Bhavna Vasisht, Owner and President, Ark Solutions
Christie Lee, CEO, Oil Chem Technologies
Rebecca Flavin, CEO, EffectiveUI
Saskia Strick, CEO, International Checkout
Louisa Jaffe, CEO and President, Technical and Project Engineering (TAPE)
Stacey Pittman, President and CEO, ClinAssure
Michele Honomichl, CEO, Celergo
Therese Tucker, CEO, Blackline Systems
Rank: No. 17 Location: San Antonio Revenue: $13,542,291 in 2008
P3S Corporation is a minority, woman-owned 8(a) and Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) that provides IT network and physical security services mostly to the Defense Department.
Rank: No. 26 Location: Sunnyvale, California Revenue: $32,898,000 in 2008
Lo hates wires. She calls them “a mess,” which was the inspiration for Ruckus Wireless, a company that creates wireless networks for hotels and warehouses that include wireless TV.
Rank: No. 33 Location: Chantilly, Virginia Revenue: $8,622,230 in 2008
An environmentalist at heart, Bhavna Vasisht plants a tree for each employee or client Ark Solutions takes on. Last year, the company, which performs software technology and technology services, planted 50 trees.
A chemist first and a CEO second, Lee enjoys brainstorming compounds with her husband, the technical director and vice president of Oil Chem Technologies, which develops chemical compounds to increase oil production in nearly depleted wells.
Rank: No. 55 Location: Denver Revenue: $13,774,356 in 2008
The company vision of EffectiveUI is to improve people’s lives and their interactions with technology and brands through empathy, creativity and innovation. Flavin gets her inspiration from the passion, integrity and talent of her team.
Rank: No. 61 Location: Santa Monica, California Revenue: $7,226,100 in 2008
When Strick launched International Checkout, an online ordering platform, in 2002, she decided that control was important to her. With little money and “raw determination,” she built the business by landing online merchants as clients.
Rank: No. 77 Location: Kingstowne, Virginia Revenue: $16,610,029 in 2008
After 28 years in the service, Jaffe retired from the military and started TAPE, which consults with government agencies on their budgets.
Rank: No. 85 Location: Irvine, California Revenue: $5,043,775 in 2008
Upon graduating from college, Pittman intended to go into the Peace Corps, but her mother had a high-level job in the Pentagon, and her serving overseas was thought to be a bad idea. So she decided to specialize in clinical research for pharmaceuticals and biotech products and started ClinAssure.
Rank: No. 98 Location: Deerfield, Illinois Revenue: $8,634,230 in 2008
Honomichl has taken Celergo, her payroll-processing company, global. The business has customers in 90 countries, including Equatorial Guinea, Suriname, and the Dutch Antilles.
Rank: No. 113 Location: Calabasas, California Revenue: $4,968,000 in 2008
Each summer, Tucker invites the employees at Blackline Sysytems over to her house for a pool party. While they swim, she cooks enchiladas. “It builds camaraderie,” she says.
