Since APCO returned to independence in 2004, its revenue has about doubled, notes president and CEO Margery Kraus, who says one investment focus in 2006 was expansion of its New York office.

"New York was so strategic because we have always had a history of being in capital cities," says Kraus, "but in some cases the financial and capital cities are [not] one and the same. That's why we have a huge practice in Beijing, but we're also growing really rapidly ...