Aptera was recognized this year as one of the fastest growing inner city businesses in the U.S. by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. With a 5-year annual growth rate of 35%, Aptera comes in at number 40 on the Inner City 100 list. Except for one year at the height of the recession, Aptera has grown considerably every year since its founding. In 2008, five years after its founding, Aptera, with the encouragement of The Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, moved to its current downtown headquarters. Aptera is committed to playing its part in contributing to the vibrancy of the city, knowing how much the city contributes back to the company. Being recognized as one of the Inner City 100 even got Aptera featured on the CNN.com.

Aptera was also announced this month as the winner of two 2012 Communicator Awards. The company received a Gold Award of Excellence for ApteraDesign.com homepage and a Silver Award of Distinction for the design of the Allen County Recorder’s website. This year’s competition featured entries from over 6,000 participants, making it the largest and most prestigious award of its kind. The Communicator Awards are sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of Visual Arts (IAVA), an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals of acclaimed media, interactive, advertising, and marketing firms. IAVA members include executives from organizations such as Conde Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, Fry Hammond Barr, HBO, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby's Institute of Art, Victoria Secret, Wired, Yahoo! and many others.