9 No. 28 overall

The Scooter Store Inc.

Address: 1650 Independence Drive, New Braunfels, TX 78132
Phone: 830-626-5600
Web: www.thescooterstore.com

Top local executive: Doug Harrison, founder, chairman and chief executive officer

No. of full-time employees: 983

Principal products and services:
The Scooter Store is the nation's leading provider of power wheelchairs and scooters for those with limited mobility. It also sells lifts and ramps used in conjunction with this mobility equipment and have an extensive service network. The company is 40-percent employee owned.

Company officials, commenting on an ongoing legal battle with the Department of Justice (DOJ), maintain that the department's actions are without merit.

The Scooter Store became the target of a DOJ lawsuit after the store initiated a lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, company spokesman Jeff Austin says.

The store initiated the suit when Medicare denied payment for 200 power wheelchairs that the company sold in 2003, Austin says.

"Two hundred is a relatively small amount of power chairs considering The Scooter Store sells more than 45,000 power chairs a year," Austin says. "However, physicians prescribed these for their patients and provided the company with the only document the government requires, a Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN). As such, The Scooter Store believes it should be paid for them and filed suit as is the normal sequence in the appeals process. The DOJ's lawsuit is a counterclaim to our original suit and is procedural, expected, and a part of their right in the process," he adds.

The Scooter Store, he says, "is confident not only that the DOJ's counterclaim is without merit, but that the company will prevail in being reimbursed for the power chairs it has provided to deserving Medicare beneficiaries."

Gross revenue range: $250 million-$499 million

Year founded: 1991

Percent female: 48

Percent male: 52

Percent minority: 33

401(k): Yes, the company matches dollar-for-dollar up to 3 percent of an employee-owner's salary.

Company highlights:

• 1991—Doug and Susanna Harrison found The Scooter Store in New Braunfels.
• 2001—The company opens its new headquarters and is named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies for a second time.
• 2002—The Scooter Store launches the "Gift of Mobility" program to help nonprofit organizations provide freedom and independence to people in need. The company makes the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies for the third consecutive year.
• 2003—The company makes the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies for the fourth consecutive year. The Scooter Store provides the information that tips off the government to likely fraud occurring in its industry. As a result, a major FBI investigation leads to arrests and millions in taxpayer savings.
• 2004—Fortune Magazine names The Scooter Store as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For."
• The Scooter Store's commitment to customer service has resulted in a Medicare beneficiary satisfaction rate of 97 percent. The Scooter Store also offers:
  • Two game rooms with free ice cream.
  • A subsidized, on-site cafeteria.
  • Fully funded onsite master's degree program.
  • Employee stock ownership plan.
  • Spurs suite and courtside tickets.
  • Approximately 90 hours per year of personal and professional training.
  • Onsite car wash, dry cleaning and massages.
  • Onsite company store, Chili Dogs.
  • An average of $120 annually for each employee to use at the company store.
  • Quarterly bonuses that range from $200 to $900 for all employees.
  • Rewards and recognition for goals accomplished, ranging from dollars for the company store to trips.
  • Days off for reaching goals.
  • A number of company-sponsored charitable activities.
  • Matching donations on some company charitable events.

Reprinted with permission from the San Antonio Business Journal.