Boston and San Francisco Top the National Inner City 100 List

National Ranking of Fastest-Growing Inner City Companies
BOSTON--(Business Wire)--
Boston and San Francisco, two widely celebrated iconic American
cities, were honored today for a less-publicized aspect of their urban
legend: their vibrant inner cities. San Francisco led the Inner City
100, the annual list of the fastest growing inner city companies in
the nation, with six companies, followed by Boston with five inner
city companies named to the Inner City 100. The awards ceremony, the
culmination of the two day Inner City 100 Summit, was held at the
Boston Convention Center.

"There are a number of reasons why each year Boston and San
Francisco lead the list of cities with the most fast-growing
companies, but high among them is recognition by their political and
civic leaders that inner city companies play a critical role in the
social as well as economic life of the city," said David Latimore,
president and CEO of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
(ICIC), a nonprofit organization that together with Inc. magazine has
published the Inner City 100 list for the past 10 years. "They
understand that inner city companies provide good jobs that are
accessible to local residents. As businesses prosper, their success
inspires neighborhood improvements and that, in turn, promotes further
economic activity."

Boston-based Roxbury Technology, which re-manufactures cartridges
for laser printers, was number two on the list, while San
Francisco-based Yerba Buena Engineering and Construction, which
specializes in civil engineering projects, was number three on the
list. Yerba Buena reported 2006 revenues of more than $14 million
while Roxbury Technology reported over $11 million. Roxbury Technology
had a slightly higher five-year standard growth rate (2,860 to 2,750)
and has 39 employees to Yerba Buena's 38.

And like the majority of inner city 100 companies, said Latimore,
Roxbury Technology and Yerba Buena are good corporate citizens. "They
both hire from the local community, and they both develop business
relationships that connect them to the broader regional economy," he
explained.

The founder of Roxbury Technology was introduced to the owner of
Staples, Inc., the national office supply giant, at a golf outing
sponsored by the City of Boston and civic organizations. The two
executives developed a business relationship that resulted in Roxbury
Technology providing recycled laser printer cartridges to Staples
outlets across the country. Roxbury Technology, owned and operated by
an African-American woman, was honored as the top minority-owned and
woman-owned business on the 2008 Inner City 100 list.

Yerba Buena, owned and operated by a Latino-American man, is
located in an enterprise zone, which allows the company to bid on
public contracts. It has won major public works contracts each year
for the past several years and earned stellar reviews for its
performance. Yerba Buena also partners with the City of San Francisco
on an employment training program called City Build, administered by
Mayor's Office of Economic Development. The city interviews and
pre-trains young people interested in work in the construction
industry. The collaboration between private industry and government
has benefited both. Yerba Buena has a higher percentage of City Build
employees than any other large contracting firm in the city.

Other San Francisco and Boston companies on the 2008 Inner City
100 list include a limousine service, several high-tech service
companies, a communication company that specializes in the Hispanic
market and two innovative bakeries. San Francisco-based Sugar Bowl
Bakery was a small coffee shop in the downtown area in 1984 when it
was purchased by five brothers who recently immigrated to the U.S.
from Viet Nam. Today, with more than 360 employees and approximately
$40 million in annual revenues, Sugar Bowl Bakery includes a
wholesale, frozen, wedding cake, and retail division.

The Dancing Deer Baking Company is a consistent winner of Inner
City 100 honors. Based in inner city Boston, Dancing Deer bakes
cookies, cakes and other bakery items, packages them attractively and
then sells them wholesale to high-end supermarkets and directly to
consumers over the Internet. Dancing Deer's 2006 revenues were close
to $8 million and it currently employs approximately 105 workers, the
majority of whom live in nearby neighborhoods. Dancing Deer has won
numerous honors, both for its baked goods and its community
involvement. The company won the Food Industry's equivalent of the
"Oscars" in 1997 for its Molasses Clove Cookie. One national TV
program proclaimed that Dancing Deer makes the "best cake in America."

"Inner city companies, like businesses everywhere, are able to
reach their full potential when the business environment is robust and
supportive," said Latimore. "In San Francisco and Boston, the public
and private sectors have worked diligently for years to create that
business climate and their annual success on the Inner City 100 is
testament to their farsighted community vision."

Editor's Notes:

To qualify for the Inner City 100 list, companies were required to
have at least 51 percent of their operations located in an
economically distressed urban area; have at least 10 employees; and
have a five-year operating sales history that includes at least six
months of sales in the first year of consideration, an increase in
year five sales over year four sales, and fifth-year sales of at least
$1 million. The specific rankings were based on total revenue growth
over the five-year period. An economically distressed urban area is
defined by ICIC as having a 50 percent higher unemployment level, 50
percent higher poverty level, and 50 percent lower median income than
the metropolitan statistical area.

About the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City

The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) is a national
not-for-profit organization founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School
professor Michael E. Porter. ICIC's mission is to promote economic
prosperity in America's inner cities through private sector engagement
that leads to jobs, income and wealth creation for local residents.
ICIC brings together business and civic leaders to drive innovation
and action, transform thinking and accelerate inner city business
growth and investment.

ICIC
Deirdre M. Coyle, Jr., 617-292-2646
dcoyle@icic.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008