If I asked you to name the most underrated business in Tacoma, what would you say?

Underrated could mean a well-known company whose impact on or contributions to the community run deeper than most people realize. Or it could mean a lesser-known company that does gangbusters business mostly unnoticed.

Or it could mean that place you love to go that has yet to hit it big.

I’ll share my Top 10 Most-Underrated Businesses in Tacoma and tell you why I think the businesses deserve the honor. But first, a disclaimer: I know only what I know. And I don’t know every business in town. And this list covers only Tacoma.

So after you read my list, I want to know which businesses in the South Sound region you think deserve a spot on the underrated list – and why. Join the conversation on our Biz Buzz blog at blogs.thenewstribune.com/ business.

1. Sitecrafting

2725 Pacific Ave., Suite 100

sitecrafting.com

What does a guy with a double major in theology and philosophy do? Start a small company that creates sophisticated Web applications. That’s what Brian Forth did in 1998. Now, Sitecrafting has become the predominant – and growing – go-to Web development firm for more than 160 South Sound governments and companies. The long list of clients includes the City of Puyallup, Starbucks, Bellarmine Preparatory School and MultiCare Health System.

2. Valhalla Coffee Roasters

3923 S. 12th St.

valhallacoffee.net

You probably have sipped coffee crafted by A.J. Anderson and don’t even know it. The guy roasted at Metropolitan Market in the Proctor District for five years. But when the expanding grocery chain decided to stop roasting its own, A.J. bought the equipment. He now roasts out in the open – you can watch – at the Mandolin Café. He’s magic and relies on word of mouth. Places that serve some of the best coffee in town get it exclusively from him: Blackwater Café, Babblin’ Babs, Europa Bistro, Margaret’s Café, One Heart Café, Rosewood Café, Mandolin. You can even buy it by the pound at Metropolitan Market and Dave’s Meats & Produce.

3. Tacoma Screw Products

2001 Center St.

tacomascrew.com

So many contractors get their screws and fasteners here, you have to take a number to get service. A colleague of mine broke a screw that held a clasp on her cycling shoe. The cycling shop told her it would fix it for $100 or she could buy new shoes for $150. She went to Tacoma Screw where a guy at the counter examined the damage, rummaged around in the warehouse for a few minutes and came out with a screw and washers that fit perfectly. How much did it cost? No charge. The company has 11 stores, including two in Seattle. TSP should make this list simply because folks in Seattle have big signs that read “Tacoma Screw,” and that makes me chuckle.

4. Prosser’s Piano & Organ Co.

5849 Tacoma Mall Blvd.

prosserpiano.com

If your parents forced you to play the piano – I mean, if you had the wonderful opportunity to learn how to play the piano around here during the last 50 years – you most likely learned to play on a piano purchased from Prosser’s. That’s why they call it “The Learn to Play Store.” In 1955, makers of the Baldwin Piano started shopping for someone to sell its instruments in Tacoma. Duane and Laurie Prosser moved here from the Midwest and set up shop. Although the corporate headquarters later relocated to Tukwila, Prosser’s has kept its Tacoma presence. It also developed a national reputation for using technological and marketing strategies to successfully adapt to market changes.

5. Burkhart Dental Supply

2502 S. 78th St.

burkhartdental.com

If you regard your dentist’s equipment as an arsenal of torture, I apologize. But Burkhart deserves inclusion on this list. Dr. William E. Burkhart saw the need for our sparsely settled-but-growing region to have better dental care. So he and a partner founded Tacoma Dental Depot downtown in 1888 and changed the name to Burkhart Dental Supply in 1891. Burkhart also founded and served as president of the Tacoma College of Dental Surgery. Today, Lori Burkhart Isbell – the fifth generation of Burkharts – serves as president of the family-owned business, with 18 offices assisting more than 5,000 dentists in 16 states west of the Mississippi River. Burkhart doesn’t just sell supplies anymore. Dentists come to Burkhart and its subsidiary companies to design their offices, assess equipment needs, train to manage their practice and consult on both continuing education and financing. The family has moved its corporate HQ at least five times in 120 years but always kept it in Tacoma. How many companies can say that?

6. UrbanXchange

1934 Pacific Ave.

urbanxchangeonline.com

Downtown Tacoma doesn’t have much to offer teens and tweens – except this shop, which buys used clothing you bring in and resells it. It also sells funky (my word) new creations by local fashion designers. The School of the Arts students know it well. More than a thrift shop, the kitschy place tracks teen trends and shares them via MySpace and YouTube. (Guys: Ties and jackets are back. Girls: It’s dresses with a waist belt.) Owner Julie Bennett draws crowds with more than her clothing stock and music piped onto the street. She sponsors hip concerts, wild fashion shows and topical coffee talks – a winning, offbeat retail-by-the-bootstraps formula in a downtown market tough on many retailers.

7. Russell Investment Group

909 A St.

russell.com

How big is a trillion? All I know is you need three hands to count all the zeros. If you ask that little company downtown in the building with the waterfall facing the street, they’ll tell you they coordinate management of $2,000,000,000,000 in pension and investment funds from organizations in 44 countries around the world. Fortune magazine perennially ranks Russell among its 100 best companies to work for. Financial reporters who cover every skipped heartbeat and knee-jerk on Wall Street in New York regularly solicit quotes from respected Russell prognosticators. And when that Microsoft guy wanted someone to provide financial guidance for his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he turned to our Tacoma powerhouse. With more than 2,000 employees – 1,300 of them in Tacoma – you knew it was big. But 12 mind-boggling zeroes big?

8. East Asia Supermarket

755 S. 38th St.

If Rachael Ray and Emeril Lagasse lived in Tacoma, they’d shop here. You may not find an open space in the parking lot, but you can find all manner of diverse international cookables that you can’t find anyplace else in town. Four years ago, Andy Chang, president of the family-owned East Asia Market, added “super” to the title, moved a few blocks into a former and larger Red Apple grocery store and expanded the worldly food selections. You’ll see Tacoma’s diversity at its best. Pop in just to gawk at the selection of teas. Have you tried the artichoke or chrysanthemum teas?

9. Gordon Thomas Honeywell Malanca Peterson & Daheim

1201 Pacific Ave., Suite 2100

gth-law.com

How can the largest and oldest continuous law firm (1894) in Tacoma fly under the radar of the average Tacoma joe? I’m not sure. But nearly 60 attorneys and 120 total employees who make up GTH have staked out some rarified legal territory. The region’s 12th-largest law firm has seven “practice groups,” each with its own specialty, some with international clients. Representing priest-abuse victims against the Catholic Archdiocese of Spokane, GTH recently brokered a $48 million settlement. The law firm’s resource management division currently runs the Keep Washington Rolling campaign, pushing for Proposition 1, the regional transportation issue on the November ballot. The firm represents SSA Marine in its port terminal development deal with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. The East Coast developer of University Place Town Center hired GTH. “We’re doing this stuff all the time,” says Bill Holt, managing partner and the attorney for The News Tribune. GTH lawyers, through the years, have served as congressmen, state attorney general, state Supreme Court justices, Pierce County prosecuting attorney, Superior Court and U.S. District Court judges, and presidents of the Washington State Bar Association.

10. Albers & Co.

4733 Tacoma Mall Blvd., Ste. 200

alberscompany.com

You’ve seen that triangular brick building wedged in between Tacoma Mall and Interstate 5 with the big sign “Albers & Co.” Have you wondered what goes on in there?

During the past 27 years, under the guidance of Steve Albers, the company has hooked up companies and individuals with health insurance and benefits investment packages from a variety of vendors, such as Group Health, Aetna, ING, Mutual of Omaha and a long list of others. Donna Albers, Steve’s wife, joined the company in 1996. Now, the pair uses its corporate success to support a wide range of community projects, including co-chairing the 2007 fundraising campaign for United Way of Tacoma-Pierce County. They also have supported Pierce County Library Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound, Tacoma Art Museum Activity Council, the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber and the YMCA.

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com