Number One 2006 WBJ Top Growth Winner Cleaning Up This Year

WESTBOROUGH _ Standing out among the crowd can be a bit daunting for companies, most especially newer ones. Yet it is those companies that offer a combination of imagination, foresight, hard work and ingenuity, which have catapulted them to the top in their fields.

The 16th 2006 Top Growth Awards given by the Worcester Business Journal (WBJ) honors those companies that have had the highest revenue growth within the past three most recently completed fiscal years. Awards were given in the private and public sector, as well as the non-profit sector. An event honoring the winners was held on Nov. 16 in Westborough at the DoubleTree Hotel. Sponsors for the event were PENTA Communications, Inc., Sovereign Bank and Clark University’s Graduate School of Management.

Taking the number one spot in the private sector this year was Enterprise Cleaning Corporation, of Worcester. Stephen Buchalter founded this commercial cleaning company in 2003 and has taken it from a 35-person company to an 85-person company. He and his staff have also gone from cleaning 23 buildings, to 85 in the span of only 18 months.

According to Buchalter, in 2003 he left his former job at a cleaning company he helped to grow from a $750,000 to $6.8 million in five years time. While starting from scratch was a bit difficult, within the first six months of his company’s launch, Buchalter landed four of downtown Worcester’s biggest office buildings. It’s been quite a year for Buchalter. Not only has he taken the top spot in the 2006 Top Growth Awards, he also was one the 2006 Worcester Business Journal’s 40 under Forty honorees.

“PENTA Communications salutes Steve Buchalter for the tremendous growth he has achieved with his company. Enterprise Cleaning has grown significantly in the past year under his entrepreneurial leadership and he serves as a role model for future entrepreneurs,” said PENTA CEO Deborah Penta.

PENTA Communications, Inc. is a full-service integrated marketing firm that offers a myriad of marketing services. The company has been a significant supporter of the Top Growth Awards for many years.

“We are in a continual growth mode as one of the region’s fastest growing marketing and advertising firms. We continue to help our clients grow to achieve top growth positions in their industries,” Penta said. “Partnering with the Worcester Business Journal by supporting its Top Growth Awards is consistent with our firm’s philosophy and for what we strive to achieve for our clients every single day.”

A total of 25 private companies, 15 public companies and 10 non-profit companies were honored at the event.

Leading the group in private companies was Evergreen Solar Co. of Marlborough and Seven Hill Foundation of Worcester took the top spot for the non-profit category.

Following the event there was a panel discussion about how to manage and grow your company.

“Led by George Gendron of Clark University’s Graduate School of Management and former editor of Inc Magazine, the panel offered insights into the making of the region’s fastest growing companies. Participating panelists candidly shared their growth stories with a room of business leaders from the region,” Penta added. ” It was provocative and insightful.