West Ohio Tool Co. Named to Inc.’s 2025 List of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the Midwest

Custom tool solutions provider West Ohio Tool Co. has been named one of the Midwest’s fastest growing companies in 2025 by Inc. magazine. The company is ranked number 132 on Inc.’s fifth annual Inc. Regionals: Midwest List, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the Midwest, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

West Ohio Tool is a certified woman-owned business at the state and national levels, providing custom engineered tooling solutions and innovative products like its EDGEX4® cross-center tipped drill that runs up to three times faster and 100 times longer than carbide.

Since its inception in 1989, the family-owned company has grown from a regional custom tool maker to a national tool manufacturer and service provider for the aerospace, defense, automotive and semiconductors industries. The company is AS9100D certified, a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 holder and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliant. It has also been included among the Best Places to Work in Ohio for its employee commitment and community involvement.

“We’ve made a deliberate effort to grow our company responsibly by being a problem-solver and partnering with our customers to understand exactly what they need and then deliver a tool that gets it right the first time,” said West Ohio Tool CEO Kaci King. “Our growth across the U.S. is supported by consistent reinvestment in expanded manufacturing capability and capacity. We’re honored by this recognition and proud to be the only Ohio company on the list that serves the manufacturing sector.”

To keep pace with increasing demand, West Ohio Tool recently acquired a second automated United Grinding erosion machine and added an external robot to its STUDER grinding machine for improved throughput and responsiveness to its customers. The company has recently commissioned a FANUC wire electrical discharge machine (EDM) soon that will be dedicated to in-house cutting of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tips, and two additional STUDER machines will add to West Ohio Tool’s manufacturing capacity in the near future.

“The honorees on this year’s Inc. Regionals list are true trailblazers driving economic growth in their respective regions, industries, and beyond. This list celebrates their achievements and tells the stories of remarkable companies that are fueling growth and adding jobs in local economies throughout the country,” said Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc.

An extension of the national Inc. 5000 list, the Regionals offer a unique look at the most successful companies within the Midwest economy’s most dynamic segment–its independent small businesses.

The 2025 Inc. Regionals are ranked according to percentage revenue growth over two years. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2021. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent -- not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies -- as of December 31, 2023. The minimum revenue required for 2021 is $100,000; the minimum for 2023 is $1 million.

About West Ohio Tool

West Ohio Tool's hand-selected team of experts in engineering, tooling, innovation and advanced machining geometry develops custom tools that have been exceeding expectations for more than 30 years, with delivery times up to 75% faster than industry standards. Certified by The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the firm's innovations include the patented EDGEX4®, the cross-center tipped drill that runs up to three times faster and 10 times longer than carbide. As an experienced PCD and carbide cutting tool maker, West Ohio Tool focuses on building long-term partnerships with customers based on problem solving, technical support and better, faster, longer-running tools. For more information on West Ohio Tool's solutions, visit www.WestOhioTool.com or follow us on social media.

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M4S TAKE

My take: certifications like this matter because they give buyers a defensible reason to shortlist a supplier. In a market where everyone claims quality, third-party validation is the difference between being considered and being ignored.

Simon McLoughlin