Associa
JOHN CARONA
FOUNDER, PRESIDEN, AND CEO
Since starting Associa in 1979 as a two-person operation, John Carona has grown the homeowners association management company to 173 offices with 9,300 employees in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and India. It manages 10,000 communities of various sizes. Most of its growth has come through acquisitions. In its history, Associa has made 100 acquisitions, including two in 2013. Two companies are currently undergoing due diligence. “It’s always a challenge to meld these different companies together, so that the thing you
thought you were buying doesn’t disappear,” says Carona, president, chairman, and CEO. “But making acquisitions has allowed us to grow faster than we might have otherwise.” Richardson-based Associa’s success also was fueled by the addition of several affiliated services, including Associations Insurance Agency Inc. and Community Archives, a web-based resale document processing firm. Associa Advantage, the industry’s first online shopping network, was launched in 2010, as was Associa Living, an online magazine for residents in homeowners associations. In February the company opened its new, state-of-the-art facility in Richardson, where service operations from all of its offices are being consolidated. Eventually, the site will be home to 650 employees. While building his business, Carona also served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives followed by six terms in the Texas Senate representing District 16 in Dallas. He will leave the Senate at the end of this year. —G.V.“It’s always a challenge to meld these different companies together, so that the thing you thought you were buying doesn’t disappear.”
John Carona
Athlon Energy
ROBERT REEVES
CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT, AND CEO
Robert Reeves launched Athlon Energy nearly four years ago with four employees. Today, the independent exploration and production company is publicly traded, produces 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and has 85 employees. The company’s stock is up more than 80 percent since its initial public offering in August. Prior to starting the company, Reeves was senior vice president, CFO, and treasurer for Encore Acquisition Co. and Encore Energy Partners. He left when Encore was acquired by Denbury Resources. Athlon Energy, based in Fort Worth, has doubled production every year since its inception. Its proved reserves have grown from 46 million barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2011 to 127 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2013. “We purchased $970 million in acquisitions this year alone,” Reeves says. “Our growth comes from a combination of acquisitions and from drilling wells every year.” In 2013, 30 percent of the growth was attained through acquisitions and 70 percent through organic reserves. Athlon’s team decided early on that it wanted to focus on one thing and do it well, and that one thing is the Midland Basin. It’s considered to be one of the country’s most proven, prolific oil-weighted basins, with multiple producing horizons and a favorable operating environment. Athlon is expecting overall production growth of 70 percent in 2014. —G.V.
CenseoHealth
BALES NELSON
PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER
True entrepreneurs are willing to take on personal risk and can rely on experience beyond the classroom. Bales Nelson, 40, wins on both counts, applying his 10 years in the physician staffing industry to building a healthcare platform that had never existed before. In 2009, CenseoHealth, in conjunction with co-founder Jack McCallum, M.D., PhD, launched the first Medicare Advantage in-home health assessment company to use physicians exclusively. Although regulatory pressures are always lurking, Nelson says staying ahead of the growth curve has proved most challenging. Its first year, CenseoHealth completed 257 evaluations. Today the company is on pace to complete nearly half a million assessments annually with its provider network of 4,000 physicians. Nelson says the company performs 2,500 unique home visits a day in 44 states and Puerto Rico, and the potential for moving its maturing footprint beyond Medicare Advantage is palatable. “We spent three years building our core competency, a clinician network across the U.S.,” he says. “We put a physician in a home, which is very valuable. As the population ages and our ability to be in the home and with the high volume number of touches we’re able to provide, it does make it somewhat of an unlimited potential.” He adds: “We’re clinician agnostic. It all goes back to a support system that allows us to move any type of clinician efficiently.” —K.N.
CLANE LACROSSE
PRESIDENT AND CEO
Clane LaCrosse did what many successful entrepreneurs do when he started Bosque Systems LLC with his uncle, Joe Mitchell, in 2007: He saw a need and filled it. As natural gas producers ramped up their use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the Barnett Shale, LaCrosse saw a growing demand for additional saltwater disposal capacity. Fracking uses high-pressure injections of water, sand, and chemicals to blast open shale rock and release the gas trapped inside. The water is recovered and stored before being taken to treatment plants. “We found an area of the industry where there was severe change happening, and it created a need,” LaCrosse says. Fort Worth-based Bosque Systems built its first saltwater disposal well in 2008. The company was turning a profit within three months of starting operations. Today, it advocates for and provides recycling services for water used in fracking, based on LaCrosse’s belief that it’s better to use one barrel of water 100 times than it is to use 100 barrels of water one time. The company’s treatment and recycling programs now account for more than half of its revenue. Bosque Systems has experienced 60 percent compounded annual growth since its inception, and today is valued at $250 million. In 2013, it treated almost 200 millions of barrels of water. “We only represent about 5 percent of the market, so there’s plenty of room for growth,” LaCrosse says. “We’re defining an industry that wasn’t there before.” —G.V.
Cheapcaribbean.com
JOSHUA PAINE
FORMER CEO
When Joshua Paine joined Cheapcaribbean.com as its chief financial officer in 2007, the company was days away from bankruptcy, although he didn’t realize it. Once he got a closer look at the financials, he knew he had to move quickly to turn things around. With his finance background, he recognized that the math just didn’t add up for Cheapcaribbean.com’s long-term sustainability. The cruise-planning website company needed major changes in order to stay afloat. Paine restructured the organization, renegotiated contracts, and raised funds to
survive. For a while, every day was a battle. The company needed a cash infusion to bridge to “high season,” when 45 percent of bookings occurred. “I put together an investment group in 45 days,” Paine says. He was named CEO in December 2008. That year, Cheapcaribbean.com posted its most profitable year. The company has sent more than 1.5 million customers to 600 resorts and 66 beach destinations in its history. It employs 350 in Dallas, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. When Paine joined the company it was losing $12 million a year. Today it’s bringing in close to $8 million in annual earnings. Last year, Paine oversaw the sale of the company to Bain Capital and Apple Leisure Group. He retired from the company in April and says he’s looking now for an opportunity “to do it all again.” —G.V.Paine was named CEO in December 2008. That year, Cheapcaribbean.com posted its most profitable year.
