Three Pensacola area firms has made Inc. Magazine's list of "5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies."

Topping the local list is Global Business Solutions Inc., ranking 2,889th with a three-year growth rate of 126 percent and revenues of $11.4 million during 2013.

An information technology, education and training services company, GBSI was founded in Pensacola in 1995 by Randy Ramos and currently employs 120-plus technicians and engineers.

The company has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list for the past three years.

Ranking 3,685 on the Inc. list is IMS Expert Services, a firm specializing in locating experts in various fields for litigators and other professions.

The company's revenues in 2013 topped $34.7 million and its three-year growth rate reached 87 percent at the end of 2013.

IMS was founded in 1992 by Bill Wein, the company's current president, and the late Mike Wein. IMS has 54 employees.

Ranking highest in terms of total revenues among local firms is AppRiver, an email-web security company based in Gulf Breeze.

A perennial on the Inc. 5000 list, AppRiver was ranked 4,554 for the year ending through December 2013.

Founded in 2002 by Michael Murdoch and Joel Smith, AppRiver employs 193.

The company's sales growth over the past three years was 56 percent, according to Inc. Magazine.

Revenues at AppRiver have climbed from $27.9 million in 2010 to $43.6 million in 2013.

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