FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES | $250,000-$5M | 2ND PLACE
An investment in knowledge was a good place to start when Building Enclosure Science incorporated in 2013.
“We did spend a good amount of money at the beginning, the first six to eight months, educating the market,” said Charles Antone, chief operating officer. “We held lunch and learns so that we could share the information about the industry.”
That strategy paid off, he acknowledged, as BES is one of the fastest-growing businesses in Rhode Island, with a 331 percent increase in revenue from 2014 to 2016. Additionally, BES hired 16 of its 20 employees in just the last year.
BES is a national construction consulting firm focused on sustainability and durability of materials, components and systems for building enclosures.
“What is working well for us is timing of the growth of the industry. Specifically, we are piggybacking on the construction economy doing well,” explained Antone, “and the fact that my partner and I did this type of work for years already.”
“The last thing,” he said, “is we set up our company to be employee-owned, so we quickly attracted talent with experience. We didn’t have to spend a lot of time in the learning curve and could capitalize on that experience right away.”
CEO (or equivalent): Michael E. Kenney, president
2016 Revenue: $958,783
2014 Revenue: $222,552
Revenue Growth: 331%