San Francisco, USA — May 27, 2009 — e-storm International, a leading San Francisco-based global interactive marketing and advertising agency, was last Thursday recognized by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) in its 11th annual Inner City 100 list. Based on a study of over 5,000 companies that were analyzed on several variables including location, financial growth and workforce composition, the ICIC, in conjunction with BusinessWeek Small Biz magazine, recognized e-storm as the 26th fastest-growing inner city business in the United States, highlighting its capacity to compete in an economically distressed urban area.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to receive this award, as it solidifies e-storm’s position as one of the nation’s most competitive marketing and advertising agencies,” said William Gaultier, co-founder and CEO of e-storm. “In addition to placing in the Inc 5000 list last August and securing various industry recognitions, this award is yet another indication of e-storm’s strong growth and continued success.”
In August 2008, e-storm placed in the top 33rd percentile of the Inc 5000 list. The list measured revenue growth from 2004 through 2007 for independent U.S.-based private companies.
To qualify for the Inner City 100 list (PDF), 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. 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.
As one of fifteen companies in California selected to the final 100, e-storm ranked as a finalist by demonstrating its ability to continually thrive in San Francisco, which is both its global headquarters and one of the nation’s most competitive cities for independent businesses to succeed. Now in its 11th year of operation, e-storm has experienced strong year-over-year sales growth since its inception and has never laid off an employee, despite two challenging economic downturns. Past winners of the Inner City 100 include American Apparel, FierceMarkets, Niman Ranch, Belkin Corporation and Intelliseek (now Nielsen Online).
“We are delighted to celebrate businesses like e-storm that are playing a critical role to revitalize distressed urban communities throughout America,” said Michael Porter, Harvard Business School Professor and 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.”
Each year, the Inner City 100 list provides unmatched original data on the fastest growing inner-city businesses in the U.S. For the 2009 list, over 5,000 nominations were received. The 2009 Inner City 100 winners grew at a compound annual growth rate of 40 percent and an average rate of 324 percent between 2003 and 2007. 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.
e-storm attended the Inner City 100 Summit in Boston for a two-day event featuring seminars for Inner City 100 owners and managers at Harvard Business School, a reception at the Harvard Club of Boston, and a gala awards dinner supported by Bank of America, John Hancock Financial, Chevron, Staples Foundation for Learning at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center which drew over 800 guests. The entire Inner City 100 list can be found at www.icic.org.
About e-storm International
e-storm International is an interactive marketing and advertising agency headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Canada, Europe, and Asia. Since 1998, we have applied smart strategies, smart tactics and deep analytics to provide market research, competitive analysis, custom training and implementation services in SEO, SEM, Display advertising and Social media marketing services. e-storm International has helped more than 100 business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations that specialize in technology, finance, education, travel, healthcare and many other industries including Hanley Wood, Mocana, Behr, Microsoft, Affiliated Computer Services, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and more. Visit www.e-storm.com or call +1 (415) 352-1200.
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.