By James McNair
The Cincinnati Enquirer

For the new owners of 14-year-old Washing Systems Inc. in West Chester, the time has come for a growth spurt.

CLOSE CALL

Companies whose sales just missed making the Greater Cincinnati 100 list, starting with No. 101: 101: Cincinnati Belting and Transmission Co. 102: CAST-FAB Technologies Inc. 103: Magnode Corp. 104: Ruthman Pump and Engineering 105: Rough Brothers 106: Perfection Group 107: Landrum & Brown Inc. 108: Blue Grass Quality Meats 109: Derringer Food Services 110: ESI Inc.

The stage was set last November when the company was sold by Cincinnati businessmen Andy Morrow, Jim Hooper and Tom Bolger to a family group led by Bobby Fisher, said Terry Shoreman, president of the company known in its trade as WSI.

Fisher, who took a majority stake, was joined by his father, Mel, and his brothers Mark, David and Michael. Michael Fisher is the president of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Washing Systems will generate about $40 million in revenue this year from the sale of detergents and chemicals to the industrial laundry and linen market. It is one of five companies that Deloitte's Cincinnati office identified as an Up & Comer, whose sales last year were not quite enough to make the Greater Cincinnati 100 list of biggest privately held companies, but on its way to that distinction.

The others are manufacturer CTL Aerospace; home builder Inverness Group; communications and brand consulting firm Northlich, and Oxydol marketer Redox.

Cintas, the uniform maker, is WSI's biggest customer. But with sales growth reduced to 2 to 3 percent in the last year, Shoreman said, the Fishers are investing and raising capital to take WSI to the next level.

"We're expanding our horizons with plans to move into other venues beyond the industrial laundry industry," he said. "We're looking at wastewater treatment and potentially industrial labor services and equipment leasing and building on the relationships we have."

The company, which employs about 45 people in West Chester and about 55 in other parts of the country, is also pondering the addition of other chemical products to its catalog, Shoreman said. It might offer energy management services. It might take a stab at the hospital and hospitality markets.

"It was a great startup by staying focused on one segment of the market," Shoreman said, "but when you reach 40 to 50 percent (market share) saturation, you become the big dog and others target you. You've got to look at your next opportunities."

WSI has set revenue goals that, if achieved, will guarantee it a place in the Greater Cincinnati 100. By 2007, Shoreman said, WSI plans to be an $80 million-a-year company.

E-mail jmcnair@enquirer.com.