TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

If there is one thought that seems to emerge in conversations with the executives of local companies that have garnered sought-after spots on the well-known Inc. 5000 list, it's that they like doing business in Bakersfield.

The Inc. 5000, a ranking of some of the nation's fastest-growing companies, compiled and published by Inc. magazine, annually judges companies that enter its competition. The main criterion: revenue growth.

Kern County, it turns out, has its share of Inc. 5000 honorees. Ten of them, actually, with all but one based in Bakersfield.

The Kern delegation does not fit into a predictable mold. Only one is technically an oil company, though some others work closely with that industry. None are agriculture businesses, though that's not surprising given that the list favors up-and-comers rather than honoring longstanding pillars of the economy.

So, what does it say about the Bakersfield area that 1/500th of the entire list is local?

To hear some of the executives whose company made the list tell it, it suggests this is a good place to do business. But more than that, it means people here have the know-how and drive to succeed.

"When it comes to business in California, Bakersfield is the place to be right now," said Jim Damian, founder and CEO of Stria, a 5-year-old document management company that made the Inc. 5000 for the first time this year, coming in at No. 722.

To him, city's political climate plays into that, as does the supportive business community and the population as a whole.

"Really, it's the team. And people in Bakersfield, you know, we work hard, we work long hours, we're passionate and fired up," Damian said, adding that landing on the list was a strategic goal of his over the past year.

Another Bakersfield company to make the list is Multi Business Systems, a 47-year-old professional printer and provider of promotional products.

The founder's son, President Bob Burdette, said he wasn't surprised that so many local companies made the cut: It's a great place to live and there are plenty of smart, successful people here.

In fact, he said, a lot more Kern businesses could have landed on the list if they had applied for the distinction.

"However, a part of our local 'make-up' is that we don't 'toot our own horn,'" he wrote in an e-mail Friday. "Rather, we go about our business in a humble manner. Drawing recognition to ourselves is foreign to us."

To make the list, businesses have to submit proprietary information to the magazine. They are judged by their revenue growth between 2006 and 2009. To qualify, their initial revenues had to surpass $80,000; public companies, nonprofits and subsidiaries are ineligible.

Faast Pharmacy, Kern's top-ranked business on the list at No. 464, has grown its revenues more than sixfold since 2006.

Using the tagline "More service, same co-pay, less time," the not-quite 5-year-old business works out of just one retail location, and offers free delivery to customers in Kern County.

Faast's specialty is preparing and selling medications in whatever form its customers prefer, be that transdermal creams, capsules, fluids or some other medium. It used to offer medical lollipops as well, but that turned out trickier than expected. As Vice President Jason Faast said, "I'm not Willy Wonka."

Ironically, getting onto the Inc. 5000 wasn't specifically a goal of the company, which is owned by Jason Faast and his wife, Lisa Faast, the company's president and head pharmacist.

"We just wanted to grow as fast as we could for a while," Jason said.