Inc. magazine just revealed that Michigan native 15-year-old Alina Morse's company, Zolli Candy, is No. 532 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The sophomore high school student advanced more than 100 spots from her 2019 ranking (No. 635) with three-year revenue growth of 865.77%. The September 2020 Inc. 5000 issue is on newsstands August 12.

"It's a huge honor to make the Inc. 5000 list for a second year in a row," said Morse. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a really interesting time for me-going to school full-time from home and being able to commit a more substantial amount of my time growing the Zolli Candy line of products. I'm thrilled to be part of such a dynamic list of incredible independent small businesses that make up this year's list."  

The 2020 Inc. 5000 companies achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years.  Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.

"The companies on this year's Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business," says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. "From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism."

At age seven, while researching ways to create healthy candy she could have all the time, Morse invented Zollipops®, the clean teen lollipops, and hit shelves in 2014 at age nine. Her Zolli Candy line (Zollipops, Zolli® Drops, Zaffi® Taffy, Zolli Caramelz, Zolli Gumeez, Zolli Beanz, Zolli Ball Pops) is now sold at over 25,000 retailers, including America's largest, including the #1 retailer, Walmart, the #1 grocer, Kroger, the #1 drug chain, CVS, and the #1 online, Amazon. Target, Walgreens, and Whole Foods round out her domestic retail footprint. She also exports to China, Korea and France, while committing 10% of profits to support an increase in oral health education in schools by giving 4-MM products through her "Million Smiles Initiative" to help fight America's most chronic childhood disease — tooth decay.