TCG Celebrates With Pizza and Beer All Around the Country.
Washington, D.C., October 10, 2001: Turner Consulting Group, Inc. (TCG) has been named one of America’s entrepreneurial growth leaders by Inc magazine, which today released its annual ranking of the Inc 500, the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
TCG achieved 899 percent growth in the past five years, with sales growing from $244,800 in 1996 to $2,450,000 in 2000. TCG, based in Washington, D.C., provides information technology and management services and advisory services to the federal government, commercial enterprises, and not-for-profit organizations. TCG is a “virtual organization” — most of TCG’s employees telecommute — which enables the company to deliver services quickly and economically.
“Making the Inc 500 was one of my goals when I started the company,” says TCG President Daniel A. Turner. “Our next goal is make the list five more times so we can make it into the Hall of Fame. I’m also exploring the advantages of seeking a place on the Fortune 2000. We’re going to achieve these aims by continuing to develop new services and ventures, continuing to increase our value to current and future clients, and continuing to build on our innovative business model. This isn’t genius, it’s just enjoyable hard work.”
To celebrate, Turner offered to buy pizza and beer or soda for every one of TCG’s employees. He told them to order it delivered, and send him the bill, since TCG’s staff is in twelve states and the District of Columbia.
About Turner Consulting Group
TCG provides information technology and management services as well as advisory services to the federal government, commercial enterprises, and not-for-profit organizations. Founded in 1994 by its president, Daniel A. Turner, the company has achieved its success despite — or perhaps because of — its “virtual” character. While Mr. Turner retains an office in Washington, D.C., his staff is located across America, and uses the latest technologies and tools to telecommute every day. By making the work experience ideal for his employees, Mr. Turner has been able to hire the best people and still offer competitive rates to clients.
TCG’s primary focus had been the development and implementation of Web-based technology solutions and advisory services. In response to client demands, the company has diversified into the delivery of security assurance services and telecommuting best practices advisory services, based on TCG’s extensive experience in both areas.
TCG continues to deliver solutions and services for clients such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, Sprint, the American Geophysical Union, the Department of Justice, and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.
About the Inc 500
Inc magazine (http://www.inc.com) annually ranks the nation’s leading entrepreneurial firms according to sales growth over the previous five years. Former Inc 500 companies that have gone on to become household names include Microsoft, Timberland, Domino’s Pizza, and Patagonia. This year’s Inc 500 set records in terms of both collective sales and growth rates, racking up a collective total of $12.5 billion in sales and an average 5‑year growth rate of almost 2,000 percent.
Among the key trends: The Inc 500 companies have been in existence an average of eight years. 56 percent of the Inc 500 companies were started at home, and approximately 63 percent of them had five or fewer employees when they moved from home. (Turner Consulting Group had fifteen employees when Dan Turner moved the office out of his bedroom in 1996.) About 50 percent were started with an investment of $20,000 or less, and 15 percent were started with less than $1,000. (TCG started with a small contract and no investment, although Dan Turner didn’t take a salary for three years after starting the company.) The companies as a group generated a total of 80,188 jobs and some 76 percent of the Inc 500 companies were profitable in 2000. (TCG has 29 employees, and has been profitable six of its eight years.)
Reflecting the technology boom of the past five years, the largest percentage (38%) of Inc 500 companies were in “computer software and services,” followed by “diversified services,” such as human resources and advertising, (21%). Telecommunications was a distant third with 5 percent.
“The Inc 500 gives America a window on the future — which companies will be the Microsofts and Timberlands of tomorrow,” said George Gendron, Inc editor-in-chief. “The economy may have slowed, but entrepreneurial enterprises have always been, and will continue to be, the nation’s foremost engine of growth and job creation.”
To be eligible for this year’s Inc 500, companies had to be independent and privately held through 2000, have at least $200,000 in sales in the base year of 1996, and their 2000 sales had to have exceeded 1999 sales. Holding companies, regulated banks and utilities are not eligible. Inc verifies all information using tax forms and financial statements from certified public accountants and by conducting interviews with company officials.