Artisan Precast Company

After spending years climbing the corporate ladder at national credit card issuer MBNA Corp., Craig Lewis decided he wasn't going to be content unless he could run his own company. "I got nearly to the top, but I still wasn't the boss," said the former senior vice president of marketing at the 25,000-employee operation. Searching for a more entrepreneurial job and better control of his life -- for years the bank transferred him every 15 months -- Lewis set out to buy his own small business.