ARIZONA COMPANIES
WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES (LARGE), RANKED BY 2015 REVENUE
Top 10 INTERNATIONAL CRUISE & EXCURSIONS, INC. 15501 N. Dial Blvd., Scottsdale, 85260 // 602-6355267 // iceenterprise.com 2015 REVENUE $704 million EMPLOYEES 1,534 PRINCIPAL John and Marcia Rowley, owners MACH 1 GLOBAL SERVICES, INC. 1530 W. Broadway Road, Tempe, 85282 // 480-921-3900 // mach1global.com 2014 GROSS REVENUE $112.1 million EMPLOYEES 72 PRINCIPAL Jamie Fletcher, CEO BUFFALO EXCHANGE P.O. Box 40488, Tucson, 85717 // 520-622-2711 // buffaloexchange.com 2015 REVENUE $84.6 million EMPLOYEES 150 PRINCIPAL Kerstin Block, president CHAS ROBERTS AIR CONDITIONING 9828 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, 85201 // 602-943-3426 // chasroberts.com 2015 REVENUE $75 million (2014) EMPLOYEES 542 PRINCIPAL Sissie Roberts Shank, owner and CEO CALIENTE CONSTRUCTION INC. 485 W. Vaughn St., Tempe, 85283 // 480-894-5500 // calienteconstruction.com 2015 REVENUE $61 million EMPLOYEES 80 PRINCIPAL Lorraine Bergman, president and CEO
CREATING TRAVEL OPTIONS
MARCIA ROWLEY OWNER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER BY GEORGANN YARA
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Thirty years ago, Marcia Rowley bought her first timeshare on the island of St. Thomas, partly motivated by the salesperson’s claim that she could trade some of those weeks for a cruise. She later discovered it wasn’t true. Years later, when Rowley and her husband John attempted to do the same, they were told that kind of exchange was impossible because a program that allowed for it didn’t exist. Recognizing a need, the couple developed a business plan that allowed landlocked timeshare owners to do just that. The result is International Cruise & Excursions Inc., which launched in 1997 and has expanded to include resort options and other travel experiences. “We knew timeshare consumers wanted it and we knew the resorts wanted to sell more timeshares,” says Rowley, chief marketing officer for ICE. “So, if we could make a product that would allow them to go on cruises, they would sell more timeshares.” Their instincts were accurate, and lucrative. The idea has sprouted into partnerships with major financial and travel corporations and a nine-figure operation comprised of a dozen offices around the globe. Maintaining a few characteristics of a small business, however, has been an asset amidst competition, marketplace demands and growth, which contin-
ued even through the recession. “We’re getting large but we’re still very nimble,” Rowley says. “We have a great team and are very diverse with the talent and ability to be innovative and react very quickly.” A native of Medicine Lodge, Kan., Rowley graduated from high school at 16, and studied English and communications at Kansas State University. She became a paralegal and moved to Colorado, where she met John, her husband of 21 years, who has a software development background. Rowley ran the legal department of a software company they were running together, and John was the CEO. Wanting to be near his family inspired the couple’s move to Arizona in 1994. Their daughter is one of eight children in the combined family. They also have 13 grandchildren. In the company’s early years, Rowley found herself in meetings with top executives, trying to sell them on ICE’s concept. She didn’t have a sales background but she did have a sincere belief in what she and John wanted to do, which more than compensated for it. “I was able to walk in with conviction and passion that what we had would prove to benefit clients and owners,” Rowley says. “When you believe in something and are passionate about it, it comes through.”
ALLIANCE HOME LOANS 5410 E. High St., Suite 200, Phoenix, 85054 // 602-867-6000 // alliancehomeloans.com 2015 REVENUE $40 million EMPLOYEES 170 PRINCIPAL Jamie Korus, president SPIRIT ELECTRONICS, LLC 23910 N. 19th Ave., Suite 26, Phoenix, 85085 // 480-998-1533 // spiritelectronics.com 2015 REVENUE $33.5 million EMPLOYEES 12 PRINCIPAL Vickie Wessel, president CORPORATE INTERIOR SYSTEMS, INC. 3311 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix, 85040 // 602-304-0100 // cisinphx.com 2015 REVENUE $31 million EMPLOYEES 33 PRINCIPAL Lisa Johnson, president and CEO COCHISE COMPANIES 333 N. Black Canyon Highway, Phoenix, 85009 // 602-272-0911 // cochisecompanies.com 2015 REVENUE $26 million EMPLOYEES 84 PRINCIPAL Apryl Erekson, owner ECO-CHIC CONSIGNMENTS, INC. 4025 N. 44th St., Phoenix, 85018 // 602-952-9616 // mysisterscloset.com 2015 REVENUE $25 million EMPLOYEES 200 PRINCIPAL Ann Siner, founder and CEO
WHO’S WHO IN BUSINESS // 2016
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