Fast-Growing Charlotte-Area Firms Land Spots on Inc. 5000 as City Debates Short-Term Rental Rules

Inc. magazine has published its annual Inc. 5000, ranking the fastest-growing private companies in the United States, and almost 50 businesses from the Charlotte area made the cut. According to the Charlotte Ledger business newsletter, most of those companies are names the general public is unlikely to recognize.

Tony Mecia of the Ledger told WFAE's Marshall Terry that the recognition matters to the businesses involved. It gives them marketing talking points to share with prospective customers and on social media, he said, and it carries some prestige, since Americans tend to be drawn to stories of entrepreneurs whose startups take off.

The fastest-growing Charlotte-area company on the list is Hoodsly, which ranked No. 109. The firm employs about 26 people in Lincoln County and builds ventilation hoods for kitchen ranges. Its revenue rose roughly 40-fold between 2018 and 2021, Mecia said.

Other local entries included Carewell, an online retailer of home health care products, at No. 248, and PetScreening at No. 428. PetScreening helps housing providers digitally manage pets and assistance animals. Mecia noted that these companies tend to be small in headcount but are seeing surging revenue, and that they show how many successful businesses operate largely out of public view.

The conversation also turned to Charlotte's Unified Development Ordinance, which the City Council passed this week. The measure sets new rules to guide future growth, including allowing duplexes and triplexes in areas previously zoned only for single-family homes. Some residents are frustrated that it contains no rules on Airbnb-style short-term rentals.

Mecia said short-term rentals were among the most discussed topics in earlier drafts of the ordinance. Many residents had complained that such properties become party houses, where guests invite dozens of people, park up and down the street and leave plastic cups strewn around. The city removed the provisions after a court ruling earlier this year.

The city still retains some authority over short-term rentals, Mecia said, and other North Carolina cities, including Asheville and Wilmington, are using it. The ruling sharply limited the ability of cities to require permits, which Charlotte had proposed, but it allows other forms of regulation. Charlotte could, for example, ban short-term rentals in certain zoning districts, though it has chosen not to. Mecia said officials sound open to revisiting the issue, but not as part of the ordinance.

Complaints about the rentals continue, he added. The Ledger examined a property in Elizabeth that was the site of repeated parties, and residents have also raised concerns in Wesley Heights and parts of east Charlotte.

Separately, Brooks Sandwich House in NoDa was set to close for a day because Saturday Night Live will film there. The restaurant's manager told The Observer the shoot would involve comedians on roller skates, and it has also been reported that the footage is for a movie rather than a standard sketch.