COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - November 9, 2010) - The 2000s were arguably the worst decade in history for American business, but ARCOS, Inc. bucked the trend. ARCOS, a provider of automated crew callout and resource management software, recently earned its fourth straight Fast 50 Award, an annual ranking of the 50 fastest-growing emerging companies in Central Ohio.
"Over the past four years, we have experienced sustained, yet managed, growth," said Mitch McLeod, president and CEO of ARCOS, Inc. "We've been disciplined about focusing on our utility industry customers' top concerns, like compressing the time it takes to restore power in the wake of an outage. That focus has helped us build a solid team and solid product, and sustain both."
When power outages strike, ARCOS's Internet-based software automatically calls utility workers, assembles crews and reports on the outcome. According to industry research, the ARCOS System can trim the Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI) by a double-digit percentage.
"We were able to cut 30 minutes off the storm CAIDI process because we were reducing the time it was taking us to call people," said Bill Herdegen, vice president of transmission and distribution operations for Kansas City Power & Light, an ARCOS customer.
ARCOS's growth the last four years is remarkable when compared to, say, the stock market during the same period. For example, the Yale International Center for Finance notes that the annual returns by decade for owning stocks sank to an all-time low of -0.5 percent in the 2000s. Even the decade of the Great Depression, with -0.2 percent annual returns, was better than the 2000s. Yet, ARCOS has been able to add jobs, increase profitability year-over-year and invest in its infrastructure and future.
McLeod believes ARCOS's sustained growth is a testament to a number of factors. First, he cites his colleagues' ability to deliver on the company's value proposition each day, for new and long-time clients. Second, McLeod says the company's business model, which entails selling software as a service, expedites implementations. Next, the ARCOS chief executive points to dedicated employees who always think about: satisfying customers; making sure the product and service is reliable; and innovating. Finally, McLeod credits his management team with holding fast to a vision of making ARCOS the best at what it does. McLeod anticipates ARCOS will continue growing into 2011.
"The growth has been organic, which is difficult sometimes. But we've boot-strapped ourselves to get to this point," added McLeod. "Thanks to our employees, we've kept our focus in a very cloudy economy."
Fast 50 Awardees are privately held and have at least $1 million in revenue per year with a three-year operating history. Each year, the award recognizes companies for financial growth and performance over the past three years. ARCOS has appeared on the list every year since 2007.
About ARCOS, Inc.
Since 1993, Columbus, Ohio-based ARCOS, Inc. (ARCOS) has been the energy utility leader in automated crew callout and resource management systems. The ARCOS System allows utilities to reduce callouts from hours to minutes improving CAIDI and SAIDI metrics, while complying with complex union callout rules. The ARCOS System is offered software‐as‐a‐service over the Internet eliminating any need for utilities to install and support the system. Full implementation takes as little as eight to 12 weeks. To learn more, visit www.arcos-inc.com, or call 614-396-5500.
Contact Information:
Media contact:
Bill Perry
for ARCOS, Inc.
Mobile: 614-975-7538
bperry[at]march24media.com