Forbes began ranking small companies in 1996, the year FactSet stock went public. The next year, FactSet debuted on the rankings at #116 and has been included every year since. FactSet is the only company on the list to be recognized for 12 consecutive years.

“FactSet is proud of its continued inclusion in this exclusive list of companies,” said Peter Walsh, Chief Financial Officer. "This year marks our 30^th anniversary as a company and our 28^th consecutive year of revenue growth. In a period of unprecedented volatility in the financial markets, our business performed exceptionally well.”

To qualify, companies must have sales between $5 million and $750 million and a stock price of $5 as of September 29. The ranking is based on return on equity, sales growth, and profit growth over the past 12 months and also over five years. Forbes also compared a company's stock performance with that of its industry peers. The shares of the companies on its 2007 list fell 15% on average over the past year, slightly outperforming the Russell 2000.

Forbes called 2008 “a very tough time for our list.” While FactSet celebrated a dozen years of recognition, 83 of last year’s members didn't make the cut this year.

In addition, Forbes used FactSet software to obtain data for the rankings, crediting FactSet as a source for each page of company fundamentals. FactSet is also listed #14 on Forbes' 100 Best Mid-Cap Stocks list (comprised of 100 companies showing a unique combination of growth, financial stability and promising forecasts for the coming years).

See FactSet on the Forbes' America's Top 200 Small Companies list.