These 3 SLO businesses are among fastest-growing companies in the nation, magazine says
Three San Luis Obispo County businesses are among the fastest-growing companies in the United States, according to Inc. magazine’s latest list.
The online magazine releases an annual list, known as the Inc. 5000, that ranks the fastest-growing private businesses in the nation.
According to Inc., this year’s honorees reported a median growth of 219% year-over-year and a total combined revenue of $358 billion, in addition to adding nearly 1.2 million jobs.
Of the 5,000 businesses honored this year, 3,047 were repeat honorees. A total of 637 newly founded businesses were among those making their first appearances on the list.
San Luis Obispo County often has several businesses on the list, and this year was no exception.
HiView Solutions, Precision Construction Services and Scout Coffee all made the Inc. list for 2023, reporting three-year growth rates of between 85% and 727%.
Here is more about each of those businesses:
HiView Solutions
Rank: No. 812
Location: San Luis Obispo
Founded: 2016
Website: hiviewsolutions.com
In its second appearance on the list, HiVew Solutions was ranked as the fastest growing of any San Luis Obispo County business.
With a reported three-year growth of 727%, the company ranked No. 812 on the overall list, No. 119 among all businesses in California and No. 91 in the business products and services category, according to a company news release.
According to its website, HiView is a business products and services company which specializes in products including Google Workspace, Chrome Enterprise, Google Voice and more. HiView supports organizations across the private and public sectors, delivering services in both English and Spanish.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized on the Inc. 5000 list for the second consecutive year,” co-founder Miles Hischier said in the release. “Our remarkable growth over the past few years is a testament to our team’s unwavering dedication and the deep trust our customers place in us. The exceptional customer retention rate we’ve maintained is not just a metric — it’s a reflection of the relationships we’ve built over time with our customers.”
Hischier said in recent years the company has “sourced key talent across marketing, sales, design and engineering” in San Luis Obispo, and especially at Cal Poly.
“As we continue to grow, so too will our commitment to providing both current students and recent graduates with new opportunities,” Hischier said.
The company is also focusing on growing its international footprint.
“HiView proudly supports companies across all industries, spanning North America, Central (America) and South America,” co-founder Narjit Patel said in the release. “With a global team and growing presence in Latin America, we will continue to expand our customer offerings and to reinforce our commitment to our mission: ‘Building your business for tomorrow.’”
Precision Construction Services
Rank: No. 1,744
Location: San Luis Obispo
Founded: 2013
Website: www.precision.services
Another repeat honoree, Precision Construction Services made its second appearance on the Inc. 5000 list this year, coming in at No. 1,744.
With a three-year growth rate of 320%, the company was also recognized as one of the top five fastest-growing construction companies in California, according to a Precision news release.
Precision has been a part of a number of notable construction projects around the Central Coast, including building rocket launch pads at Vandenberg Space Force Base, amenities at the Pismo Preserve and a wine storage facility in Paso Robles.
The 2023 rankings cap off a year of “remarkable accomplishment and growth for this award-winning commercial construction firm,” the company said in the release. It also represents significant achievements during a time that was heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain woes and other market factors.
“We’ve been giving it our all during the pandemic to help ease the challenges our clients were facing,” Erik Wright, one of Precision’s three principals, said in the release. “The good news is we’re starting to see lead times on materials get back to normal and construction material costs stabilize — and that’s a sigh of relief for all of us.”
The company is owned by Wright, Karl Vaillancourt and Jared Malapit.
In May, Precision’s owners were named the 2023 Small Business Persons of the Year in California by the Small Business Administration.
The company moved into a new redesigned 14,000-square-foot headquarters in San Luis Obispo in April, according to the release.
“We’re excited to be featured on Inc. Magazine’s fastest-growing companies list for the second year running,” Wright said. “This achievement reflects the hard work and dedication of our team, the trust of our clients, and the support of the communities we operate in. We are committed to delivering quality construction and look forward to continued growth and positive impact.”
Scout Coffee Co.
Rank: No. 4,706
Location: San Luis Obispo
Founded: 2014
Website: scoutcoffeeco.com
Making its first appearance on the Inc. 5000 list, Scout Coffee Co. came in at No. 4,706, with a reported 85% three-year growth rate.
The cafe, bakery and coffee shop was founded by husband-and-wife duo Jon and Sara Peterson in 2014.
“It’s a wild ride,” Jon Peterson told The Tribune on Wednesday. “In some ways we’re kind of surprised too by the way that it’s grown.”
Peterson said when the couple opened their first downtown location in 2014, they never imagined Scout Coffee Co. would grow to encompass three coffeehouses in San Luis Obispo — one on Garden Street, one on Foothill Boulevard and another on Cal Poly’s campus — as well as renovating a fourth spot in Morro Bay. They also manage HoneyCo Coffee Roasters, where they roast all coffees served at Scout, their in-house bakery and a growing online business selling Scout goods.
“It’s just funny how one thing leads to another, and you know, we turned down a lot of opportunities, but some of them are persistent, and they keep coming back to us,” Peterson said.
He said the pair don’t have any current big plans for further expansion — though they’ve learned you can never said never. Right now however, he said that they are focused on their employees and making their pay and benefits competitive.
“We think that we’re gonna kind of try to focus and just get better at what we do,” he said. “And then try to catch up to ourselves a little bit.”
