Lake-Geauga Fast Track 50 accepting award nominations for 2022 event
May 23—Thriving businesses in Lake and Geauga counties can take action now that could lead to earning a prestigious honor later this year.
Applications are being accepted through June 17 for businesses aiming to win a 2022 Lake-Geauga Fast Track 50 award.
Fast Track 50 is an annual competition that selects and pays tribute to the region's fastest-growing commercial enterprises. The 50 winners are chosen based on a weighted average of 80 percent sales growth and 20 percent employment growth over the previous five-year period.
This year, award recipients will be recognized during a dinner and program on Nov. 3 at LaMalfa in Mentor.
Businesses can nominate themselves. However, many successful Lake and Geauga County businesses also are nominated each year by certified public accounting firms that assist these enterprises.
Applications for this year's Fast Track competition can be accessed and filled out at fasttrack50.org. The awards that will be presented, and criteria to become a winner, are as follows:
—Fast Track 50 Award: To be eligible for the honor, companies must be based in Lake or Geauga counties and organized as a for-profit business; and must have operated consistently for the past five years and achieved a sales profit for 2017 of at least $250,000.
To more fairly compare larger and smaller companies, the Fast Track 50 is divided into Established and Emerging categories.
Established businesses entering the 2022 competition must report revenue of at least $4 million in 2017, the baseline year for all evaluations. Emerging businesses are required to have 2017 sales of between $250,000 and $4 million. Each lineup of winners consists of 25 businesses.
Last year, Apollo Supply Co. of Willoughby ranked as the No. 1 Established Business. The top Emerging Businesses of 2021 was McDowell Homes Real Estate Services, which is based in Mentor.
—Nonprofit Award — Organizations seeking this honor must describe how they have demonstrated dedication to their missions in Lake or Geauga counties by explaining how they have created meaningful and measurable benefits in the community.
In addition, nominees are required to provide examples of outstanding community services and innovative programming and/or delivery of services.
At last year's program, Lifeline was selected as the Nonprofit Award winner. Headquartered in Painesville, Lifeline is an organization dedicated to fighting poverty and promoting self-sufficiency.
Questions about the 2022 Lake-Geauga Fast Track 50 may be addressed to Gretchen Skok-DiSanto at gskok-disanto@lakelandcc.edu or 440-525-7444.
The Lake-Geauga Fast Track 50, which began in 1993, is organized and carried out by a trustee board consisting of members from: Lakeland Community College, The News-Herald, Marcum LLP, Geauga Growth Partnership Inc., The Middlefield Banking Co. and Lake Development Authority.
In addition, major sponsors include Erie Bank, 440 Marketing and Ten10 Design.
