WOOLWICH — As 2012 begins, the medical transcription firm NEMT is preparing its documentation to become an Inc. 5,000 fastest-growing company for the sixth year in a row.

Toward the end of 2011, NEMT achieved this business honor for the fifth straight year. According to a news release, Inc. magazine ranked NEMT number 2,322 on the list with a three-year growth rate of 104 percent.

The company has grown from four employees in 2008 to 40 employees in 2011, in addition to more than 160 independent contractors.

“We’re very proud to have made the Inc. 5,000 list in 2011 for the fifth year in a row and we’re already preparing our documentation for the 2012 list,” said NEMT Chief Executive Officer Linda Sullivan. “Through our unique moneyback guarantee and our exceptional speed and accuracy statistics, business continued to thrive throughout 2011 to leave us well positioned for the 2012 list.”

NEMT was one of only 11 Maine companies to make the 2011 list, coming in number five for the state.

Only two other medical transcription firms in the country ranked ahead of NEMT on the 2011 list.

The Inc. 5,000 is an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy — America’s independent entrepreneurs. NEMT joins Spirit Airlines, television maker Vizio, Honest

Tea, Dunkin Donuts and Metrokane, makers of the Rabbit corkscrew, among other prominent brands featured on the 2011 list.

“Now, more than ever, we depend on Inc. 500/5,000 companies to spur innovation, provide jobs, and drive the economy forward. Growth companies, not large corporations, are where the action is,” said Inc. magazine editor Jane Berentson.