ZEELAND, Mich. — Gentex Corporation, the Zeeland, Mich.-based manufacturer of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and commercial fire protection products, has once again been named to Business Week’s “Hot Growth Companies” list, which ranks the 100 fastest-growing publicly traded companies. It’s the fifth time in six years that Gentex has made this prestigious list.
Gentex supplies automakers with interior and exterior automatic-dimming mirrors. These mirrors make nighttime driving safer by automatically detecting and eliminating rearview mirror glare from rearward-approaching vehicles. The mirrors are also sophisticated electronic modules, and often contain compass and temperature displays, driver interfaces, interior lighting, and value-added features such as voice-recognition microphones, garage door openers, and advanced headlamp control systems.
Earlier this month, Business Week ranked Gentex 87th overall, with three- year average sales and earnings increases of 17.5 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively.
According to Business Week, the list selection process begins by ranking companies according to their three-year results in sales growth, earnings growth, and return on invested capital. A company’s composite rank is the sum of 0.5 times its rank in return on total capital plus 0.25 times its sales- and profit-growth ranks. To qualify, a company has to have annual sales between $50 million and $1.5 billion, a current market value greater than $25 million, a current stock price greater than $5 and be actively traded.
“With all the glare on the road today, automatic-dimming mirrors are in great demand,” said Garth Deur, Gentex’s executive vice president. “And the good news is that our products have just begun to penetrate the market, so there’s lots of room for growth. Plus, we keep adding advanced features to the mirror — displays, microphones, sensors, garage door openers, interior lighting — even miniature cameras that control your high beams. Our mirrors are actually sophisticated electronic modules that help vehicle manufacturers integrate technology into their vehicles quickly and affordably.”
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