National Recognition

Earn distinction from Inc. as one of America's Best in Business and automatically be considered for Inc.’s prestigious Company of the Year award!

Media Exposure

Be featured in the Winter issue of Inc. magazine, get a dedicated company profile on Inc.com, and receive national and local media coverage.

Visibility 

Every application will be seen and evaluated directly by Inc.’s editors, who will source stories and articles directly from the honorees and applicant pool.

One-Year Subscription

As part of your application, you will receive a one-year subscription to Inc. magazine, the leading business publication with news, tools, and advice to help you succeed.

Greater Productivity and Retention

Show your current employees that all of their long days and nights of hard work are paying off and improve recruiting opportunities with prospective employees.

Advertising

Public relations firms, advertising companies, ad agencies, and companies that are involved with web-based promotions.

Business Products

Companies that sell products primarily to other businesses.

Business Services

Companies that sell services primarily to other businesses.

Coaching & Career Development (New for 2022)

Companies that provide services, tools, and coaching to guide employees in their career development.

Communications

Companies involved with transmitting voice, video, or data on a mass scale and companies that sell services primarily to telecom firms.

Construction

Companies that put up buildings, normally as contractors, as well as companies that sell or install elements such as windows, doors, and flooring, etc.

Consumer Products

Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell products intended for consumers.

Consumer Services

Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell consumer services.

E-Commerce (New for 2022)

Companies that provide software as a service and/or hardware allowing companies to receive digital payments from their customers.

Economic/Financial Equity 

Companies that have excelled in responsibly growing sustainable wealth and/or closing wage gaps specifically for under-resourced communities and the middle class.

Education

Companies that provide instruction or coaching, or sell educational materials, or whose primary market is schools or universities.

Energy

Companies that source or provide power for business and residential customers, as well as companies that provide specialized services to energy firms.

Engineering

Companies that provide engineering and related services, including construction or architectural work, and that manage engineering projects for clients.

Environmental Issues

Companies that are making great strides in improving local, national, or global environmental conditions.

Environmental Services

Companies whose primary focus is on restoring or maintaining clean and safe environments.

Events & Experiential (New for 2022)

Companies that organize and host in-person and virtual gatherings for consumers and businesses.

Financial Services

Companies that provide financing or whose products and services facilitate financial transactions. Includes lenders, mortgage brokers, and financial advisers.

Food & Beverage

Companies that manufacture, sell, or distribute food or beverages or offer related services. Includes meal-delivery services.

General Excellence

Open to all companies effecting extraordinary change, often across multiple sectors.

Government Services

Companies that provide consulting services—especially IT, health care, and procurement—used primarily by government entities.

Health Products

Companies that provide products strictly to the health care market, such as makers or distributors of nutritional supplements and makers or distributors of medical devices. 

Health Services

Companies that provide services strictly to the health care market, such as operators of medical facilities, including nursing homes. 

Human Resources

Staffing, payroll, executive-search, and outsourcing companies, as well as firms involved with employee or management training.

Insurance

Companies that sell insurance products or help the insurance industry in different forms of risk mitigation.

IT Management

Companies whose primary business is the outsourced management of software, servers, printers, security, etc.

IT System Development

Companies that create processes that enable their clients’ information technology to perform to its capacity.

Logistics & Transportation

Freight shipping, trucking, and other companies that move products and people, as well as brokers of those companies’ services and providers of services to the industry.

Management Consulting (New for 2022)

Companies that provide advice and expertise to help organizations solve problems or improve performance.

Manufacturing

Companies that make both intermediate and finished goods for sale to businesses and consumers

Marketing

Public relations firms, marketing companies, and companies that are involved marketing.

Media

Companies whose primary business is creating or distributing content in any kind of communications medium.

Pandemic Response

Companies that have had an outsized impact on the local, national, or global Covid-19 response this year.

Real Estate

Real estate developers and brokers and those providing services to brokers, buyers, and sellers. Also includes real estate-related investment firms.

Recycling

Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to repurposing glass, plastic, and paper.

Regional Categories (New for 2022)

Companies can apply for consideration as a top businesses in one of these regions: Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Southeast, Southwest.

Retail

Companies that sell products and services directly to consumers, either online or at brick-and-mortar stores. 

Security

Companies that provide physical security—guards, locks, heavy doors, barriers, surveillance systems, or armored trucks. 

Software Development

Companies that create software for businesses or individuals. 

Software as a Service (New for 2022)

Companies that deliver cloud-based software applications on a subscription basis. 

Sustainability (New for 2022)

Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to developing or encouraging business practices that reduce reliance on fossil fuels. 

Travel & Hospitality

Travel agencies, tour operators, and other companies that help facilitate travel, as well as hotel companies and leisure destinations such as amusement parks.

Wellness Products

Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell products that aim to improve quality of life.

Wellness Services

Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell services that aim to improve quality of life.

Correctional Re-Entry Services (New for 2022)

Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to helping the formerly incarcerated re-enter society.

Food Insecurity

Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to feeding the hungry.

Mental Health Advocacy (New for 2022)

Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to improving mental health.

Sheltering the Homeless (New for 2022)

Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to providing shelter for those without homes.

Veteran Support

Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to supporting America’s veterans.