ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS

Lawrenceville, georgia

founders: kris maynard (ceo), chris gerlach revenue: $79 million

employees: 66 by 2011, the cofounders of essential ingredients had turned down multiple offers from private equity firms and competitors that wanted to buy the 15-year-old distributor of chemicals used in personal care and cleaning products (customers include estée lauder and Hawaiian tropic). “i envisioned lying in my bed at night with a lot of money in my bank account and a lot of my people with no jobs,” says ceo kris maynard. instead he and his partners formed an employee stock-ownership plan. company shares have shot from $2 to more than $55, driven by employee-led initiatives.