Barcoding Inc on Seventh Annual ICIC Inc Magazine Inner City 100

April 25 2005 Today the 2005 ICICInc Magazine Inner City 100 were released and Barcoding Inc is ranked 11th on the list of the fastest growing innercity companies in America
The list a ranking of 100 of the fastestgrowing businesses in inner city areas around the country reveals that virtually all of these companies are profitable and planning to expand their workforces The 2005 Inner City 100 showed an astounding CAGR of 63 percent and an average annual growth of 827 percent between 1999 and 2003 compared with an average of 716 percent for all companies appearing on the Inner City 100 since its inception in 1999 This year's list was culled from more than 4500 nominations in 150 cities These companies have created almost 9600 new jobs in the past five years
Merrill Lynch the international financial management and business advisory services company returns for the 3rd year as national sponsor of the program
Our partnership with ICIC and sponsorship of this years Inner City 100 event gives Merrill Lynch a unique opportunity to recognize and support the vitality creativity and leadership of these fast growing inner city companies says John C Minter Jr First Vice President and National Sales Director Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services These companies embody the very best of American business
Fiftyeight cities are represented on the final list Chicago Detroit and Denver have the most winners with five apiece The list represents the leading edge of a new approach to America's urban revitalization - one that relies not on charity but on the competitive advantages of inner cities The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City ICIC has been studying the economic condition of the largest 100 American cities and is working to revitalize inner cities across the country
The 2005 Inner City 100 winners are attending the Inner City 100 Summit in Boston for a twoday event featuring seminars for Inner City 100 owners and managers at Harvard Business School a reception at Fenway Park and culminating in a gala awards dinner where more than 1000 guests are expected
Despite perceptions to the contrary our research and work has continually shown that locating all or part of one's business in an inner city gives you inherent advantages - from workforce diversity and availability to proximity to transportation nodes and downtown said Michael E Porter a Harvard Business School professor who founded ICIC in 1994 By choosing to grow businesses in America's inner cities the owners of these businesses are transforming urban landscapes across the nation
Highlights of the 2005 Inner City 100 list include
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Thirtyone percent of the companies on the list are minorityowned compared with 11 percent nationally and 18 percent are owned by women
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Twentynine percent said recruiting qualified employees was one of the top factors limiting growth
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When it came to raising capital 45 percent of companies reported some difficulty in doing so In turn 89 percent used personal assets to start their business
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Forty percent of company employees live in the inner city including 38 percent of all rank and file employees and 10 percent of all senior management
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Seventytwo percent of companies lease their location rather than own
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The average age of a CEO at the time their company was founded was 34 53 percent of all CEOs have completed at least four years of college and 78 percent live or have lived in an inner city
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On average CEOs owned 62 percent of their companies while outside investors averaged 10 percent ownership
The record number of nominations received this year was largely due to the Inner City 100 National Program Sponsor Merrill Lynch and nominating partners such as US Conference of Mayors New America Alliance National Women's Business Council and National Association of Manufacturers
We have learned from the Inner City 100 CEOs and employees that success is more certain when you reverse thinking from addressing deficits in the community to building upon its assets said Dorothy A Terrell president and CEO of ICIC Our partnership with Merrill Lynch will significantly enhance ICICs capacity to find and celebrate the impact of the company's success on the neighborhoods where it does business
Editor's note
The Inner City 100 winners are based in 58 cities Inner City 100 companies were selected from a pool of over 4500 new nominations including 500 from Merrill Lynch and 600 from Mayors' offices These companies were nominated from 150 cities compared Criteria for the award include having at least 51 percent of operations located in economically distressed urban areas having sales of at least $150000 in 1999 and at least $1 million in 2003 Average annual sales for the 100 companies in 2003 was in excess of $21 million Collectively sales totaled more than $22 billion
About Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City ICIC is a national notforprofit organization founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School professor Michael E Porter to promote a marketbased approach and cuttingedge solutions for innercity revitalization ICIC's mission is to build healthy economies in America's inner cities that create jobs income and wealth for local residents
We act to transform thinking provide cities with a new vision of economic development and engage the resources of the private sector to accelerate innercity business growth
For more information please visit our web site at httpwwwicicorg
About Inc
Inc is the leading magazine written for the men and women who own and manage smalltomidsized fastgrowing companies Published 12 times a year Inc helps its 15 million readers by providing expert advice and practical solutions as they face the opportunities pitfalls and rewards of growing a company inccom wwwinccom the Web site for growing companies was named Best Online Magazine by Folio and Best Overall New Publication all media by the Computer Press Association
About Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is one of the worlds leading financial management and advisory companies with offices in 36 countries and total client assets of approximately $11 trillion As an investment bank it is a leading global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic advisor to corporations governments institutions and individuals worldwide Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers the company is one of the worlds largest managers of financial assets For more information on Merrill Lynch please visit httpwwwmlcom
About Barcoding Inc
Barcoding Inc helps business and government organizations deploy supply chain technology including bar code scanners wireless terminals mobile computers RFID systems and related software Clients include manufacturing distribution healthcare and warehousing companies and many state local and federal agencies Based in Baltimore Maryland Barcoding has North American offices in Virginia Pennsylvania Georgia Florida California Colorado Connecticut and Illinois European sales and customer service are handled through an office in the Netherlands Please visit httpwwwbarcodingcom for additional information
Contacts
For more information about the 2005 Inner City 100 list contact Deirdre Coyle at 617 2922363 ext242

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