NEW YORK — BLACK ENTERPRISE marks 45 years of listing America’s largest black companies with the publication’s May/June 2017 issue of the BE 100s, universally recognized as the most authoritative analysis and annual ranking of the nation’s top grossing black-owned companies. The BE 100s ranks America’s largest black-owned companies, including automobile dealers, banks, asset managers, investment banks, and private equity firms.

In our 45th Annual Report on Black Business under the theme, “Evolution,” our editors found scores of BE 100 CEOs who have remodeled their companies for opportunity and expansion. In fact, scalability has been the foundation of growth for the billion-dollar revenue leaders—technology integrator World Wide Technology Inc. with $9.3 billion in revenues and workforce solution juggernaut ACT-1, which generated over $2 billion in revenues.

When BLACK ENTERPRISE first compiled its “Top 100” in 1973, combined sales for the 100 component companies totaled $473 million. Results of the 2017 report show that the Top 100 collectively grossed more than $27 billion in 2016, a $3 billion increase in revenue over the previous year.

In addition to the BE 100s listings, the package also features profiles of the chief executives of the 2017 BLACK ENTERPRISE Companies of the Year:

Company of the Year: Powers & Sons Construction Co. Inc., Gary, IN; CEO, Mamon Powers Jr.

Auto Dealer of the Year: National Automotive Management L.L.C., Hamilton, NJ; CEO, Jessie Armstead.

Financial Company of the Year: CastleOak Securities, New York, NY; CEO, David R Jones.

“The BE 100s—the nation’s largest black businesses—continue to be the standard bearers for all American enterprises, demonstrating that sustained business growth comes when ideation and innovation are wedded to execution and excellence,” says BLACK ENTERPRISE Senior SVP/Chief Content Officer Derek T. Dingle. “As such, most exhibit elasticity, capability, technological adaptability, and branding power in a seesaw economic recovery and the hyper-competitive business environment.”

In developing the rankings for 2017, BE Research collected surveys from hundreds of companies as well as information from government agencies, professional organizations, industry associations, business information services, entrepreneurs, and corporations. The information included total revenues for the calendar year 2016; a detailed description of business activities; historical ownership data; and confirmation that the entity is at least 51% black-owned, or that blacks own at least 51% of the controlling shares if the company is publicly traded. The May/June 2017 issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE—complete BE 100s rankings, full eligibility criteria, and company overviews -—is on newsstands now.

Also included in the issue is BE‘s listing of the 50 Top Companies for Supplier Diversity. The companies singled out represent the leaders in procurement spending and partnership with minority firms. The complete report, including methodology and selection criteria, is available in the May/June 2017 issue of BLACK ENTERPRISEmagazine.

BLACK ENTERPRISE is also marking the 45^th anniversary of the BE 100s by socializing some of the most exciting moments with the hashtag #45DaysofBE100s.