Nine companies in Southwest Florida vying for statewide recognition as a 'Company to Watch'
Laura LaydenThe results are in.
Nine businesses in Southwest Florida have made the cut as finalists for the honor of "Company to Watch," a designation that recognizes stand-out companies across the state.
The annual awards program is run by GrowFL, in cooperation with the Edward Lowe Foundation, whose mission is to leverage entrepreneurship as a strategy for economic growth and community development
Drum roll. Here are this year's local finalists, who are moving on to a second and final round:
Lee County
- Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida
- CONRIC PR & Marketing
- Creative World Schools Franchising Inc.
- Energy Harness Corp.
- Green & Clean Janitorial Services
- Paragon Flight Training
- Trilogy Laboratories
Collier County
- Elite Jets
- Pro-Tec Plumbing & Drains
These thriving companies are among 82 finalists statewide, who will be whittled down to the top 50 that will be honored as the 2021 Companies to Watch in Florida.
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The GrowFL competition highlights companies that expect to see strong growth over the coming years. It's designed for businesses that have moved beyond the startup phase, with anywhere from six to 150 full-time employees and revenue between $750,000 and $100 million.
Companies are judged based on a number of factors, from the value of their products and services and the quality of their jobs to their enrichment of communities and broadening of new industries in the state. They must demonstrate high performance in the marketplace, with innovative strategies and processes.
The finalists were selected from more than 600 nominations across the state. Together, they provided nearly 2,300 jobs and generated revenue of nearly $500 million in 2020.
On the whole, these companies anticipate revenue growth of 64% and employment growth of 39% by the end of 2021.
“There’s no doubt 2020 was a challenging year for businesses across the state," said Lisa McIntosh, GrowFL's Companies to Watch Chairwoman and CEO of C-E-Optimal Advisors. "Despite that, these second-stage companies persevered, continued to innovate and continued to grow. These companies are more than deserving to be recognized for their success and accomplishments."
Second-stage companies are considered the backbone of Florida’s economy and are identified as somewhere in between a startup and a large firm that are poised for growth.
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Pandemic fuels growth for Collier County finalists
Some of the local finalists have seen significant growth due to the coronavirus pandemic. That includes Elite Jets, a Naples-based charter aircraft service.
"Our growth had been steady, but many affluent travelers have prioritized their health and safety since the pandemic began and they're now flying privately instead of first-class commercially," said Stephen Myers, the company's executive vice president. "As a result, we've hired more pilots, established a client services team and added to our white diamond concierge services."
The recognition, he said, is a "tremendous honor" because it acknowledges the company's emergence as a "leader within the aviation industry."
Elite Jets, founded in 2016, serves affluent business and leisure passengers traveling to destinations across North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
Collier County's other finalist Pro-Tec, based in Naples, has been in business since 2008.
The company, founded by brothers Richard and Brandon Hume, serves residential and commercial customers in Collier, as well as in neighboring Lee County. Its growing crew installs and repairs toilets, plumbing fixtures, water heaters, garbage disposals and water filtration systems.
Other services include leak detection, repiping, drain cleaning and sewer inspections.
“GrowFL honors emerging, innovative Florida companies that are excelling in their respective industries, so to be named a finalist is quite an accomplishment,” said Pro-Tec's president Richard Hume. “Since day one, we have followed our ‘Pro-Tec Promise’ to provide quality plumbing and superior service with honest pricing.”
Brandon Hume, who serves as the company's vice president, said keeping that promise has been critical to Pro-Tec's success.
“For contractors, establishing and maintaining your reputation as a trustworthy, ethical business is the single most important factor in growth,” he said. “Over the past five years, Pro-Tec has tripled its number of employees to handle the surge in requests for service across the region.”
As for the Collier County finalists, Melanie Schmees, director of business and economic research at the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, said they demonstrated that businesses other than the more traditional hospitality-driven companies can thrive in the local economy.
"These companies, they both have a great reputation in our area for their service that they offer to the community and they are also very engaged in their communities, so it's great to see the resilience of those companies, especially in this past year to year-and-a-half with the COVID crisis," she said.
Through their recognition, Schmees hopes the companies will inspire others to become more engaged with GrowFL and apply for its annual award, as well as to become more involved in the community to continue and support their growth in Collier County.
Lee County's diverse winners reflect local economy
In Lee County, the finalists truly run the gamut, reflecting the growing diversity of its economy.
For CONRIC PR & Marketing, based in Fort Myers, the pandemic has been a test of its talents.
The company, now serving more than 150 clients in 35 states across the country, has seen "overwhelming growth this past year," said Connie Ramos-Williams, president and chief marketing officer.
"To be recognized as a finalist by GrowFL as one of Florida's top Companies to Watch is a testament to our continued fast growth, innovation, and ability to help our clients pivot and thrive during unprecedented times," she said.
Dr. Kristen Flaharty, owner of Trilogy Laboratories in Fort Myers, attributes a big part of her company's success to the support and encouragement it has received from the Florida business community.
"Florida is truly a wonderful place to live and work," she said.
The company, founded in 2014, creates and manufactures skincare products, with an aggressive research and development program. Trilogy's "library" contains more than 200 product formulas, according to its website.
Cape Coral-based Energy Harness Corp., specializing in the production of commercial LED lighting solutions, met the pandemic head-on with the development of its "ultimate COVID killer" device, contributing to its rapid growth since last year.
The company pledges that its Active Airflow UV-C technology has been "proven in a series of laboratory tests to kill 99.998% of the virus that causes COVID-19 and variants, in just one second of exposure."
“It’s so significant because, unlike vaccines, it makes no difference if the virus morphs or adapts. This technology damages the organism at a molecular level, making it equally as effective regardless of the variant,” said Peter Lehrer, a senior vice president for project development at Energy Harness.
The device circulates indoor air and applies a large dose of high-energy UV-C light as the air passes through. The UV-C light sanitizes the air, releasing clean air back into a room or office.
The Active Airflow technology can be found in schools, hospitals, outpatient centers, libraries, and offices across the nation. It's available for distribution across North America.
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Fort Myers flight school takes off
In March, Paragon Flight Training, based in Fort Myers, signed a 10-year contract with the Lee County Port Authority that will triple its aircraft fleet operations and expand its training and aviation technology services at commuter airport Page Field.
The company offers pilot training and education to people from around the world who want to fly recreationally or professionally.
The expansion will give the academy room to increase its fleet from 15 aircraft to 45 or more within five years. It included the purchase and renovation of a 14,000-square-foot hangar that will be used as a maintenance hub for the growing fleet.
“This expansion positions us to keep up with increased industry demand, giving students the world-class training they need to do the job better than anyone else,” said CEO Chris Schoensee. “Our state-of-the-art facility has always been top-notch, and now, we’re breaking down walls — both literally and metaphorically — to make way for the future of aviation.”
Paragon expects to break ground on a new headquarters within the next 45 days, which will centralize its primary operations into one building at the airport, instead of having them spread out into two, said Lee Collins, the company's senior vice president of industry and government affairs. Construction, he said, should be completed by January.
The expansion is necessary to meet the unprecedented demand for pilots that's expected to persist beyond 2035, with so many of them reaching mandatory retirement over the next 15 to 20 years, and the anticipated growth in aviation worldwide, Collins said.
"Those of us in the business who are in a lead position to move forward and pivot with the industry are all pretty much in an expansion mode," he said. "We are growing faster and stronger than many of our competitors."
Making the grade
Creative World Schools Franchising, headquartered in Bonita Springs, reached a turning point a little more than a decade ago, when CEO Marianne Whitehouse, the founder's daughter, decided to take the company in a new direction, said Sarah Buzzard, executive director of branding and marketing.
That's when the franchising model began, she said, expanding the family-owned company's footprint in early childhood education beyond corporate locations, and the focus of its preschools turned to "inquiry learning," promoting curiosity and encouraging young minds to ask questions, with a new design that supports an exploratory curriculum.
Founded in Missouri by Billie McCabe, Creative World celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. It relocated to Southwest Florida about 12 years ago and as a franchiser, it now has departments that employ a host of skilled professionals to support its larger support operations.
The company expects to have 30 locations by the end of this year, with plans to add three to five more a year indefinitely, to keep up with demand, Buzzard said.
Green & Clean, founded in 2009, started with less than 10 employees. From 2018 to 2019, the company grew about 10-fold, adding field technicians, as well as office and management staffers, said Sam Burnett, vice president.
The growth has come from its business-to-business sales strategy and referrals, with a primary focus on servicing homeowner associations, he said.
"During 2019 we acquired two small pool cleaning companies, which added pool service and repair to our services. Since then, we've been able to cross-sell janitorial and pool service to our respective customer base, allowing us to continue to grow and add additional staff," Burnett said.
The recognition from GrowFL means the most to the company's operations team, he said, which is laser-focused on delivering high-quality service.
"Sales means nothing if we can't deliver on the service side, and they've worked tirelessly over the last eight years to deliver so that our sales department can continue to push forward, confident that we can 'service what we sell,'" Burnett said.
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Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida has experienced an "exceptional period of growth over the last few years," said Gary Tasman, the company's principal broker.
“As Southwest Florida continues to develop, our team has evolved to meet the challenges of our changing environment," he said. "The GrowFL recognition shines a spotlight on the hard work of our entire team.”
The commercial real estate agency’s rapid growth is reflected in a record second-quarter performance in 2021.
From March through June, the company brokered nearly $114 million in aggregate sales. The agency also completed lease agreements valued at more than $7.3 million during the quarter.
About 500 businesses have been recognized as Companies to Watch since 2011.
This year's winners will be honored at an awards ceremony in February at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando. They'll be announced in October.
“We applaud these first-round finalists who have proved themselves to be standout companies in the state, "said Tom O’Neal, GrowFL founder. "These business owners demonstrate the resiliency and tenacity that go hand in hand with being an entrepreneur."
"There is no doubt they have been challenged over the past year, but their perseverance and innovation have been admirable," he said. "We are excited to recognize our state’s admirable business owners and their teams who continue to make a significant impact on Florida’s economy."