Five Naperville companies are among the fastest growing in the country, according to the business magazine Inc.
Last month, the publication released this year’s Inc. 5000, its annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.
Five businesses based out of Naperville made the ranking: Grow Wellness Group, Waident Technology Solutions, AiRo Digital Labs, Vetnique Labs, LLC and Impact Advisors.
Monica Conners, president of the Naperville Development Partnership, commended the Naperville companies’ performance on the list in an email Wednesday.
“In Naperville, our entrepreneurial community is critical to the success of our local economy, and we are fortunate to have five of the fastest growing companies on the Inc. 5000 that operate in high growth sectors like healthcare, technology and pets,” she said, adding that “Naperville has many of the key ingredients needed to assist an entrepreneur in their journey.”
Across Illinois, 244 companies made Inc.’s 2024 list, with Chicago-based companies accounting for about half of those. More than 70 other Illinois cities were represented on this year’s ranking. Municipalities that, like Naperville, had several local companies named as honorees included Oakbrook Terrace, Schaumburg, Oak Brook and Evanston.
The highest ranking Illinois company was Kin Insurance in Chicago, which came in at No. 37.
To compile its list, Inc. evaluated companies based on three years of annual growth from 2020 to 2023. All 50 states and Puerto Rico are represented on this year’s list, with companies ranging in size from one employee to up to more than 262,000 workers.
In announcing its 2024 list, Inc. noted that this year’s ranking is a testament to companies that “thrived in spite of the pandemic, inflation and supply chain woes.” Over the 5000 companies selected, they together generated 874,940 jobs and $317 billion in revenue, Inc. reported.
Grow Wellness Group at 200 E. 5th Ave. ranked at No. 571. Per Inc., Grow Wellness’ revenue grew 791% between 2020 and 2023.
Launched in August 2019, Grow Wellness was founded by Naperville residents Adam Ratner and Wendy Hayum-Gross. The company is a full-service provider of therapy, counseling, neuropsychological testing, psychiatry, yoga therapy, life coaching and more.
Ratner, a licensed clinical social worker, and Hayum-Gross, a licensed certified professional counselor, say making the Inc. 5000 is humbling and validating. But for them, the honor goes deeper than their ranking or revenue growth alone. It’s the impact and people they’ve been able to reach over the past five years that they’re proud of most.
“We had no aspirations of being as big as we are or having the growth trajectory that we have had,” Ratner said.
Today, the Grow Wellness team is composed of about 60 full- and part-time employees and has served some 1600 clients.
“It’s all been really organic,” Hayum-Gross said. “It wasn’t the plan. We were going to be a small boutique counseling practice. But, you know, we treated people the way we would want to be treated ourselves when we go see someone, and we were wellness-focused. … And it just kept going.”
Ratner and Hayum-Gross said that they were grateful to both their Grow Wellness team and the community for buying into their mission. They’re looking forward to continuing to be a resource for the community and widening their reach to address needs going unmet.
“Our goal when we started was to make a positive impact in the community,” Hayum-Gross said. “Maybe we’re starting to do it.”
Alongside Grow Wellness, Waident Technology Solutions at 1909 North Mill Street landed at No. 2,497 on the Inc. 5000 list. Waident Technology Solutions, a security operations center and IT outsourcer, posted a 208% bump in revenue between 2020 and 2023, according to Inc.
Technology consulting and services firm AiRo Digital Labs at 1755 Park St. made the Inc. 5000 list at No. 2,597 for exhibiting 197% three-year growth.
Vetnique Labs, LLC at 1748 W. Jefferson Ave., which produces unique pet products, ranked at No. 2,663. The company’s revenue grew 191% from 2020-23.
The last Naperville company to make the cut was healthcare management consulting firm Impact Advisors at 400 E. Diehl Rd., which came in at No. 3,013. on the list based on a three-year growth rate of 166%.
Impact Advisors, Vetnique Labs, AiRo Digital Labs and Waident Technology Solutions are all repeat honorees on the Inc. 5000 list. This year was Grow Wellness Group’s first time on the ranking.