19th Annual Aggie 100 Breaks Records, Honors Fastest Growing Aggie-Led Companies

One hundred Aggie-owned or -led companies selected for the 2023 Aggie 100 following four new records in program history.

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS November 1, 2023 – The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship hosted its 19th annual Aggie 100 Oct. 27 in the Hall of Champions at Kyle Field, with nearly 750 in attendance for the celebration and announcements of the final rankings and record-breaking statistics.

In addition to receiving the highest number of applications in Aggie 100 history, this year also saw the highest growth rate of a #1 company, as well as the highest growth rate of a #100 company, making the threshold to be named to the list more competitive than ever before. Each year, PKF Texas, the official accountants of Aggie 100, notes the total combined annual revenue for the most recent year of financials for the companies. Across 19 years, the average total combined revenue is $5.16 billion, with a previous record of $9.72 billion in 2019. This year’s record-breaking streak continued with the announcement that the 2023 Aggie 100 class hit a total combined revenue of $23.33 billion in 2022.

Although companies are notified in advance they were selected for the Aggie 100, the official rankings aren’t revealed until the in-person event, with the surprise announcements made by current Texas A&M students selected by the McFerrin Center.

This year’s #1 company, StaffDNA, LLC, based in Plano and led by Jenny Hanlon ’89, was honored with an impressive — and record breaking — growth rate of 734.72% from 2020-2022.

“[Being named #1 on the Aggie 100] is an affirmation of what we did and what we need to continue to do and the problem that we want to solve,” Hanlon said. “It’s important to us to be able to say we solved a problem, we worked together and to look back and say ‘We did that. We all did that.'”

The top 10 from the 2023 Aggie 100 company list, including their location, Aggie leadership and growth rate, are:

1. StaffDNA, LLC | Plano, TX | Jenny Hanlon ’89 | 734.72%
2. Lone Star Flower Market | Dallas, TX | Luke Krieger ’00 | 308.03%
3. Buccaneer Commission (Buc Days) | Corpus Christi, TX | Johnny Philipello ’03 | 235.15%
4. Hibernia Resources | Houston, TX | Embry Canterbury ’94 | 216.50%
5. Cutters Landscaping | Austin, TX | Zach Brashear ’15, Charlie Curl ’14 | 186.51%
6. Penguin Patch | Fort Worth, TX | Jennifer Randklev ’99 | 160.36%
7. Education Advanced, Inc. | Tyler, TX | J. Eli Crow, Ph.D. ’01 | 136.11%
8. Universal Flow Controls | Laredo, TX | Oscar Torres ’77, Oscar Torres ’14| 135.34%
9. Navidad Resource Partners LLC | Bullard, TX | Harold McGowen ’82, Richard A. Reese ’83| 123.74%
10. Sagis Transport | Sugar Land, TX | Toya Jones ’00 | 119.90%

“The 19th year of Aggie 100 was literally one for the books,” said Blake Petty ’98, executive director of the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship. “This year saw four Aggie 100 records broken, including the highest number of applications and the highest threshold of a growth rate just to qualify for the list.”

“Any company on the 2023 Aggie 100 should be incredibly proud of this accomplishment as this was the hardest year to make it onto the list,” Petty continued. “As we look ahead to celebrating twenty years of Aggie 100 in 2024, we continue to be impressed by and proud of the accomplishments and successes of Aggie Entrepreneurs. Celebrating and honoring them is always a highlight of our year.”

Launched in 2005 by the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, the Aggie 100 honors the 100 fastest-growing Aggie-owned or -led businesses in the world. While there are many ways to define business success, Aggie 100 uses growth rate as an indicator as it reflects a ventures capacity for job creation, product acceptance and entrepreneurial vision. Nominated companies are ranked by percentage of compound annual growth in sales or revenues (net of returns), over a three-year period (2020-2022 for this year’s class). Nominees are required to provide detailed company information to PKF Texas who then evaluate and rank the nominees based on these requirements.

In addition to growth and leadership criteria, companies named to the Aggie 100 must operate in a manner consistent with the Aggie Code of Honor and the values of Texas A&M University.

Aggie 100 has grown significantly since its inception in 2005 and is now being emulated by a number of other top universities, including several SEC schools. More than 950 different companies and nearly 1,300 Aggie leaders have been honored over the past 19 years.

A complete list of Aggie 100 companies, including past years, can be found at aggie100.com.

About McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship

The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship serves as the hub for entrepreneurship at Texas A&M University. The McFerrin Center’s goal is to enhance entrepreneurial education by providing training, networking and assistance to enterprising students, faculty and former students.

The McFerrin Center enables the startup and growth of countless businesses and provides competitive opportunities, professional development and financial support to aspiring entrepreneurs in the Aggie community through the support of a robust volunteer mentor network, corporate supporters, faculty and staff.

The McFerrin Center defines entrepreneurship as an attitude that acts on opportunity. In this spirit, the McFerrin Center strives to deliver programs and events that are inspiring, engaging, motivating and life-changing. This philosophy has resulted in the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship offering more than 30 unique programs each year that positively impact the lives of thousands of students, veterans and other professionals seeking to blaze their own trail as an entrepreneur.

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Media Contact: Lara Robertson, communications manager, lrobertson@tamu.edu