Assuming that Column A contains your data, enter the following formula
that needs to be confirmed with CONTROL+SHIFT+ENTER in B1 and copy down:

=INDEX($D$1:$D$3,MATCH(TRUE,ISNUMBER(SEARCH($D$1:$ D$3,A1)),0))

....where D1:D3 contains the values to extract, such as Ryan, Mulvaney,
and KB Home.

Hope this helps!

In article ,
"Karl Burrows" wrote:

It is in a database, but am using Excel to pull some formatted reports.
Here is a better example, for multiple builders:

Ryan
Ryan Townhomes
Ryan 60'
Mulvaney - Greenbrier
Mulvaney - 80
KB Home
KB Home 70'

I need to extract the unique values to give me:

Ryan
Mulvaney
KB Home

What I am doing is about impossible in Access, as it is pulling lot data
into a formatted report spread over a 6 year rolling period. I would still
have the same issue in Access as well if I were to query the data for these
values.

Thanks!

wrote in message
oups.com...
what do you mean by reverse concatenation?

ps - you should be storing DATA in a DATABASE and not in excel.

-Aaron