PSBJ Reveals 2022 Middle Market Honorees

May 13 2022

Published in Published in Puget Sound Business Journal

You could call him the man who unleashed the Kraken. Jay Deutsch, founder and CEO of global merchandise supplier BDA sold $1 million worth of Seattle Kraken T-shirts, hats and jerseys during the team’s opening weekend alone. As minority co-owner of the Seattle Kraken, he said all sales proceeds went to philanthropy. The Kraken finished their inaugural season with a one-goal loss to Winnipeg. But Deutsch came out a winner, leading BDA to 25.2% revenue growth in 2021 compared with 2020, and total revenue of $351 million for the year despite monumental supply chain and logistics challenges.

For inspiring his BDA team to innovate, push boundaries and implement clever solutions, Deutsch is being honored as a Puget Sound Business Journal Middle Market Fast 50 leader of the year.

The Business Journal’s Middle Market Fast 50 list and special editorial section recognizes the region’s 50 fastestgrowing middle market companies. To be considered as a middle market honoree, these individuals had to have led a company — public or private — that brings in total revenue between $25 million and $1 billion. Click through the slideshow below to see all six of our honorees. They will also be part of the Business Journal’s Middle Market Fast 50 special report, which runs in print June 24.

The Middle Market Fast 50 list was created in 2019 to recognize those companies that may fly under the radar but are often economic powerhouses for the region. The Harvard Business Review said if the middle market were a country, it would be the fifth-largest economy in the world, and calls the sector “stressed but resilient” compared with smaller and larger businesses. To hear these companies’ stories, and recognize all 50 of the region’s fastest-growing companies in the middle market, please register for our Thursday, June 23, celebration.