NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 1999--Resourcefulness and single-minded drive are two of the characteristics that pop up again and again in Business Week's 15th annual Hot Growth Companies ranking of the fastest growing small companies in the U.S. These nimble operators racked up 44.5% average annual sales growth and 89.5% average annual earnings gains over the past three years. That left the Standard & Poor's Industrials companies in the dust, with 6.5% sales and 6.7% earnings growth. And these miniature dynamos squeeze a phenomenal return out of their capital: The Hot Growth 100 returned an average annual 22% return on capital, vs. 11.6% for the S&P Industrials. Business Week's Hot Growth Companies are featured in the magazine's May 31 issue, out tomorrow. Although fully one-third of year's list is comprised of technology companies, the No. 1 ranked Business Week Hot Growth Company is Friede Goldman International, of Jackson, Miss., which does construction and repair of offshore-oil rigs. Others in the Top 5 are equally diverse: No. 2-ranked Brass Eagle of Bentonville, Ark., is a complete outfitter for the sport of paintball. No. 3-ranked Salton of Mount Prospect, Ill., makes small household appliances. San Jose-based Media Arts Group's (No. 4) online gallery markets Thomas Kinkade artwork and collectibles. No. 5-ranked Apex PC Solutions of Redmond, Wash., produces switching systems that let a single computer operate multiple servers. There are no Internet startups on Business Week's list--that's because companies have to make money to land on it, something many cyber-startups haven't gotten around to yet. Business Week's 1999 Hot Growth Companies, ranked within state, are: Rank Company Name (TICKER) City, State & Phone 2 BRASS EAGLE (XTRM) BENTONVILLE, AR 501-464-8700 59 ACTION PERFORMANCE(a) (ACTN) PHOENIX, AZ 602-337-3700 4 MEDIA ARTS GROUP (MDA) SAN JOSE, CA 408-324-2020 6 BEBE STORES(a) (BEBE) BRISBANE, CA 415-715-3900 13 MEADE INSTRUMENTS (MEAD) IRVINE, CA 949-451-1450 15 INTERNATIONAL NETWORK SERVICES (INSS) SUNNYVALE, CA 408-542-0100 23 NATIONAL R.V. HOLDINGS (NVH) PERRIS, CA 909-943-6007 26 TARRANT APPAREL GROUP (TAGS) LOS ANGELES, CA 323-780-8250 28 OCULAR SCIENCES (OCLR) SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA 650-583-1400 30 VERITAS SOFTWARE (VRTS) MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 650-335-8000 31 PLANTRONICS (PLT) SANTA CRUZ, CA 831-426-5858 37 NETWORK APPLIANCE (NTAP) SANTA CLARA, CA 408-367-3000 41 PACIFIC SUNWEAR OF CALIFORNIA (PSUN) ANAHEIM, CA 714-693-8066 46 LINEAR TECHNOLOGY (LLTC) MILPITAS, CA 408-432-1900 47 ducommun (DCO) LONG BEACH, CA 562-624-0800 51 QLOGIC (QLGC) COSTA MESA, CA 714-438-2200 55 VITESSE SEMICONDUCTOR (VTSS) CAMARILLO, CA 805-388-3700 57 ON ASSIGNMENT (ASGN) CALABASAS, CA 818-878-7900 58 COTELLIGENT (CGZ) SAN FRANCISCO, CA 415-439-6400 60 DIONEX (DNEX) SUNNYVALE, CA 408-737-0700 63 LEGATO SYSTEMS (LGTO) PALO ALTO, CA 650-812-6000 64 DSP COMMUNICATIONS (DSP) CUPERTINO, CA 408-777-2700 66 APPLIED MICRO CIRCUITS (AMCC) SAN DIEGO, CA 619-450-9333 67 RESMED (RESM) SAN DIEGO, CA 619-689-2400 75 WET SEAL (WTSLA) FOOTHILL RANCH, CA 949-583-9029 76 FAIR, ISAAC FIC) SAN RAFAEL, CA 415-472-2211 77 HANSEN NATURAL (HANS) CORONA, CA 909-739-6200 78 VISX (VISX) SANTA CLARA, CA 408-733-2020 83 VIASAT (VSAT) CARLSBAD, CA 760-438-8099 85 REMEDYTEMP (REMX) ALISO VIEJO, CA 949-425-7600 87 QRS (QRSI) RICHMOND, CA 510-215-5000 91 SIMPSON MFG. (SSD) PLEASANTON, CA 925-460-9912 93 PREMISYS COMMUNICATIONS (PRMS) FREMONT, CA 510-353-7600 29 COLORADO MEDTECH (CMED) BOULDER, CO 303-530-2660 34 FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS (FDS) GREENWICH, CT 203-863-1500 40 STRAYER EDUCATION (STRA) WASHINGTON DC 202-408-2424 18 CITRIX SYSTEMS (CTXS) FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 954-267-3000 19 VITECH AMERICA(VTCH) MIAMI, FL 305-477-1161 52 COAST DENTAL SERVICES (CDEN) TAMPA, FL 813-288-1999 71 BARNETT (BNTT) JACKSONVILLE, FL 904-384-6530 73 KAYDON (KDN) ANN ARBOR, MI 734-747-7025 21 LHS GROUP (LHSG) ATLANTA, GA 770-280-3100 42 THERAGENICS (TGX) BUFORD, GA 770-271-0233 49 ADVANCED TECHNICAL PRODUCTS (ATPX) ATLANTA, GA 770-993-0291 82 AUTOMOBILE PROTECTION (APCO) ATLANTA, GA 770-394-7070 97 TOTAL SYSTEM SERVICES (TSS) COLUMBUS, GA 706-649-2310 90 AG SERVICES OF AMERICA (ASV) CEDAR FALLS, IA 800-395-8505 3 SALTON(a) (SFP) MOUNT PROSPECT, IL 847-803-4600 17 SPECIALTY EQUIPMENT (SEC) AURORA, IL 630-585-5111 25 DUFF & PHELPS CREDIT RATING (DCR) CHICAGO, IL 312-368-3100 48 LANDAUER (LDR) GLENWOOD, IL 708-755-7000 98 MARKET FACTS (MFAC) ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL 847-590-7000 72 UNIFAB INTERNATIONAL (UFAB) NEW IBERIA, LA 318-367-8291 36 CHASE (CCF) BRIDGEWATER, MA 508-279-1789 39 RWD TECHNOLOGIES (RWDT) COLUMBIA, MD 410-730-4377 94 MICROS SYSTEMS (MCRS) BELTSVILLE, MD 301-210-6000 11 SYNTEL (SYNT) TROY, MI 248-619-2800 65 GENTEX (GNTX) ZEELAND, MI 616-772-1800 7 FUNCO(FNCO) MINNEAPOLIS, MN 612-946-8883 68 A. S. V. (ASVI) GRAND RAPIDS, MN 218-327-3434 69 TECHNE (TECH) MINNEAPOLIS, MN 612-379-8854 14 JACK HENRY & ASSOCIATES (JKHY) MONETT, MO 417-235-6652 20 KV PHARMACEUTICAL (KV.A) SAINT LOUIS, MO 314-645-6600 1 FRIEDE GOLDMAN INTERNATIONAL(a) (FGI) JACKSON, MS 601-352-1107 16 MEDCO RESEARCH (MRE) RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC 919-653-7001 32 TRANSACTION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTS (TSAI) OMAHA, NE 402-334-5101 50 BUCKLE (BKE) KEARNEY, NE 308-236-8491 35 CHILDREN'S PLACE RETAIL STORES (PLCE) WEST CALDWELL, NJ 973-227-8900 81 HOOPER HOLMES (HH) BASKING RIDGE, NJ 908-766-5000 88 SBS TECHNOLOGIES (SBSE) ALBUQUERQUE, NM 505-875-0600 27 ANCHOR GAMING (SLOT) LAS VEGAS, NV 702-896-7568 10 ASI SOLUTIONS (ASIS) NEW YORK, NY 212-319-8400 24 TSR (TSRI) HAUPPAUGE, NY 516-231-0333 33 HEALTHWORLD (HWLD) NEW YORK, NY 212-966-7640 54 DREW INDUSTRIES (DW) WHITE PLAINS, NY 914-428-9098 56 MEDIALINK WORLDWIDE (MDLK) NEW YORK, NY 212-682-8300 61 KENNETH COLE PRODUCTIONS (KCP) NEW YORK, NY 212-265-1500 92 GLOBAL PAYMENT TECHNOLOGIES (GPTX) VALLEY STREAM, NY 516-256-1000 96 BARR LABORATORIES (BRL) POMONA, NY 914-362-1100 100 PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES (PTIX) ROCHESTER, NY 716-256-0200 8 KROLL-O'GARA (KROG) FAIRFIELD, OH 513-874-2112 53 XETA (XETA) TULSA, OK 918-664-8200 79 MASTECH(a) (MAST) OAKDALE, PA 412-787-2100 86 ANSYS (ANSS) CANONSBURG, PA 724-746-3304 38 METRO NETWORKS (MTNT) HOUSTON, TX 713-407-6000 62 FOSSIL (FOSL) RICHARDSON, TX 972-234-2525 95 CENTEX CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS (CXP) DALLAS, TX 214-559-6514 99 MITY-LITE (MITY) OREM, UT 801-224-0589 9 METRO INFORMATION SERVICES (MISI) VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 757-486-1900 22 MAXIMUS(a) (MMS) Mc LEAN, VA 703-734-4200 43 BEST SOFTWARE (BEST) RESTON, VA 703-709-5200 44 ATLANTIC COAST AIRLINES HOLDINGS STERLING, VA 703-925-6000 (ACAI) 74 SOFTWORKS (SWRX) ALEXANDRIA, VA 703-317-2424 80 SOFTWARE AG SYSTEMS (AGS) RESTON, VA 703-860-5050 84 AMERICAN WOODMARK (AMWD) WINCHESTER, VA 540-665-9100 5 APEX PC SOLUTIONS (APEX) REDMOND, WA 425-861-5858 12 VISIO (VSIO) SEATTLE, WA 206-521-4500 70 CUTTER & BUCK (CBUK) SEATTLE, WA 206-622-4191 45 MIDWEST EXPRESS HOLDINGS (MEH) OAK CREEK, WI 414-570-4000 89 PLEXUS (PLXS) NEENAH, WI 920-722-3451 (a) company profile appears in Business Week's 5-31-99 issue Source: Business Week/5-31-99 To win a position on Business Week's Hot Growth list, the company must excel in three-year sales growth, earnings growth, and return on invested capital. To qualify, a company must have annual sales of $25 million and less than $500 million, a current market value greater than $25 million, a current stock price greater than $5, and be actively traded. Banks, insurers, real estate firms, and utilities are excluded, as are firms where developments raise questions about future performance. -=-=- 