Getting big is one measure of a company's success. But when a company grows too big, it becomes harder to grow quickly enough to excite investors.

So Joe Milano, manager of T. Rowe Price New America Growth (symbol PRWAX; 800-638-5660), favors midsize and large companies that move into new businesses to spur growth — companies that "aren't standing still." Over the past three years to April 3, the fund gained an annualized 18 percent.

Among Milano's favorites:

• Adobe Systems (ADBE). If you've ever downloaded a document from the Internet, you've probably used Adobe Acrobat software. The San Jose, Calif., company also makes operating systems for wireless phones using technology it obtained with the purchase of Macromedia last year. Adobe's growth rate should accelerate as wireless manufacturers start using Adobe software in more models, Milano says.

Recently $38, the stock trades at 29 times the $1.30 per share that analysts expect Adobe to earn in the year ending Nov. 30, according to Thomson First Call.

• Home Depot (HD). With a real estate slowdown a possibility, the giant hardware retailer can't rely on weekend handymen to improve on the $82 billion in sales it generated in 2005. But Milano thinks sales of tools, lumber and hardware to professional contractors will stimulate growth. The stock, which is 40 percent off its 2000 high, sells for $41, or 13 times estimated earnings of $3.07 per share for the year ending Jan. 31, 2007.

• Iron Mountain (IRM). For a monthly fee, the Boston company houses boxes of documents from banks, law firms, hospitals and other businesses. Spurred by the corporate scandals of the late '90s and early '00s, says Milano, Iron Mountain began electronic storage, mostly of e-mails. E-mail storage is only 6 percent of Iron Mountain's annual revenues of $2 billion, leaving vast room for growth, Milano says.

At $39, the stock trades at a lofty 39 times estimated 2006 profits of 99 cents per share. High interest and depreciation expenses depress earnings, Milano says, explaining the high price-earnings ratio.

• United Parcel Service (UPS). There's more to UPS than big brown trucks delivering packages. The Atlanta company provides logistics advice and distribution networks to its customers. Supply-chain consulting and international shipping accounted for a third of UPS's 2005 revenues of $42 billion. The expansion of global commerce and business cost-cutting will fuel UPS's growth in those segments, Milano says. The stock, at $81, sells for 20 times this year's estimated profits of $3.97 per share.