West Monroe Partners Named to Inc. 5000

CHICAGO, Illinois - August 28, 2008 - West Monroe Partners, a full-service business and technology consultancy, announced today that it has been named to the Inc. 5000. With a growth rate of just under 385 percent over the three-year measurement period, the firm ranked 952nd on this year’s list of 5,000 companies and 42nd among those located in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI region. The Inc. 5000—an annual ranking of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the United States prepared by Inc.com, the online arm of Inc. magazine—is the most comprehensive look at the vital privately held small business segment of the country’s economy.

West Monroe Partners, founded in 2002, has grown to a $30+ million consultancy in 2008 by catering primarily to middle-market companies that often are underserved by the firms that work with Fortune 500 companies. In just six years, it has opened seven offices in the United States and Canada, added more than 225 people to its team, and established a base of more than 250 clients. It is one of 565 companies in the business services industry included on the 2008 Inc. 5000 list.

“It is an honor to be among the fastest growing private companies in the United States, but it is even more gratifying that we’ve achieved this level of growth by following a plan that focuses on quality rather than simply numbers” said Dean Fischer, West Monroe Partners’ president and CEO and one of the company’s founders. “This is directly reflective of the energy that our people have invested in building strong and enduring client relationships and the confidence that our clients have gained in West Monroe Partners as a result.”

Inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list marks the latest third-party recognition for West Monroe Partners. In June, Crain’s Chicago Business named West Monroe Partners to its list of the 50 highest-growth companies in the Chicago metropolitan area. The company also has been recognized twice in the last few years by Consulting Magazine; in 2005 as one of the publication’s “Small Jewels” and in 2007 as one of its “Best Firms to Work For.” In addition, West Monroe Partners has been named one of the top companies for which to work in Chicago by the National Association for Business Resources and in Seattle by Seattle Business Monthly.

The 2008 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2004 through 2007.  To qualify, companies must be U.S.-based and privately held, independent organizations—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2007, and have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2004, and $2 million in 2007.

The 5,000 companies that made the list reported aggregate revenue of $185 billion and median three-year growth of 147 percent.  Most important, the 2008 Inc. 5000 companies were engines of job growth, having created more than 826,033 jobs since those companies were founded.  Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and a list of the fastest-growing companies that can be sorted by industry and region can be found at www.inc5000.com.