By Randy Tucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The 100 largest privately owned companies in Greater Cincinnati crawled out of recession and into a recovering economy in 2002, boosting combined revenue by 3.5 percent to $15.3 billion from $14.8 billion in 2001.

Although the gain was marginal, it was still an improvement on the group's 2.8 percent growth in total sales for 2001, a year in which accounting scandals, high unemployment and fears of terrorism resulted in weak economic growth and an unstable business environment.

"Last year was a better year overall in terms of the business environment,'' said Steve Spiwak, an economist with Columbus-based consulting firm Retail Forward Inc., which tracks economic trends and gauges the impact on retailers. "But growth was still very modest, and it was weaker than it looks because it was building on an even weaker 2001.''

The manufacturing sector - composed of 25 companies and considered the backbone of the Queen City region - led the rebound last year, generating $3.4 billion in sales, or 22 percent of total sales for the Greater Cincinnati 100.

The Top 100 list was compiled by professional services firm Deloitte, using revenue figures reported by companies in construction, real estate, distribution, manufacturing, retail, service, automotive and technology related businesses.

The automotive sector, which ranked first in 2001 with $3.3 billion in revenue, lost ground last year with sales of about $3 billion. The decision by one of the area's biggest car dealers not to participate in the 2002 survey might have contributed to the decline.

Still, sales for the auto sector continued to surge last year as the Big Three automakers - General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler - all extended their zero-percent financing contracts and offered thousands of dollars back in cash rebates, encouraging sales even in a struggling economy.

"The incentives from the factory were very strong, and they certainly did stimulate sales,'' said Clarence Warren, chief executive officer of 32 Ford Mercury in Batavia, which moved up eight spots to No. 31 on the 2002 Greater Cincinnati 100. "This has been one of the best years we've ever had.''

In addition to selling cars and trucks, Warren said his company also did big business in parts and service.

That should come as no surprise, based on 2002 Greater Cincinnati 100 findings that showed the biggest growth among all industries was in the service sector, where sales climbed 18 percent to $2.3 billon from $1.9 billion in 2001.

The service sector also accounted for the greatest number of jobs, representing 39 percent of total employment among Greater Cincinnati 100 companies, up from 35 percent in 2001.

"A lot of companies cut back on their sales forces and made a lot of significant cost reductions,'' said Fred Kohnke, president and CEO of CBS Personnel Services LLC, which moved up two spots to No. 14 on the Top 100 list. "But we felt that if we could go out there and attack the marketplace with superior numbers, we would do better than the majority of our competitors in 2002.''

Over the past five years, the service, retail, and automotive industries were the only sectors to add jobs, bumping up combined employment for the three groups by 11,840 workers to 42,723, compared to 30,883 in 1998.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing, distribution and construction and real estate industries lost a combined 4,668 jobs during the same period.

E-mail rtucker@enquirer.com