Our growth is a direct result of the growth we achieve for our clients Dallas is Home to Rising National Star

The figures tell the story. In mere months. Luminant Worldwide has taken its place as a $98-million, 900-person, 10-city wunderkind of the Web-consulting world, bursting onto The Dallas Morning News top 200 D/FW business list at 130. But the Luminant people (or Luminaries, as they call each other) aren’t inclined to measure their growth in those terms. They prefer to measure it in the value they bring to the bottom lines of clients.

In either measure, Luminant is a rapidly rising star. Visitors to their United States headquarters in a new North Dallas office tower sense the momentum from the opening of the elevator doors. A splash of light on the wall forms the Luminant logo. The lobby is dotted with vibrant accents-apt reflections of the energetic strategists, créatives, and techies who form the company’s nucleus.

Although it seems as if this fireball company formed spontaneously in today’s version of the corporate big bang. Luminant does have a heritage-an impressive one at that-resulting from the union of eight top-50 Web-services companies late last year.

Under the leadership of Gil Marmol, CEO and former Perot Systems VP, and Michael H. Jordan, Chairman and former CBS CEO. the eight companies quickly fused into one Nasdaq-traded public company. “Integrating our people and systems was like putting together an all-star sports team,” says Marmol. “it’s a smooth process when everyone brings established skills, know-how and a winning perspective to the game.”

Just what game is that? It’s the fast-paced, high-stakes game of transitioning companies into the new economy. Luminant’s role in it is helping Global 1000 and emerging E-businesses formulate Web strategies, develop creative solutions, and provide the technology that makes it ail work.

Balance and seamless interchange among its strategic, creative and technology components come naturally to Luminant, since the company has roots in all three disciplines, plus eMarketing. “Companies anchored in a singular focus are struggling to fill in their gaps.1’ observes Marmol. “Luminant was a New Breed company from day one.”

The balance allows Luminant to succeed on complex, multi-dimensional projects, such as one it completed for MasterCard. The challenge, to help MasterCard build e-commerce momentum, sparked a strategy of offering consumer education in online shopping safety. The strategy led to creative in the form of an eye-popping, interactive site. The finishing touch was Luminant’s online marketing and media program on key partner sites to drive traffic. Results? A 425 percent increase in MasterCard’s site visitation.

Another Luminant client, IBM. doubles as a strategic partner in wireless Internet initiatives. In fact, the entire Luminant client raster reads like a Who’s Who of corporate America. In addition to MasterCard and IBM, the list includes Administaff. inc.. Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc., The Container Store. Dr Pepper, Enron Corp., Partsbase.com, United Airlines, and more.

Some of Luminant’s work is invisible to the average Web surfer. That’s because it resides in the burgeoning business-to-business Web world. Here Luminant is leading the way in areas such as supply-chain management, where labor-intensive, paper-driven systems are replaced with instantaneous. Web-driven systems. Through a strategic alliance with Ariba, the leading B2B platform provider, Luminant streamlines supply chains, often slashing millions in operating expenses and capital expenditures.

“Increasing a company’s shareholder value by reducing operating costs, growing revenues, and increasing customer loyalty is what it’s all about,” notes Gil Marmol. “We want our clients to hold us accountable.”

Marrnol’s results-driven obsession is echoed throughout the organization. Enthusiastic staffers revel in delivering on-time, on-budget results that exceed client expectations, hi a 21 -century version of frontiersmen around the camphre, they swap stories of Web-solutions feats. And while the staff has its share of body art and other emblems of Web-youth. Luminaries pride themselves in being responsible “Internet grown-ups.”

Clearly, the company has achieved “grown-up” status in a variety of measures. With $98 million in 1999 revenues, Luminant began 2000 with revenues of $33.6 for the first quarter alone, an 80 percent increase over the same period last year. Professional staff has grown by more than 200 since the company’s founding. The future calls for geographic expansion as well, with plans underway to cultivate a global presence. Project work in Europe has already begun.

“We named it Luminant Worldwide for a reason,” Marmol says with a smile. “As our clients grow and prosper in the new global economy, we plan to grow and prosper right along with them.”