The Inner City 100
The CEO's
| Average age today | 46 |
| Median salary | $130,000 |
| Average age at time of company's founding |
34 |
| Average salary | $206,610 |
| Median noncash compensation | $12,000 |
| Average noncash compensation | $81,159 |
| Median percentage of company owned by CEO |
60% |
| Average percentage of company owned by CEO |
69% |
| High school | 19% |
| Two-year college | 4% |
| Four-year college | 39% |
| M.B.A. | 19% |
| Other master's degree | 8% |
| Doctorate | 6% |
| No response | 5% |
| Affluent | 8% |
| Middle class | 50% |
| Working class | 28% |
| Poor | 10% |
| No response | 4% |
| Caucasian | 60% |
| Hispanic | 15% |
| Black | 13% |
| Asian | 4% |
| Other | 5% |
| No response | 3% |
| Male | 79% |
| Female | 21% |
Entrepreneurial Evolution
Percentage of CEOs who first considered
becoming an entrepreneur at age
| 5 to 14 | 13% |
| 15 to 22 | 37% |
| 23 to 29 | 22% |
| 30 to 39 | 14% |
| 40 to 49 | 9% |
| Over 50 | 0% |
| No response | 5% |
The Companies
| Average age of company | 15 |
| Average number of full-time employees | 87 |
| Median number of full-time employees | 40 |
| Average five-year growth rate | 687% |
| Median five-year growth rate | 323% |
| Average 1999 sales | $16.6 million |
| Median 1999 sales | $5.8 million |
| Service | 49% |
| Manufacturing | 41% |
| Distribution | 6% |
| Retail | 4% |
| Business products and services | 24% |
| High tech | 18% |
| Consumer goods | 16% |
| Construction | 15% |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services |
8% |
| Health care and social assistance | 3% |
| Real estate | 3% |
| Transportation | 3% |
| Other | 10% |
Start-up Capital
Percentage of companies that
were launched with
| Less than $10,000 | 33% |
| $10,001 to $20,000 | 8% |
| $20,001 to $50,000 | 18% |
| $50,001 to $100,000 | 12% |
| More than $100,000 | 13% |
| No response | 16% |
Outsourced Functions
Percentage of respondents that
farm out
| Human resources/ payroll administration |
65% |
| Accounting | 33% |
| Advertising | 31% |
| Network administration | 25% |
| Public relations | 14% |
| Data processing | 1% |
| Other | 6% |
Money for Training
Percentage of companies that spend
| Less than 1% of annual revenues | 18% |
| 1% to 5% of annual revenues | 56% |
| 6% to 10% of annual revenues | 12% |
| More than 10% of annual revenues | 8% |
| No response | 6% |
Benefits for Full-Time Employees
Percentage of respondents offering
| Health insurance | 98% |
| 401(k)plan | 72% |
| Flextime | 71% |
| Life insurance | 60% |
| Disability insurance | 55% |
| Tuition reimbursement | 51% |
| Employee-assistance program | 37% |
| Telecommuting | 25% |
| Pension plan | 20% |
| Child care | 12% |
Employee Incentives
Percentage of respondents
offering
| Bonus plan | 81% |
| Profit sharing | 41% |
| Employee stock ownership plan |
13% |
| Stock options | 10% |
| Other incentives | 9% |
The Future
Percentage of respondents that, over the
next two years, will be considering
| Acquiring other companies | 65% |
| Raising equity | 38% |
| Succession planning | 32% |
| Merging | 19% |
| Going public | 12% |
| Selling the company | 8% |
| Retirement | 4% |
Roadblocks to Growth
Percentage of respondents citing
| Lack of quality workers | 26% |
| Lack of capital | 21% |
| Cost of customer acquisition | 13% |
| Difficulty finding the right partners | 12% |
| Lack of staffing in general | 12% |
| Location limitations | 6% |
| Difficulty staying profitable | 7% |
| Difficulty finding the right merger | 5% |
| Problems with product development | 5% |
| Other | 5% |
Location
The most entrepreneurial inner cities,
by number of Inner City 100 companies
| Chicago | 10 |
| Buffalo | 5 |
| New York | 5 |
| Oakland | 4 |
| Cleveland | 4 |
| Pittsburgh | 4 |
Rating the Inner City
Percentage of CEOs who said that as a
place to do business, the inner city was
| Excellent | 41% |
| Good | 47% |
| Fair | 8% |
| Poor | 1% |
| No response | 3% |
The Workers
| Caucasian | 48% |
| Hispanic | 23% |
| Black | 21% |
| Asian | 4% |
| Other | 3% |
Note: Numbers do not add up to
100% because of rounding.
| Male | 58% |
| Female | 42% |
| Average wage of rank and file worker |
$11.81/hour |
Job Level
Percentage of all Inner City 100
employees that are
| Senior management | 6% |
| Middle management or skilled workers |
26% |
| Rank and file | 69% |
Note: Numbers do not add up to
100% because of rounding.
Inner City Residence
Percentage of employees living in
the inner city, among
| Senior management | 29% |
| Middle management or skilled workers |
38% |
| Rank and file | 55% |
Note: All data were compiled by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City from the 2001 Inner City 100 survey. For more information go to www.icic.org.
The Inner City 100
Comeback Markets
Most companies have taken a pass on the huge inner-city service market. Some smart CEOs are eagerly filling the void.
Curricular Extras
SuccessLab shores up the academic moorings of kids in poor school districts
Doctors Without Orders
Molina Healthcare gives physicians freedom to match the treatment with the culture.
These Old Houses
Rego Realty brings dilapidated buildings back to life -- and livelihood.
Mother's Giant Helper
Allegheny Child Care lifts a burden from welfare-to-work moms.
City Lights
There are a million stories in the inner cities. These are some of them.
Who Wants to be a Milliner?
The story of this year's #1 Inner City 100 company.
The Inner City 100 Almanac
Fast facts about the Inner City 100 CEOs and their businesses.
The List
The fastest-growing private inner-city companies.
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