By Dave Gatton
May 19, 2008

The nation’s fastest growing inner city businesses were crowned in Boston May 1 at the tenth anniversary of the Inner City 100, sponsored by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and supported by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Indianapolis-based CMR Construction and Roofing took the top prize, reporting close to $28.5 million in revenue and posing a five-year standard growth rate of 3,590 percent. The number two company, Boston-based Roxbury Technology, which re-manufactures laser printer cartridges, was the top minority-owned and woman-owned business on the list.

The 2008 Inner-City 100 companies averaged a five-year standard growth rate of 472 percent; the average compound annual growth rate was 47 percent; average revenue was $27 million; and the average estimated company value was $26 million. Together, the 100 companies employed 21,488 workers and added 15,000 new jobs between 2002 and 2006.

U.S. Conference of Mayors Executive Director and CEO Tom Cochran congratulated the companies at the City Luncheon and Forum held in their honor. “You are leaders in our efforts to rebuild cities and their neighborhoods, and you are living proof that cities are the engines of our economy and the new place to do business,” he told the group.

CEO and ICIC President David Latimore touted the geographic reach of this year’s winners. “From Portland (ME) to Portland (OR), owners of inner city businesses are thriving and their success is evidence that despite their well-publicized problems, urban neighborhoods have inherent competitive business advantages,” he said.

San Francisco led the 2008 Inner-City 100 with six companies, followed by Boston and Baltimore with five each, and then Detroit, Los Angeles, Oakland and Portland with four.

Fifty-one cities and 31 states are represented on this year’s list.

In celebration of its tenth anniversary, ICIC founder and Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter said, “ICIC an and Inc. magazine launched the Inner City 100 a decade ago when popular perception was that low-income urban neighborhoods were dangerous and derelict and no place for a profitable business. “In fact, we knew there were thousands of profitable inner city business….that compare favorable with the best-run companies anywhere in the country.”

Mayors nominate companies for the Inner City 100 designation in the fall of each year. ICIC then pursues an extensive review process to determine growth rates of the candidate companies, announcing winners the following spring.