37 of INC. 100 Fastest-Growing Small Public Companies in America are headquartered in California; small, growth-driven companies continue bullish trend in Golden State.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 1996--From biomed and computer-related concerns, to restaurants and manufacturers of outdoor sporting goods, California is home to 37 of the Fastest Growing Small Public Companies in America, as surveyed in the May issue of INC. Magazine.

It marked the third straight year California has led the nation in businesses represented in the survey. Massachusetts was next with eight companies, followed by New Jersey (seven) and Florida and Minnesota with five each.

"May is Small Business Month, and companies such as these continue to play a key role in California's continued growth," said Trade and Commerce Agency Secretary Julie Meier Wright. "We had a good mix of industries on the list, from electronics and software companies to medical products and outdoor and sporting goods equipment."

California garnered four of the top 10 companies on the list, including No. 1 Pyxis Corp., a San Diego-based manufacturer of on-site automated medication and supply distribution systems for hospital use. Pyxis (NASDAQ:PYXS, $20.25), is an eight-year old company whose revenues have grown from $343,000 and 58 employees in 1990 to $142 million and 600 employees last year. The 1994 figure represented a 42 percent revenue increase from 1993 alone.

Ron Taylor, chairman of the board at Pyxis, said his company's outlook on California has never been brighter. "California is an easy place in which to attract key people. The transportation and communications infrastructure is here as is a quality work force. We employ a lot of software engineers and U.C. San Diego graduates many of them. Plus, the majority of the venture capital business outside of New York is in San Francisco."

No. three on the list is Cerritos-based PairGain Technologies (NASDAQ:PAIR, $20.625), makers of various high-speed telecommunications delivery products. The company has grown from 40 employees in 1990 to more than 300 today. Company President Howard Flagg said a surge in product demand increased revenues from $36.3 million in 1993 to $59 million in 1994, a 64 percent gain. PairGain added 120 to 150 people to a workforce of 440 during that time.

Companies on the INC. 100 list are ranked by the percentage growth in their total revenues from fiscal year 1990 through 1994. To be eligible, companies had to be publicly held corporations, independent from 1990 to 1994; they could not be subsidiaries or divisions of other companies, and they must have gone public no later than December 31, 1994, and must be an active market in their stock. Each firm must have reported 1990 revenues of no less than $200,000.

Following is a complete listing of California's 37 companies, in order of INC. 100 rank with location in parenthesis:

1-Pyxis (San Diego); 3-PairGain Technologies (Cerritos); 5-Network Peripherals (Milpitas); 6-Krause's Furniture (Pleasanton); 11-Electronics for Imaging (San Mateo); 12-Auspex Systems, Inc. (Santa Clara); 15-Ventritex (Sunnyvale); 17-PMR Corp. (San Diego); 19-Alantec (San Jose); 21-Veritas Software (San Jose); 22-Level One Communications (Sacramento); 25-FPA Medical Management (San Diego); 27-Cerplex Group (Anaheim); 29-ReSound (Redwood City); 31-Hometown Buffet (San Diego); 33-Gensia (San Diego); 34-EP Technologies (Sunnyvale); 39-Alliance Semiconductor (San Jose); 40-Monterey Pasta Co. (Danville); 49-Inconmet (Woodland Hills); 50-Cidco (Morgan Hill); Callaway Golf (Carlsbad); 56-Wonderware (Irvine); 58-Biosys (Palo Alto); 59-PeopleSoft (Walnut Creek); 62-Cisco Systems (San Jose); 63-Stac Electronics (San Diego); 69-Identix (Sunnyvale); 74-MRV Communications (Chatsworth); 76-Deckers Outdoor (Carpenteria); 78-Quality Semiconductor (Santa Clara); 79-C-Cube Microsystems (Milpitas); 82-Xircom (Thousand Oaks); 87-U.S. Alcohol Testing of America (Rancho Cucamonga); 90-LazerTron (Pleasanton); 93-QuickResponse Services (Richmond); 99-Vestar (San Dimas). -0-

Note to Editors: Copies of the complete list can be obtained by contacting Colleen Miller, Marketing & Communications, California Trade and Commerce Agency, 916/324-8214.

CONTACT: California Trade and Commerce Agency

Bill George or Mike Marando, 916/324-8214