A conversation with ... Frank A. Adams.(president and CEO of Grotech Capital Group)(Interview)

Ever wonder how some companies take off and become successes while others languish, no matter how original or practical their product idea may be?

The success factor, business gurus suggest, can be attributed to appropriate investment support - finding the right financial partner when the company is young and unproven.

For an ever-growing list of companies, Grotech Capital Group is one such partner. The Timonium-based venture capital firm has made a fortune with its investments in high-growth companies in what is arguably one of the most exciting periods in the nation's business history.

Grotech, which focuses on the Mid-Atlantic states, has grown from $12 million in managed assets in 1984 to more than $500 billion in 1998.

Its eight partners are led by co-founder, president and chief executive officer Frank A. Attains, who has become a star of sorts on the still-formidable Baltimore financial scene.

Before starting Grotech, Adams held senior executive positions with a number of public and privately held firms, including PHH Group Inc., RLC/Matlack Inc., Westinghouse Electric Corp. and TMS Inc.

But it was his acumen as a venture capitalist that would earn him the 1991 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, an honor sponsored by national business consulting firm Ernst & Young. That same year, Adams was inducted into the Institute of American Entrepreneurship as a lifetime member in 1991.

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