The Inner City 100 Profiles: 31-40

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NO. 31 BankServ

San Francisco
Electronic payment processing

G 514.3% R $13.2 million E 73

David Kvederis is an electronic payments pioneer. In 14 years at Wells Fargo he was deeply involved in such innovations as direct deposit, private-label electronic check conversion, and global wire-transfer outsourcing. BankServ processes nearly $3 billion per day in wire transfers alone for more than 100 U.S. financial institutions.

NO. 32 Enlightened

Washington, D.C.
IT and business consulting

G 487.6% R $2.8 million E 16

Antwanye Ford and his two co-founders met at George Washington University, launched their company in the nation's capital, and quickly lined up plenty of government business. Then September 11 shook up the federal contract scene, forcing the company to seek more clients in the commercial sector. Enlightened sponsors a business plan competition in conjunction with the Pioneer Student Leadership Academy.

NO. 33 Kauffman & Associates

Spokane, Washington
Management and research consulting

G 486.7% R $2.1 million E 32

JoAnn Kauffman got her start as a lobbyist and consultant on American Indian concerns (she is herself a member of the Nez Perce tribe) while living in Washington, D.C., in the late 1980s. In 1990 she launched her company, which works with tribes, government agencies, and businesses to promote American Indian interests.

NO. 34 Click Wine Group

Seattle
Wine importing and sales

G 486% R $29.7 million E 25

Peter Click began importing and selling wines from Australia in 1987. Long a local fixture and tastemaker in Seattle, Click Wine Group recently became half owner of Fat Bastard, the best-selling French Chardonnay and Shiraz in the United States.

NO. 35 Barcoding

Baltimore
Data collection and ID technology

G 464% R $18.8 million E 54

The dot-com suffix is synonymous with technology failure--one reason Jay Steinmetz dropped it from his company's name post-bubble. Today Barcoding works in some of the most lucrative high-tech areas, including radio frequency identification, wireless LANs, mobile computing, and of course those black and white stripes. The company was funded via credit card and grew on cash flow, and Steinmetz hopes for an IPO or reverse merger in the future.

NO. 36 Cynergy Data

College Point, New York
Electronic payment processing

G 457.5% R $21.7 million E 112

Cynergy Data handles most forms of money transfer that don't involve the actual green stuff: electronic payments, including credit and debit processing; electronic benefits transfer; gift cards; and e-commerce. Marcelo Paladini learned about business while working in his family's chain of pharmacies in Argentina. He came to the United States in 1995 and co-founded Cynergy Data the same year. The company processes $1.6 billion in payments annually.

NO. 37 RetroBox

Columbus, Ohio
Computer disposal and reselling

G 438% R $12.6 million E 85

RetroBox merged on the last day of 2005 with the Dallas company Intechra, and RetroBox founder Stampp Corbin now runs systems integration for the combined company. Intechra helps companies dispose of outdated computing equipment through resale, redeployment, and donation.

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