Dallas, TX – Improving Enterprises has once again been ranked among the fastest-growing private companies in America by Inc. magazine. Improving earned a place on the Inc 500 in 2009, ranking #120 and in 2010, ranking #210.

Named to this prestigious list again this year, Improving ranked #210, with impressive three-year growth of 1,395.6%.  As a second year honoree of the Inc. 500/5000, Improving was ranked as the 3^rd fastest growing IT Services company in Texas and as the 10^th fastest-growing company overall in the D-FW metroplex.

“We are honored to be named among such a prestigious group of American companies for the second consecutive year,” said Curtis Hite, CEO Improving Enterprises, “It may sound cliché, but Improving’s success is truly a result of teamwork throughout the organization.”

The 2010 Inc. 500/5000 is ranked according to the percentage of growth by comparing 2006 to 2009. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by June 30, 2006. Additionally, they had to be based in the United States, privately held, for profit, and independent – not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies – as of December 31, 2009.  The minimum revenue required for 2006 is $80,000; the minimum for 2009 is $2 million.  Now in its 29^th year, the top 10 percent of companies on the list constitute the Inc. 500.

About Improving Enterprises

In 2007, Improving Enterprises, LLC merged with Blue Ocean Group to form Improving Enterprises, Inc., a complete IT services firm, offering training, consulting, recruiting and project services.  Combining Improving Enterprises LLC’s close partnership with Microsoft with Blue Ocean Group’s business acumen and network, the companies became a driving force in the Texas technology market. www.improvingenterprises.com

About Inc Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. (www.inc.com) is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today’s innovative company builders. With a total paid circulation of 712,961, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. www.Inc.com

Dallas, TX – The PMI (Project Management Institute) Dallas Chapter held its meeting at Crown Plaza North Dallas/Addison this month, and two members of Improving’s leadership team were invited to present. Barry Rogers and Ken Howard joined forces to deliver “Improving Team Dynamics” for a crowd of over 150 attendees.

The session provided Project Managers with ways to unlock the true potential of their team through better and more productive communication, how to identify behavioral profiles, and how to capitalize on the diverse behaviors found on typical teams. Barry and Ken delivered a highly interactive, fun, and refreshing look at the human element with actionable techniques that target individuals and their interactions. Topics ranged from enhancing interpersonal communication to effectively leveraging the anatomy of a team.

In addition to their well received speaking engagements, Barry and Ken have recently written a book entitled, “Individuals and Interactions, an Agile Guide”, being published by Addison-Wesley. The book is the first of its kind – the first to address individuals and interactions on an Agile software project. The book will be available in early 2011.

Improving Enterprises was proud to be a Platinum Sponsor at the Dallas TechFest 2010 Conference on July 30^th, 2010. The event took place at UTD in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. Over 425 IT professionals showed up looking to expand their knowledge in cutting edge technologies of today’s ever changing software development tools and best practices.

The conference delivered an impressive line-up of 45 presentations in six tracks – .NET, Java, Flex, Cold Fusion, PHP, and Windows IT Pro – which were presented by highly respected experts and practitioners from the DFW area along with one out of town presenter in each track.

Tim Rayburn, Principal Consultant for Improving and Microsoft MVP, has organized this event in the Dallas community for the past 3 years with great success. Each year he has seen an increase in attendance that not only speaks to the value Dallas TechFest offers, but also the strength and growth of the IT Industry in Dallas/Fort Worth.

For more information about Dallas TechFest visit www.dallastechfest.com

Video: Allen Hurst puts a cool new custom skin from Sticviews on his Mac.

Venture Launch Partners of Dallas Texas, investors in Sticviews.com, recently chose Improving Enterprises to help create a suite of commercial services on top of their advanced printing platform. The services automate the online experience of creating and ordering custom decals that stick anywhere and come off clean. Using these services, businesses can create and edit custom images on their websites and electronically submit print orders to Sticviews for fulfillment.

“These new printing APIs will open exciting opportunities for Sticviews as we continue our mission to provide the highest quality custom decals and skins to a new group of customers. These APIs will create new sales channels that empower other businesses to drive new revenue by selling their own custom skins and decals,” stated Bryce Finnerty, Sticviews CEO.

The combination of web services and application plug-ins that Sticviews and Improving have developed will enable Sticviews’ customers to monetize their digital content by giving them an easy way to turn that content into physical products. “We’ve made the process as easy as possible,” said Allen Hurst, Assistant Director of Rural Sourcing at Improving. “We’ve used the latest Microsoft technologies and industry best practices to provide a simple, secure integration for Sticviews’ B2B customers.”

The APIs were developed at Improving’s Rural Sourcing center in College Station, Texas where Improving combines the industry’s top experts with top university talent to produce high-performing teams at a low cost, while keeping jobs and business in the United States.

After previous experience with offshore firms, Bryce Finnerty said, “We couldn’t be happier with our choice to use Improving Enterprises and Rural Sourcing. The team has done an outstanding job and consistently exceeded our expectations. This is a far superior model to outsourcing off shore because you get fair rates and senior talent knowledgeable about the latest technology.”

About Sticviews:

Sticviews uses advanced printing techniques to provide a suite of durable, fade-resistant printed products such as laptop skins, car decals, stickers, and custom window signs, on a variety of materials in any shape or size. Users design them online, and they are low cost, so you can decorate anything you want, and the best part, when removed the decals leave no residue behind. Learn more about Sticviews at http://wwwsticviews.com/.

Improving Enterprises, in conjunction with Microsoft, will present AgileDotNet 2010 on April 30th in Dallas, Texas. This conference is explicitly designed to bring together the world of .NET development with Agile methodologies. The conference curriculum targets those within .NET development environments with experience applying Agile techniques and those just beginning to adopt Agile in their teams and organizations.

The conference will deliver an impressive line-up of sixteen Agile presentations in four tracks – Practitioner Development, Journeyman Development, Business/PM, and Requirements/QA  – which will be presented by Improving’s highly respected Agile experts and practitioners.

The one-day event will include an Opening Keynote given by Improving’s Todd Girvin and Jef Newsom (both Microsoft MVP’s), and a Customer Panel where Improving’s customers will reveal their real-world agile adoption experiences. The conference will conclude with a Closing Keynote by Ken Schwaber entitled, “What is Scrum.org?”

For more information and registration: www.agiledotnet.com

Improving Enterprises, a leading provider of advanced technology training and software development solutions, was chosen as one of Dallas’ fastest-growing private companies – ranking #16 on the prestigious list of 100 – by the Dallas Business Journal and SMU’s Caruth Institute.

Improving was presented with the award on Wednesday evening at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, which featured a compelling keynote interview with entrepreneur and self-made billionaire, Sam Wyly.
The Dallas 100 Awards is an annual event that identifies and honors the 100 fastest-growing privately held companies in the Dallas area. To qualify for the award, a company must meet a number of criteria based on its legal status, location, sales history, credit report and character.

“We are grateful to be named to this year’s Dallas 100”, stated Curtis Hite, CEO of Improving Enterprises. “It is truly an honor that our entrepreneurial spirit and deep commitment to the Dallas business community has been recognized by both SMU and the Dallas Business Journal.”

The Dallas 100 generated more than 8.4 billion dollars in revenue from 2006-2008 and created more than 11,378 jobs for the Dallas Metroplex over the three year measurement period. Improving expects to continue to contribute to this trend well into the future.

Improving Enterprises was honored today by the Dallas Morning News as one of the Top 10 of the Top 100 Places to Work in 2009, ranking 7^th overall out of the companies chosen to participate in this year’s prestigious list. In addition, Improving placed #1 in the Work Place Environment category. Over 1000 people from these D-FW role-model companies attended the award ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel where Mayor Tom Leppert gave the opening keynote presentation.

The Top 100 Places to Work evaluated over 33,000 Dallas-Fort Worth employee’s opinions and insights regarding their companies performance in six main areas. The answers and comments were compiled and ranked by an independent research firm, Workplace Dynamics. Each company that was awarded a Top 100 spot was done so based on their own employee’s evaluation.

“We are very honored to be named to The Dallas Morning News Top 100 Work Places and to rank in the Top 10 of the Top 100 is incredible. But what is even more incredible is knowing that our own employees opinions got us to the 7th position overall, “ stated Melissa Meeker, VP of Marketing for Improving Enterprises.

2009 was the inaugural year of the Top 100 Work Places sponsored by The Dallas Morning News.

Improving CEO Curtis Hite accepts award from BNI

Today, Improving Enterprises, a leading provider of advanced technology training and software development solutions, was honored by the Dallas Chapter of BNI (Business Network International) and presented with the prestigious OSCAR award.

The OSCAR award, Outstanding Support to a Chapter Appreciation Reward, is given annually to a company in the Dallas area that exhibits remarkable dedication to creating and launching innovative networking programs. BNI is the largest business networking organization in the world and provides a structured and supportive system of giving and receiving business.

“We’re excited to be recognized by such a well respected organization as BNI,” said Curtis Hite, CEO of Improving Enterprises. ” It is an honor that our deep commitment to building business relationships within the Dallas community has been recognized.”

Improving accepted the OSCAR at the Wednesday morning meeting at the Italian Club of Dallas, which included an inspiring talk given by Improving’s CEO, Curtis Hite, about the importance of networking as it relates to building a successful company.

Improving plans to continue to create innovative networking programs that build meaningful and lasting business relationships.

Today, Inc. magazine announced its 28th annual Inc. 500 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Improving Enterprises, a leading provider of advanced technology training and software development solutions, ranked 120th on the list, with three-year growth of 1,417.1%.  As a first year honoree of the Inc. 500, Improving was ranked as the 8^th fastest growing IT Services company and as the 2^nd fastest-growing company in the D-FW metroplex.

“We’re excited to be recognized on such a prestigious list as the Inc 500,” said Curtis Hite, CEO Improving Enterprises. “Since the company was founded in 2004, we’ve been committed to providing our clients with the most innovative IT services solutions, while at the same time, focusing on the highest degree of customer service possible. We are proud to have created new jobs in Dallas and plan to continue this trend well into the future.”

The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Companies such as Microsoft, Zappos, Intuit, GoDaddy, Under Armour, Jamba Juice, American Apparel, Oracle, and hundreds of other powerhouses gained early exposure as members of the Inc. 500.

“If you want to know which companies are going to change the world, look at the Inc. 500,” said Inc. editor Jane Berentson. “These are the most dynamic, fast-growth companies in the nation, the ones finding innovative solutions to problems, creating smart systems, and inventing products we soon discover we can’t live without. The Inc. 500 list is Inc. magazine’s tribute to American business ingenuity and ambition.”

The 2009 Inc. 500 measures revenue growth from 2005 through 2008. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2005, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2008. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2005 is $200,000; the minimum for 2008 is $2 million.

About Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. (www.inc.com) is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today’s innovative company builders. With a total paid circulation of 712,961, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. Visit us online at www.Inc.com

Snap Drape, a leading provider of customized table skirting and the first in the industry to introduce the patented clip-on table skirting system, has chosen Improving Enterprises to develop and implement enhancements to its product management and pricing systems.

Snap Drape was facing complex product delivery systems which limited the number of times per year that the company could introduce new products. Improving assisted them in designing and implementing a wizard-based product management system, allowing product managers to define the product and describe validation rules through the tool, freeing programmers to handle other product production aspects. This new enhancement dramatically decreased duplicate product definitions and significantly increased the products time to market.

In addition, Snap Drape desired an upgraded pricing system capable of increased flexibility and sale processing functionality. To address this requirement, Improving created and integrated a new pricing engine. The engine centralized and simplified pricing functionality and improved the existing system with automated authorization and specialized sales tax collection and reporting.

“We are pleased to have been selected by Snap Drape to provide new functionality to their key technology systems,” said Gary McCants, Principal Consultant at Improving, “It is very rewarding to be able to assist our customers with innovation that sharpens their competitive edge.”

About Snap Drape:

In 1973, Snap Drape introduced the first patented clip-on table skirting system. This system offered an efficient, cost-effective and versatile way for hotels, restaurants, country clubs, caterers and convention centers to dress up their banquet tables. Snap Drape has remained the industry leader and innovator for thirty years. Our continued dedication to high quality standards and responding to our customers needs has lead to the introduction of new products such as Geneva Conference Cloth and spun polyester table linens.