Tech Rules the Roost Among Inc. 5000 Industry Categories

But construction, logistics and manufacturing companies are well represented too.

Rancho Cordova, California, part of Greater Sacramento, is home to a new headquarters and forthcoming business accelerator from consulting firm Clutch, the No. 1 firm by growth rate in this year’s Inc. 5000 No. 1 category of Business Products & Services.

Photo by Lisa Nottingham Photography courtesy of Visit Rancho Cordova

In the past two weeks we’ve examined the geographic distribution of this year’s Inc. 5000 by state and through the regional prism of metro areas and cities. Now it’s time to take a look at the numbers by business sector and how those sectors break out by location.

Even a cursory glance at the country’s fastest-growing companies reveals they’re primarily embedded in the digital economy (isn’t everything?). Hence the dominance of tech-enabled sectors such as No. 1 Business Products & Services (596 companies), No. 2 Software (538) and No. 3 Advertising & Marketing (503), which together account for one-third of the 5,000 firms.

But guess what? Relatively screen-free sectors such as construction, logistics and manufacturing are represented quite well too (notwithstanding those sectors’ own immersion in the Internet of Things). Here are the top 20 sectors by number of firms:

The count is down by 24 firms for Business Products & Services, but it’s a repeat of last year’s top sectors, until you reach new No. 5 Construction, whose cohort shot up by 60 firms in a year’s time. Here are last year’s Top 10:

Health Services is No. 6 by tally but may be No. 1 by momentum: Not only did the sector add 50 firms, but four of the five fastest-growing firms in the nation are in this sector, led by No. 1 Vytalize Health, based in Hoboken, New Jersey; No. 3 Monogram Health in Brentwood, Tennessee; and No. 5 ABA Centers of America in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

As for top-growth companies in the top-growth sectors, the leading firm by growth in Business Products & Services is consulting firm Clutch, which early this year inaugurated a new headquarters in Rancho Cordova, California, part of the Sacramento metro area.

A release from the company and the Greater Sacramento Economic Council said the company has grown to 140 employees since it launched in 2019 and plans to hire more than 600 individuals by 2027. The company’s $1.5 million expansion is helped by an $11.6 million California Competes tax credit from the state, thanks in part to support from the Council.

The agreement, approved last November, notes that the tax credit is predicated on anticipated investments of nearly $15 million, including $3 million during the 2024 tax year and $4.5 million for each of the following two tax years. “Taxpayer has certified in its application that absent award of the California Competes Tax Credit, its project may occur in another state,” notes the agreement, “and it may terminate all or a portion of its employees in California or relocate all or a portion of its employees in California to another state.”

“This move represents not just a physical expansion but an investment in the incredible talent and innovation that this region has to offer,” said Rachel Zillner, CEO and co-founder of Clutch. “We’re also looking forward to launching our female-backed startup accelerator and incubator called MinervaVerse.”

“Our new headquarters will also serve as a hub for innovation closely aligned with Clutch, enabling us to propel female founders and entrepreneurs forward,” added co-founder Anne Descalzo.

When sorted by metro area, here are the top regions by number of Business Products & Services firms in the Inc. 5000:

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The fastest-growing firm in No. 2 sector Software is national overall No. 2 Lessen, a company highlighted in the September 5 Snapshot’s analysis of the impressive 40 Inc. 5000 companies based in Scottsdale, Arizona, in a state that ranked 10th overall. The nation’s No. 10 fast-growing firm is also in the Software category: Alpine IQ, based in Broomfield, Colorado, specializes in “behavioral automation” of the sort that engages and retains customers on company websites. The company’s 16,469% three-year growth rate explains why its revenues have skyrocketed from $150,000 in 2020 to $26 million in 2023, and the firm’s headcount has grown to more than 90 employees.

Here are the top 10 metro areas by number of Inc. 5000 Software firms:

As for those less “tech-y” sectors that nevertheless employ tech to their advantage, could the scattergram of those 322 fast-growth construction firms or 155 manufacturing companies tell us anything about where building and making things is in highest demand? Here are the top five metros and ties for each category:

The country’s fastest-growing manufacturing firm is CleanFiber, based in Blasdell, New York, part of the Buffalo region. But it’s really a construction business too, engaged in the manufacture of cellulose building insulation from recycled cardboard at its only plant.

“CleanFiber’s growth has been driven by strong market demand for its unique product, which outperforms conventional cellulose,” said Jonathan Strimling, CleanFiber’s CEO, in an August statement celebrating the firm’s high ranking. “We are deeply grateful to our incredibly hard-working team for achieving 57X growth over a three-year period, despite the pandemic and numerous other challenges.”

The company (formerly Ultracell Insulation) was conceived by cellulose installers in Maine concerned about dwindling supplies of newsprint. Today, its solution has benefited from “numerous state, federal, and private programs focused on decarbonizing our nation’s building infrastructure, including programs sponsored by ARPA-E, NYSERDA, EPA, NSF, etc.”

The company’s more than $100 million in funding includes a $28 million Series B funding round earlier this year led by Spring Lane Capital, CleanFiber stated, “which also provided a $32 million project financing facility to support the rollout of additional plants nationwide.” — Adam Bruns

Data entry and analysis for this report was performed by Karen Medernach, McKenzie Wright, Brian Espinoza and Daniel Boyer.