fastest-Growing Firms
By Kevin Welch, Amarillo Globe-News, Texas
Sep. 16–Two Amarillo companies are in fast company.
Inc. magazine recently named Foust Feed & Trailers and Talon/LPE to its list of 5,000 fastest-growing businesses.
“It’s been so crazy, we’re just trying to keep up with the growth,” said Matt Harris, owner of Foust. “It came a little faster than we expected.”
According to Inc., Foust is No. 3,138 on the list with a 100.8 percent revenue growth rate from 2003 to 2006.
“When we bought it, it was just a feed store. That’s all we knew,” Harris said. “It evolved into this. It wasn’t really premeditated.”
The company has a store in Amarillo, a smaller one in Hereford and an Internet store at www.coolhorse.com. It specializes in serving horse enthusiasts, selling feed, supplies and equipment, but horse trailers with living quarters are now a big source of profits.
“The Web is a large part of our growth,” Harris said. “There are tack sales, but we have the ability to sell trailers nationwide. We get to ship them all over and to Canada.”
Talon/LPE, an environmental services company, is No. 4,319 on the growth list.
Its revenue has grown 50.1 percent from 2003 to 2006, according to Inc.
“We started 10 years ago with three folks here in Amarillo,” said David Prescott, who is a partner in Talon with Jeff Chadow.
“Now we have 115 employees. We’re active in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and cover all the state of Texas. We forecast $20 million in sales this year.”
The environmental consulting and engineering company has offices in Amarillo, Austin, Midland, San Antonio, Artesia, N.M., Hobbs, N.M., and Tulsa, Okla.
Talon/LPE provides services from removal of underground gasoline storage tanks to spill cleanups in oil and natural gas fields.
“We’re basically a one-stop shop,” Prescott said. “We don’t have to bring in subcontractors.”
It has dealt with soil, groundwater and air problems at more than 850 contaminated sites, completing projects for entities ranging from the Department of Defense to the New Mexico Environmental Department and various cities and private clients, according to the company’s Web site.
Emergency response to events like oil spills are part of the services the company provides, but its work in areas like transportation and defense are important to business.
“It’s a healthy mix,” Prescott said. “If any sector drops, we wouldn’t have a mass exodus.”
And all its work is done with the goals of safety, quality and teamwork in mind, he said.
IN AMARILLO
Inc. magazine’s fastest-growing business list based on revenue growth from 2003 to 2006:
No. 3,138: Foust Feed & Trailers
Business: Retail livestock feed, supplies and trailers
Founded: 1989
Growth: 100.8 percent
Revenue: $16.2 million
Locations: Amarillo, Hereford and www.coolhorse.com
No. 4,319: Talon LPE
Business: Environmental remediation and consulting
Founded: 1997
Growth: 50.1 percent
Revenue: $13.6 million
Locations: Amarillo, Austin, Midland, San Antonio, Hobbs, N.M., Tulsa, Okla. and www.talonlpe.com
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