Industrack, a maker of software for contractors, places in Meda's minority-business challenge

Industrack was the only Minnesota firm among 12 companies to win in the finals of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association's "Meda Million Dollar Challenge" national business competition for minority entrepreneurs.

Plymouth-based Industrack, founded in 2008 by electrical engineer Raz Bajwa, provides integrated field-management software for plumbing, HVAC and electrical-service contractors, including customer relationship management, estimates, invoices dispatch and payment processing.

Industrack was awarded $100,000 of the $1.1 million in total prize money awarded in the annual competition.

Bajwa, 46, quit a corporate engineering job to start Industrack in 2008, as a different-type company.

"We have traction now," said Bajwa, the founder-owner. "We're heading toward $2 million in revenue this year. We have customers, and about 20 employees, mostly in operations.

"We're hiring salespeople. We're just starting to scale. Our goal is to be a $10 million revenue company in 10 years."

Industrack started out as a GPS-guided, fleet-tracking software company. Verizon signed on as a partner in 2014. But Verizon exited after buying a couple bigger companies in 2016.

"We had to reinvent the business plan," Bajwa said.

Mi Terro of California, a chemistry-rooted concern that converts spoiled milk and other food products into fiber for shirts, collected $300,000 and the first-prize award.

"In such tumultuous times, these BIPOC entrepreneurs have shown such resilience, innovation and dedication to their impressive businesses," Alfredo Martel, chief executive of Meda, said. "Every time a BIPOC entrepreneur succeeds, it is a win for the economy as a whole and the positive ripple effects that follow are needed now more than ever."

Meda, which recently crossed $23 million in capital, is a 50-year-old nonprofit business adviser and lender, certified by the U.S. Treasury as a community financial development institution.

It helps small, minority-owned businesses develop into profitable concerns and move on to new financing from commercial bankers.

Neal St. Anthony • 612-673-7144