SMU Cox Dallas 100™ names Argent Associates Inc. top entrepreneurial company in Dallas area

Dallas (SMU) – A certified minority- and female-owned company took top honors at this year’s SMU Cox Dallas 100™ Awards ceremony.

Beatriz “Betty” Manetta

Argent Associates, Inc., founded in 1998 by Beatriz “Betty” Manetta, is a systems integrator that provides innovative technology products, services and supply chain solutions to enterprise and government customers. 

The announcement came at the annual SMU Cox Dallas 100™ Awards Ceremony and Banquet Thursday night, Nov. 13, at the Omni Dallas Hotel.

“Under Betty Manetta’s leadership, Argent Associates has continued to grow and distinguish itself as a national provider of supply-chain and IT services,” said Simon Mak, associate director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the SMU Cox School of Business in Dallas. “We are very pleased to recognize Argent Associates as the SMU Cox 2014 Dallas 100™ Awards’ No.1 company.” 

For 24 years, SMU Cox has annually ranked the top 100 Dallas entrepreneurial companies based on sales growth over a designated period. Argent Associates, now a nation-wide corporation headquartered in Plano with locations in six other states, had the biggest percentage sales increase and dollar growth for 2011 to 2013, as determined by the calculations of the accounting firm BKD CPAs and Advisors. Focusing on telecommunications and the technology industry, Argent has grown large enough in 15 years to be the parent company to three divisions.

Dallas 100™, co-founded by the SMU Cox Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship, honors the ingenuity, commitment and perseverance of the fastest-growing privately held entrepreneurial businesses in the Dallas area. According to the Caruth Institute’s data, this year’s winning companies collectively created 15,865 jobs over two years. In addition, all 100 companies together achieved $4.4 billion in sales in 2013 alone (the most recent year for which complete data is available) and made $9.1 billion in sales over three years from 2011 to 2013.

“The incredible growth and performance of the Dallas 100™ winners is a tribute to the dynamic and vibrant entrepreneurial community in which we live,” said Jerry White, director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at SMU Cox. “The Dallas economy has been driven by entrepreneurs since its founding. With today’s entrepreneurs, investors and supporting professionals, the economic future of our area and beyond looks bright indeed.”

The Dallas 100™ Awards Ceremony is presented annually by SMU Cox. This year’s sponsors were Avison Young, BKD CPAs and Advisors, Carr Intellectual Property Law, The CFO Suite, The Dallas Business Journal, Evos Financial, Executive Press, KRLD 1080 News Radio and Texas Capital Bank. The event recognizes privately held corporations, proprietorships or partnerships headquartered in the area that often don’t get attention, but which have created jobs and generated wealth for their founders and employees and enhanced the area economy.

Along with Argent Associates, Inc., 99 other Dallas-based companies were revealed as SMU Cox Dallas 100™ winners to an audience of about 1,000 guests during Thursday night’s awards ceremony. Each company was announced in ascending order, culminating with the unveiling of the top Dallas 100™ company. The top 10 companies were given special recognition. In descending order, beginning with the highest ranked, they are:  #1) Argent Associates, Inc.; #2) WorldLink; #3) Daseke, Inc.; #4) Senderra RX; #5) Mach Speed Holdings dba: Apollo Brands; #6) Wingspan Portfolio Advisors; #7) CenseoHealth; #8) JW Logistics, LLC; #9) Everett Financial, Inc. dba: Supreme Lending; and #10) Low T Center.              

A complete list of all SMU Cox Dallas 100™ companies for this year, ranked from 1 to 100, follows:

About SMU Cox

The Cox School of Business (cox.smu.edu), originally established in Dallas in 1920 on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and was named in honor of benefactor Edwin L. Cox in 1978. SMU 

Cox offers a full range of highly-ranked undergraduate and graduate business education programs: BBA, Full-Time MBA, Fast Track MBA, Professional MBA (PMBA), Executive MBA (EMBA), JD/MBA, MA/MBA, Master of Science (MS) in Accounting, MS in Business Analytics, MS in Finance, MS in Management, MS in Sport Management, as well as Executive Education and multiple certificate programs. 

The school also offers a number of unique resources and activities for students, including the Business Leadership Center (BLC), the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship, the Folsom Institute for Real Estate, the Maguire Energy Institute, the Global Leadership Program and the Associate Board Executive Mentoring Program, as well as an international alumni network with chapters in more than 20 countries.

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