As the U.S. makes the transition to a knowledge-based economy, a new generation of growth-oriented companies is emerging. One benchmark of such growth is the number and distribution of fast growth companies called "gazelles."

In support of the vision to transform Louisville in an economic hot spot, Metro Louisville, through the mayor's office, has identified the "7 Cs" to enhance our entrepreneurial climate. Included among them is the specific initiative to proactively Connect with and serve existing and potentially fast growth companies those results in job and wealth creation and economic sustainability.

Most are fast growth companies with positive cash flow, but this group also includes old companies with new energy and some companies that play important roles in enabling others to grow quickly. Some of these companies are VC-backed, and all of them behave as if they were.

The Mayor's High Impact Program highlights growth businesses headquartered in Greater Louisville that significantly contribute to the local economy by generating substantial job and wealth creation. For more than a year, GLI and city leaders have interviewed local business leaders and compiled data to create the first High Impact "portfolio."

This research yields information suggesting successful gazelle companies possess the following quality factors:

Company profitability	Profitability maintained for last four years
Growth strategy	Strategy in place and being executed
Strategic plan	Covers at least a three- to four-year time span and is reassessed annually or more frequently
Revenue growth target	Established and at least 15% over the next 12 months
Innovation	Viewed as a priority, as evidenced in their corporate strategy, new product development, corporate values and focus of employee training and human resources programs. They encourage innovation through their new product development methodologies, employee recognition or award programs, alliances or partnerships with leading-edge companies and innovation-specific communications
Internet	Doing business directly or indirectly over the Internet creating community, building customer and prospect relationships, providing product/service information and commerce. They also use the web as a source of competitor information and as a statistical or data resource
Investments	Planning increased investments in key areas of their business, generally in information technology and primarily due to a need for improved information security, new product development and R&D, though relatively cautious
International	Doing business abroad and benefiting from their strategy of diversification outside the U.S. and dollar's relative weakness
Benchmarking	Using a database to measure business performance against their peers, to determine relative competitiveness. Identify performance gaps and develop strategies and plans to address them. Prefer more financial and operating metrics, specifically:  key financial activity and profitability ratios  employee productivity  average sales growth rates and cost-of-materials  labor and overhead-to-sales rations
Exit strategy/succession plan	Formally prepared and with a target timeframe
Advisory board or board of directors	Established and utilized