Cream of the Crop: Entrepreneur magazine honors Missoula business. Michael Burks and Big Sky Specialized Carriers Inc.

It’s hard to believe that, just six months ago, Burks was working out of his basement.

His rise has been both literal and figurative; his new office-with-a-view is symbolic of a soaring business that recently won him a place on Entrepreneur magazine’s Hot 500 list of the nation’s fastest-growing small businesses http://www.entrepreneur.com/Hot500/Details/317.html.

The business is Big Sky Specialized Carriers Inc., a freight logistics company that connects people who need things hauled to the truckers who can haul them. Burks launched the company in October 1999 with an initial investment of $50,000 in personal savings. He turned a profit – and in fact, made his first $1 million – by the end of the same year.

By 2002, he saw $4.2 million in sales. Last year, his company posted $14.8 million in sales.

By TYLER CHRISTENSEN of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/09/15/news/local/news03.txt

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