This year those sectors claim 43 slots on the list — about the same range they’ve held since Virginia Business and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce began the Fantastic 50 competition in 1996. Service companies claim 25 spots while technology firms total 18. And again, Northern Virginia’s strong technology sector has proven itself to be fertile ground for starting a new business. It’s home to 23 of this year’s winners, including six of the top 10. Only Richmond, home to 10 winners, can also claim a strong regional showing.

It’s worth noting, though, that the state’s urban areas don’t have it all. The fastest-growing firm — the Adams Cos., a real estate firm — is from Winchester. Exmore on the Eastern Shore is home to custom-mosaic maker New Ravenna, the state’s fastest-growing manufacturing firm. Southwest Virginia has the Bluefield-based Marshall Miller & Associates, an environmental engineering firm. Just east of Front Royal in the tiny community of Linden is The Apple House, a retail/wholesaler.

Some names on the list are familiar ones, like LeClair Ryan, a Richmond-based law firm that has made the list five years in a row. Or Avanco International, a McLean-based information systems specialist that has made the grade four of five years.

To be eligible for the Fantastic 50, a company must be privately owned and headquartered in Virginia, and have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 1995, the year used in establishing the company’s four-year revenue growth rate. Companies must also show a positive net income for 1998. The accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted the review of company financial records.