RITE Technology Among 2017 Florida Companies to Watch Finalists

(Sarasota, FL) RITE Technology was among the first round of 2017 Florida Companies to Watch finalists recently announced by GrowFL.  The awards event – now in its seventh year – honors 50 select second-stage companies from throughout the state of Florida for developing valuable products and services, creating quality jobs, enriching communities, and broadening new industries throughout Florida. Chosen from a candidate pool of more than 800 nominations, the finalists collectively represent $598 million in annual revenue and employ 3,200 full-time equivalent employees.

David Polimeni, RITE’s President and CEO says, “We are honored to be recognized as a finalist in this years ‘Florida’s companies to watch’.  All of us at RITE strive every day to exceed our customers expectation and I would contend that this initiative has allowed us the prestige of recognition like this.”

The Florida Companies to Watch program consists of two rounds of selections.  Finalists now advance to the second round, where they will be further evaluated based on their performance in the marketplace, innovative products, services or processes, philanthropy and empowered employees. 

“We applaud these first-round finalists who have shown how they stand out in their regions as innovative business leaders, going to the next level to grow their companies.   They are true rock stars,” says Dr. Tom O’Neal, GrowFL Executive Director.

The Finalists represent a unique group of scalable, high-growth enterprises that are already located within Florida. These high growth enterprises are an important segment of our economy and their numbers have been steadily increasing, which contributed to Florida’s ranking of 24 on the Kauffman Index of Growth Entrepreneurship. According to this report, “entrepreneurship is not a monolithic phenomenon, and it includes many moving parts. Creating new businesses is a different economic activity from running small businesses, which in turn is different from growing businesses.”  Florida Companies to Watch recognizes the different approach needed to successfully grow and scale a business, and celebrates those that are working to achieve this goal.

2017 FLCTW First Round Finalists – 2

Presented by GrowFL and developed by the Edward Lowe Foundation, Florida Companies To Watch is a distinguished awards program specifically designed to seek out second-stage businesses from a wide range of industries representing all areas of the state, not just those in major metropolitan areas. In addition to evaluating past growth and projected success, applicant companies are judged according to their special strengths and impact in their markets, communities and within the state – thus deeming them “worth watching.”

The winners will be announced in MID July. The 2017 honorees will be celebrated at the awards ceremony October 14th at The Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, FL.

For more information visit www.GrowFL.com/flctw17.