Metropolitan D.C is the place to be for the fastest-growing private companies in the nation.
Inc. magazine’s September issue has ranked the area the best for the fourth year in a row, with 43 local companies represented from its list of the 500 fastest-growing companies in the United States.
New YorkCity trailed the D.C. region by one. Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta followed with 25, 24 and 20 companies, respectively.
“I think the main thing you have to credit is there is federal spending and people contracting with the government,” said Jim Melloan, project manager for Inc. 500.
Defense contractors, information technology companies and software companies comprise most of the region’s businesses on the list.
“Even if we were to get out of the government business, we would still have a huge pool of engineers and scientists that would be successful,” said Tim Priest, executive director of the Greater Washington Initiative, the region’s economic development organization.
Of the 43 regional companies, about 30 are located in Northern Virginia. Fairfax County claims 22 of those 30 businesses.
Entrepreneurs look for an area that already has a vibrant economy, a strong labor pool, good primary and secondary education systems, accessibility to different modes of travel and financing, said Jerry Gordon, president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.
“All those things together you find in Fairfax County. There will be other places that have one or two or some of those, but not necessarily all of them,” Gordon said.
“There are 34 venture capitalists that are physically located in the county and looking for deals to do,” he said.
Chantilly’s LanceSoft, which provides a wide range of IT services, is the highest-ranking company on the list at 24. Founded in 2000, the company has seen a 1,981.9 percent increase in business in the past three years while earning $36 million.
The company has “an entrepreneur business sense” instilled in each of its employees, which helps the company grow, said Ravi Kotti, who heads LanceSoft’s business division.
“We go [to a customer] as a typical analyst who wants to spend time,understand the immediate challenge of the client and see what solutions we can get to the table in the most cost-effective manner. That is what matters to the customers today,” Kotti said.
Where local companies rate
24 LanceSoft, Chantilly
29 Interactive Technology Solutions, Gaithersburg
47 ARES International Security, Alexandria
61 Platinum Solutions, Reston
64 Master Key Consulting, Bethesda
91 Induslogic, Vienna
94 Convergenz, McLean
102 Information Innovators, Springfield
114 Binary Consulting, Bethesda
128 STG International, Alexandria
131 Cascades Technologies, Herndon
146 Telesis, Rockville
168 CustomInk.com, McLean
199 Fishbowl Marketing, Alexandria
302 DBTS, Washington
Source: Inc. magazine
