Not only does Gwinnett County have successful businesses in everything from IT services to construction, some of them are the nation's top businesses.
The AJC analyzed data from Inc. Magazine and found that Georgia had 232 of the fastest-growing companies in America, which puts the state in sixth place.
Inc. creates the ranking of 5,000 businesses by having the company provide details including its percentage growth of a annual revenue over a three-year period.
AKESOgen is a Norcross business that pulled in $8.9 million last year with 20 employees.
Fulton County had the most Georgia businesses listed with 126. Cobb County placed second with 37. Gwinnett is next with 26. And DeKalb placed fourth with 11.
Those four counties hold 86 percrent of the fastest-growing businesses in Georgia.
When added up, the 232 Georgia businesses brought in $10,446,218,876 and employed 56,419 people. For comparison: California — the top money-maker and employer — had its 667 businesses reel in $25,837,744,127 and employ 243,293 people.
To ensure accuracy, the magazine has a revenue verification process that could include audit paperwork or a corporate tax return. In 1982, Inc. introduced the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. In 2007, the list grew to 5,000. The list is featured in the magazine’s September issue.
—Jonathan Cox, web developer with the AJC, contributed to this piece.
