Wilmington-based N2 Publishing was recently named as one the fastest-growing franchises nationally by Entrepreneur magazine.

The company, a publisher of customized neighborhood magazines, ranked No. 5 among 150 companies on Entrepreneur's Fastest-Growing Franchises Ranking for 2019, according to a news release. The fastest-growing list came out in the publication's March issue, which is already out on stands and posted online.

N2 Publishing, with headquarters at 5051 New Centre Drive, is led by CEO Duane Hixon. The company was founded in 2004 but became a franchise operator in 2016.

The company has grown from 757 franchises around the country with six company-owned in 2017, to nearly 1,000 franchises with four company-owned in 2018, according to the company’s listing online. The company grew its units by 31 percent in that time. N2 Publishing does not have any franchises outside the country.

“We are thrilled to receive this honor from Entrepreneur and stand beside so many other notable franchises on the list ... ," N2 COO Jim Hall said in an email Wednesday.

Last year, the company placed for the first time on the list, coming in at No. 18, officials said.

"Each month, we expand our presence by launching new publications. We are currently partnered with 900-plus neighborhoods and have a few hundred more we have our eyes on," officials said in an email Wednesday. "In addition to our neighborhood publications, we are starting to really focus on new products, which we've begun rolling out in multiple markets."

The company has also been ranked by another national business publication. It had the No. 3490 spot on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in 2018, the eighth year the company made it on that list.

The fastest-growing franchise rankings, according to Entrepreneur, are based on the number of new franchise units added in the U.S. and Canada between July 2017 and July 2018. Ties are broken based on percentage growth. The list is culled from the magazine’s Franchise 500 list.

On the magazine’s overall Franchise 500 list, released earlier this year, N2 Publishing ranked No. 445, coming in behind Wilmington-based 101 Mobility at No. 302.

101 Mobility, a company that designs and installs mobility and assessability equipment, was named as a top new franchise on the publication's 2015 list. It has its base at 5221 Oleander Drive in Wilmington.

“We are continuing to grow quite rapidly," Kathy Thiessen, 101 Mobility vice president of operations, said Wednesday. 

The company was founded in 2008 and has been a franchise operator since 2010. There are about 18 employees with 101 Mobility locally, Thiessen said.

The company is currently hosting a four-day conference for its franchisees in downtown Wilmington this week.

“We believe what sets us apart is our core values … We not only serve people in their homes, but we also work in our communities by providing businesses a way to help people access their locations,” she said.

There are 70 franchise owners with 168 franchise territories across the United States, Thiessen said. The company also has a presence outside the United States with three franchises in Canada.