Explosive Growth

In 2001, Craig Johnson launched his company, Field Forensics Inc., out of his garage with the help of $250,000 he received from angel investors. Now anchored at a 6,500 square-foot lab in Largo, Johnson forecasts the firm to hit $50 million in annual revenues by 2015.

It's a big leap for the company that uses licensed technology and patented chemistry to create test kits for explosive and drug detection. Field Forensics currently employs 11 and will record more than $5 million in revenues this year, Johnson says. But he is confident that the firm's innovative field test kits and technology developments will propel the company to his vision of fast growth.

For seven years, Johnson bounced between different labs while building Field Forensics. He spent nights working at Clearwater-based COLTS Laboratories. Then his firm relocated to space in Safety Harbor's Fractal Systems lab, where he wasn't confined to working after hours.