High stakes on the high Seas: bigger ships mean higher profit margins for Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises

South Florida CEO, July, 2005 by Jaime Hernandez

RELATED ARTICLE: Baptist Health South Florida

Another year, another chance for Baptist Health South Florida to earn more recognition for being one of the nation's top health care systems. The Coral Gables-based non-profit was named by Fortune magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the third consecutive year in 2005. It also gained that honor in 1998 and 1999. Working Mother magazine recognized Baptist as one of its "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" 12 times since 1989. The organization operates six hospitals in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, including Baptist Hospital in southwest Miami-Dade, Baptist Children's Hospital and Mariners Hospital in the upper Florida Keys. The group also runs several outpatient diagnostic and surgical centers throughout the region. Baptist Health enjoyed a healthy jump in revenues in 2004, to $1.3 billion, from the $1.1 billion it earned in 2003.

--Jaime Hernandez

#9

Alliance Entertainment Corp.

Rock 'n roll is here to stay in a big way for Alliance Entertainment Corp. The Coral Springs-based company distributes CDs, videos, DVDs, games and other related products to home entertainment retail giants such as Best Buy, Circuit City and Blockbuster. Alliance owns Digital On-Demand, a distributor of digital music, movies and games; as well as the record label One Way Records. It also operates the All-Movie Guide, All-Music Guide and All-Game Guide Web sites. In February the company merged with Bonita Springs-based magazine and media distributor Source Interlink. The new partnership will expand Alliance's reach by placing its CDs and DVDs in the checkout lanes of supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and other retail outlets where Source already delivers magazines. In 2004, Alliance generated approximately $1 billion of revenues. The combined companies are expected to generate $2 billion in revenues in 2005.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

--Liza Tighe

#114

NCCI Holdings.

It's not easy keeping 840 employees under one roof happy, but Boca Raton-based NCCI Holdings Inc. is certainly making an effort. The non-profit, which has been around since 1922, is the oldest and largest provider of statistics and employee injury data for workers' compensation insurance. The firm provides data to insurance companies, regulatory officials and lawmakers, among others. Its 310,000-square-foot facility incorporates everything it learned about employee and workplace needs, including ample parking, lighting and on-site day care. NCCI provides employees with a full cafeteria (complete with an in-house Starbucks) that features six food stations, each offering low-carb alternatives and detailed descriptions of calorie, fat and sodium counts. The company campus offers employees a dry cleaner, library, fitness center and ATM. For the more business-minded, NCCI constructed a 19,000-square-foot data center built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and an entire wing dedicated to meeting rooms. And, as NCCI expected, happy employees are productive employees. The company booked more than $130 million in revenues for 2004.