Valencia-based internet marketing firm Scorpion had its status as one of the fastest-growing tech companies in North America reaffirmed, ranking 273rd on Deloitte Consulting’s just-released Fast 500 list, which ranks technology, media, telecommunications, life science, and energy tech companies with the fastest revenue growth over three years. Scorpion’s revenue grew 272% from 2012 to 2015, to $73.3 million.
“While Scorpion is a full-service digital marketing company, at our core, we are a technology company,” said Scorpion CEO Rustin Kretz. “We have spent the better part of the last 15 years pushing the envelope and challenging ourselves to develop technology that allows us to do things better, faster, and smarter for our clients. People who work with us get access to solutions that help them reach their ideal audience online and, ultimately, capture more business.” Scorpion provides website design, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, video advertising, online reputation management, and social media services. Its clients include legal, healthcare, franchise, and home service companies.
Scorpion is one of 55 Southern California firms and one of 58 in the digital content/media/entertainment segment on the Fast 500 list, and is only entrant based in the Santa Clarita Valley. About 300 of Scorpion’s 350 employees are in Valencia, with the balance in Dallas and Carlsbad, Calif. “Amid a fierce business climate, there seems to be no shortage of new and established companies that are unlocking a seemingly unlimited potential for growth and advancement through technology’s continued disruption and proliferation across industries,” said Sandra Shirai, principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP.
Scorpion’s Fast 500 is no fluke, as the company is also on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 list as one of North America’s fastest-growing private companies, for the sixth straight year. To accommodate its continuing growth, which includes adding 80 employees over the last year, Scorpion is breaking ground Nov. 30 on a new headquarters building overlooking Interstate 5 on Entertainment Dr., next to Sunkist Growers. The company currently operates out of six office suites in two buildings on Avenue Stanford, and sought a chance to have all its local operations under one roof. The new headquarters will promote employee wellness and innovation via large, open creative spaces, fitness centers, natural lighting, indoor game centers, and a dining facility. The company is looking at installing solar panels across its parking lot, electric car charging stations, and similar eco-friendly features. “We believe focusing on the well-being and satisfaction of our employees directly translates to the well-being and happiness of our customers, and that’s behind the design for the new building,” Kretz said. The building will adhere to strict clean energy standards to reduce its environmental impact on the community, and includes plans to achieve Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S, Green Building Council.
“We chose Santa Clarita Valley as the permanent home for Scorpion because a majority our employees already call this area home, and we see it shaping into the epicenter of a tech hub that spreads across Los Angeles County that we affectionately refer to as the Silicon Suburbs,” said Matthew Shepherd, chief financial officer. “We are a part of this community not just as a business but also as individuals and families who contribute to the economic and cultural growth of the area. This location is unique in that it provides everything we need professionally and personally. Our employees live here, their children go to school here, and we are proud to host our headquarters here.”
Scorpion and its development partners expect to complete the new headquarters by the third quarter of 2017. “Scorpion’s plans to expand in Santa Clarita will further solidify our city as an up-and-coming tech center,” said Holly Schroeder, President and CEO of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation. Michael D. Antonovich, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, 5th District, agreed, noting that “Scorpion’s growth in recent years is an example of the good, quality jobs that Los Angeles County needs to support. That growth led Scorpion to make the commitment to invest in the Santa Clarita Valley for its future, and we are pleased to have this innovative company as part of the Santa Clarita business community.”
