Boise’s ProClarity gets credit for growth-Firm’s revenues earn it a place on two national lists

Boise´s ProClarity Corp. has made it onto two national lists of the country´s fastest-growing companies.

The software company was named to the Inc 500 ranking and the Deloitte & Touche Fast 500 list for surging forward in sales, and was the only Idaho company to make either list.

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman

Both rankings are based on a five-year growth cycle in revenues.

ProClarity Executive Vice President Dave Hallmen, lower left, and Chief Executive Officer Bob Lokken are seen through one of the 21 industry awards they have received in the past three years. Their software helps companies increase productivity.

• ProClarity http://www.proclarity.com/

• Deloitte & Touche Technology http://www.public.deloitte.com/fast500/

ProClarity, which makes analytic software for businesses, was ranked 59 on the Inc 500 list of the country´s fastest-growing private companies. The magazine´s special Inc 500 issue, on newsstands this week, said ProClarity achieved a 2,641 percent growth over the past five years.

The company placed 283 on the Deloitte & Touche list, which recognizes the fastest-growing American and Canadian technology companies.

The rankings put ProClarity in good company. Former Inc 500 companies that have gone on to become household names include Microsoft, Timberland, Domino´s Pizza and Patagonia. Other current Deloitte & Touche Fast 500 companies include eBay, Palm and Veritas.

Aside from making company employees feel good, the rankings also add to ProClarity´s resume, strengthening the credibility of this small software business before potential customers.

“We´ve won 21 industry awards in the last three years,” said Bob Lokken, a founder and CEO of ProClarity. “With that pedigree, it gives us meetings with companies that normally wouldn´t spend time with a business from Boise, Idaho.”

The private software company numbers Hewlett-Packard, PepsiCo and AT&T among its customers. Started in 1995, the company showed its first revenues in 1997 and is operating at about a break-even level right now, said Lokken.

“We´ve seen a slowdown in the business, so we´re not growing as fast as we have been,” he said. “But we survive a slowdown better than other technologies because we help companies do more with less.”

ProClarity software analyzes complex data, helping companies increase productivity and accelerate decision-making.

The company had 14 employees and revenues of $444,000 five years ago, compared to 130 employees and $12 million in sales today.

“Our plans over the foreseeable future, which is the next two to three years, is to continue to grow four or five times faster than the industry,” said Lokken.

The dynamic growth of the companies on the lists illustrates that technology innovations are still at work, despite the troubles that industry has faced recently.

“This is the first Inc 500 ranking to reflect the full impact of the recession,” said Inc editor John Koten. “Yet these entrepreneurs are managing to confound the naysayers and move ahead despite the obstacles.”

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Julie Howard
[email protected] or 373-6618

http://www.idahostatesman.com/Business/story.asp?ID=23235