Two Minnesota-based companies are among the nation’s 100 fastest-growing inner-city businesses, according to a new Fortune magazine list.
Digital communications service GovDelivery ranked 56th and IT consultancy On-Demand Services Group, Inc., ranked 95th on the 2013 list, which considered more than 2,000 businesses.
The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a nonprofit research firm, compiled the list, examining businesses in areas that have higher unemployment and poverty rates and lower median incomes than surrounding metropolitan areas. The ICIC then ranked these companies on their average annual revenue growth rates over the five-year period between 2007 and 2011.
The 100 companies selected currently operate in 48 cities and 27 states. Collectively, the businesses employ 10,391 individuals and created 5,863 new jobs in the five-year period.
St. Paul-based GovDelivery, which works with public-sector organizations to manage digital communications—including social media and e-mail messaging—grew its revenue at an average annual rate of 22 percent between 2007 and 2011. GovDelivery’s 2011 revenue totaled $12.9 million. The company was not on the 2012 list.
Minneapolis-based On-Demand Services Group, which provides IT services, reported a five-year average annual growth rate of 11 percent. It reported $3.6 million in 2011 revenue. The company moved up from its 99th spot on the 2012 list.
Happy Family, a New York-based company that manufactures a line of organic meals and snacks, ranked first on the list, with a 205 percent average annual growth rate between 2007 and 2011 and $34.8 million in 2011 revenue. Oakland, California-based Revolution Foods and Chicago-based Coyote Logistics came in second and third, respectively. Click here to view the full list of Fortune’s 100 fastest-growing inner-city businesses.
In February, Twin Cities Business examined GovDelivery’s growth as a communication management company. Click here to read the story and learn more about GovDelivery’s work force expansion and CEO Scott Burns’ business motives.
For a look at the local companies that made last year’s fastest-growing inner-city businesses list, click here.
This article is reprinted in partnership with Twin Cities Business.