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Welcome to Crain's Fast 50, our annual survey of the fastest-growing companies on metro Detroit's business scene. In the ranks of this year's list, which are based on results for the past three years, you'll see the fingerprints of many of the trends shaping our business lives: the construction boom fueled by rising real estate prices and downtown Detroit's resurgence; high automotive sales that spur the local economy; and big acquisitions that offer overnight growth. We don't pick the companies by a pure percentage growth rate alone. Instead, we rank companies by percentage revenue growth between 2014 and 2017, and also by the dollar amount of revenue growth. The two rankings are then added together to create the list. The lower the number, the higher the final ranking.
1. United Shore Financial Services LLC
Revenue 2014: $355,604,000
Revenue 2017: $1,086,000,000
Three-year percentage change: 205
What it does: Mortgage lender
How it grew: Loan production volume has grown from roughly $10 billion in 2014 to $30 billion in 2017. The company has also grown to own more than 18.6 percent of market share within the wholesale mortgage business. Employees have grown from 1,000 team members in 2014 to more than 2,600 employees, enabling speedier operations.
2. Meridian Health Plan
Revenue 2014: $2,022,604,510
Revenue 2017: $3,810,647,282
Three-year percentage change: 88
What it does: Government health insurance programs
How it grew: Growth has been driven by Meridian's Medicaid health plans in Michigan and Illinois, expanding into more counties through their marketplace product, MeridianChoice, as well as gaining Medicare members in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio through MeridianCare. Meridian's pharmacy benefit management company, MeridianRx, has also steadily grown since its inception.
Company: Sold to Tampa-based Wellcare Health Plans Inc. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
3. Piston Group
Revenue 2014: $838,242,575
Revenue 2017: $1,707,928,056
Three-year percentage change: 104
What it does: Automotive supplier
How it grew: Organic growth from existing customers that include Ford Motor Co., as well as new customers that include FCA and Toyota. The company has also grown through acquisitions, including the $175 million acquisition of Takata Corp. subsidiary Irvin Automotive Inc., which expanded the company into design, engineering and manufacturing. The company has also seen growth from the formation...