ICIC – the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City – is a nonprofit research and strategy organization dedicated to expanding urban business initiatives in areas with under-resourced communities. Their work aims to create jobs, income, and wealth for local residents. Through their research, business programs, and community involvement, the organization actively works to drive inclusive economic prosperity, eliminate concentrated poverty and close the racial wealth gap in the United States (ICIC.org).
ICIC’s on-the-ground initiatives include an educational program for BIPOC and women construction contractors that helps them design sustainable strategies for increasing revenue and profit in their businesses, a loan assistance program for food upstarts in low-income areas, executive leadership training programs, and many more.
Recent publications include reports on how COVID-19 has impacted small businesses and jobs in inner-city regions across the nation, a review detailing how successful for-profit businesses can serve as “anchor institutions” for smaller and younger ones, and the 2021 Impact Report, which details where, how, and for whom the organization has made a difference.
ICIC also publishes an annual “Inner City 100” list, which identifies the 100 fastest-growing small, inner city-based businesses across the nation. Giroux Glass has featured on this list for several years in a row, earning the ranking of #85 in 2021. We’re excited and honored to have made the cut and are thrilled to continue our involvement with this stellar organization.
To learn more about the great work ICIC does, visit their website at www.icic.org. Giroux Glass deeply values the work they do, and we look forward to learning about and participating in future initiatives.