PORT TOWNSEND — Intellicheck Mobilisa has been ranked among the top 500 fastest growing technology firms in North America and the only Top 10 company in Washington outside Seattle.

Deloitte LLP, which delivers services in audit, tax, consulting and financial matters in nearly 140 countries, honored Intellicheck Mobilisa with the ranking on Thursday night in Seattle, said Nelson Ludlow, Intellicheck Mobilisa president and chief executive officer.

The company develops and markets wireless technology and identity systems for various applications, including mobile and handheld wireless devices for the government, military and commercial markets.

Ludlow founded the company in Port Townsend in 2001 with his wife, Bonnie, the company’s senior vice president.

Public and private

“This is for both public and private companies,” Ludlow said in an e-mail to Peninsula Daily News.

The company ranked sixth in Washington, 170th in North America and was the only Top 10 company not in the Seattle area, Ludlow said.

Ludlow said when Deloitte representatives presented the award, they stressed that it is possible to grow a company not in the Seattle area.

Intellicheck Mobilisa will conduct its company shareholder meeting Tuesday in New York City and will announce it financial status for the third quarter.

“We continue to grow and hire,” Ludlow said.

“We are prepared for continued growth.”

The company, with global reach in access control and wireless security systems, in September announced the acquisition of Minnesota-based Positive Access Corp. for $2.225 million in a merger deal that added four new employees and brought Intellicheck Mobilisa’s staff to 60.

A year and a half earlier, Mobilisa, merged with Intelli-Check, absorbing 25 of the former Woodbury, N.Y., company’s staff into Mobilisa’s headquarters at Glen Cove Industrial Park on Otto Street in Port Townsend.

Companies must be in business for a minimum of five years, be headquartered within North America and have generated revenues that more than doubled in the five years between 2004 and 2008.

Mobilisa revenues grew by 790 percent during that period.

Market leader

Ludlow credits Intellicheck Mobilisa’s strong revenue growth over the past five years to the company’s focus on driving sales in the government, commercial and wireless sectors and supporting those efforts with additional sales personnel and new products.

“We believe we have grown to be the market leader by providing the best driver’s license reading solution, comprehensive service and support, and owning key patents surrounding our technology,” Ludlow said.

Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 recognizes innovative companies that have broken down barriers to success and defied the odds with their remarkable five-year revenue growth, said Phil Asmundson, vice chairman and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications leader for Deloitte.

“We congratulate Intellicheck Mobilisa on this accomplishment.”

Protects military

The ranking is compiled from nominations submitted directly to the Technology Fast 500 Web site, and public company database research conducted by Deloitte.

To be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues.

Intellicheck Mobilisa products include the Defense ID system, an advanced ID card access control product that now protects more than 70 military and federal locations.

It also produces ID-Check, patented technology that instantly reads, analyzes, and verifies encoded data in magnetic stripes and barcodes on government-issue IDs from U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions for the financial, hospitality and retail markets.

Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com