Inc. Magazine names 5 northeast Ohio businesses as fastest growing private companies in US

CLEVELAND - Five northeast Ohio companies have been recognized by a national magazine as some of the fastest-growing private companies in the country.

Inc. Magazine's top 500 list for 2012 includes these companies in the Cleveland-Akron area:

#236: Leandog (Cleveland)
#365: Z Squared Media (Cleveland)
#403: Advanced Chemical (Middleburg Heights)
#408: Slaterock Safety (Medina)
#495: Outerbox (Akron)

CEO of Z Squared Media Joe Pulizzi said the five-year revenue growth for his West Park neighborhood-based company surpassed 1000 percent. The business was also listed three notches behind Facebook at No. 9 for the fastest growing media company in the U.S.

Z Squared Media, a marketing company founded in 2007, was spotlighted last year when the company hosted the largest content marketing event in the nation in Cleveland called "Content Marketing World."

“The rise of content marketing has led to a number of new publishing models," said Pulizzi. “The mix of online content creation and social media have enabled companies like ours to exist and make an impact. We not only use content marketing to build our business, but we’ve built all our products and services around the concept that all brands need to think and act like media companies.”

This year's CMW event will be held Sept. 4-6 in Columbus, Ohio. About 1,000 people from 20 different countries are expected to attend.

Other companies in Ohio that made the list include:

#274: Tiger Fitness (Cincinnati)
#335: Wastron (Piketon)
#393: eCycle (Hilliard)
#438: Graybach (Cincinnati)
#452: Integrity Express (West Chester)

The full listing of Inc. Magazine's fastest growing private companies is only available in print right now, but will be posted online later this month.