Volusia and St. Johns Firms Among Florida Companies to Watch

A pair of Volusia County businesses – Intellitec Products and Thompson Pump – and two St. Johns County firms – Continuum Health and The Association Partner – joined 46 other Florida firms among the 50 entities named to GrowFL’s Companies to Watch.

The program, in its 13th year, honors second-stage companies across the Sunshine State for developing valuable products and services, creating quality jobs, enriching communities and broadening new industries, according to a media release.

Intellitec Products is a veteran-owned electronics manufacturing company and Thompson Pump manufactures heavy-duty pumps. Continuum Health provides scientific and technical consulting services an The Association Partner is an advertising, public relations and related services firm.

Companies to Watch was developed by the Edward Lowe Foundation as a way to recognize and honor second-stage companies that demonstrate high performance in the marketplace with innovative strategies and processes, the release said. In addition to evaluating past growth and projected success, applicant companies are judged according to their special strengths and impact in their markets, communities, and within the state – thus deeming them worth watching. GrowFL’s mission is to provide resources for CEOs of second-stage companies to help them overcome unique challenges and accelerate business growth.

Seventy-one finalists were announced earlier this year, and the 50 honorees were selected after a final round of judging by a panel comprised of past honorees, economic development leaders and corporate partners of GrowFL.  Companies were judged on several criteria including growth in number of employees; impact of the business in the job market; increase in sales and/or unit volume; current and past financial reports; innovativeness of the product or service; response to adversity; and contributions to aid community-oriented projects.

“GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch was designed to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and to shine a spotlight on the most deserving companies,” said Jennifer Taylor, president, and CEO of GrowFL, in the release. “Second-stage businesses are the lifeblood of our state’s economy, driving innovation, creating jobs, and fueling prosperity. This year’s Honorees span 20 different counties, represent 18 different industries and 32% of them are woman, veteran, or minority owned. This diverse group of honorees can only mean one thing – Florida is the place where entrepreneurs thrive!”

Since the first awards celebration in 2011, GrowFL has honored 600 companies from throughout Florida with this award. Many of the past honorees have now grown their companies to stage 3 and stage 4 businesses employing more than 500.

To qualify for the award, companies must be headquartered in Florida and have between six and 150 employees and revenue between $750,000 and $100 million. From 2019 through 2022, these companies generated close to $2 billion in revenue and added 871 employees, reflecting a 99% increase in revenue and a 62% increase in jobs for the four-year period. That translates into a 27% average annual revenue growth and a 19% average annual growth in employees.

These companies projected continued growth in 2023, with a 28% revenue increase and a 22% growth in employees compared to 2022. If their projections hold, these companies will have generated more than $2.8 billion in revenue and added 1,370 employees over the last five years — a 155% increase in revenue and 97% increase in jobs since 2018.