ARS International
Rank: No. 16
City: Port Allen, La.
Web site
Chief executive: Danny Coleman
Workers: 48
2008 revenue: $12 million
2008 growth rate: -23%
Estimated 2009 growth rate: 26%
ARS International does environmental analysis and cleanup of radioactive materials in such places as old nuclear weapons sites and oil and gas fields (low-level radioactive waste is generated during extraction). The company, based in Port Allen, La., outside Baton Rouge, splits its work evenly between private-sector clients and government agencies like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy, Defense, and Homeland Security Depts. Because of the diversity and the specialized nature of ARS International’s work, the firm hasn’t been hit as hard by the downturn as it might have been. Sales declined in 2008 mainly because a large contract ended, says CEO Danny Coleman. ARS is completing an acquisition of another lab that will double its staff, and the company is projecting $20 million to $30 million in sales in 2010.
