Now Hear This

Mark Krywko's startup technology company, Palmetto-based Sleek Audio, recently notched several milestones for its patented line of 'in ear' earphones.

First came the coveted “Best of What's New” award from Popular Science magazine, given for products that have the best combination of innovation, vision and execution. A few months after wining that award, the company quadrupled its office space: It went from 2,000 square feet of cramped digs in a Bradenton building it shared with Krywko's hearing aid company to 8,000 square feet in an office suite in downtown Palmetto recently vacated by the Manatee County Sheriff's department.

And then there were the attaboys the company received in local business circles earlier this year when it announced that by the middle of 2010 it planned on tripling sales, hiring as many as 10 more employees and moving its production line from China to the U.S. The company currently has 13 employees, including Krywko's son, Jason Krywko, Sleek Audio's chief operating officer.