Shred First Makes Inc. 500

Spartanburg, S.C.-based Shred First LLC has placed number 373 on the Inc. magazine list of America’s fastest growing small and medium-sized businesses. The company reported a 363 percent sales figure over the past four years.

The 2005 Inc. 500 list marks the 25^th annual edition compiled by Inc. magazine. Shred First also made the list in 2003, placing number 93.

Shred First was founded by long-time friends John Bauknight IV and Nick Wildrick in the late 1990s. The company was profiled in the debut edition of Secure Destruction Business magazine in the spring of 2004.

Bauknight has served as president and in other officer positions with the National Association for Information Destruction, and the duo have also started their own “shredding school” to teach other operators about managing and growing a secure destruction business.

During the past two years, Shred First has begun to expand into other markets beyond South Carolina (often through acquisition), and now has additional operations in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas. The company also services national contracts in cooperation with a network of sub-contractors.

“The entrepreneurs you’ll find on the Inc. 500 have the type of attitude we need to get this economy moving again,” says Inc. editor-in-chief John Koten. “For them, a tough market is not an excuse for poor performance, but an opportunity to innovate and rise above the competition.”

The Inc. 500 ranks privately held companies according to sales growth over the past five years. Over the years, the Inc. 500 has identified several noteworthy companies, with Microsoft, Stonyfield Farms, Timberland, Oracle, Princeton Review, Morningstar, E* Trade, Intuit and Domino’s Pizza all appearing on the list before they became industry powerhouses.

To be eligible for the 2005 edition of the Inc. 500, companies had to be independent and privately held through their fiscal year 2004, and have had at least $600,000 in sales in the base year of 2001. Inc. verifies all information using tax forms and financial statements from certified public accountants and by conducting interviews with company officials.