Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big

　　What do the Anchor Stream microbrewery and underground rockstar Ani DiFranco have in common? The two are among Burlingham'sexamples of privately held businesses that have become "giants" intheir field without becoming huge corporations. (And if you don'tthink being a rock star is a business, consider that DiFranco'sdealings with local vendors in her Buffalo neighborhood have led tothe creation of more than 100 new jobs.) For the 14 small companiesprofiled here, success comes by getting richer, not by gettingbigger. Burlingham's central conceit, that these are companies thatexcel in generating "mojo," may seem abstract at first, but hecarefully demystifies the term by focusing on issues like communityrelations and customer service. The owners he interviews speak fromhard-won experience about resisting the pressure to simply keepexpanding or sell the company to the highest bidder and stayingtrue to their original visions for excellence. Burlingham, aneditor-at-large at Inc., closes his account with a tribute to themagazine's late founder, Bernard A. Goldhirsh, whose celebration ofentrepreneurship and loose managerial style clearly provided alasting influence. (Jan.)