2015 Inner City 100 Features 6 ‪‎PA Businesses

The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and FORTUNE recently revealed the 2015 Inner City 100, a list of the fastest-growing inner city businesses in the U.S. Six Pennsylvania based businesses were included in the list: John Pomp Studios, Seer Interactive, AE Works Ltd., Connexus Technology, Windle Mechanical Solutions Inc. and Net Health.

ICIC's Inner City 100 program recognizes successful inner city businesses and their CEOs as role models for entrepreneurship, innovative business practices and job creation in America's urban communities. Each year, ICIC works with a national network of nominating partners to identify, rank and spotlight rapidly-growing urban businesses, and the top 100 - determined by revenue growth - are honored on the Inner City 100 list published in FORTUNE.

ICIC's Inner City 100 program recognizes successful inner city businesses and their CEOs as role models for entrepreneurship, innovative business practices and job creation in America's urban communities. Each year, ICIC works with a national network of nominating partners to identify, rank and spotlight rapidly-growing urban businesses, and the top 100 - determined by revenue growth - are honored on the Inner City 100 list published in FORTUNE.

The full list of the 2015 Inner City 100 can be viewed on the FORTUNE website, here.

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Annual ranking showcases the fastest-growing urban businesses in America

​Boasting an average five-year growth rate of 378 percent between 2010 and 2014, the 2015 Inner City 100 winners represent a wide span of geography, hailing from 45 cities and 23 states. Collectively, the winners employ 6,168 people, and on average, over a third of their employees live in the same neighborhood as the company.

Highlights of the 2015 Inner City 100 include:

• Employ 6,168 workers total.
• Created 3,755 new jobs in the last five years.
• On average, 32% of employees live in same neighborhood as the company.
• Average company age is 15 years.
• Average 2014 revenue is $12 million.
• 25% have female CEOs.
• 40% have a minority CEO.
• 12% of the winners are certified veteran-owned. 

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"These entrepreneurs are strong community leaders and industry game changers," ICIC CEO Steve Grossman said of the 2015 Inner City 100 winners. "Their businesses are critical drivers of economic development and job creation. Together, they demonstrate the competitive advantages of doing business in our inner cities."

​The rankings for each company were announced at the Inner City 100 Conference and Awards on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 in at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, MA. Before the Awards celebration, winners gathered for a full-day business symposium featuring management case studies from Harvard Business School professors and interactive sessions with top CEOs. Keynote speakers included Governor Charlie Baker, Harvard Business School Professor and ICIC Founder and Chairman Michael E. Porter, University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor J. Keith Motley, Boston Beer Chairman and Co-Founder Jim Koch, Hill Holliday CEO Karen Kaplan and Uber East Coast General Manager Meghan Verena Joyce.

The Inner City 100 program identifies, supports and celebrates successful urban businesses and their CEOs as role models for innovation and job creation in America's cities. The list provides unmatched insight into the impact that entrepreneurship can have on underserved communities. In the last 17 years, over 800 unique companies have earned positions on the Inner City 100 list, and alumni include Pandora, JP Licks and Angie's List. Chevron Corporation and Staples, Inc. are long-time sponsors of ICIC and the program.