Nine Minnesota companies made a list of “America’s 100 Fastest-Growing Small Public Companies.” The list was published in the July/August issue of Fortune Small Business magazine.

The local companies featured—along with their rank, locations, and a brief description—are:

• NVE Corporation, 13, Eden Prairie—involved in the emerging technology called “spintronics,” which stores and transmits information using electron spin, rather than the more typical electron charge
• WSI Industries, 48, Monticello—engineers and manufactures high-precision machine parts for the oil, aerospace, and recreational vehicle industries
• Intricon Corporation, 55, Arden Hills—develops and manufactures miniature devices for the electronic, medical, and professional audio industries
• Datalink Corporation, 58, Chanhassen—an information architecture company that provides clients with data storage solutions
• Medtox Scientific, 61, St. Paul—manufactures diagnostic drug screening devices and provides clinical laboratory services
• Hickory Technology, 63, Mankato—a regional telecommunications company that services customers in southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa
• Stratasys, Inc., 67, Eden Prairie—manufactures high-end 3-D printers and rapid prototyping systems that create physical models from computer-aided (CAD) designs
• Digi International, Inc., 88, Minnetonka—provides networking devices and technologies for consumer and Internet applications
• Image Sense Systems, 94, St. Paul—a technology company that provides software-based detection systems for transportation, environmental, safety, and surveillance management

Historically, technology companies have comprised a large percentage of those on the top 100 list. This year was no exception. Thirty technology companies made the list this year—including seven in Minnesota—as compared with 25 in 2008.

Companies recognized by the magazine had to be domiciled in the United States, have annual revenues of less than $200 million, and have a stock price that exceeded $1. Companies were rated based on stock performance and revenue growth over the past three years, among other criteria. A new requirement this year was that companies must not have experienced negative growth over the four most recent quarters.

The 100 companies listed greatly outperformed the stock market. This year’s stocks posted an average annual return of 9.8 percent for the year ended May 31, compared with an annual loss of 28.6 percent for the Russell microcap growth index.