KaTom One of America’s Fastest-Growing Women-Owned Companies

Year-over-year growth of more than 31 percent pushed KaTom Restaurant Supply into the top 15 in 2018 industry rankings and once again earned it a spot on the list of the 50 fastest-growing woman-owned companies in America.

Sales totaling $131.55 million in 2017 boosted KaTom five spots to No. 14 on the Distribution Giants list from “Foodservice Equipment & Supplies,” which ranks restaurant equipment and supplies dealers by sales. The Kodak-based company has jumped nine places over the last two years, moving from No. 23 in 2015 to No. 19 on last year’s list as it broke the $100 million mark for the first time.

That meteoric growth also landed KaTom two spots up at No. 32 in the index of the country’s fastest-growing woman-owned companies. That’s the highest it has achieved in three years on the list produced by the Women Presidents’ Organization.

“My husband Tim and I started this company in our home garage and led it together until his passing in 2001,” says Founder, President, and CEO Patricia Bible. “On the day we lost him, we had 19 employees, all of them women and most of them the sole breadwinners for their families. I felt tremendous pressure to make sure we made the right decisions to do right by them and their families. There was also a lot of pressure on me being one of the only women in an executive role in our industry.

“I wasn’t sure I would make it through the first day, but I just tried to put one foot in front of the other and string together the days. With the support of those wonderful women and my family, we were able to make the days turn into years and keep KaTom growing through each one.”

Seventeen years on, the company has gone from a minor player in its industry to one of the largest restaurant equipment and supplies dealers. Along the way, it has spent nine consecutive years on the “Inc.” magazine ranking of the nation’s 5,000 fastest-growing companies and tallied a long list of other recognitions.

“Our success has been fueled significantly by big dreams and plans for the future. We’re always moving forward,” Bible says. “We just completed a 10,000-square-foot expansion of our warehouse, with plans for more growth there in the next few years. We’re also expanding our office space, adding room for dozens more inside and outside sales associates, and customer care representatives. It’s all much more than we ever dreamed of when this all got started more than 30 years ago.”