The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and Fortune magazine announced Monday that Tacoma-based SiteCrafting ranked 51st on its list of the fastest-growing inner city companies in the United States.
SiteCrafting is a Web site design and Web application development company that specializes in custom Web-based solutions for mid- to large-size businesses, counties, and municipalities. The company’s goal is to ensure its clients get the tools and technology they need to work most efficiently. The company has been headquartered in Tacoma since 1995 and has satellite offices in Seattle and Spokane.
“SiteCrafting is thrilled to have been named to the Inner City 100 list for the second time,” said SiteCrafting President Brian Forth. “It is an honor to be listed with some of the most innovative and creative companies in America. Each Inner City 100 company has an unbelievable story of perseverance and courage. This list is proof that the American dream is alive and well.”
The Inner City 100 program recognizes successful inner city companies and their CEO’s as role models for entrepreneurship, innovative business practices and job creation in America’s urban communities. The full list can be viewed at http://www.fortune.com/innercity100 .
The rankings for each company were announced at the Inner City 100 Awards Dinner on Thurs., May 12, in Boston, Mass. Winners attended a two-day event featuring seminars for Inner City 100 owners and managers at Harvard Business School, a procurement symposium and an awards gala that drew more than 500 guests.
“We are delighted to celebrate businesses like SiteCrafting that are playing a critical role in revitalizing America’s urban communities,” said Mary Kay Leonard, Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) president and CEO. “Through their achievements, the Inner City 100 winning companies exemplify America’s remarkable potential and the future of our urban centers. These extraordinary companies demonstrate the market possibilities that exist within our inner cities and the growth that is at the heart of all urban entrepreneurial successes.”
In the last 13 years, 661 different companies have earned positions on the Inner City 100. For the 2011 list, a record 2,000 nominations were received. Winners represent a wide span of geography, operating in 51 cities and 32 states. The 2011 Inner City 100 winners grew at a compound annual growth rate of 39 percent and an average standard growth rate of 379 percent between 2004 and 2009. Collectively, the top 100 inner city businesses employ 6,720 employees and have created more than 3,227 new jobs between 2005 and 2009.
To qualify for the Inner City 100 list, companies were required to have at least 51 percent of their operations located in an economically distressed urban area; have at least 10 full-time employees; and a five-year operating sales history that includes at least $200,000 in revenues in the first year of consideration, an increase in year five sales over year four sales, and fifth-year sales of at least $1 million. For the 2011 list, ICIC looked at total revenue growth from 2005 to 2009 and the specific rankings were based on these growth rates. An economically distressed urban area is defined by ICIC as having a 50 percent higher unemployment level, 50 percent higher poverty level, and 50 percent lower median income than the metropolitan statistical area.
ICIC is a non-profit research and strategy organization based in Boston, Mass., and the leading authority on U.S. inner city economies and business development. Founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, ICIC supports public and private sector decision makers with analysis and programs that lead to urban investment, jobs and growth.
