Systech Solutions Inc. Fastest Growing Company $5 Million to $9.9 Million(55.78%) No. 10 Fastest Growing Company Overall It was 1993, and two Indian-born former IBM engineers had a simple idea for a new business. Arun Gollapudi and Srinivasan Ramaswamy envisioned a professional services firm that would use computer operations to help companies solve problems and better operate their business. Their timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Soon, their fledgling company, Systech Solutions Inc., was capitalizing on what was then a largely uncharted industry the Internet. By 1995, revenues for the Glendale company had grown to $472,000 not too bad for a start-up only to explode to $13 million in 2000. By 2004, those numbers leveled off to about $6.02 million, only to swing back to $9.37 million last year. That rapid growth 55.78 percent between 2004 and 2005 places Systech in the No. 10 position in the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s list of fastest growing private companies in the region and the No. 1 fastest growing among companies with between $5.5 million and $9.9 million annually. Today, Systech is a major player in the business development circuit, tallying $5.4 million for the first six months of this year. Its client list includes IHOP Corp., Disney, Earthlink Inc., Speedo, American Express Co. Wal-Mart.com, Guitar Center and a slate of Fortune 500 and 1000 companies. It’s also expanded far outside Glendale, establishing offices in San Francisco, Oregon, Connecticut and the United Kingdom and an offshore technology center in Chennai, India. Gollapudi credited the growth to the company’s diverse and often unique offerings. “There’s a tremendous demand out there and we’re growing rapidly to try to meet it,” he said. That diversification was largely a response to the one-two economic punch over the past decade that crippled many start-up tech firms: the dot.com bubble burst of the late 1990s and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “Post 9-11, everything in the IT services industry crashed,” Gollapudi said. “That was an 18-month recession where we didn’t get a single new client. So we practically had to rebuild the company.”

An aide to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been appointed vice president at the managed healthcare provider Health Net Inc. Press secretary Margita Thompson will take over as vice president of communications for the Woodland Hills company. Thompson joined the governor’s office in 2003 from CNN, where she served as a producer for Larry King Live. She has also worked for Sen. Pete Wilson, former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan; the presidential campaigns for Bush-Quayle in 1992 and Bush-Cheney in 2000; and in the White House.

Monday in the Valley The Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce holds its neighborhood council land use committee meeting. 6:30 p.m. Sherman Oaks Library 14245 Moorpark, Sherman Oaks (818) 906-1951 shermanoakschamber.org

Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores Inc. has sold its Bridal Group including David’s Bridal to an L.A.-based private equity firm for about $750 million. The company also sold After Hours Formalwear to Men’s Wearhouse for about $100 million. The Bridal Group sale also includes Priscilla of Boston, a 10-store chain. David’s operates 269 stores including one in Northridge and one in Burbank. After Hours operates 511 stores including eight in the greater Valley area. Both transactions are expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Federated is also the parent company of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores.

A judge expects to reach a decision later this month in the breach of duty lawsuit between the co-founder of Precision Dynamics Corp. and company executives. Los Angeles County Superior Judge Teresa Sanchez-Gordon will issue a ruling on Nov. 29 on whether San Fernando-based Precision Dynamics co-founder Walt Mosher was successful in proving allegations outlined in a lawsuit filed in September. The trial finished today. Mosher, 72, alleged a power grab for control of privately held Precision Dynamics by company President and CEO Gary E. Hutchinson, Chief Financial Officer Mark Segal and board members Jonathan Lasch, Robert B. Kraemer and Robert F. Foster. The suit seeks to oust Lasch and Foster from the board and show that Segal failed to carry out his duties as inspector in election of board members, according to court testimony. The case also focuses on whether Kraemer and Hutchinson, majority shareholders in the company, failed to hold a shareholders meeting in compliance with state code and breached their fiduciary duty by taking steps to keep Mosher from electing a board member at an August shareholders meeting. The suit accuses the defendants of trying to skirt safeguards for Mosher, a minority shareholder, to keep the company he created intact. In courtroom testimony Friday morning, Lasch testified that he did not conspire to gang up on Mosher. “Personally, I like Walt,” he said. Through his questions, Mosher attorney Howard Gould attempted to show Lasch was not an independent board member because he was a paid consultant for Precision Dynamics, contributed to the company’s mentoring program and attended quarterly goal setting meetings. Under questioning from defense attorney Ronald Nessim, however, Lasch said that Mosher was well aware of his consulting work for Precision Dynamics and had approved an invoice for his services in July 2002, a month after Lasch became a board member. Lasch denied allegations in the lawsuit that he told Mosher he would step down from the board if asked to by Mosher. “It is a breach of duty as a director to do that,” Lasch said. Precision Dynamics designs, manufactures and distributing identification band systems. Check back with the San Fernando Valley Business Journal for continuing coverage of the case.

A vice president for the Chatsworth medical device maker Iris has resigned from the company. Dino M. Alfano, corporate vice president and president of the company’s diagnostics business unit, stepped down Friday. President and CEO Cesar Garcia will take over the management position until a permanent replacement is named.

IHOP will pay the Internal Revenue Service $11 million in back taxes. The tax liability, which Glendale-based IHOP said it paid yesterday, is related to franchise fee income for its activities under its former business model. IHOP said the settlement includes $7.7 million in federal income taxes and $3.3 million in interest. No penalties are involved. The company plans to amend its tax returns for 2004 and 2005 to reflect the agreed upon tax treatment, resulting in an anticipated refund of about $3.1 million and bringing the net cash impact of the settlement to about $7.9 million. The company said the agreement will not affect the company’s historical consolidated statements of income.

Registrations for new vehicles in California are expected to decline next year, according to a report released Thursday by the California Motor Car Dealers Association. The association does not expect a rebound in the state’s vehicle registrations until 2008, the report stated. For the third quarter, registrations of cars and light trucks decline 7.6 percent when compared with the same quarter in 2005. For the full year, the association forecasts 2.1 million registrations, down by 2.9 percent from 2005. The forecast for 2007 is 2 million registrations. Factors contributing to the lower sales figures are a slowing economy, higher interest rates, and high consumer debt coupled with a negative savings rate, said Jeff Foltz, an economic consultant for the association, during a conference call with reporters. The slow sales does give an indication into the consumer mindset, Foltz said, but there still remains the factor of consumer want and need for new cars. “Across the board there are products leading people to new auto showrooms,” Foltz said. For the first three months of the year, Japanese car makers increased their market share by 4.3 percent led by Toyota and Honda. The industry still remains competitive and every other manufacturer is targeting Toyota and coming out with good product, Foltz said. “I would say this is the most competitive and aggressive I’ve seen in the car business in the 54 years I have been in it,” said association Chairman Bert Boeckmann. Boeckmann is also president of Galpin Motors, one of the largest Ford dealers by volume in the world. Despite the problems faced by the Big Three U.S. automakers, Ford remains the top seller in trucks with its F-10 pickup and in sport utility vehicles, Boeckmann said. Where the domestic automakers have fallen short is with smaller cars because they often only develop one small car at a time while foreign companies often develop multiple small cars, Boeckmann said. “They needed to have diversified product and they are doing that, such as with Ford and the Fusion which is an excellent product,” Boeckmann said. The association’s study showed in increase in market share by sub-compact and entry cars for the first nine months of 2006. Full- and mid-size SUVs and full-size pickup truck market share declined.

The shopping center development firm NewMark Merrill Cos. was named the fastest growing private company in the San Fernando Valley region at a Wednesday evening award ceremony hosted by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. Woodland Hills-based NewMark Merill tallied a 133.68 percent increase in revenue from 2004 to 2005, bringing the company’s total earnings to $37.2 million for the year, according to the rankings compiled by the Business Journal. Other top 10 earners include business intelligence firm Systech, tech company CalNet and software consultant Strix Systems. For a list of the 50 fastest growing companies click here. And for full coverage of the event, profiles of the top companies and an extensive look at what’s driving the growth check out the Nov. 20 edition of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and online at sfvbj.com .

Comerica Bank has opened a new banking center in the Valley. The center, located at 801 N. San Fernando Blvd. in Burbank, is one of two centers the L.A.-based bank opened. The other is in Hollywood. With the additions, Comerica now operates 17 banking centers in Los Angeles County. Bank officials said they hope to expand the number of Comerica centers in California to 86 by January 2008, compared to 68 currently.