Five years ago, as the North Texas economy roiled from the tech bust, Tahir Hussain invested all his savings, about $80,000, into starting a company.

Last year, that start-up, Fusion Solutions Inc., made $22 million in revenue. It employs 180.

That success put the Addison-based company in the No. 5 spot on Inc. magazine's Inc. 500, a list of the nation's fastest-growing companies.

Overall, Texas, with 38 companies on the list, ranked second to California, which had 81 listed. Last year, Texas ranked fourth, with 32.

The Dallas area had 20 companies in the magazine's rankings this year but didn't make the list at all in 2006.

Mr. Hussain's Fusion is a telecom staffing and consulting firm. It caters to the phone companies' growing interest in wireless technologies such as Internet television and WiMax, wireless technology that operates at much greater distances than Wi-Fi.

Its wireless focus helped persuade potential clients to hire Fusion during the economic downturn, when companies nationwide were not eager to make capital investments.

Mr. Hussain turned to entrepreneurship when his former employer, Ericsson Inc., shut down his research and development group in 2002.

"This is my first start-up. By the grace of God, we have been successful," he said.

Companies must submit an application to be considered. The magazine then ranks privately held companies according to year-over-year sales growth in the last three years.

Although companies on the list may not be household names now, the magazine points out that Microsoft, Timberland and Domino's Pizza, among others, each appeared there before rising to prominence.