From SmartMoney "Tetra Tech is a consulting firm specializing in water-resource management and environmental cleanups. Eighty-five percent of its revenue is water-related, though it may be best known as the company that in 2001 tested the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington for anthrax contamination. The firm seems well positioned to benefit from growing environmental awareness and spending by both government and private companies. The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, estimates that water-infrastructure repair and improvement will require $277 billion in spending over the next 15 years. And the company has said that overhauling aging sewer systems in the U.S. alone will require more than $100 billion worth of work over the next 20 years. Tetra Tech recently won sewer work in Louisville, Seattle and Toledo, and improving state budgets should keep the new work flowing."

From SmartMoney "At first glance, you might not think a company that invented a hot-water valve in the early 1900s would be a high-growth prospect for the next decade. But Watts Water Technologies, which supplies water-control, purification, safety and flow devices to the construction industry, should see strong gains in the years ahead. Though the company benefited in recent years from the robust market for residential construction and renovation, which is now in a slump, its commercial construction business continues to be strong. Watts's greatest opportunity, however, lies with large municipal, state and national water infrastructure projects, both in the U.S. and abroad. One of Watts's faster-growing areas is pollution control; it makes valves that prevent waste water from backing up into the fresh-water supply."

From SmartMoney "It may be that no one enjoys a visit to the dentist, but health- and appearance-conscious baby boomers are sure going. Dental implants are rising more than 10% a year, and the market for cosmetic dentistry is growing at a 13% clip. Thanks to new high-tech products from Sirona Dental Systems, people may find the trips increasingly pleasant and productive, and dentists are finding them increasingly profitable. Sirona designs, manufactures and sells dental chairs, treatment workstations and instruments such as the soft-tissue laser, which can make oral surgery faster and less painful. But the biggest drivers of the business, at $100,000 each, are its computer-assisted dental-design systems. Patients can get crowns made and installed in a single visit, eliminating the need for a temporary crown and a return visit. Only 7% of dental practices now feature the equipment, so there's plenty of room for growth."

From SmartMoney "Viasys Healthcare is a cluster of high-technology medical-equipment and diagnostic companies that focus on respiratory care and neuro diagnostics — the monitoring of the brain and nervous system. The company, which originally specialized in ventilators, went public in 2001 and has made 11 acquisitions since. Today 66% of its revenue comes from respiratory care and diagnostics, 21% from neuro care. Other specialties include artificial hip and knee joints as well as parts used in artificial hearts — all areas that should benefit from the aging of the baby boom generation. We expect Viasys to continue its acquisition strategy, concentrating on smaller companies that focus on respiratory care and neuro care. So far the company's acquisitions are paying off in greater economies of scale, especially in manufacturing and distribution, which have produced higher profit margins."

From SmartMoney "OSI Systems is a hybrid medical/defense company, with half of its revenue from medical equipment and half from scanning and inspection equipment and optical gear used by the defense and aerospace industries. Imaging is the technology that ties it all together, which means OSI should benefit from two major trends: an aging population with greater demand for medical care as well as continued defense and security spending. OSI's medical-equipment division makes everything from patient-monitoring to anesthesia systems."

From SmartMoney "Wherever you run into organic produce, chances are it got there thanks to United Natural Foods. The company is the largest national distributor of organic and natural foods, offering more than 40,000 products from 17 distribution sites nationwide. It serves the gamut of clients, from Whole Foods (WFMI: 45.02, +0.43, +1.0%) and Wal-Mart (WMT: 48.17, +0.10, +0.2%) to small specialty retailers, so it seems positioned to profit from growth in demand for organic products wherever it may occur. It faces no significant competition: Wild Oats, a natural foods chain that recently agreed to be acquired by Whole Foods, contracted with a rival distributor in 2002, but brought its business back to UNF three years later."

From SmartMoney "Powerwave Technologies makes the amplifiers, antennas and other equipment that enable wireless phones and handheld devices to transmit and receive voice and data. Powerwave's parts are used in base stations, which are installed on towers and on top of buildings by the wireless carriers. Besides benefiting from continued growing use of cell phones and other handheld devices worldwide, the company should benefit from two important subtrends: the shift to 3G, or third-generation, phone networks and the spread of a new wireless technology known as WiMax. WiMax, a wide-area broadband technology that is rolling out in cities like Chicago and San Francisco, is an industrial-strength version of the Wi-Fi network in your home. A WiMax signal can carry up to 30 miles, and it's 20 times faster than current mobile technologies. Powerwave makes the antennas and base station hardware for WiMax, and it has only one major competitor, Andrew Corp."

From SmartMoney "Brightpoint is the middleman for the wireless industry and should be ideally positioned to profit from its continued growth. The number of worldwide cell phone users is expected to jump 58% to 4.1 billion by the end of the decade, according to Gartner Group, a research firm. Nokia (NOK: 23.92, -0.11, -0.5%), Samsung, Motorola (MOT: 17.95, +0.13, +0.7%) and almost every other maker hire Brightpoint to install the software that makes their phones compatible with wireless-service providers and to deliver them to retailers. Although Brightpoint is the largest U.S. distributor of cell phones, it handles only 5% of the transactions worldwide, leaving it plenty of room for expansion."