Value-Added IT Services
Companies in the business of providing consulting,
outsourcing and staffing solutions

Information Technology (IT) managers are gradually recovering from a painful recession and an uncertain economic environment. Since 2008, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) have been forced to reduce staff, cut budgets and all but eliminate new investments. While the economic recovery remains somewhat fragile, we are starting to see CIOs revisit longer-term projects, increase capital expenditures and make growth-oriented investments.

Education For-Profit: K-12
Product and service companies providing critical resources to
public and private schools in support of teaching and learning

In this past year, the U.S. and the World economy have been jolted by numerous bank failures, billions of dollars of bailouts to stave off failures of those deemed too big to fail, unemployment rising to over 10%, and government budget deficits at 11% of GDP, up from less than 2% just a few years ago. Yet the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 2009 up nearly 23% and the S&P 500 finished up roughly 26%. Education For-Profit companies performed especially well. The index we track, the EDU50 Index, was up more than 100% over the same time period.

Energy Innovations
Technology innovators impacting the energy supply chain in generation, infrastructure, storage and efficiency.

Energy Innovators are rapidly transforming the landscape of the global energy balance. Technology and supply systems are now in place to generate cleaner and more efficient energy; however, the clean technology sector requires additional investment to move to the next growth phase. Growth in the sector is driven by capacity constraints, global demand, consumer concerns and governmental regulatory support.

Food & Beverage Industry
Participants responsible for refining, processing, packaging, transporting, and preparing food and non-alcoholic drinks.

The Food & Beverage industry in the United States spans a broad and complex network that bridges farmers to consumers. Participants in the industry are responsible for refining, processing, packaging, transporting, and preparing food and non-alcoholic drink offerings for ultimate sale to consumers. Their profiles range from global commodities enterprises and consumer driven packaged goods companies to simple family operated restaurants.

Value-Added Bakery
Manufacturers of dry baking mixes, frozen batters and dough, frozen par-baked goods, and frozen thaw-and-serve offerings for sale to bakery and foodservice outlets.

The manufacture of value-added bakery products for sale into supermarket in-store bakeries, traditional retail bakeries, and foodservice outlets is an estimated $17 billion industry. Commodity cost increases drove multiple pricing actions by manufacturers in 2008, benefiting the top-line for the industry even with the volume pressure driven by changes in consumer spending.

Foodservice Equipment Industry
The $10 billion industry that manufactures, distributes,
and services the equipment used in the U.S. foodservice market.

The manufacturing and distribution of foodservice equipment in the U.S. is an estimated $10 billion industry. The foodservice equipment (“FSE”) industry includes hundreds of companies that build, distribute, install, and service the durable equipment used in the storage, preparation, and presentation of food outside the home. The path from the manufacturers of these products to the end-users (known as “operators”) is one that involves a number of independent companies, consultants, and sales representatives.

The North American Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Industry
The hyperactive $7.4 billion market segment that
provides electronic medical record software and
services to the healthcare industry.

The North American electronic medical records (EMR)
industry represented $7.4 billion in 2010 revenues and is expected to continue to grow 9.7% annually. While there are 12 companies with revenues greater than $100 million, it remains a highly fragmented industry overall with approximately 420 companies.

Strategic Adjacencies
A proactive approach to identifying acquisition opportunities that strategically align with the buyer’s core business.

Successful companies proactively pursue acquisitions in
an effort to augment organic growth initiatives. This is
especially true today with market pressures from a slowly recovering economy and heightened scrutiny from the
investor community.

Driving Strategic Growth
A strategic framework to ignite and sustain growth
amid difficult economic conditions.

This report defines the challenges of difficult economic conditions, delineates winning strategies, and outlines a framework for how to ignite and sustain growth and emerge much stronger from a downturn.