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

CleanFund

Sausalito

$2.3m

1,344.28%

2009

25

1x

591

The ExecRanks

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

Email Aptitude

San Rafael

$4.0m

411.66%

2010

39

1x

1,622

Patra

Novato

$28.3m

243.38%

2009

1,821

1x

1,815

Free Flow Wines

Napa

$4.9m

212.72%

2009

47

3x

1,064

1,845

OneHope

Rutherford, Napa

$11.2m

208.17%

2007

41

5x

2,354

2,557

ProTransport-1

Cotati

$107.5m

137.79%

2000

1,939

7x

2,894

2,587

EO Products

San Rafael

$33.0m

135.80%

1995

103

7x

2,257

3,028

Star Staffing

Petaluma

$25.5m

109.63%

1998

41

3x

2,127

3,118

The Engine Is Red

Santa Rosa

$2.0m

105.52%

2008

15

1x

3,294

Solairus Aviation

Petaluma

$246.0m

97.01%

2009

600

1x

3,583

Before The Movie

Fairfield

$5.5m

85.61%

2008

15

4x

2,943

3,745

BOLT Staffing Service

Sonoma

$9.5m

79.39%

1994

1,769

2x

4,487

Nelson

Sonoma

$245.1m

55.26%

1977

490

2x

4,605

M.A. Silva USA

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.

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