PhillyInc: Phila. area strong in list of fastest-growing companies

In this, our summer of earthquakes, drenching rainstorms, and economic discontent, let's pause for a ray of sunshine from the small-business world.

Philadelphia has revved up its entrepreneurial mojo over the last year, according to one measurement. The 2011 Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing privately held companies, released last week, included 18 firms from the Philadelphia area.

That was good enough to place the region fifth among metropolitan areas with the most Inc. 500 firms. With 50 such enterprises, Washington was home to the most, followed by New York City (43), Los Angeles (42), and San Francisco (19).

While you might argue that's where Philadelphia ought to rank based on the size of its population, this region has tended to underperform in producing companies with sizable three-year revenue-growth rates, the criterion Inc. magazine uses to select its annual list.

Only six local companies made the grade last year and just nine in 2009.

In 2011, the region's fastest grower sounds like something straight out of Star Wars: re2g, of Doylestown.

The solar-panel installer, formerly known as Solardelphia, placed No. 24 on the Inc. 500 list, with revenue growth between 2007 and 2010 of 7,493 percent. The company had 2010 revenue of $10.6 million and 23 employees.

You can kind of understand the name change, given that re2G has been ex-

panding northward beyond Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, where it's been operating since 2001. (Unfortunate-

ly, the new name is kind of close to that of a Pittsburgh robotics firm called RE2 Inc., which is listed at No. 788 on the magazine's wider Inc. 5000.)

Tired of obsessing over the lack of growth in the U.S. economy? Poring over the Inc. 500/5000 lists always renews my faith in American ingenuity. It's amazing how many different ways people find to make money.

New York was home to the nation's fastest-growing firm, called ideeli, which turned in an astounding growth rate of 40,882 percent. Not bad for the online "flash-sale" fashion retailer with $77.7 million in 2010 revenue and 145 employees.

Among the locals, I was struck by the growth in a company that I'd written about three years ago. Petplan, which sells pet insurance, reported a three-year growth rate of 2,207 percent, making it the fourth-fastest grower in the region.