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No. 1,565 Appletree Answering Services Wilmington, DE

	Year	2008
	Industry	Business Services
	Founded	1995
	Growth	241.1%
	2004 Revenue	$3.5 million
	2007 Revenue	$12.0 million
	Employees	350
	Website	www.appletreeanswers.com

What it does:
Appletree offers full-service, 24/7 call centers and live telephone answering services in all time zones and areas in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Why it's growing:
The company invests heavily in technology. It has acquired more than a dozen smaller competitors throughout the U.S. Meanwhile, Appletree University provides courses, Webinars, listening sessions, and printed training materials to offer every employee 10 hours of continuing education each month.

What's noteworthy:
CEO John Ratliff started the company as a one-man operation in a commercially zoned two-bedroom apartment in 1995. Ratliff earned the 2007 New Castle County Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year award and, in 2008, the Small Business Association Entrepreneurial Success Award for Delaware and the Mid Atlantic Region.