Polk businesses land on list of fast-growing businesses

Published on July 22, 2016 | By Margarita Alfaro

LAKELAND — A trio of Polk County businesses have zoomed onto the Fast 50.

Although it sounds like the latest installment in a certain Vin Diesel street-racing franchise, the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Fast 50 awards actually honor the fastest growing privately held companies in the Tampa Bay region.

The Polk-based representatives on that list were NuJak Development (No. 3), Your Location Lubrication (No. 13), and Highland Homes (No. 29), all of which are located in Lakeland.

The TBBJ’s Fast 50 ranks companies headquartered in Polk, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties based on their percentage annual growth over a three-year period.

Members of the 2016 list also were required to have been in operation since 2012 or earlier, generate annual revenue of at least $1 million, and demonstrate consecutive annual revenue growth from 2013 to 2015.

Collectively, this year’s Fast 50 generated about $2.2 billion in revenue last year.

NuJak (399.8 percent revenue growth and $9.9 million 2015 revenue) rocketed onto the top 3 after a near decade-long absence from the list.

“The last time we graced the stage of Fast 50 was in 2007, and after that the economy tanked,” said Frank Kendrick, NuJak’s president and CEO, via email. “But looking over the horizon, the economy appears to be in full swing and it just signals to me that it’s a full recovery and I really believe the best is yet to come.”

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by: John Ceballos, The Ledger

Posted in News.