Four Charleston Technology Companies Rank As 500 Fastest Growing in America

Charleston, South Carolina -- August 21, 2013 -- Charleston's rapidly growing knowledge economy received another national acclaim today as four local technology companies were ranked on the 32nd annual Inc. 500 | 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in America list by Inc. Magazine. SPARC ranked no. 14, Omatic Software no. 189, BoomTown no. 431 and Blue Acorn no. 474. Seven additional Charleston-area technology companies made the Inc. 5,000 list.

The Inc. 500 | 5,000 list, which ranks private companies based on revenue growth between 2009 and 2012, reiterates Charleston's growing presence as a nationally acclaimed knowledge economy. "Having four software companies ranked on the 2013 Inc. 500 list, up from three companies in 2012, is a great honor for our community and validates the robust growth of tech companies in Charleston," said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley. Jr.

"We congratulate all the ranked local technology companies, three of whom are members of the Charleston Digital Corridor," said Ernest Andrade, Executive Director of the Charleston Digital Corridor. "The increase of Charleston technology companies ranked in 2013, compared to 2012, affirms the strategic investments we are making to support Charleston's knowledge economy by focusing on our four main initiatives - Talent development and attraction, Spaces for business incubation, **Community **development and early-stage Capital."

Charleston's ranking technology companies include:

• No. 14 ranked SPARC, a software development company that builds technology solutions for the government, commercial, mobile, green energy and human resources sectors, with 12,863% revenue growth
• No. 189 ranked Omatic Software, a Blackbaud partner company that provides solutions to enhance Blackbaud's software, with 2,192% revenue growth
• No. 431 ranked BoomTown, a real estate software company, with 1,058% revenue growth
• No. 474 ranked Blue Acorn, a premium eCommerce agency that helps retailers and brands achieve revenue growth through a comprehensive, data-driven approach, with 975% revenue growth

Additional Charleston-area technology companies included on the Inc. 5,000 list are no. 1,625CodeLynx, no. 1,933 ISHPI, no. 1,971 Levelwing, no. 2,469 eGroup, no. 3,149 Cantey Technology, no. 3,722 Advantage Media Group and no. 3,868 SmartLinx Solutions.

The Inc. 500 | 5,000 rankings add to growing list of significant milestones in Charleston's knowledge economy this year. Milken Institute's 2012 Best-Performing Cities Index, announced in January, ranked the Charleston MSA ninth out of the 200 largest metros across the country, up from eleventh in 2011. Benefitfocus, a leading provider of cloud-based benefits software, filed a registration statement for its IPO earlier this month. In April, PeopleMatter, the largest provider of comprehensive service-industry HR software, opened a new 15,000-square-foot headquarters on King Street in downtown Charleston. In addition, Charleston Digital Corridor member companies announced the addition of more than 1,500 new jobs this year.

In 2012, three Charleston technology companies were listed in the Inc. 500 including BoomTown at no. 96, Omatic Software at no. 118 and BiblioLabs at no. 339.

About the Charleston Digital Corridor

The Digital Corridor is a creative initiative to attract, nurture and promote Charleston's knowledge economy through a combination of technology-enabled initiatives and business incentives, private business support and member-driven programming. Learn more - www.charlestondigitalcorridor.com.****

Media Contact:

Ernest Andrade

ernest@charlestondigitalcorridor.com

843.724.3773 ###