Three Wilmington-based businesses have landed on Inc. magazine’s 5000 2020 list, the publication’s annual ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list was announced Wednesday.

Catalyst Clinical Research ranked highest of the three Wilmington companies, at 1235. The CRO, which is involved in several COVID-19 studies as well as many oncology studies, posted 364% growth over the past three years.

“Now is an important and exciting time to be in clinical research and our state is fortunate to be home to more than 700 bioscience companies," chief strategy officer Melissa Church said in an email Thursday. "Here at Catalyst we feel honored to be among the leading companies In North Carolina contributing to the continued growth of new ground-breaking treatments for patients.

“Our growth over the past three years is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of our team and the trust of our loyal clients and partners,” Church added. “We believe our 'family feel’ company culture, industry-leading technology, client-focused market strategy and service offerings position us well for continued growth.”  

Innovative Financial Group, an independent developer and distributor of life and health insurance products through a nationwide network, appeared as number 1253 on the list, with growth of 356% for that same period.

It’s always gratifying to be recognized and honored for success and for “doing things the right way,” IFG majority owner and partner Tyler Rees said Thursday. “We’re in the service industry; we put people first.”

The Inc. listing, Rees added, is “a validation of the way we treat customers, clients and our employees.”

The third company, MegaCorp Logistics, is no stranger to the Inc. list. This is its fifth inclusion among the nation's fastest-growing private companies. This year, it hit the list at number 2920, with 135% growth. That’s lower than the transportation and logistics company’s ranking at 2444 last year.

Four Wilmington-based businesses made the Inc. 5000 in 2019. In addition to MegaCorp, they were Untappd, at 221; Geo Owl, at 1511; and GigSalad, at 1741.

GigSalad, an online gig booking service, made it on the Inc. 5,000 list for the sixth year -- in the 1881 spot this year. The company has two locations, in Wilmington and Springfield, Missouri. 

Companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth over the most recent three-year period – in this year’s case, from 2016 to 2019, Inc. magazine states. To qualify for this year’s list, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies -- as of Dec. 31, 2019. The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million.