Sawstop
sawstop.com
Power tools aren't exactly a hot industry. And when we profiled Stephen Gass's company SawStop (June 2005) , not even his competitors took him seriously. A table saw that instantly stops when a finger touches the blade? "Safety doesn't sell," they said. At the time, Gass had sold 1,000 of his $2,800 saws and had revenues of $4 million in 2005; now, with 6,000 sold, SawStop is a $12-million-a-year company and has moved out of Gass's barn into a new headquarters in Tualatin, Ore. $1,000 hobbyist model is scheduled for delivery in late 2007. -Julie sloane 
