During this year, the Business Times list of the private companies in the Pittsburgh area rose from 50 to 100. All of these companies were invited to share their data as well as revenues with a minimum of $20 million yearly. Thanks to the efforts of these private companies, more than $51 billion of revenue was generated in 2014, and more than 40,000 workers of the Pittsburgh area have a job under them. For those looking for inspiration from these companies, here are some of them.

1. Guttman Energy Inc.

The privately held company had revenue of $3,818,000,000 in 2014. Its top executives are Alan Guttman, Scott Cargile, and Mike Senff. The privately owned company is a comprehensive distributor of fuel that has been on the market since 1920. The three companies that make up the Guttman group started out as a single gas station to become a group of companies experienced in the storage, transportation, and marketing of fuel for their clients.

2. Giant Eagle Inc

The large company received a revenue of $9,600,000,000 in 2014. The top executive of the company is Laura Shapira Karet. Giant Eagle is a large chain of stores located throughout the area. Originally from Pittsburgh, the company was founded in early 1918. It is the 32nd-largest private company on the list created by Forbes. The privately held company has its headquarters in an office park in O’Hara Township — a suburb of Pittsburgh. It has a couple of large brands under its belt such as the Market District, Giant Eagle Express, Market District Express, GetGo, Giant Eagle Pharmacy, Giant Eagle Contact Lenses, and Starbucks.

3. H.J. Heinz Co.

The Number 1 company on the list is the H.J. Heinz Co whose top executive at this point is Bernardo Hees. The company had record revenue from all the Pittsburgh area companies of 10,922,269,000 in 2014. The top American food processing company has its base in Pittsburgh, PA since the late 19th century. It is the manufacturer of thousands of food products on six continents and sells them throughout 200 countries.

The company was initially founded by Henry John Heinz, a son of German immigrants. He started out small in 1869 by marketing horseradish with a friend. The product was manufactured by the recipe of his mother in the basement of his father’s previous home. Since then, the company has gone through bankruptcy and has come up again as one of the most influential companies of today. Several of the brands under the Heinz company are ABC, Bagel Bites, Classico, Daddies, Farex, Greenseas, HP Sauce, Ore-Ida, and Wyler’s.