Construction management firm boasts best revenue growth

ColoradoBiz, July, 2008

In 2006, Ayuda Management Corp. was a one-person company with sales of $279,000 for the year. Less than two years later, the Westminster construction-management firm boasts 14 employees and last year amassed revenues of nearly $3 million, a 970 percent revenue jump that tops all firms for growth in this year's Top 50 Minority-Owned Companies ranking.

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Maria Vogt, 43, the majority owner who founded Ayuda in 2002, began preparing for upsizing when she brought on Sonya Yungeberg as a partner and part owner in October 2006.

"We've been able to accomplish amazing things together," Vogt says.

Ayuda functions primarily as a general contractor in areas that include construction-defect repair, environmental engineering, remediation services and quality control. The company often manages projects as an agent of clients that include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Navy and Air Force, the Department of Homeland Security and private-sector clients that include John Laing Homes.

"We have very good loyalty from the clients we have. We don't have a lot of clients," says Yungeberg, 37. "We make sure we can do whatever they need us to do and we focus on working with those same clients and doing a good job for them over and over again."

The next best revenue increase among this year's Top 50 Minority-Owned firms was turned in by RTL Networks Inc., a Denver-based technology-solutions firm started by Richard Lewis, an Air Force Academy graduate and Operation Desert Storm veteran who is profiled in this month's magazine on page 21. The six-year-old company increased revenues from $1.5 million in 2006 to $4.3 million last year for a gain of 179 percent.

Third among the top growers is another IT firm, Softec Solutions Inc. The Englewood company grew from $7.2 million to $18.9 million for a one-year gain of 164 percent. The 370-employee consulting and outsourcing company is in its 12th year of operation.