A Security plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical contractor tops the list of 12 Colorado Springs area companies that qualified for the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies.

Smith Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electrical debuted at 498th on the annual list and 18th in Colorado with 981% growth between 2017 and 2020. Founded in 1974 by John Smith, the business was acquired by Beverly Hopkins in 1998 and sold in 2018 to Eva Robinson, who is featured on a photo that appears on the company’s trucks. Since then, the company has grown from three to 58 employees with much of the expansion triggered by homeowners installing air conditioning when they were working at home, said Michael Robinson, Eva’s husband and Smith Plumbing’s general manager.

“We are continuing to grow, doubling in size since 2019 (the end of the 3-year period measured by the magazine), so we expect to be on the list for several more years,” Robinson said. “Another part of our growth story is that we offer very competitive prices and the quality of our work in very good. Because of that growth, we are building a new operations, warehouse and training facility behind our current building.”

Colorado Springs ‘unicorn’ software firm lands record $200 million in venture capital

Statewide, 146 companies based in Colorado made the list, including 112 in Denver area, 24 from the Boulder area, six from the Fort Collins area and one each from Aspen, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Frederick and Grand Junction. Last year, 151 state companies made the list, including 11 from the Colorado Springs area, 19 from the Boulder area and eight from Fort Collins. The 146 companies had a median growth rate of 201%, combined revenue of $6.9 billion and 13,703 employees.

Denver-based Brumate, which sells containers designed to keep beer and wine cold, was the highest-ranked Colorado firm at 71st with 5,320% growth during the three-year period, down from 14th overall last year.

Colorado Springs-based Hemp Depot enjoys growth, honors

Two Colorado Springs companies also ranked just outside the top 500 on the Inc. list — Professional Transition Strategies, which helps dentists sell their practices, ranked 522nd with 938% growth and software developer Quantum Metric, which landed $200 million in venture capital earlier this year, ranked 555th with 869% growth. Both companies made last year’s list with Professional Transition Strategies at 248th overall and Quantum Metric at 124th overall.

Other area companies that made the list for the first time include:

Hemp products company tops 11 Colorado Springs firms on Inc 5000

• Eternal Ventures, a Colorado Springs company that manages Advance Your Reach, another local firm that helps people grow their businesses and spread their message through live speaking events, made the list for the third consecutive year. The company was ranked 1,116th with 434% growth, down from 529th last year.

• Information technology provider V3Gate made the list for the sixth consecutive year at 1,192nd with 407% growth, up from 2,048th last year.

Record 13 Colorado Springs companies make national fastest-growing list

• Sheath, a Woodland Park company that sells men’s and women’s underwear under the Sheath Underwear brand made the list for the first time at 1,278th with 376% growth.

• CFG Systems, which operates ConcealFab to manufacture enclosures to conceal cell antennas made the list for third consecutive year at 1,343rd with 355% growth, down from 706th last year.

Eight Colorado Springs-area companies make Inc. 5000

• Colorado Springs franchise of College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving, made the list for the first time at 2,942nd with 133% growth.

• Online marketing firm and SocialSEO made the list for the fifth consecutive year at 3,151st with 118% growth.

Six Colorado Springs-area companies make ‘rising star’ list

• Colorado Health and Rehab, which operates five Strive Physical Therapy clinics in El Paso County, made the list for the third consecutive year at 4,002nd with 77% growth, down from 3,201st last year.

Four Colorado Springs make 2015 Inc 5000

• MEJansen Development, a Colorado Springs company that develops, constructs, owns and operates assisted-living facilities under the Accolade Living Centers brand that serve low-income seniors and other special-needs tenants, made the list for the fourth time at 4,497th with 59% growth.

• Fatbike, which makes and sells Borealis Fat Bikes from its Colorado Springs headquarters, made the list for the first time at 4,915th with 42% growth.