2013 Washington Manufacturing Awards: Emerging Manufacturer | Midsize Firms

Winner: Perfect Blend, Bellevue
Perfect Blend was a Silver Award winner last year in the Manufacturer of the Year category for its technology for transforming chicken manure into a biotic fertilizer that encourages growth of beneficial microbes in the soil, an approach the company says will produce the next generation of Green Revolution fertilizers that have the ability to feed the world.

So whats new since then? How about growth in sales of more than 50 percent; construction of a new storage facility at its Othello production plant; patents on biotic fertilizer; new studies to back Perfect Blends claims of increased crop yields; and participation in U.S. Department of Agriculture studies on sustainable fertilizers?

Perfect Blend is also making good on its pledge to take the technology worldwide. Construction on a licensed facility in Saudi Arabia is slated for this year, and facilities, sales offices and field tests are under discussion in the United States, Mexico and Africa.

Silver Award Winner: OutBack Power Technologies, Arlington
Theres a lot of the world the electric grid doesnt reach, and thats the market for OutBack Power, which makes inverters, chargers and battery systems for applications ranging from a remote cabin in Alaska to a clinic in Haiti to fishing villages in Borneo. OutBack took several strides in 2012 toward establishing itself as a leading brand in what it calls the microgrid market, with new product introductions and expanded distribution in Asia and Central America.