Program Update
Inner City 100
Since 1999, ICIC has identified and celebrated the 100 fastest-growing businesses in under-resourced communities through the Inner City 100 (IC100) award. In that time, we have had the pleasure of learning about and highlighting more than 1,000 incredible business leaders and their companies from across the U.S. who continuously inspire us. These firms have been engines of job growth and a healthy, inclusive economy in these incredibly challenging times. They have also been actively engaged in strengthening their communities by donating their time and resources to local organizations and charities.
We’re excited to expand upon and further diversify this impressive group of business leaders by celebrating and promoting our 2022 Inner City 100 (IC100) winners that represent a vast range of industries, including construction, advertising, and retail.
Achieving multi-year financial growth is a significant accomplishment. IC100’s class of 2022 sustained momentum amid the unprecedented challenges faced during the pandemic and recent economic volatility to greatly expand revenue – a tremendous milestone we’re proud to celebrate!
From 2017 to 2021, the 2022 Inner City 100 companies averaged 421% revenue growth and created 4,011 total jobs. Of these 100 winners, 50 are woman-owned/led, and 50 are BIPOC-owned/led. This is the first time in the program’s 24-year history that at least half the winners are woman-owned, while it is the third consecutive year in which 50% or more of the winners are BIPOC-owned.
2022 Impact Snapshot: Inner City 100
25
Industries represented
57
Cities represented
28
States represented
50%
BIPOC-owned/led
50%
Woman-owned/led
2%
Veteran-owned/led
4%
LGBTQ+ -owned/led
36%
First-time winners
22%
Hall of famers (5+ wins)
421%
Average 4-year revenue growth
$16M
Average 2021 revenue
4,011
Total jobs created
(between 2017-2021)
7,260
Total employed by IC100 winners in 2021
IC100 Methodology
Recognizing that concentrated poverty exists within metropolitan areas outside of big cities (and that poverty overall is suburbanizing), ICIC has revised its definition of an inner city (or under-resourced area) to encompass large areas of concentrated poverty in suburbs and smaller central cities as well as the large cities on which it has historically focused. The new inner city definition that ICIC has developed includes large low-income, high-poverty areas located in the urban and suburban parts of all but the smallest metropolitan areas. Every year, ICIC identifies, ranks, and awards the 100 fastest-growing businesses located in America’s under-resourced communities. In 2022, companies were selected and ranked by revenue growth over the four-year period between 2017 and 2021.
Alumni Spotlight
Fourteen years ago, Michaella Blissett Williams started working as a hairdresser in a basement studio in her brownstone apartment on Bergen Street in Brooklyn. Today, she’s about to open her fifth location.
Her journey is a true ICIC success story as Williams’ business, [salon] 718, is an alum of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses Program and a multi-year recipient of the Inner City 100 (IC100) Award, landing at #56 in 2021.
Read more about their expansive growth »
MICHAELLA BLISSETT WILLIAMS
OWNER, [SALON] 718
IC100 LIST 2021
Maria Ureña is a nurse by profession, but she’s the CEO of a full-service auto repair shop these days.
It’s an unusual journey but one that Ureña says has been a natural evolution as she and her husband, Cesar, have built King Automotive Services Inc., into a thriving family-owned business in Moreno Valley, California.
As a Latinx woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Ureña has taken extra steps to support her employees and build up their community. In addition to creating financial literacy opportunities for her employees, she sits on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, and the business sponsored a recent urban beautification effort called “Clean Up Moreno Valley”.
Read more about their story of growth and community impact »
MARIA AND CESAR UREÑA
OWNER, KING AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES
IC100 LIST 2022, 2021