Three Springfield companies have experienced growth of over 100% in their industries – and have made a name for themselves in the American economy.
Inc. Magazine recently released its list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States and Puerto Rico, highlighting the elite group of growing private companies that are shaping the future of business.
This year, Sangamon County-based companies Productive Resources, Primo Designs and bitsIO made the list.
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Companies must be based in the United States, privately held, for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2022. To qualify, companies must have had at least $100,000 in revenue in 2020 and at least $2 million in revenue in 2023.
The companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list were ranked by their percentage revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generated revenue by March 31, 2020.
Here’s a closer look at the three Springfield-area companies that made the list:
Founded and led by a team of engineers, this innovation-driven company secured its place on the list at number 4,002 for its offerings in support of product development, validation, manufacturing and field support.
Founded in 2001, the company employs over 51,000 people and has experienced 113% growth in three years under the leadership of owner Teresa Cushing.
This is the latest achievement for the company, which won the Fortune 100 Company Diversity Supplier of the Year Award in 2016 and the Fortune 100 Company Indirect Materials & Services Supplier of the Year Award in 2019. The company is also a recognized woman-owned small business.
Primo Designs
The wholesaler of branded clothing and promotional products with a focus on healthcare, manufacturing and schools secured the 4,019th place on the list.
According to founder Len Naumovich, the brand has been screen printing clothing and promotional items since 1985. Its first steps were in the basement of a duplex.
Naumovich was from Springfield and turned his hobby of screen printing individual colors on wooden table presses into his profession, which he pursued for over 38 years.
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In 2019, Naumovich said the company had 32 employees and 15,000 square feet of production space in screen printing, embroidery and digital printing on the west side of the city. The company employs a sales team, art department, printers and embroiderers, but after COVID-19, the company struggled with staff shortages.
This is the first time the company has made it to the elite list after recording 112% growth since 2021.
bitsIO
This Springfield-based technology company employs only a handful of people, but it secured its place at number 4,066 on the list.
Founded in 2001, bitsIO transforms big data into cybersecurity for its customers. The IT service was named Splunk Partner of the Year in 2020 and 2022 and is active at over 100 customer locations.
The company’s website states that the small team is a group of security experts with specialized skills focused on turning data into visible insights and implementing a framework for monitoring the technology using cutting-edge observation systems.
Under CEO Kalpana Krishnamurthi, the company has seen 113% growth in three years and has been on the Inc 5000 list every year since 2020, where the team ranked 498th.
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. Reach her at [email protected]; and on X (formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
