By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Workstage, a Grand Rapids real estate development and design/build firm, was the only Michigan company named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2008 Hot 100 fastest growing companies.
The magazine ranks each business by sales, which must exceed $1 million, and the amount of positive job growth over a four-year period.
Jack Cottrell, Kent Riddle and Donald Slaght founded Workstage in 2000 with just four employees. Last year’s sales logged in at $61.6 million and, by 2009, the company will employ some 60 workers.
“We identified the need for buildings people want to be in,” Cottrell says, “and we’re on the books for 2.5 million square feet of LEED projects. Our whole take on buildings is to make them wonderful for the people who use them. That’s our passion.”
Notable West Michigan buildings by Workstage include the GVSU MAREC building and the renovation of the Custer Office Furniture Building. The company operates in some 30 states, serving customers such as Royal Caribbean and PayPal.
“We’ve added 10 to 15 designers, architects and construction project managers over the past year,” says Cottrell. “We hope to add another five to ten jobs over the next six months.”
Entrepreneur Magazine selected Workstage from almost 21 million entries.
Source: Jack Cottrell, Workstage
Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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