Eleven Maine companies made this year’s Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing U.S. privately owned firms, including a newcomer that makes skin care products for men and a nine-time returning champion from the technology sector.

Maine’s showing on this year’s Inc. 5000 is up from 10 companies in 2018 but down from 12 in 2017. To be eligible for the list, published by business magazine Inc., a company has to be independent and privately owned, with annual revenue of at least $2 million.

A newcomer to the list, Portland-based Brickell Men’s Products, achieved the highest rank of any Maine-based company this year at No. 76. Brickell, which makes high-end skin care products for men, achieved three-year revenue growth of 4,208 percent from 2016 to 2018. Its 2018 revenue was $10 million.

The company was founded in 2014 by Skowhegan natives Josh Meyer and Matt Bolduc, who are longtime friends and serial entrepreneurs.

“Matt and I are both proud we can build a young, fast-growing company in our home state,” Meyer said Wednesday. “It’s great to be able to hire fellow Mainers to grow something and be mentioned among some of the best, fastest growing companies in the entire USA. When people think of fast-growing companies, they don’t think of Maine – we’d like to change that.”

The largest Maine company on the Inc. 5000, Portland-based Tilson Technology Management, has appeared on the list for nine consecutive years. It is the only Maine-based firm with that distinction. Another Portland-based company, MuniciPay, has appeared on the list five times including this year.

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Tilson, a developer of next-generation “5G” wireless network infrastructure across the country, ranked No. 1,773 on this year’s list with a three-year growth rate of 230 percent. It is the largest Maine company on the list in terms of annual revenue, with sales of $71.4 million in 2018.

Tilson was founded in 1996 as a one-man IT consultancy by Mike Dow, who ultimately put the business on hold while he went to work as the head of information technology for Pittsfield-based general contractor Cianbro. Dow later revived Tilson and took on his first handful of employees – including current CEO Joshua Broder – in the mid-2000s.

Broder said he looks forward to Tilson’s continued growth in the years to come.

“It takes a very talented and dedicated group to reach this level of success,” he said in a prepared statement. “To be recognized for the ninth time on the Inc. 5000 is an extraordinary honor and reflection of Tilson’s company culture, the growing complexity and scale of our projects and the loyalty of our clients. Our team is committed to designing solutions that fit the needs of our clients and to sustain our competitive advantage in the industry.”

Brunswick-based customer service outsourcing firm SaviLinx, returned to the Inc. 5000 for the third time this year after achieving Maine’s highest ranking on last year’s list at No. 28. This year, the company landed at No. 1,388 with three-year growth of 298 percent and 2018 revenue of $17 million.

Founded in 2013, SaviLinx provides customer service and back-office and technical support to commercial and government clients. It has a 30,000-square-foot contact center inside a former naval facility at the Brunswick Landing office park that offers ample room for future growth. It operates a second contact center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

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“We are thrilled to be included on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies for the third year in a row,” said company founder and CEO Heather Blease in a prepared statement. “While we are excited to celebrate our exceptional growth, SaviLinx is just getting started. We’ve grown our team and expanded our solutions to help our insurance, government and commercial clients support their customers and focus on their core businesses. There is a world of opportunity ahead for SaviLinx.”

Another company that made this year’s list is Portland-based Sea Bags, a fast-growing company that produces tote bags from reclaimed sail cloth. The company, founded in 2006, ranked No. 3,549 on the list with three-year growth of 99 percent and 2018 revenue of $9.8 million.

“It goes without saying that this is the result of lots of hard work by our entire crew over the years,” said Sea Bags CEO Don Oakes in a prepared statement. “None of our success would be possible without the dedication and commitment of our loyal and talented team. It has been very gratifying to be part of a growing company that crafts all our recycled sail products right here in Maine, and to create more than 100 jobs during this time.”

Other Maine companies on the 2019 Inc. 5000 list include:

No. 460: Starc Systems of Brunswick (983 percent growth; $7.8 million revenue)

No. 868: F3 MFG of Waterville (490 percent growth; $17.2 million revenue)

No. 892: Anchour of Lewiston (476 percent growth; $2.5 million revenue)

No. 1,025: E. Bouchard Co. of Caribou (410 percent growth; $3.7 million revenue)

No. 2,264: Veritas Prime of Portland (177 percent growth; $8.1 million revenue)

No. 3,100: Dream Local Digital of Portland (119 percent growth; $3.6 million revenue)

No. 4,623: MuniciPay of Portland (62 percent growth; $4.8 million revenue)

Correction: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, to correct the name of SaviLinx’s founder and CEO.


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