Top 100/250 2017: Stability in a tight labor market

But whether a company has less than 100 employees or more than 1,000, many of the biggest organizations in Central Pennsylvania have the same challenge in a tightening labor market: retaining talent and finding new skilled people to grow their companies.

To meet the challenge, some companies have adopted more flexible work hours. Others are exploring the addition of new offices to create more career opportunities for their employees.

And to get people in the door for interviews, more businesses have turned to social media.

The companies themselves, meanwhile, remained relatively consistent on this year’s top 100/250 list, which ranks businesses by total revenue. The majority of the top 100 companies this year were on last year’s list.

A few just missed the cut or failed to repeat.

Ephrata-based trucking company Lester R. Summers Inc., for example, ended up at No. 101 with about $23.9 million in revenue last year.

Meanwhile, Lower Paxton Township-based real estate and construction firm Triple Crown Corp. Inc. fell 12 spots to No. 102 this year.

Stable group

Eight of the top 10 companies from last year’s list are back in the top 10 this year.

That includes top-ranked D&H Distributing Co. Inc., which finished even with 2015 for revenue at $3.5 billion in sales last year. The Harrisburg-based company continues to outpace its peers on the list.

Vibra Healthcare LLC, based in Lower Allen Township, remains No. 2 with $1.1 billion in revenue.

Hampden Township-based Post Acute Medical LLC cracked the top of the list with a No. 10 ranking this year. The company operates rehab and long-term care specialty hospitals

Energy supplier Worley & Obetz Inc. in Penn Township and packaging manufacturer Tim-Bar Corp. were in last year’s top 10, but are not included in this year’s list. Tim-Bar was acquired last year by a publicly traded company.

Eight of this year’s top 10 companies posted revenue increases last year over 2015.

Ups and downs

Despite making the top 100, not every company saw revenue increase in 2016.

In fact, nearly 40 percent of this year’s top 100 companies posted declines from 2015. And 42 of the top 100 companies finished within 5 percent, plus or minus, of their 2015 revenue total.

However, there were some big movers. The top 100 has 17 companies whose revenue

rose by 20 percent or more last year. York Township-based Kinsley Construction Inc., No. 7 this year, was one of those companies, growing by nearly 37 percent last year. Chartwell Staffing Solutions Inc., based in East Hempfield Township, moved up to No. 11 this year with revenue of $345 million, a 61 percent increase over 2015.

There were 109 companies on the top 250 that cracked $20 million in revenue this year. That was down from 119 last year. But there were 35 companies over $100 million in revenue, which was up from 33 last year.

The long view

The top 100 cutoff this year was nearly $24.3 million. Manheim Township-based Triangle Refrigeration Co. claimed the final spot on the top 100.

Last year, the bottom of the top 100 list was $26.5 million.

In 2012, a private company with $15.3 million in 2011 revenue made the Business Journal’s top 100 list.

Back then, D&H was at $2.8 billion in revenue and Vibra was at $443 million.

And Gov. Tom Wolf was still businessman Tom Wolf, the chairman and CEO of The Wolf Organization Inc. On the 2012 list, Wolf’s former company was No. 18 on the top 100 list with $130 million in revenue in 2011.