LUNENBURG - A pair of Lunenburg-area businesses have made Progress Magazine's 2010 short list of Atlantic Canada's fastest growing companies.

 Terra Beatta Farms Ltd. of Heckman's Island and Composites Atlantic Limited of Lunenburg finished in the top 20 in the magazine's 12th annual rankings, which highlights companies that are setting the pace for the evolution of Atlantic Canada's economy.

 Terra Beatta Farms, which was founded in 1998 by David and Evelyn Ernst, is a cranberry-growing operation which produces a variety of fresh, frozen and preserved products while maintaining the only cranberry U-pick in the province. The company, which appears on the Progress Magazine list for the first time, placed fifth overall with a growth rate of 287 per cent over the past three years.

 Composites Atlantic, which designs and manufactures advanced composites for the aerospace, space, defense and commercial industries, made the list for the second consecutive year, improving from a 24th place ranking in 2009 to an 18th place finish this year.

 The firm realized a 53 per cent growth rate during the last three years, a period which Progress Magazine editor Pamela Scott Crace says was affected by some of the most volatile economic conditions the world has seen in recent memory.

 "The fastest growing company survey reveals what's on the mind of the region's fast-growing entrepreneurs," Ms Scott Crace says. "By and large, these companies are servicing international markets with niche products and using strategic marketing and customer service techniques to build market share. This year's list is one of the most export-focused, internationally oriented group of companies that we've seen."

 She says the survey also helps reveal the most challenging issues that are facing the region's business growers, the most pressing of which involves the broad spectrum of human resources.

 "Mainly, finding the right people, as organizations strive to scale up product and service offerings and put formalized systems and processes into place while managing the demands of their fast-paced environments," she explains.

 The top-ranking company on the list was Techlink International Entertainment Limited, an IT and telecommunications firm based in Sydney.

 Company CEO John Xidos said that finishing at the top of the list "says a lot about our company, products and successes.

 "More importantly, it speaks to the dynamism of our people. They're trendsetters all of them, exceptional, in fact," he says.

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posted on 05/04/10