Pittsburgh, PA — June 3, 2009 — Guru.com, the world's largest online marketplace for freelance talent, was ranked 28th on the 2009 Inner City 100 list – an annual award program of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and BusinessWeek SmallBiz magazine. The Inner City 100 is the only national business ranking to celebrate and support high-growth inner-city companies that create jobs, income and wealth for residents of distressed communities regionally, nationally and internationally.
Innovative practices and sustained growth are the predominant traits of the 2009 Inner City 100 winners. The 2009 winners grew at a compound annual growth rate of 40 percent and an average rate of 324 percent between 2003 and 2007. Individually, the average Inner City 100 Company's revenues were $23 million. Collectively, the top 100 inner city businesses have employed nearly 17,000 people and created nearly 10,000 new jobs over the past five years.
During the same five-year growth period, Guru.com reported over 290,000 project-based job opportunities posted to its website with more than 128,000 freelance transactions completed. In 2008, more than 100,000 projects were posted.
"Guru.com's mission has always been focused around the creation of global job opportunities for skilled individuals," said Inder Guglani, CEO and Founder for Guru.com. "By leveraging the remote work model, a Guru.com Freelancer may find work opportunities locally, nationally or internationally – regardless of where he or she resides."
"We are delighted to celebrate businesses like Guru.com that are playing a critical role to revitalize distressed urban communities throughout America," said Michael Porter, founder and CEO of ICIC. "By creating jobs, income, and wealth for local residents, these high-growth businesses are vivid proof that the most effective way to address economic inequality in America is to equip every community to prosper in the market system. Inner City 100 companies also provide a window into the future where all companies will need to learn to address diverse customers and mobilize diverse workforces."
Over 5,000 companies were nominated to the Inner City 100 this year. The 2009 Inner City 100 winners operate from 55 cities in 31 states. Pennsylvania has six companies on the list with four based in Philadelphia and two in Pittsburgh.
As a Winner, Guru.com was invited to attend the Inner City 100 Summit in Boston for a two-day event featuring seminars and a CEO Forum at Harvard Business School, a reception at the Harvard Club of Boston, and a gala awards dinner at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The complete 2009 Inner City 100 list can be found at www.icic.org.
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.
About BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek is a global source of trusted content that informs and inspires business leaders to make smarter decisions in their professional and personal lives. Founded in 1929 and published by the McGraw-Hill Companies, BusinessWeek magazine is the market leader, with more than 4.9 million readers each week in 140 countries. Local language editions include Chinese, Israeli, and Bahasa Indonesian. Launched in 1994, BusinessWeek.com is the preeminent provider of daily, essential business news, information, and services to business decision-makers. Reaching 85% of the nation's households, BusinessWeek TV delivers important business, consumer and financial news to television viewers every week. SmallBiz, with a circulation of 650,000, delivers actionable insight to help small business professionals build stronger companies.
About Guru.com:
Guru.com (www.guru.com) is the world's largest online marketplace for freelance talent. Founded in 1998, Guru.com connects businesses with freelancers specializing in over 160 professional categories including the following: website design, programming, graphic design, business consulting, and administrative support. Employers seeking professional expertise locally, nationally, or globally get quotes from freelancers on their contract work for free.
Contact: Kristen Sabol, Marketing Communications Specialist, Guru.com, 412-687-2228 x837, pr@guru.com
Julia Ely, ICIC, (617) 292-2383, jely@icic.org
###
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 full-time employees; and have a five-year operating sales history that includes at least $200,000 in revenues 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. For the 2009 list, ICIC looked at total revenue growth from 2003 to 2007, and the specific rankings were based on these growth rates. 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. |