CED Names Dry Corp as Winner of 2011 North Carolina Companies To Watch

CED Names Dry Corp as Winner of 2011 North Carolina Companies To Watch

Sept. 22, 2011 Wilmington, NC - CED, a private, nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurial efforts in North Carolina, has named 25 winners for the second annual North Carolina Companies To Watch awards, honoring growth-stage entrepreneurial companies that demonstrate high performance in the marketplace, exhibit innovative products or display other unique qualities that make them worth watching. Wilmington's own Dry Corp, makers of the DryCASE and Dry Pro, is proud to be one of the companies to win this award.

North Carolina Companies To Watch is presented in partnership with the Edward Lowe Foundation and is made possible through the support of title sponsors Cherry Bekaert & Holland and Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton. This program recognizes the impact that second-stage, entrepreneurial companies make on the marketplace and on the economy. This year 25 winners were honored at an awards ceremony September 21^st in Bay 7 at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham. Gerald Owens, the anchor/reporter for WRAL-TV, will emcee the event.

These companies exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit that leads to success in the marketplace even during challenging economic times, said CED President Joan Siefert Rose. She noted that these companies collectively grew revenue by an annual rate of 32 percent between 2007-2010, and added jobs at an annual rate of 36 percent during the same period. CED is proud to recognize the accomplishments of all our 25 winners and their significant contributions to our state's economy, Rose said.

Our research confirms that second-stage companies are the champions of sustainable job creation, says Penny Lewandowski, director of entrepreneur development at the Edward Lowe Foundation. They are continuously adding employees, creating five, 10 or 15 jobs each year. When you look at the cumulative effect of this type of job creation, it is significant, making these companies powerhouses when it comes to economic growth. And, in addition to keeping people employed, second-stagers are setting trends in innovation and discovery. Recognizing and serving them is a key economic development strategy, Lewandowski said.

The North Carolina Companies to Watch were selected from an initial pool of more than 200 nominees from across North Carolina. They are privately held companies of between 6-99 employees and $750,000 to $50 million in annual revenue or funds raised from grants, investors or partnerships. The winners represent the geographic regions of the state as well as different sectors of the economy.