Twenty North Bay companies make national fastest-growing list

Twenty North Bay companies made the Inc. 5000 list [see the chart at the end] of fast-growing companies in the U.S., including nine newcomers such as a snack maker that debuted in the top 100.

These local companies have added almost 1,400 employees in the past three years, according to data through last year provided to the magazine for the annual ranking. However, a significant number of those jobs are at company locations outside the North Bay.

Sonoma-based Krave Pure Foods (kravejerky.com) ranked No. 72 with three-year revenue growth — the list's ranking factor — of 4,632 percent to $16.9 million last year from $358,002 in 2010. Jon Sebastiani launched the company the year before, and the company now employs 40.

Krave also ranked No. 4 among the list's food and beverage growth companies and No. 14 among ranked California companies.

Capstone Technology Resources (capstone-sf.com) ranked No. 250, with 1,832 percent growth to $13.7 million.. Cynthia Reuter, CEO, started the Sausalito-based engineering and information technology consulting company in 2010.

San Francisco Business Times last year noted 2010–2012 revenue growth of 1,611 percent. This year the publication ranked the company among the region's top 100 women-owned companies.

'We are grateful for the opportunities we've had in supporting other firms' growth, grateful for the confidence our clients have placed in us, and grateful for having a team without comparison when it comes to understanding our clients' needs and finding them the precise resources to execute on strategy and implementation,' Ms. Reuter said.

The company has a STEM Compass program, which connects qualified undergraduate and graduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students to companies that need such candidates for STEM internships and entry-level jobs.

Santa Rosa-based residential service provider Moore Heating & Air Conditioning (moorehvac.com) made its first appearance on the list at No. 261, with three-year growth of 1,758 percent to $3.1 million last year from $168,212 in 2010.

Started in 2010 by Jon Diamond and Curtis Moore, the company now employs 22. It ranked No. 9 among the construction companies on the Inc. list.

Sausalito-based KitOrder (KitOrder.com) offers software as a service (SaaS) behind online stores for group purchases with an emphasis on sports-related clients. The four-employee, 4-year-old company debuted at No. 676 with 674 percent growth to $4.1 million last year from $540,728.

Fairfield-based BeforeTheMovie (BeforeTheMovie.com) appeared for the first time on the list at No. 1,166 with 375 percent growth to $2.9 million last year from $621,908.

The company provides advertising and promotions on screens and in lobbies of independent movie theaters. More than 12 million movie-goers watch the company's pre-show advertisements annually. It represents theater groups with more than 500 screens in 13 states.

BeforeTheMovie started in 2008 and employs nine.

IQR Consulting (iqrdataanalytics.com) debuted at No. 2,955 with 122 percent growth to $2.0 million last year from $911,000. With offices in Santa Rosa and India, IQR analyzes data and conducts research that goes into business models and strategies for financial services, gaming, airline and customer-loyalty companies such as large banks, credit unions, casinos and travel agencies.

Started in 2008, IQR employs nine, up by seven in the past three years.

Santa Rosa-based civil and structural design firm D.H. Charles Engineering (charlesengineering.com) appeared on the list this year for the first time, ranked No. 4,574 with 56 percent growth to $4.2 million from $2.7 million.

Started in 1992, the company specializes in engineering for construction contractors such as excavation shoring, scaffolding design and reinforcing-bar cage erection stabilization.

The company employs 19, up four in the past three years.

Petaluma-based First California Mortgage Company (FirstCal.net) debuted at No. 4,958 with 44 percent growth to $52.1 million from $36.2 million.

Founded in 2002, the lender for first-time and investment home buyers now employs 403, up 235 percent in the past three years.

Returning to the list

Twelve North Bay companies returned to the Inc. 5000 list this year, but one of them was sold since the cutoff for the list data and now isn't eligible. And one that was on last year's list — Corte Madera-based RH, formerly Restoration Hardware — returned to public ownership, also disqualifying it from further participation.

The highest-ranking among the alumni was Petaluma-based retailer and wholesaler Three Twins Ice Cream. It ranked No. 998 with 448 percent growth to $6.7 million from $1.2 million.

Inc. 5000 North Bay 2014

Krave Pure Foods

Capstone Technology Resources

Moore Heating & Air Conditioning

KitOrder

BeforeTheMovie

IQR Consulting

D.H. Charles Engineering

First California Mortgage Company

Three Twins Ice Cream

Patxi's Pizza

Evolving Wisdom

VinoPro

Systema Software

Central Payment

OMW Corp.

Humble Abode

Mommy's Bliss

Small World Trading Company (EO Products)

Cecchetti Wine Company

ProTransport-1

Started in 2005 and ranking No. 975 in its debut last year, the company employs 58, up 15 in the past three years.

Sausalito-based restaurant chain Patxi's Pizza (PatxisPizza.com) ranked No. 1,327 in its fourth time on the list with 324 percent growth to $21.7 million from $5.1 million.

The 10-year-old company employs 645, nearly triple the workforce of three years ago with 481 more employees. The chain has 14 locations, including nine in the Bay Area, one opened this summer in Seattle and three in Denver.

'It's been an exciting year for Patxi's, with our expansion to Seattle and also our expansion in the corporate office,' said CEO William Freeman. He was recently named one of the Bay Area's most-admired CEOs by San Francisco Business Times.

Expansion plans include Southern California later this year, with a location in Santa Barbara. A location in San Carlos is also set to open.

San Rafael-based Evolving Wisdom (EvolvingWisdom.com) returned for a second year, ranked No. 2,018 with 201 percent growth to $7.4 million from $2.4 million. The 5-year-old company now employs 39, up 17 in the past three years.

The provider of spirituality and self-help online workshops and teleseminars ranked No. 83 last year.

Santa Rosa-based VinoPro (VinoPro.com) returned for a second year, ranking No. 2,107 with 190 percent growth to $2.8 million last year from $996,000. The company started in 2007 but garnered new investors and changed direction to business process outsourcing in 2009. It now employs 49, up 34 in the past three years.

'We strive to provide the most professional customer experience possible for our winery clients, and as a result, our growth rate this year continues to accelerate,' said Jeff Stevenson, founder and CEO.

VinoPro sells ultra-premium wine, wine club memberships, data-collection kiosks and technology for companies such as Iron Horse Winery, Benziger Family Winery, Gloria Ferrer, Ferrari-Carano, WineTasting.com, Treasury Wine Estates, Jackson Family Wines and dozens of other high-end wine brands.

The company said it has the only real-time FCC/TPCA-compliant solution in the wine industry.

Wine sales for clients rose to almost $9 million last year. VinoPro started a Wine Club Sales Division last year and sold more than 4,000 memberships over the phone in 2013 and almost 2,500 since the beginning of this year.

VinoPro ranked No. 238 last year with 1,810 percent growth to $2.4 million.

Larkspur-based insurance claims system developer Systema Software (SystemaSoft.com) came back for a third time, ranking No. 2,328 with 167 percent growth to $3.5 million from $1.3 million. The company ranked No. 24 in the insurance category.

'It's a testament to our business strategy, as well as a distinguished recognition of our continued innovation and entrepreneurial leadership,' said Jose Tribuzio, CEO. 'We built SIMS Claims as a modern platform with elegant design, enabling clients to leverage significant benefits from its extraordinary functionality and extreme flexibility. Over the years, we've continued to invest in our SIMS product roadmap to include new and exciting capabilities, and we've continued to maintain and deepen our client relationships.'

Founded in 2006, the 14-employee company makes software for workers' compensation, property and casualty claims administration. Its workforce as about doubled in the past three years.

San Rafael-based noncash transactions processor Central Payment (cpay.com) returned for the fifth time, ranking No. 2,423 with 159 percent growth to $135.8 million from $52.5 million. The company ranked No. 2,833 last year.

Started in 2006 by twin brothers Matt and Zach Hyman, the company as of February is 75 percent owned by Georgia-based TSYS. Central Payment employs 140, up 19 in the past three years.

Novato-based machine and prototype shop OMW (OMWcorp.com) ranked on the list for the third straight time, at No. 3,077 with 115 percent growth to $3.0 million from $1.3 million.

Started in 1996, OMW focuses on work with metals and plastics for the electronics, biotechnology and robotics companies and employs 18, up by six from three years ago.

Santa Rosa-based online home furnishings and accessories retailer Humble Abode (HumbleAbode.com) came back to the list for the eighth time in as many years, at No. 3,189 this year with 110 percent growth to $10.7 million from $5.1 million.

Founded in 1999, the company employs 17, adding just four in the past three years. But the company also has been expanding its facilities in the Santa Rosa area a couple of times in that period.

San Rafael baby products developer Mommy's Bliss (MommysBliss.com) returned to the list for a second year, ranking No. 3,222 with 108 percent growth to $7.2 million from $3.4 million.

Started in 1999, the nine-employee company's main product is Mommy's Bliss Grip water, a natural remedy for colic and intestinal gas in infants.

San Rafael-based natural soaps and lotions maker Small World Trading Company (EOProducts.com), formerly EO Products, ranked No. 4,231 this year with 67 percent growth to $14.1 million from $8.4 million. The maker of the EO and Everyone brands doubled the size of its production plant in a move to a 40,000-square-foot San Rafael facility in late 2012.

The company debuted at No. 2,001 in 2010 then was ranked Nos. 2,868 and 3,963 in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

The 19-year-old producer has added 14 employees in the past three years, now employing 45.

Cecchetti Wine Company of Vineburg near Sonoma and ranked No. 3,938 in its third straight time on the list but likely its last. Revenue growth for the 8-year-old company was 77 percent in the past three years, reaching $15.9 million last year from $8.9 million in 2010.

In March, co-founder Roy Cecchetti announced a deal to merge the business with Larkspur-based O'Neill Vintners & Distillers. Mr. Cecchetti started the company in 2006 after parting ways in a wine venture with Don Sebastiani.

Cotati-based ambulance and medical transportation service ProTransport-1 (protransport-1.com) ranked No. 4,952 in its fourth consecutive time on the list, with 44 percent growth to $48.5 million from $33.7 million.

Founded in 2000 by Elena Whorton and Mike Sechrist, ProTransport-1 bolstered its workforce to 747 last year, adding 403 in three years.

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2013 rank

2014 rank

Company

City

2013 revenue

3-year

growth

72

KRAVE Pure Foods

Sonoma

$16.9m

4,632%

250

Capstone

Sausalito

$13.7m

1,832%

261

Moore Heating & Air Conditioning

Santa Rosa

$3.1m

1,758%

676

KitOrder

Sausalito

$4.2m

674%

977

998

Three Twins Ice Cream

Petaluma

$6.7m

448%

1,166

BeforeTheMovie

Fairfield

$3.0m

375%

1,215

1,327

Patxi's Pizza

Sausalito

$21.8m

324%

84

2,018

Evolving Wisdom

San Rafael

$7.4m

201%

238

2,107

VinoPRO

Santa Rosa

$2.8m

190%

1,519

2,328

Systema Software

Larkspur

$3.5m

167%

2,833

2,423

Central Payment

San Rafael

$135.8m

159%

2,955

IQR Consulting

Santa Rosa

$2.0m

122%

3,701

3,077

OMW

Novato

$3.0m

115%

2,555

3,189

Humble Abode

Santa Rosa

$10.7m

110%

2,857

3,222

Mommy's Bliss

San Rafael

$7.3m

108%

2,458

3,938

Cecchetti Wine Company

Vineburg

$15.9m

77%

4,231

EO Products

San Rafael

$14.1m

67%

4,574

D.H. Charles Engineering

Santa Rosa

$4.3m

56%

4,730

4,952

ProTransport-1

Cotati

$48.5m

44%

4,958

First California Mortgage Company

Petaluma

$52.1m

44%

Source: Inc. 5000

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