Fort Worth Inc.’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2021

Fort Worth Inc.’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2021 represents the third year the magazine has examined the firms and industries that are posting the region’s biggest growth. Companies were eligible to compete if they’re for-profit, generated at least $50,000 in revenue for 2016 and at least $1.5 million in revenue for 2019, and are based in Greater Fort Worth, including several surrounding counties. Companies were ranked based on three-year revenue growth through 2019 and didn’t take 2020 into account. Of course, we asked the CEOs of our 30 Fastest-Growing Companies to discuss 2020. Here, in these pages, is a look at what they’ve done and how they did.

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1: WinterGreen Synthetic Grass

2019 revenue: $2.3 million

2016 revenue:  $170,969

% change: 1,250.2

Construction materials

WinterGreen Synthetic Grass, which sells and installs synthetic turf for residential and commercial uses, continues its big run.

Winter Moore and his wife, Ashley, founded WinterGreen Synthetic Grass in September 2014 in Fort Worth. Today, it sells to commercial contractors, landscapers, homebuilders, and retail customers, offering more than 100 kinds of artificial grass from various manufacturers and selling and installing for $8-$10 per square foot. Applications range from putting greens to commercial landscape, recreation fields, playgrounds, dog runs, pool decks, rooftops, and play areas. Winter Moore is the owner/operator, and Ashley Moore, the president and majority owner, making the firm woman-owned.

Sales rose 1,250.1% to $2.3 million from $170,969 in the three-year period through 2019, the benchmark for our 2021 Fastest-Growing Companies in Fort Worth.

And although 2020 wasn’t counted for our 2021 ranking, Winter Moore says 2020 was a strong year, and sales grew to about $3.6 million, thanks to COVID-19 and consumers deciding to spruce up their spaces. “We picked up,” he says. “Everyone was at home and wanted to do stuff in their yard.”

Sod and irrigation cost one-third of the expense of synthetics on new installations, Moore says. “Depending on your square footage and how much you use it, how much you spend on a yard guy, the return might be two years; it might be five years.”

The company has 25-30 employees and doesn’t sub its work out. For 2021, Moore says his goal is to grow to about $4 million in sales. Residential sales represent about 60% of sales, but the commercial business has steadily grown as the company has added big-ticket business.

The company is also working on expanding its maintenance division. “It’s a very maintenance-friendly product, and you pay for that, but there is maintenance you need to do at least annually to maintain the overall look,” Moore says.

2: Napali Capital

2019 revenue: $1.59 million

2016 revenue: $143,710

% change: 1,005.8

Financial services

Brothers Dr. Thomas Black and Tim Black co-founded Napali Capital in 2016, partnering with physicians on real estate investments. Thomas Black, a physician, began buying homes several years earlier after coming out of training and entering practice as an emergency doctor in East Texas.

“Things hit me pretty quickly as to the life of what I would be doing in health care and the hours I was pulling and the time away from family,” Black says. “I really discovered a passion for [real estate].”

Physicians started asking him for partnership opportunities, looking for places to park money. “There were no equity opportunities in medicine.” Black moved to Dallas and became medical director at a hospital in Mansfield and president of a medical group. Tim Black, an executive with Great Wolf resorts, came aboard to co-found Napali.

Napali’s raised $65 million in equity and today owns about $160 million of real estate, the Blacks say. They invest in multifamily, industrial, and hotel properties, but no medical. The company posted $1.59 million in 2019 revenue, up 1,005.8% over three years. The firm, which holds properties in several states through single-entity limited liability companies, has 700 active investors in 38 states, the Blacks say.

Formerly based in Southlake, the company and its six employees are preparing to move to a new headquarters in downtown Roanoke. Last year was one of “continued growth,” Thomas Black says.

COVID-19 disrupted apartments, but the “multifamily units have stabilized,” Tim Black says. “We’ve had some…workouts with tenants [although] not too many. The road we took was, if you’re really impacted, how can we work with you.”

3: Koddi

2019 revenue: $40.46 million

2016 revenue: $3.9 million

% change: 937.52

Digital marketing

Koddi has been a denizen of Fort Worth Inc.’s Fastest-Growing Companies. The Fort Worth firm, whose advertising technology uses data gleaned from consumers’ web searches for hotels to match them to the right properties worldwide, has been on a run since it was founded by George Popstefanov and Nicholas Ward in 2013.

Koddi powered $20 billion in transactions in 2019, compared to the $1 trillion in total global digital travel transactions annually. The company has six offices in Fort Worth; Austin; New York; Ann Arbor, Michigan; San Francisco; and Dusseldorf, offering employees opportunity to relocate or to do stints.

4: MineralWare

% change: 713.4

Mineral management software

MineralWare, an asset management platform for owners and managers of mineral interests, continues to pile on the growth. The firm, largest tenant in the Fort Worth Club Tower, ladled out generous bonuses to employees when it cracked its first month of $250,000 in recurring revenue in 2019.

In 2019, co-founder Ryan Vinson returned to retrieve one of his first ideas when he graduated from Texas Tech University in 2007 — an online marketplace for the buying, selling, and leasing of minerals. With partner Larry Brogdon, Vinson launched Energy Domain out of the same offices as MineralWare, imagining a tool to trade minerals that functions as simply as Zillow. In 2020, Vinson launched Energy Freelance, a site to connect oil and gas firms with freelancers.

5: Nextlink Internet

2019 sales: $49.4 million

2016 sales: $10.05 million

% change: 391.8

Telecommunications

Nextlink, an internet provider to rural communities founded in 2012, expanded outside of North and Central Texas starting in 2017 when it pushed into Oklahoma. The company has since expanded into Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and South Dakota.

The expansion has been driven in part by the Hudson Oaks’ firm’s participation in the Federal Communications Commission’s rural broadband funding program, Connect America 2 Fund. In 2018, the company was awarded $281 million over 10 years to facilitate rural broadband expansion.

The company continued its push in 2020, growing about 45%, Bill Baker, the CEO, says. Earlier this year, Nextlink announced it purchased three internet service providers in Nebraska and Iowa.

6: Thrive Internet

Marketing Agency

2019 sales: $10.1 million

2016 sales: $2.2 million

% change: 365.12

Digital marketing

Thrive sells search engine optimization, pay per click, social media, and a service called RIZE, launched in 2018, that lets businesses manage reviews and online reputation. In 2019, it began offering SEO for Amazon products. The company in early 2020 moved its headquarters from an office building in south Arlington to a business park nearby. Thrive has been increasing its business with franchises and multilocation businesses.

7: ENO8

2019 sales: $2.04 million

2016 sales: $504,620

% change: 303.68

Information technology

ENO8 is a sister to ISHIR, another company among our 2021 Fastest-Growing Companies. If ISHIR is a traditional information technology concern, ENO8 helps clients look past their immediate IT needs, examine the future, and innovate, says Rishi Khanna, CEO of both companies. “What Uber did to the taxi industry and what Airbnb did to the hotel industry is what we’re trying to do,” he says.

The company, founded in 2016, grew 303.68% for the three years through 2019. In 2020, despite a drop because of COVID-19, sales grew again, Khanna says. ENO8 runs clients through innovation “labs” to help them come up with ideas.

The year’s second and third quarters were slow, but “it was a great year for ENO8 because a lot more discussions happened. This year, we are planning a target of doubling the number of workshops. That will unlock further engagements for us.”

8: TriQuest Technologies

2019 sales: $2.53 million

2016 sales: $964,637

% change: 162.1

Information technology

Gary Tonniges, Jr. — a CPA and technology geek — started TriQuest Technologies in 1997, looking to meld the background and integrity of a certified public accountant with an IT firm. As Tonniges saw it, given the arcane nature of information technology, an IT company should approach problem-solving through the same fiduciary lens as a CPA.

The company has since outgrown three offices, as sales grew 162.1% over the three years through 2019. Last year, COVID knocked business down for a period, but it began to come back later in the year.

9: Construction Cost Management

2019 sales: $1.97 million

2016 sales: $844,475

% change: 133.6

Construction cost estimation services

Construction Cost Management does independent cost estimations for architects and engineers that are working major projects in the justice, government, health care, science and technology, education, commercial/industrial, aviation, historic restoration, water, railroad, utilities and civil infrastructure, and national parks sectors. Most of those projects require a third-party estimator, where Construction Cost Management and CEO Katy Abraham’s crew step in.

The Fort Worth firm saw its sales rise 133.6% for the three years through 2019. The company’s lengthy pipeline has allowed it long visibility on upcoming work, and CCM has been able to staff up. “I attribute a lot of our growth to building our staff,” Abraham says. “As we staff up with experienced associates, we’re able to service our clients better. We’re able to take on larger projects.”

Last year was “really weird” for her industry, with COVID and government agencies closed, Abraham says. “We have contracts with our clients that we’ve been waiting for more than a year to hear back on,” which hopefully bodes well for 2021.

Yet, even with business down for the year, Abraham kept her employees, gave generous bonuses, and continued her training and software education. “2020 was the year I was going to introduce health benefits. We went through with it. We were able to make it a really nice year.”

10: Muckleroy & Falls

2019 sales: $94.7 million

2016 sales: $47.5 million

% change: 99.3

General contractor

Muckleroy & Falls begins the new year with a new executive leadership team: Zach Muckleroy, Ben Austin, and Taylor Hale. The three came aboard the Fort Worth firm several years ago to position it for the future; founders Harold Muckleroy (Zach Muckleroy’s father) and Max Falls announced in December they were retiring.

The company’s sales grew 99.3% through 2019. Muckleroy & Falls has historically been strong in corporate office, retail, bank, medical, and light industrial construction projects through its four decades. The company in recent years has become active in K-12 school construction, municipal work, hospitality, auto dealerships, and churches. It’s also increasingly looked for business in Dallas County.

11: OP2 Labs

2019 sales: $2.72 million

2016 sales: $1.44 million

% change: 89

Health/fitness

OP2 Labs produces medical-grade products made of collagen — proteins that are the major structural component in much of the body — and used for rapid healing from wounds and peak physical performance. The Grapevine company’s brands include Frog Fuel and ProT Gold. Sales for the three-year period through 2019 rose 89%.

The company, founded by CEO Alexander Kunz in 2015, has grown an average 80% annually, Kunz says. He attributes the growth to a nimble staff of six and network of subcontractors and a heavy reliance on technology, data, and efficient processes.

12: Boardroom Salon

for Men

2019 sales: $17.7 million

2016 sales: $9.6 million

% change: 84.4

Men’s salons

Boardroom Salon for Men, founded in Southlake in 2004, has continued its growth surge since closing an investment deal in 2018 with affiliates of LightBay Capital. Then at 30 locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Tennessee, the company today has 43 stores in eight states: Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

At the beginning of 2020, Boardroom had 352 employees, Josh Goodell, the CEO, says. “While many employees had to be furloughed during the temporary closures due to COVID, Boardroom Salon was able to bring back all team members that wanted to return.”

13: Stanton & Co.

2019 sales: $2.36 million

2016 sales: $1.28 million

% change: 83.5

Flooring and renovation

Stanton Pearce has been in construction for 24 years, coming into the industry out of community college. He founded several companies, the latest Stanton & Co. in 2013 in Aledo. Pearce started in flooring and moved into other segments, based on his clients’ inquiries. He specializes in flooring and kitchen and bath renovations in homes and businesses. His niche within that niche: jobs where the client is living in the space Pearce and his crews are working on. Almost all of his business comes from repeat clients and referrals.

14: VLK Architects

2019 sales: $55.8 million

2016 sales: $30.97 million

% change: 80.3

Architects

VLK Architects, founded in 1984, is a full-service architecture, planning and interior design firm, primarily serving the commercial, office, retail, automotive, and education sectors. Headquartered in Fort Worth, the firm has offices in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and El Paso.

Last year, “fortunately, VLK entered 2020 with a full pipeline of work, and we adapted swiftly to offer our clients the same level of service in a virtual format with no disruptions” amid COVID, CEO Sloan Harris says. The firm expected a “reduction of activity” in 2021, but “the new year, so far, promises to be full of new opportunities.”

15: Whitley Penn

2019 sales: $128.5 million

2016 sales: $73.1 million

% change: 75.6

Accounting

Whitley Penn, a full-service public accounting firm founded in 1983, posted 75.6% growth for the three years through 2019. Larry Autrey, the firm’s managing partner, attributes that to organic growth, several acquisitions during that time, expansion into Austin, and the opening of a new Plano office. Since inception, the firm has grown consistently, Autrey says.

As for 2020, “Whitley Penn was not immune to the impact of the challenges of 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic,” Autrey says. “We ended the year strong and are excited to see what 2021 brings.”

16: ISHIR

2019 sales: $3.07 million

2016 sales: $1.8 million

% change: 71.2

Information technology

ISHIR kept up its strong growth, signing its largest customers, in the defense space. “We were able to help showcase our services by helping them digitally transform their business, from where they’re at to taking them into the cloud, levering cloud infrastructure,” and saving millions in the process, Rishi Khanna, ISHIR’s CEO says. “They’ve propelled us.” ISHIR completed that job early, just before the pandemic hit, Khanna says.

Last year, the firm saw its business decline at the beginning of the pandemic, then pick up. Its customer base, while diverse, has “a lot of industries that were affected by the pandemic.” One client in the hospitality industry went out of business. Despite those issues, “we’ve come back strong in the third and fourth quarter,” he says. “2021 is going to be a year of growth.”

17: Iconic IT

2019 sales: $25.5 million

2016 sales: $15.4 million

% change: 65.8

Information technology

Iconic IT provides computer support services to small and medium-sized businesses, including infrastructure management, help desk, strategic guidance, cybersecurity, and cloud-based solutions. “We are our client’s IT department,” Mike Fowler, the CEO, says.

The company is the result of four firms that merged in 2019, including one in Bedford, the merged company’s headquarters today. Besides the metroplex, Iconic IT has offices in Buffalo, New York; Denver; Rochester, New York; Wichita, Kansas; Bonita Springs in Southwest Florida; and Tyler in East Texas. The company has fueled its growth organically and by acquiring other managed services companies.

18: Venus

Construction Co.

2019 sales: $61.1 million

2016 sales: $36.9 million

% change: 65.6

Utility contractor

Venus Construction was founded in 1967 by Samuel and Geraldine McAda. Today, it’s run by their three grandsons — Josh, Sam, and Jake. Recession of the early 1980s forced the company to find new work in utility construction, which remains its focus today. The Mansfield company has a diverse customer base in commercial, residential, municipal, and Texas Department of Transportation projects.

19: Weby Corp.

2019 sales: $45.7 million

2016 sales: $28.15 million

% change: 62.3

Retailer

Weby Corp. is an omnichannel retailer with three arms: Amazon retailing as a third-party merchant, representing more than 500 brands in hunting, shooting, fishing, outdoors, running, winter sports, and other segments; Run United running products; and GRITR SPORTS firearms and associated products, which the company rebranded last year from the former 1800GunsAndAmmo. Weby’s main brick-and-mortar location is the GRITR store in North Richland Hills.

Weby’s sales growth for the three years through 2019 was driven by expanding business on Amazon, Walmart and eBay, CEO Mikhail Orlov says.

In 2020, “having suffered a 25% year-over-year decline in revenue going into May of 2020, we were able to rebound and finish the year with a 15% increase over 2019,” Orlov says. “We had no layoffs, and while we did take on a [federal payroll protection] loan, we are in discussion with our bank about early return of the funds or gradual paydown.” 

20: Comprehensive Finance

2019 sales: $4.8 million

2016 sales: $2.97 million

% change: 60.6

Payment solutions for health care providers

CFI was founded in 2011 by a metroplex dentist to confront the problems he was having in billing. Michael Brown, hired as CEO in 2015, expanded CFI Compassionate Finance payment plan business to other health care providers, including plastic surgery, ophthalmology, dermatology, and other weight loss and cosmetic specialties. In 2019, CFI added a white label version of Compassionate Finance and a platform solution for managing accounts receivables called Abella.

In 2020, CFI offered free trials of its Compassionate Finance and Abella product lines and “nearly doubled adoption.” Brown says. The company has grown about 20% annually in recent years and “expects this growth rate to continue for years to come,” Brown says.

21: On Deck Concepts

2019 sales: $44.5 million

2016 sales: $27.8 million

% change: 60.3

Restaurants

On Deck Concepts, which founder and CEO Brent Tipps rebranded this year from BoomerJack’s, has steadily grown since 2002 when Tipps opened the first one in Fort Worth. Today, the company has 15 DFW BoomerJack’s, the Bedford Ice House, and new in 2019, Sidecar Social, a 20,000-square-foot social lounge, in Addison.

On Deck attributed its growth in recent years to positive year-over-year results at existing locations, three new BoomerJack’s in DFW, and the Sidecar.

COVID forced temporary shutdowns and a realignment to take advantage of takeout and curbside. “We’ve had to train people just for curbside,” Tipps says. “We had stores that were doing a couple of hundred dollars a day in takeout. Those stores are doing $2,000 today in takeout.”

22: Pacheco Koch

2019 sales: $11.4 million

2016 sales: $7.14 million

% change: 60.2

Civil engineering

Pacheco Koch, founded in 1990 in Dallas by Mark Pacheco and Jim Koch, has consistently grown by increasing service lines within its core segments of civil engineering, surveying and landscape architecture, Brian O’Neill, principal and managing partner of the Fort Worth office, which opened in 2009, says.

Last year, the company rapidly moved to a virtual environment, and “the company had a strong year,” O’Neill says. At the year’s start, Pacheco Koch had 222 employees statewide and 67 in the Fort Worth office. By Jan. 1 this year, the company had 235 employees statewide and 70 in Fort Worth.

23: Higginbotham

2019 sales: $244.3 million

2016 sales: $155.2 million

% change: 57.4

Insurance and benefits

Higginbotham, a single-source solution for insurance, financial, and human resources services, was founded in 1948 by Paul C. Higginbotham. It’s consistently grown organically by acquisition and mentorship of new producers.

The Fort Worth firm offices statewide and in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. By revenue, Higginbotham ranks as the nation’s 21st largest independent insurance brokerage and the largest Texas-based broker. It’s grown about 20% year-over-year for three decades, during which Rusty Reid has been the CEO.

During COVID, the firm moved quickly to a remote working environment. “We made no layoffs and did not pursue a PPP loan,” Reid says.

24: Twisted X

2019 sales: $74.06 million

2016 sales: $47.7 million

% change: 55.3

Footwear

Twisted X, a Decatur-based designer and maker of casual footwear, has been on a growth binge since CEO Prasad Reddy, a turnaround man, bought the company out of bankruptcy in 2008. Sales were $8 million the year Reddy came aboard; they reached $74 million in 2019, 55.3% growth over three years.

During COVID, sales plunged immediately but opened up and posted records by the late spring and early summer.

The company maintained its stance of not entering into competition digitally with its 3,000 retailers, instead supporting them with new social assets created by Twisted X’s marketing team. Instead of laying people off, Twisted X added extra staff in customer service. It granted extended payment terms to its retailers and boosted inventory 25%-30% so retailers didn’t have to carry it.

25: DV8 the Salon

2019 sales: $1.78 million

2016 sales: $1.2 million

% change: 48.2

Salon services

DV8 — meaning “deviate from the norm” — will celebrate its 14th birthday in June. The downtown Grapevine hair salon in 2017 expanded its location to occupy a neighboring space, doubling its square footage. It added new team members and added customers from referrals and people looking for a new salon. It also invested heavily in social media and switched to software that helped boost its Google reviews.

During COVID, DV8 was closed for eight weeks during the initial stay-at-home order. “We maximized that time to restructure some outdated systems and adjust hours to be ready to grow when the doors opened,” co-owner Lisa Justiss says. The salon also offered curbside pickup for hair products. 

Sales for 2020 were off 30%, she says. The salon had to pare its numbers of hairdressers to seven in June from 19 earlier in the year. But it entered 2021 with 14. “Our business is already showing very steady signs of recovery and growth.”

26: StraCon Services Group

2019 sales: $19.7 million

2016 sales: $13.7 million

% change: 44.4

Defense and aerospace contractor

Deborah Paris founded StraCon in 2008, and it’s grown to 185 full-time employees today. Today, it manages 21 active armed forces contracts. Initially established with an aviation training focus, StraCon has evolved into consulting with the federal government on identifying ways to make its funding go farther.

During COVID, StraCon shifted to providing about 95% of its service virtually, from 100% on-site. “This make-it-happen attitude with our clients resulted in continued growth for StraCon during 2020 despite potentially serious obstacles,” Paris says. “We began 2020 with 145 personnel and have grown to 185 this past year. We have been extremely fortunate to not have experienced layoffs and, as a result, did not need to pursue a PPP loan.”

27: G.L. Hunt Co.

2019 sales: $10.7 million

2016 sales: $7.45 million

% change: 43.3

Foundation repair and concrete

Founded in Fort Worth by Gary L. Hunt in 1987, G.L. Hunt has built a reputation as a trusted foundation repair company. “We are dedicated to building relationships with the homeowners we serve throughout our communities by making the purchase accessible to anyone with our financing and specials,” Hayden Slack, general manager, says.

Slack attributed the company’s three-year growth through 2019 to greater emphasis on marketing; investments in technology, customer service, and production support; and continuing to build on existing relationships. “We have made a strong effort to cultivate our reputation and reviews and currently are the market leader for San Antonio and are second in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex,” Slack says. Sales rose 15.5% in 2020.

28: Caregiver

2019 sales: $167.1 million

2016 sales: $117.7 million

% change: 41.9

Long-term care services

Caregiver’s roots date to 1978. In 2017, “the company decided that we needed to rapidly accelerate growth and move into additional states,” Mark Lashley, the CEO, says. “Since 2017, we have grown at roughly 35% year over year.” The Fort Worth company developed a strong acquisitions and integrations team in 2017. “Since then, we have completed 17 acquisitions across five states,” Lashley says.

29: Dignum Financial

Partners

2019 sales: $2.1 million

2016 sales: $1.5 million

% change: 40

Financial consulting

Kim Dignum has been in business as a financial planner for 36 years. Three years ago, she hired a new adviser whom she’d been in discussions with for eight years and mentored through college, his earning of Certified Financial Planner, and his early career. “He joined us three years ago, and we haven’t looked back.”

The Fort Worth firm has about $300 million in assets under management, Dignum says. Ninety-seven percent of clients are fee-only. “We have some people who just want a certain type of product where they want to pay a commission.”

30: Varghese

Summersett PLLC

2019 sales: $2.26 million

2016 sales: $1.88 million

% change: 20.6

Law firm

Varghese Summersett, headed by the husband-and-wife team of Benson Varghese and Anna Summersett, is one of the county’s largest and fastest-growing criminal defense firms.

The Fort Worth firm is known for the robust offerings of Q&As and videos it offers on its website, categorized by types of crimes. “Our reputation for being proactive has brought us clients who want to get ahead of their legal problems, which has helped us remain viable even in difficult times,” Varghese says of managing through COVID.