INDUSTRY & BUSINESS
On the fast track Local Fantastic 50 companies have seen big growth S
ix Hampton Roads-based companies, including two newcomers, landed on the Virginia Chamber’s 2020 Fantastic 50 list of the state’s fastest-growing privately owned businesses. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the winners were recognized during a virtual event held in
May. To qualify for the Fantastic 50, nominees’ fiscal revenues had to exceed $200,000 and be less than $200 million in fiscal year 2018. They also had to demonstrate a positive net income in 2018, and businesses were ranked by their growth rate from 2015 to 2018. Here are the winners, which represent multiple industries: construction, maritime, language services, water quality management, support services and commercial franchises.
The Language Group LLC Virginia Beach
Fantastic 50 rank: #6 Year established: 1999 No. of employees: 24 2018 revenue: Would not disclose ’15-’18 revenue growth: 1,378.55%
With interpreters and translators fluent in more than 200 languages, The Language Group provides services for the health care and manufacturing industries as well as human resources departments and city and state governments. TLG was founded by married couple Chrysta and Giovanni Donatelli, who serve as executive partner and managing partner respectively. The company appeared in the Inc. 5000 rankings of the nation’s fastest-growing businesses in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In last year’s Fantastic 50, TLG was ranked sixth, and it won best small business in Virginia Beach from the Hampton Roads Chamber in 2019.
SOLitude Lake Management Virginia Beach
Fantastic 50 rank: #10 Year established: 1998 No. of employees: 279 2018 revenue: Would not disclose ’15-’18 revenue growth: 629.14%
Founded by former landscaper Kevin Tucker, SOLitude is a water quality management company and part of U.K.-based pest control company Rentokil Steritech’s North American holdings. The company keeps lakes, ponds, wetlands and fisheries clean by controlling algae, weeds and invasive species for clients nationwide, from golf courses to apartment complexes. In August, SOLitude named Mychal Manolatos as its new vice president; he joined the com- pany in 2016. In 2019, SOLitude was ranked 12th in the Fantastic 50.
34 HAMPTON ROADS BUSINESS - 2020
ITA International LLC Newport News
Fantastic 50 rank: #19 Year established: 2005 No. of employees: 373 2018 revenue: Would not disclose ’15-’18 revenue growth: 376.19%
ITA was started as a marine business, but it is now an international provider of integrated support services — including research, analysis, planning, training, engi- neering, logistics and maritime support — for government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and commercial clients. CEO Mike Melo is a retired naval officer and founded the company with his wife, Kathy, who is chief governance officer. Last year, ITA was ranked No. 17 in the Fantastic 50. In August, the company was awarded a five-year, $50 million contract to consolidate and modernize the U.S. Air Force’s electro- magnetic spectrum operations at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and it was on the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest- growing private companies, with a growth rate of 92%.
T. Parker Host Norfolk
Fantastic 50 rank: #35 Year established: 1923 No. of employees: 529 2018 revenue: Would not disclose ’15-’18 revenue growth: 245.49%
T. Parker Host is once again the oldest company on the Fantastic 50 list as a mari- time solutions provider that specializes in agency services, terminal operations, stevedoring and marine assets. A family- owned company named for its founder, Host was known primarily as a ship- handling agency in the Hampton Roads area for much of its history. Its chairman and CEO is Adam Anderson, who has been with the company since 1998. In 1986,
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