Align Secures Position on the 2024 Inc. 5000 List

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 21, 2024--

Inc. revealed today that Align, the premier global provider of technology infrastructure solutions and Managed IT Services, has earned a place on the 2024 Inc. 5000, its annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. This prestigious ranking provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy's most dynamic segment—its independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Microsoft, Meta, Chobani, Under Armour, Timberland, Oracle, Patagonia, and many other household-name brands gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.

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Align Recognized Among America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies, Joining the Prestigious Inc. 5000 Ranking (Graphic: Business Wire)

"Being recognized for the first time in the Inc. 5000 is a testament to Align's commitment to innovation, and our relentless focus on client success," said Jim Dooling, CEO of Align. "Our growth reflects our strong market position as a global provider of technology infrastructure solutions.”

In recent years, Align has expanded its workplace technology solutions to address the dynamic demands of modern hybrid work. The Workplace team specializes in office space optimization, from expansion to consolidation, and delivers technology solutions that help bridge the gap between remote and in-person professionals – making the office a magnet, not a mandate.

Through comprehensive assessments and efficient migrations, Align's Data Center Solutions team has successfully modernized client infrastructure while simultaneously building a foundation for AI with innovative data center design and implementation.

Additionally, its Managed Services Team leads the industry with award-winning managed IT and cybersecurity services tailored to the Alternative Investment sector. In 2023, Align was named Managed Service Provider of the Year by Channel Futures in its annual special awards.

The Inc. 5000 class of 2024 represents companies that have driven rapid revenue growth while navigating inflationary pressure, the rising costs of capital, and seemingly intractable hiring challenges. Among this year’s top 500 companies, the average median three-year revenue growth rate is 1,637 percent. In all, this year’s Inc. 5000 companies have added 874,458 jobs to the economy over the past three years.

For complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, location, and other criteria, go to www.inc.com/inc5000. All 5000 companies are featured on Inc.com starting Tuesday, August 13, and the top 500 appear in the new issue of Inc. magazine, available on newsstands beginning Tuesday, August 20.

About Align

Align is a premier global provider of technology infrastructure solutions. For over 37 years, leading firms worldwide have relied on Align to guide them through IT challenges, delivering complete, secure solutions for business change and growth. Align is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has offices in New York City, London, Virginia, Arizona, New Jersey, Chicago, San Francisco, Salt Lake City & Portland. Learn more at www.align.com.

More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000

Methodology
Companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2020. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2023. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2020 is $100,000; the minimum for 2023 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to four decimal places.

About Inc.
Inc. Business Media is the leading multimedia brand for entrepreneurs. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc. ’s award-winning work achieves a monthly brand footprint of more than 40 million across a variety of channels, including events, print, digital, video, podcasts, newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since its launch as the Inc. 100 in 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference & Gala, to be held from October 16 to 18 in Palm Desert, California, please visit http://conference.inc.com/.

Align Recognized Among America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies, Joining the Prestigious Inc. 5000 Ranking (Graphic: Business Wire)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — With inflation subsiding, the European Central Bank cut interest rates again on Thursday to prop up tepid growth with lower borrowing costs for companies and home buyers. The U.S. Federal Reserve likely won’t be far behind in joining the rate-cutting process.

The bank’s rate-setting council lowered the deposit rate from 3.75% to 3.5% at a meeting at its skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt.

It was the second rate cut as the bank starts to withdraw some of the swift rate increases it imposed to snuff out a burst of double-digit inflation that broke out after Russia cut off most natural gas supplies over its invasion of Ukraine.

But experts don't expect a rapid series of rate cuts from either the ECB or the Fed central bank to anywhere near the rock-bottom levels from before the 2020 outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. They say the ECB will tiptoe, rather than slash, and might cut rates only one more time this year. Inflation's down with the help of lower oil prices.

Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency fell to 2.2% in August, not far from the ECB’s 2% target, down from 10.6% at its peak in October, 2022.

At her post-decision news conference, bank President Christine Lagarde said recent data had confirmed “our confidence that we are heading towards our target in a timely manner.”

But she steered clear of any guidance on further cuts. She said the bank would make rate decisions on a meeting by meeting basis depending on incoming information about the economy and was "not pre-committing to a particular rate path.”

Policy makers must keep an eye on simmering inflation among services companies and rising wages as workers push to make up for purchasing power lost to the outburst of inflation that followed the end of the pandemic.

The ECB cut once in June and then hit pause in July before going on summer break in August. The rate-setting council led by President Christine Lagarde has to juggle concerns about a disappointing outlook for growth against - which argues for cuts - against the need to make sure inflation is going to reach the bank’s 2% target and stay there - which would support keeping rates higher for a bit longer.

Consumer prices spiked after Russian cut off most natural gas shipments to Europe over its February, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, sending utility bills higher. The rebound from the pandemic also led to bottlenecks in supplies of parts and raw materials, further boosting inflation that then spread more broadly to services, a broad category that includes medical care, personal services such as haircuts, restaurants, hotels and entertainment.

The ECB and the Fed responded with swift rate rises, the ECB bringing its benchmark rate to a record high of 4%, since cut in June to 3.75%.

The central bank’s benchmark rate strongly influences what private-sector banks pay to borrow - and through that rates across the rest of the economy. Higher rates cool inflation by making it more expensive to borrow and buy things, holding back price rises. But high rates can slow growth, and that worry is coming into focus.

Higher rates in Europe and the U.S. have meant increased mortgage costs for home buyers, and higher payments for people who run credit card balances or buy cars on credit. But they have been a boon to savers and retirees who like interest income and are getting visible returns on their bank holdings or money market accounts after years of zero returns.

The Fed is also expected to make a first cut in its benchmark rate at its Sept. 17-18 meeting from a 23-year high of 5:25%-5.5%. Consumer prices rose 2.5% in August from a year earlier, down from 2.9% in July. It was the fifth straight annual drop in inflation. Core inflation excluding volatile fuel and food - which can be a better guide - was higher at 3.2%.

“The long-awaited Fed easing cycle is upon us,” said Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings, but the Fed rate-setters “will be cautious after the inflation challenges of the past few years. The pace of rate cuts will be gentle and monetary easing won’t do much to boost growth next year.”

Europe growth has been sluggish, at 0.3% in the second quarter of this year and a roughly 1.0% annual rate based on performance in the first half. That follows more than a year of near-zero stagnation. Hopes for a more robust pickup have been dampened by recent indicators of business and consumer sentiment, and by a stream of bad news from the eurozone’s biggest economy, Germany.

Germany contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter and its outlook remains gloomy amid a global slowdown in manufacturing. On top of that come long-term factors such as an ageing population, shortage of skilled workers, lagging implementation of digital technology, and excessive bureaucracy that slows down business creation and expansion. Major employer Volkswagen has dropped its no-layoffs pledge that was to run through 2029 as it seeks to cut costs, and has warned it may need to close one or more factories in Germany amid weaker demand for its new electric vehicles in Europe and in China.

FILE - A light installation is projected onto the building of the European Central Bank during a rehearsal in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021. (Photo/Michael Probst, File)