MasteryPrep, a three-year-old local company that develops standardized test preparation materials, has landed a spot in the top 500 on the 2016 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the U.S.
At No. 241, MasteryPrep was the only company from the Capital Region and one of just four from Louisiana to rank in the top 500. A total of 41 Louisiana companies made the overall list of 5,000 firms. Though they didn’t crack the top 500, nine other Baton Rouge-based companies are on the Inc. 5000 list: Transformyx, at No. 732; Southern Marsh Collection, No. 1,101; Facilities Maintenance Management, No. 1,905; MESH Integrated Marketing & Advertising, No. 2,152; Quality Engineering & Surveying, No. 2,763; ShoppersChoice.com, No. 3,732; Starmount Life Insurance Company, No. 3,813; Window World of Baton Rouge, No. 4,867; and Darren James Real Estate Experts, No. 4,983.
“We have spent years developing the most impactful ACT program in the country, and we’ve worked really hard to hire and train credible people to run these programs,” says MasteryPrep President Charlie Davis of the company’s success. “So we’re consistently delivering results that are head and shoulders above our competitors.”
In the three years since it was founded by Craig Gehring, a Baton Rouge High School alumnus who earned a perfect ACT score and developed his test-taking skills into a marketable curriculum, MasteryPrep has grown by more than 1,600%. Revenues last year topped $4.4 million.
The company currently has 60 employees, including 35 full-time employees in its corporate offices in Baton Rouge, and does business in 600 schools and school districts throughout the southeast.
MasteryPrep also made the LSU 100 list of fastest-growing Tiger-owned businesses. The list, which was unveiled earlier today, spotlights the fastest growing businesses owned by LSU alumni.
Also on the LSU 100 list this year is Gatorworks, a web design company co-founded by Davis and Brian Rodriguez. Davis recently sold his shares of Gatorworks and is now only affiliated with MasteryPrep. Davis says while it has been gratifying to receive such accolades for his companies’ growth, the success is bittersweet coming at such a difficult time for the community.
“We haven’t been celebrating,” he says. “We’ve been helping our employees clean up and recover. But businesses have to do what they do best. We’re the best at helping students raise their ACT scores, so when we double down helping kids succeed … that is how we have the biggest impact.”
—Stephanie Riegel
