Flying 40 is seeking the best tech companies in N.M.

The New Mexico Flying 40, the annual tribute to the state’s fastest-growing technology companies, is inviting applications for this year’s awards.

The application deadline is April 5.

Now in its 16th year, the Flying 40 ranks companies according to revenues and percentage growth in revenues, with a list to be published in a special edition of the Albuquerque Journal’s Business Outlook. Top company executives will be honored at a June awards banquet.

The 2013 listing will be compiled from voluntary responses to a qualification form.

To be eligible, a company must be headquartered in New Mexico with five or more employees, and generally regarded as a “technology” company. It may be engaged in research and development, technology consulting and services or the manufacture of products conceived and developed by the company. The firm may be publicly listed or privately owned, but cannot be a subsidiary of a company headquartered outside of New Mexico.

Qualification forms can be accessed at www. techventures.org.

Eligibility will be determined in three categories: Top revenue growth companies with revenues between $1 million and $10 million based on percentage of revenue growth from 2008-2012; top revenue growth companies with revenues of more than $10 million, also based on percentage of growth from 2008-2012; and top revenue-producing companies irrespective of revenue growth.