Now in its 8th year, the Inner City 100 list provides unmatched original data on the fastest growing inner-city businesses in the U.S. The data comes from the Inner City 100, a ranking of the 100 fastest-growing businesses in inner city areas around the country.

For the 2006 list, over 4,500 new nominations were received. The 2006 Inner City 100 winners grew at a compound annual growth rate of 53 percent and an average rate of 655 percent between 2000 and 2004. These 100 companies have created over 10,381 new jobs between 2000 and 2004 and employed over 17,181 people in 2004

#60 Extreme Pizza

San Francisco, CA
2004 Revenues: $10 million
Employees: 650
Standard Five-Year Growth: 230.3%
CAGR: 35%
CEO: Todd Parent

"Think peace in the Middle East is a fantasy? Not at Extreme Pizza, where you can buy it in a box. "Peace in the Middle East" is founder and CEO Todd Parent’s moniker for a pizza topped with hummus. It’s only one of several tongue-in-cheek offerings of the fast-growing pizza chain that Sorbonne attendee Parent started in San Francisco’s Enterprise Zone in 1995. (Consider, for instance, Poultry Geist, made with ranch chicken.) Parent worked in finance, managing high net worth individuals’ money on Wall Street, before returning to his passion for restaurants. His first entrepreneurial venture, a "take and bake" pizza business, failed, but a pizza chain (some are company owned, some franchised) based on an extreme sports theme was so successful that the $12 million company now has 30 stores as of 2005 and Parent fields 10 to 20 calls a day from people who want to purchase a franchise."

Editor’s note: The Inner City 100 winners are based in 65 cities. Inner City 100 companies were selected from a pool of over 4,500 nominations including 500 from Merrill Lynch and 500 from Mayors’ offices. These companies were nominated from 150 cities. Criteria for the award include having at least 51 percent of operations located in economically distressed urban areas; having sales of at least $200,000 in 2000 and at least $1 million in 2004 for the 2006 list. Average annual sales for the 100 companies in 2004 was in excess of $31 million. Collectively, sales totaled more than $3.1 billion.

About 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 Inc
Inc is the leading magazine written for the men and women who own and manage small-to-mid-sized, fast-growing companies. Published 12 times a year, Inc helps its 1.5 million readers by providing expert advice and practical solutions as they face the opportunities, pitfalls, and rewards of growing a company. www.inc.com, the Web site for growing companies, was named Best Online Magazine by Folio and Best Overall New Publication (all media) by the Computer Press Association.