Three Downers Grove Businesses Among Inc. Magazine's Fastest Growing Companies

Three Downers Grove businesses recently gained national attention, joining the ranks of Inc. magazine's top 5,000 fastest growing U.S. companies.

VIRE Technologies was the highest-ranked Downers Grove company on the list, listed as No. 502 in the U.S., 59th within the IT services field and 22nd in Chicago.

Founded in 2007, VIRE Technologies "offers a full spectrum of IT services to both public and private sector clients. It has particular expertise in a number of Microsoft platform technologies, according to Inc. magazine's company bio. 

The company is based at 3051 Oak Grove Road in Downers Grove, and currently has 17 employees. International offices are located in London and Lahore, Pakistan. 

According to Inc., VIRE raised its annual revenue from $256,000 in 2008 to $2.2 million in 2011, a 760-percent increase. 

"VIRE Technologies’ mission is to help our clients gain lasting competitive advantage through innovation, change and operational excellence leveraging the latest technology," the company's website reads.

Also ranking in the IT services category was KeyLimeTie, an agency that specializes in website and mobile design and development. The company was listed as No. 2,171 in the U.S., 301st within the IT services field and 88th in Chicago.

The company was founded in 2007 by brothers Chris Pautsch and Brian Pautsch, and has grown to 36 employees. Their office is located at 3010 Highland Parkway. 

According to Inc., KeyLimeTie raised its annual revenue from $2 million in 2008 to $4.5 million in 2011, a 119-percent increase. 

Representing Downers Grove in the financial services category, is Velocity Merchant Services. The company ranked 3,458th in the U.S. and 177th in its industry.

Founded in 1998, Velocity "offers merchant services to individuals and organizations that complete credit and debit card transactions," according to Inc. It also helps businesses benefit from additional services, such as a business cash advance program, gift card incentives, loyalty cards and website development.

Velocity has 62 employees, and is headquartered at 3051 Oak Grove Road.

According to Inc., the company raised its annual revenue from $3 million in 2008 to $4.6 million in 2011, a 55-percent increase. 

Companies on Inc. magazine's 2012 500/5,000 list were ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2008 to 2011. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2008, and had to be U.S.-based and privately held since Dec. 31, 2011. The minimum revenue required for 2008 was $100,000; the minimum for 2011 was $2 million.

See the full "2012 Inc. 5000" list here.

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