2010 Revenues: $5.5 million
5-year Annual Growth Rate: 59%
CEO: Anthony Gonzalez-Angel
Location: St. Louis, MO
About the business:
The Gonzalez Companies is a civil engineering and construction management firm that works with city governments and quasi-public agencies like waterworks companies. Founder and CEO Tony Gonzalez, the son of Cuban immigrants, started his company while at college in Chicago and focused on apartment repair and cleaning. After college, the entrepreneur nurtured his fledgling firm (funded with personal savings) while working a day job. Gonzalez still abides by old-fashioned business practices: his firm is not leveraged and is careful to spend only within its means. And every year, the company pays its staff to spend two working days on a joint community project.
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