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At the Water Garden office complex on Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica there is headquartered a quiet business that's been content to let its work do the talking.
Few people know about the low-profile computer software company that employs 1,100 people and generates revenues of more than $200 million a year.
The company, Candle Corp., is not involved in secret Pentagon or CIA projects. As some people in the business say, what Candle does is produce "industrial strength" software for commercial uses.
"What they do -- systems management -- is not the sexy side of software. I guess you can say that, no, the general public doesn't know about them. But in their world, Candle is very well known," said one industry source who did not want to be named.
Candle, headed by enigmatic Aubrey Chernick, is a privately held company and, therefore, is not required to reveal its finances. But according to company officials, Candle has shown steady growth ever since Chernick started the business in 1977.
Based on annual revenues, Candle is one of the 20 largest software companies in the country, according to one national industry publication, and...