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No. 2,263 PENSCO Trust Company Portsmouth, NH

	Year	2008
	Industry	Financial Services
	Founded	1989
	Growth	162.4%
	2004 Revenue	$5.8 million
	2007 Revenue	$15.2 million
	Employees	65
	Website	www.penscotrust.com

What it does:
PENSCO Trust Company is a self-directed IRA (Individual Retirement Account) investment custodian.

Why it's growing:
In recent years the ability of individuals to use IRAs to invest in alternative assets--like private equities for start-ups--has captured the media's attention. An increased customer awareness of the value of exploring asset classes beyond mutual funds and stocks has resulted in growth.

What's noteworthy:
The company has supported some interesting, yet varying, IRA owner investments--from purchasing fishing leases in Alaska to setting up a nudist colony to creating robotic devices to disarm weapons in Iraq. As CEO Tom Anderson says, "You can buy just about anything with an IRA...we've started thousands of companies through retirement accounts."