ACG Austin/San Antonio Salutes Our 2022 Spotlight & Growth Award Finalists & Winners!

Winner - Spotlight Award for Community Impact & Assistance

PeopleFund

PeopleFund’s mission is to create economic opportunity and financial stability for underserved people and communities by providing access to capital, education, and resources to build healthy small businesses. They focus on supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs, especially people of color, women, veterans, individuals with low to moderate income, and those located in hard-to-reach areas.

Since the start of the pandemic, PeopleFund has served as first responders for small businesses in need—no matter their background. PeopleFund launched intensive relief and recovery programs to rapidly meet the moment. They provided loans, grants, business coaching, technical assistance, and even masks to under-resourced small businesses across Texas. In total, during 2020 and 2021, PeopleFund provided 51,245 hours of education to 15,260 entrepreneurs and $70 million in loans and grants to 3,379 small businesses, helping create and retain 12,656 jobs.

Recognizing that the road to recovery is long, PeopleFund remains committed to meeting the diverse needs of small business owners. Their programs invest in entrepreneurship across sectors as a dignity-based approach to leaving no talent behind while repairing systemic disparities, including PeopleFund’s one-to-one Business Coaching, the BIPOC Small Business Accelerator, the Veteran Loan Fund, and Women & Veteran Programs.

Over $100 Million Category

AmeriVet Veterinary Partners

Winner - Over $100 million category

AmeriVet partners with experienced, established veterinarians looking to adapt and grow their practices and provides best-in-class operational resources to support their success. Since 2017, AmeriVet has grown its network to over 150 partner practices in 33 states.

In 2021 alone, AmeriVet and its partner practices generated over $227 million in revenue, up $84 million from the previous year. AmeriVet credits its strong leadership and hardworking partner practices and team members for its continued growth and success. AmeriVet has significantly expanded its corporate team at its headquarters in San Antonio, TX and even expanded into a new, larger corporate office – featuring a dog friendly area and a relaxation room.

Over the past year, AmeriVet has been named the 2021 Business of the Year, Fast Track Award Winner, a Best Place to Work by the San Antonio Business Journal, a Top Workplace by the San Antonio Express-News, and an Inc 5000 Regional award winner for the Southwest region.

Cody Pools

Finalist - Over $100 million category

2021 was yet another historic year for Cody Pools. Not only did Cody Pools survive the Covid Pandemic, we thrived; revenue skyrocketed to over $250 million, a staggering $76 million over 2020. Backlog heading into 2022 is over $160 million. In 2022 we expect revenue approaching $250 million with over 2,500 pools being built.

We continue our unprecedented streak of 9 years in a row of being one of the top 100 best companies to work for in Texas. And another 9 years in a row of being named the #1 pool builder in the Nation. With the recent acquisitions in Florida, Platinum Pools, and the newest addition to the family: California Pools & Landscapes, Cody Pools is poised to become a national-brand in residential and commercial pool construction.

Every sales metric in all areas increased: number of million dollar sales people; total revenue in all locations, warranties and accounting. Cody Pools experienced zero decreases across the board. 2021 was yet another historic year for Cody Pools. 2022 is going to be even better.

Berry Aviation

Finalist - Over $100 million category

Berry Aviation, Inc. (BAI) is a trusted leader in private aviation, with a portfolio of services that include government, scheduled and on-demand cargo, MRO/CRO and FBO operations.

Berry Aviation was formed in 1983 in Austin, Texas. In 1987, Berry Aviation expanded its customer base and services by becoming a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Approved (CARB) Air Carrier with worldwide operating authority. In 1993, Berry Aviation relocated to the San Marcos Regional Airport where its corporate headquarters are located today.

Since becoming DOD-approved in 1987, Berry Aviation has provided unique and innovative aviation services to various branches of DOD and other non-defense government agencies. Berry Aviation conducts CONUS and OCONUS operations with a fleet of over 30 aircraft from seven satellite locations on three continents and the Pacific Islands. Our customers include all branches of the U.S. military, Fortune 500 companies, and other Part 135 and 121 Air Carriers. BAI has twice been awarded the U.S. Small Business Administration’s “Award for Excellence” and was named the recipient of the 2022 American Legion “Employer of Veterans” (Large Category) National Award. BAI is a privately held, certified small business employing more than 300 team members.

Winner - Spotlight Award for Innovation

Homeward

Homeward is a modern home finance company that helps real estate agents and their clients overcome the limitations of traditional mortgages and buy a home with cash. Founded by Tim Heyl, an agent himself, Heyl noticed a pattern — Buyers couldn’t make an offer on a new home until they sold their old home. In December 2018, Heyl decided to try and solve this problem. He bought the house his client wanted with his own money, then sold it back to the client once they had finalized the mortgage. Homeward’s first service, Buy Before you sell, was born. To scale this solution and enable other agents to use it, Heyl created Homeward and eventually launched a second service, Buy with Cash, allowing those without a home to sell first, to make an all-cash offer. But Homeward offers more than cash. Their leadership team includes experts from the real estate, mortgage, and technology industries. When agents work with Homeward, homebuyers can complete their entire transaction under one virtual roof instead of working with three separate companies. After they use the Homeward Cash Offer, they can finance their home with Homeward Mortgage, and then close on it with Homeward Title. Today Homeward offers services in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Georgia and Florida, and will soon be in California as well.

Homeward’s mission is to streamline the home buying process and make it more affordable and accessible to all.

$25 to $100 Million Category

Caden Lane

Winner -$25 to $100 Million Category

There's no better marketing strategy than a pregnant mom selling baby products, and Katy Mimari proved just that. A self-taught entrepreneur, Katy started her baby business while she was pregnant with her first, and grew it to an 8 figure business as a single mom of 3. Known for their newborn essentials, apparel, and personalized gifts, they've seen nearly 2,000% growth over the last 4 years. Caden Lane will be moving into their brand new 40,000sq.ft. headquarters in Boerne, Texas in 2023.

Much of her financial success has come from taking no outside investments. Katy says, "I believe in investing in yourself, doing the work, and didn't want someone else controlling my story. It's been a bumpy ride for sure, but we've learned to pivot quickly, and never be afraid of change!" Caden Lane still remains 100% privately owned, with Katy keeping full control.

"We've focused on creating really great products - that moms WANT to use, and connecting with our audience," says Mimari. "Adding a child to your family is the biggest moment in a parent's life, and we get to be a little part of that - how amazing is that?!" With a passion for new moms, Katy also created a non-profit called Conceive Fertility Foundation where a percentage of their profits will go to a deserving family struggling with infertility.

The company is on track to hit $60 million in revenue for 2022, and is projecting to double that figure by 2023.

ONR

Finalist - $25 - $100 million category

Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation, or ONR for short, was founded in 1988 by CEO Jill Capela, a Speech-Language Pathologist with entrepreneurial foresight. Recognizing a need in the market, Jill created a company of rehabilitation professionals dedicated to enhancing patients’ quality of life through a progressive therapeutic approach. Beginning with one Northern California customer, ONR developed an exceptional program that now services over 600 customers across 26 states in the US. The positive impact of onsite rehabilitation services for residents to their overall health and wellbeing became increasingly apparent during the pandemic, resulting in the company’s growth of 59% in 2020 to meet customer needs.

ONR has become a recognized leader in providing high-quality physical, occupational, and speech-language rehabilitation therapy services and programs onsite in senior living communities and skilled nursing facilities across the nation, with a foreseen growth of 72% in 2022. ONR’s leadership team has a combined experience of over 200 years that embodies the values of collaboration, reliability, and a tenacious commitment to positive, proactive interactions with both employees and customers.

BryComm

Finalist - $25 - $100 million category

BryComm is a leader in delivering innovative technology solutions and services to organizations across Texas. BryComm specializes in the design, installation, maintenance and service of network infrastructure and the various systems that connect to it. They build customized solutions designed to meet their clients’ current and future needs. BryComm’s founder, Cory Brymer, established BryComm completely organically, capitalizing on previous experience and relationships that he developed in the industry. He did not rely on any outside capital or investors, but instead used approximately $100,000 of his own personal funds to start BryComm in 2008 and still owns 100% of the company today. The structured cabling company he started with two employees has grown to nearly 300, now spanning three major Texas metro areas and five divisions and serving a diverse customer base. Part of the company’s success comes from an understanding that an organization is only as good as its people, which is why BryComm has worked to set the standard in its industry for company culture, benefits, and overall satisfaction. BryComm attracts and retains top talent by making sure employees are happy and well taken care of in a culture that promotes growth, inclusiveness, and work-life balance.

Winner - Spotlight Award for Diversity & Inclusion

data.world

data.world makes it easy for everyone—not just data experts—to get clear, accurate, and fast answers to any business question. Its data catalog maps your company’s data to familiar and consistent business concepts, creating a unified body of knowledge anyone can find, understand, and use. With customers including the Associated Press, WPP, Prologis, and Wunderman Thompson, the company’s mission is to create the most meaningful, collaborative, and abundant data resource in the world. data.world was founded in 2015 and launched in 2016. It is an Austin-based Certified B Corporation and public benefit corporation and home to the world’s largest collaborative open data community, which is free and open to the public. The free community is where people around the world discover interesting data, share their analysis, and team up on everything from COVID-19 statistic tracking to award-winning data journalism. data.world is committed to being a part of the drive for diversity in the technology space, and supports social equality through a variety of programs. data.world is the world’s largest collaborative data community and believes that their organization should represent the very diverse nature of the community they serve and the client base they target. data.world believes that a diverse and actively inclusive environment leads to the most creative discussions, ideas, and outcomes, and continues to be a voice in the diversity, equity, and inclusion conversation. data.world is currently 56% female and minority employees as a result of their efforts to build a highly diverse team.

$10 to $25 Million Category

MKS2 Technologies

Winner - $10 - $25 million category

Founded in 2008 by CEO Brendan Mullen, a combat veteran, MKS2 Technologies is a mature and award-winning professional service, product, and staffing consultancy serving the US Federal Government and commercial clients. MKS2 delivers application development, cybersecurity, instructional design, and training to more than a dozen Federal agencies, including US Army, Navy, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Intelligence Community. Their robust Program Management Office, dedicated in-house staffing and recruiting team, and experienced workforce has enabled MKS2 to quickly staff, and efficiently manage, the delivery of high-quality enterprise IT support, defensive cyber services, agile software development and scalable learning and training solutions. MKS2 has been named on the venerable Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Company six years in a row and has been named an Austin Business Journal's FAST 50 awardee four times. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, MKS2 has 225 employees nationwide, with 27% of its workforce having served in the US military. MKS2 operates in 49 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC and is a certified Service Disabled Veteran-Owned small business. MKS2 Technologies helps their clients define their Mission, use existing and new domain Knowledge, formulate new client Strategies, and implement successful solutions.

 

Venturi Private Wealth

Finalist - $10 - $25 million category

Venturi Private Wealth is an independent, fee-only private wealth management firm. Russ Norwood and George Clark founded Venturi in Austin after successful careers with Merrill Lynch Private Banking and Investment Group. They manage the complexities of the entrepreneur’s financial life so that he or she can focus on the things that matter most. The firm has become one of the fastest growing independent wealth management firms in the region. Doubling in size since 2017, Venturi has 27 full-time employees, manages nearly $2 billion and has a second office in Oklahoma City. Accolades include Financial Times “Top 300 Registered Investment Adviser” 2017-2020, Barron’s, “Top 1000 Investment Advisors in the United States,” 2009 – 2015 and Forbes Best In State Advisors.

Each of Venturi’s executive team had successful careers with Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Deloitte and bring unique perspectives and disciplines to the firm. The private investment arm utilizes a “farm to table” approach to investing, sourcing local and regional investment opportunities for clients in the middle markets.

The firm is committed to giving back to the community. Venturi has raised hundreds of thousands for Honor Flight Austin and continues to partner with UTs wealth management program. Venturi Private Wealth - Guiding Your Present. Securing Your Future.

PeopleFund

Finalist - $10 - $25 million category

PeopleFund’s mission is to create economic opportunity and financial stability for underserved people and communities by providing access to capital, education, and resources to build healthy small businesses. They focus on supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs, especially people of color, women, veterans, individuals with low to moderate income, and those located in hard-to-reach areas.

Since the start of the pandemic, PeopleFund has served as first responders for small businesses in need—no matter their background. PeopleFund launched intensive relief and recovery programs to rapidly meet the moment. They provided loans, grants, business coaching, technical assistance, and even masks to under-resourced small businesses across Texas. In total, during 2020 and 2021, PeopleFund provided 51,245 hours of education to 15,260 entrepreneurs and $70 million in loans and grants to 3,379 small businesses, helping create and retain 12,656 jobs.

Recognizing that the road to recovery is long, PeopleFund remains committed to meeting the diverse needs of small business owners. Their programs invest in entrepreneurship across sectors as a dignity-based approach to leaving no talent behind while repairing systemic disparities, including PeopleFund’s one-to-one Business Coaching, the BIPOC Small Business Accelerator, the Veteran Loan Fund, and Women & Veteran Programs.

Winner - Spotlight Award for Job Creation

Cody Pools

2021 was yet another historic year for Cody Pools. Not only did Cody Pools survive the Covid Pandemic, we thrived; revenue skyrocketed to over $250 million, a staggering $76 million over 2020. Backlog heading into 2022 is over $160 million. In 2022 we expect revenue approaching $250 million with over 2,500 pools being built.

We continue our unprecedented streak of 9 years in a row of being one of the top 100 best companies to work for in Texas. And another 9 years in a row of being named the #1 pool builder in the Nation. With the recent acquisitions in Florida, Platinum Pools, and the newest addition to the family: California Pools & Landscapes, Cody Pools is poised to become a national-brand in residential and commercial pool construction.

Every sales metric in all areas increased: number of million dollar sales people; total revenue in all locations, warranties and accounting. Cody Pools experienced zero decreases across the board. 2021 was yet another historic year for Cody Pools. 2022 is going to be even better.

Triumvira is led by Dr. Paul Lammers, CEO & President, and an experienced management team with operational, clinic, and product development expertise. Spanning the United States and Canada, the company is headquartered in Austin, Texas and has research facilities in Hamilton, Ontario. 

Since the beginning of Paul Lammers’ leadership in 2018, the company has grown from 4 to 46 employees with 32 of these added in 2020 and 2021. The majority of the new hires have been scientists, mostly with extensive biology or T cell manufacturing backgrounds. The company also extended its team with people in finance, accounting, and business development.

$5 to $10 Million Category

Cox Consulting Network

Winner - $5 to $10 million category

Andy Cox founded Cox Consulting Network in 2018 to serve his peers in finance and accounting. The company provides consulting and recruiting services to clients in every industry — in Austin, San Antonio, and beyond.

Andy began with only $42,000 in starting capital and intentionally chose not to incur debt or bring in outside investors. He believed — then and now — that business growth would naturally come when he put people first. He committed to pay consultants above-market rates and, in doing so, attract the best talent in Texas.

This simple idea has paid dividends. CCN has steadily increased its revenue by more than 60% year-over-year, and it’s grown to employ over 60 staff members and consultants in 2022. Cox Consulting Network continues to share this success with its consultants, providing competitive benefits and perks like all-expenses-paid trips for consultant milestones.

Philanthropy has also remained close to the company’s heart, with charitable giving consistently over 2% of net income. Last year, CCN’s “Light the Night” team raised over $40,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

CCN isn’t just growing; it’s on to something big: when you put people first, everybody wins.

Alafair Biosciences

Finalist - $5 to $10 million category

Alafair Biosciences is a privately held, commercial stage medical device company focused on development of pipeline products with its patented hydrogel technology. Alafair Biosciences’ mission is to improve patient outcomes by preventing unwanted soft tissue tethering using non-collagenous, bioresorbable biomaterials in all surgical fields.

Founded in 2011 by John Joyoprayitno, Sarah Mayes PhD, and Dan Peterson, MD, Alafair is a true bench-to-bedside story based on technology invented at, and licensed from, the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Alafair’s early years were spent primarily on research and development of the company’s commercial product while preparing for future commercial launch. FDA clearance of Alafair’s first product, Versa Wrap, was granted in 2016 and launched at the start of 2018.

Since launch, Alafair’s products have been implanted in over 5,000 patients across the United States, and the company has made great progress towards accomplishing its primary goal of helping to improve patient lives. The company is experiencing explosive year-over-year growth of 130% and has begun hiring a sales force to continue to expand sales.

Over the past year, Alafair Biosciences is proud to have been named a 2022 Best Place to Work by the Austin Business Journal.

MAGI Foods

Finalist - $5 to $10 million category

Based out of San Antonio, MaGi Foods was founded by Matt and Kathleen Mayes in 2007. With its mission to bring convenient, healthy, affordable, and tasty food products to the market, MaGi has grown to over $10 million in sales with up to 50 employees working at its Schertz location. MaGi Foods focuses its production and packaging operation exclusively in the oatmeal/breakfast category. The company found its way into oatmeal after approaching HEB about growing and packaging its oats in South Texas. After a successful trial of planting, harvesting, milling, and packaging oats in 2015, MaGi never looked back.

In 2019, MaGi moved its operation to Schertz, TX into a brand new 32,000 square foot facility where it runs 3 dedicated lines of production of different packaging types of oatmeal products. Today, MaGi’s production runs 7 days a week across its 3 state of the art lines where it packages instant oatmeal packets, oatmeal canisters, and convenient oatmeal cups across multiple flavors and oat varieties. The company focuses on packaging private label oatmeal products for high volume retail customers as well as CPG Brands in the oatmeal/breakfast category.