Inner City 100 Companies went “ALL IN” at ICA Awards Dinner

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Above (L-R): IC100 Co-Chair Jerry Sargent of Citizens Bank, ICIC President and CEO Mary Kay Leonard, ICIC Founder Michael Porter, Revolution Foods Co-Founder Kristin Groos Richmond, and IC100 Co-Chair Steve Pagliuca of Bain Capital

What does it mean to go “ALL IN?”

In the context of inner city economic development, it means providing the necessary resources for successful urban companies to elevate entire cities out of the depths of poverty and avoid the social ills it can create.  Such investment includes capital, strategic advice, and management education.

For the past fourteen years, the Inner City 100 has sought to provide firms from across the country with the tools necessary to manage a successful inner city firm into the next stage of growth as well as the recognition they deserve for their accomplishments. Luckily, ICIC has a partner on the West Coast who understands the importance of inner city wealth, value and job creation and is helping urban firms find the resources that will help them accomplish success for their local urban communities.

Last Wednesday, Oakland-based Inner City Advisors (ICA) went “ALL IN” to recognize the Bay Area’s leading entrepreneurs. Special recognition was given to the Inner City 100 winners from the area, including Revolution Foods, Premier Organics – both of Oakland, and Babette of San Francisco. ICA honored these companies for their ability to drive local job creation and equitable urban growth.

Revolution Foods and Babette were new to the Inner City 100 family of growing urban firms while Premier Organics made the list for the third time (an amazing accomplishment that shows sustainable growth even throughout a turbulent economy). These three firms did a combined $31.6 million in revenue in 2010 and grew by an average of 66% from 2006 to 2010. They also employ a total of 655 people and, from 2006 to 2010, created a total of 550 jobs.  These companies are truly remarkable, and there success is highly attributable to their inner city locations. 

Check out what the second fastest-growing inner city firm in the U.S., Revolution Foods, had to say about how the inner city helped them grow.

ICA is a nationally recognized non-profit organization leading the charge to create good jobs for Bay Area inner city residents by providing high-impact entrepreneurs and small business owners with expert advice, knowledge and investment to grow their business. Their current portfolio of firms includes eight Inner City 100 firms that have graced the Inner City 100 list multiple times.

ICA has been pivotal in finding industry experts that can provide strategic advice to help Bay Area Inner City firms grow and create sustainable value. In 2010, ICA portfolio firms created or retained close to 2,000 local jobs; roughly 60% of ICA companies are minority-owned, and a similar proportion are owned by women.

ICIC is very excited to have an incredible partner in ICA that is helping to foster local job creation for inner city residents.  We are thrilled to see our firms utilize the strategic guidance that ICA provides to continue to find new opportunities that will lead to further growth.

BY Alex Rodriguez on May 29th, 2012

TAGS: small business | business | jobs | economic development | entrepreneur | shared value | workforce development | food | ic100 | revolution foods | inner city advisors | oakland