16 North Bay companies make Inc. 5000 fast-growing list
Sixteen North Bay companies made Inc. magazine's annual list of 5,000 fast-growing U.S. companies, released Wednesday, Aug. 16, and of them, one debuted in the top 500 and seven were newcomers.
All together, the North Bay enterprises that made the cut from tens of thousands of applicants had $794.9 million in revenues last year and employed 7,194, according to the Inc. 5000 company profiles. The rankings are based on firms that took in more than $2 million a year and revenue growth for fiscal 2013–2016.
New to the Inc. 5000 list from Sonoma, Solano, Marin and Napa counties were Sausalito's CleanFund (No. 331), Novato's The ExecRanks (591), San Rafael's Email Aptitude (1,037), Novato's Patra (1,622), Santa Rosa's The Engine Is Red (3,118), Petaluma's Solairus Aviation (3,294) and Santa Rosa's M.A. Silva USA (4,605).
CleanFund started in 2009 and is a financier of commercial property-assessed clean energy, or (C-PACE) loans, akin to what Petaluma-based Ygrene Energy Fund does with residential PACE financing programs.
Started in 2008, advertising and marketing agency The Engine Is Red, named from an inside joke among the founders, has been getting a spurt of growth in the past three years from expansion of clients outside the North Bay, according to founder Chris Denny. The firm currently has a staff of 20, with 12 inhouse and the rest as contractors.
“We want to create a creative hub in Sonoma County that does not just serve Sonoma County,” he told the Business Journal. “We are drawing attention from traditional creative centers in New York City and San Francisco.”
Currently, half the agency's clients are based outside the North Bay, and the firm has expanded from financial and nonprofit clients to biotechnology and life sciences as well as wine.
Sonoma-based Bolt Staffing Service returned to the list this year at No. 3,745 with 79.4 percent growth to $9.5 million last year. It previously ranked in 2003 at No. 364.
North Bay companies on the Inc. 5000 list
Rank
Company
City
2016 revenue
3-year revenue growth
Founded
Employees
Times on the list
2016 rank
331
Sausalito
$2.3m
1,344.28%
2009
25
1x
591
Novato
$11.6m
765.49%
2012
113
1x
1,011
Moore Solar / Heating / Cooling
Santa Rosa
$16.4m
428.59%
2007
87
4x
467
1,037
San Rafael
$4.0m
411.66%
2010
39
1x
1,622
Novato
$28.3m
243.38%
2009
1,821
1x
1,815
Napa
$4.9m
212.72%
2009
47
3x
1,064
1,845
Rutherford, Napa
$11.2m
208.17%
2007
41
5x
2,354
2,557
Cotati
$107.5m
137.79%
2000
1,939
7x
2,894
2,587
San Rafael
$33.0m
135.80%
1995
103
7x
2,257
3,028
Petaluma
$25.5m
109.63%
1998
41
3x
2,127
3,118
Santa Rosa
$2.0m
105.52%
2008
15
1x
3,294
Petaluma
$246.0m
97.01%
2009
600
1x
3,583
Fairfield
$5.5m
85.61%
2008
15
4x
2,943
3,745
Sonoma
$9.5m
79.39%
1994
1,769
2x
4,487
Sonoma
$245.1m
55.26%
1977
490
2x
4,605
Santa Rosa
$42.1m
51.76%
2000
49
1x
Source: Inc.com/inc5000
Correction, Aug. 24, 2017: There are 16 North Bay companies on the Inc. 5000 list this year, not 17.