By Ken Alltucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

For many of Cincinnati's bellwether companies, 2002 was a year to forget.

Eleven companies reported revenue declines of 10 percent or more on the Enquirer's annual survey of the region's top 100 privately owned companies. Only five companies recorded double-digit revenue growth.

Among the largest gainers were firms that tend to thrive during tough economic times.

ELS Human Resource Solutions - a downtown company that offers human resources, accounting and other outsourced administrative services for midsize and largecompanies - reported a revenue spike of 32 percent last year. That boosted the firm 16 spots to No. 54 among the top 100 firms.

Most new business came from companies seeking to shed costly administrative services. ELS also expanded the breadth of its services last year by acquiring a small Cincinnati accounting firm, Anders and White.

"Our firm does well when other companies are looking to outsource their administrative functions," said Ronald Heineman, chief executive of ELS.

Founded in 1991, ELS has expanded rapidly from its Plum Street headquarters downtown. The firm operates in 29 states from four regional offices in Cincinnati, Detroit, Tampa, Fla., and Atlanta. The firm will soon open an office in Dallas.

The biggest gainer in the survey compiled by professional services firm Deloitte: F&W Publications. The publisher's revenue soared 53 percent last year to $230 million. That was good enough to lift the firm to No. 18 from No. 42 in 2001.

Other companies boasting significant revenue growth: West Chester Holdings Inc. (up 33 percent), Ampac Packaging LLC (up 24 percent) and Thomson MacConnell Cadillac (up 13 percent).

Far more companies reported poor results. H. Dennert Distributing Corp. had the largest drop with revenue skidding 55 percent to $48 million.

No sector had a more difficult year than the construction industry. Of 14 companies that reported revenue decline of at least 5 percent, four were construction companies.

Fran Dugan, chief executive of Dugan & Meyers Construction Co., said more contractors are competing for fewer jobs. The Blue Ash contractor, which specializes in concrete work and building garages, dropped 27 spots to No. 81.

The private sector isn't creating enough construction jobs to keep all contractors busy, Dugan said. Office building and warehouse owners - left with a glut of extra space from the late 1990s construction boom - were particularly reluctant to take on new jobs.

"There is really a shortage of work in the private sector," Dugan said.

The public sector has provided some relief for contractors, especially Cincinnati Public Schools' $1 billion rebuilding program and the $160 million expansion of the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center. Suburban school districts, too, are hiring contractors.

Even some specialty contractors are being squeezed. Reece-Campbell Inc., which builds shopping centers, is seeing more competition from builders who are better known for erecting office towers or industrial sites.

"Those guys who were building that stuff (office and industrial) are now in our market, which is retail," said Reece-Campbell chief executive Pete Chronis, whose firm dropped to No. 61 from No. 48.

Chronis forecasts further difficulty for contractors in 2003 and 2004.

"We are going to see further shrinkage of work," he said.

E-mail kalltucker@enquirer.com