Charlotte toolmaker tinkers in the spotlight.

• Position: Mid-Market FAST 40

Positec Tool Corp. has always been ready for its close-up. After all, it raised awareness of its products through 30-minute infomercials that starred well-known home-improvement gurus. Eventually the home, lawn and garden tools were so coveted that they landed on the shelves of stores, including Lowe's Cos. and Sears Holdings Corp., in 2010.

In 2008, infomercial sales accounted for 80% of the Charlotte-based company's revenue. President and CEO Tom Duncan says. Now, about 70% comes from stores. Revenue more than doubled to about $167.8 million between 2008 and 2010, and the number of employees more than tripled to 68.

"We've done this against a head wind," Duncan says. "If we can ever get a tail wind, who knows what we can do?"

Lowe's named Positec its Innovative Supplier of the Year for 2010, which is when sales there hit $50 million. The hope of building a business relationship with the Mooresville-based company is the primary reason Positec Tool is in Charlotte. Positec Group Ltd. Co., PTC's parent, was founded in 1994 in Suzhou, China, where companies such as Hoffman Estates, lll.-based Sears contracted it to make private-label tools. In 2005, Positec Group started developing its own brands. That same year...