Leading a business to consecutive years of growth is worth celebrating. But when a pandemic is thrown into the mix, that growth is even more impressive.
Each year, Albuquerque Business First recognizes local companies that have experienced tremendous growth via the Fastest Growing Companies Awards.
After a public call for nominations earlier this year, Business First's accounting partner REDW then audited each nominee's revenue. In order to qualify, companies had to have achieved growth over the three-year period from 2019-2021. Each organization also had to be a privately held for-profit company — including wholly-owned subsidiaries — and be locally owned and headquartered in New Mexico. Companies had to have sales or revenue of at least $500,000 in 2021 and been in business throughout all of 2019.
REDW tabulated each company's revenue to create a percentage that showed the amount by which each business grew over that three-year period.
Companies were broken into three categories based on revenue size. Those categories include:
- Companies with less than $5 million in revenue
- Companies with $5 million to $10 million in revenue
- Companies with more than $10 million in revenue
A special celebration was held for the honorees on Sept. 21 at Sandia Golf Club. During the event, each company's rank in its respective category was revealed. In the coming days, you can read more about the top companies in each category online.
– Megan Martin
Companies with less than $5M in revenue
No. 1 Parting Stone
What will you do with the ashes after cremating the remains of a loved one? That is the question Parting Stone sought to answer years ago when they began.
Instead of an urn or placing ashes at a cemetery columbarium, Parting Stone solidifies those remains into a form that looks like small, smooth stones. In a culture where talking about death is difficult, here is a business that is taking on that challenge and discovering a high level of interest.
Parting Stone provides services for both human and pet remains. Caring for pets has been an exponentially growing business over the past decade or more. Providing services when the life of a pet has ended is an important part of that business.
“We are excited to be expanding into more veterinary clinics in early 2023,” Justin Crowe, the company founder and CEO, told Albuquerque Business First. “Pets are family, and we believe having the option to select solidified remains is an important end-of-life option that families are beginning to expect for both people and pets.”
While the company has enjoyed the path it has been on, there is still plenty of room for growth. Of the more than 20,000 funeral homes in the United States, Parting Stone services are available in only 600.
“We are excited to continue to make solidified remains available to more families across the U.S. and Canada,” Crowe said. “Additionally, we are exploring other growth opportunities with pets and expansion internationally.”
With rapid growth comes some unique challenges. Staffing up in an era of low unemployment has been an area where Parting Stone has needed to get creative. “We are always seeking expert professionals in New Mexico to join our team in the areas of sales, marketing and production,” Crowe said. “To attract more candidates, we recently added employee benefits like 100% health insurance coverage, stock options and remote work for some positions.”
Conversations and decision-making around end-of-life arrangements can be uncomfortable. Parting Stone is providing a service that makes decisions about remains less complicated. Evidently, it is a conversation the market is more than ready for.
Company Details:
- Year company was founded: 2019
- Number of full-time employees: 34
- Name of top local executive: Justin Crowe, CEO
- Office address: Cerillos Road and I-25
