Huntington tech firm Work Market on Forbes 'Most Promising' list

Huntington-based startup Work Market Inc. has been named to Forbes magazine's list of "America's Most Promising Companies."

The tech company, which provides an online tool for businesses to manage professional freelancers and contract workers and for those freelancers to find work, was No. 21 on the list.

Forbes took applications from U.S. companies to create the list, and assessed criteria such as sales and hiring growth, management and investor quality, margins, market size and key partnerships to rank the businesses.

"We decidedly kept a low profile while we developed our platform and added clients over the last few years," Work Market chief executive Jeff Leventhal said Wednesday. "Now that we have a fully built-out solution and great reference clients, we are glad that places like Forbes are noticing our potential."

Leventhal, a Huntington native, founded the company with business partners in 2010. It has 42 employees at its offices in Huntington and Manhattan, with annual revenues of $40 million, according to figures from Forbes.

So far, Work Market has raised more than $16 million in venture capital funding.

The company was built in Manhattan and opened its Huntington headquarters in 2012.

Work Market is also the first beneficiary of the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency's Boost Program, which offers tax breaks to startup companies to foster growth.

Under the program Work Market was approved in 2012 to receive $51,250 in tax breaks over five years.