Divine diversity: for many companies among the North Carolina 100, venturing into new markets has proved to be a blessing.

Buildings, buses, batteries, baked goods, beef. There's no lack of diversity among the North Carolina 100 - or within them, for that matter.

"If you track the history of the North Carolina 100 companies, you'll see numerous examples of diversification," notes T. Michael Henderson, a national director of the Center for Family Business at the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, which compiles the annual list of the state's largest private companies.

Here are three that have stayed on a growth path by not being reluctant to head off in new directions.

Radiator Specialty Co.

Radiator Specialty's diversification back in the late '20s and early '30s was almost accidental, the way Herman Blumenthal tells it. "My brother was sitting in a restaurant in Pennsylvania whe...

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