Archive for the ‘inner-city’ tag
Inner City 100 Awards
Last night I accepted an award from the Institute for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC). The Inner City 100 award recognizes the fastest growing businesses in urban America. This is the second year we have won this award–moving up to 27th on the list, compared to last year when we ranked 83rd.
I am deeply grateful to Harvard Business School professor Dr. Michael E. Porter for creating the ICIC as a vehicle for inner city business development. In May 1995, Professor Porter published the ‘The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City’ in Harvard Business Review. This was the first time that anyone had suggested that inner city businesses could have a competitive advantage over businesses located in more affluent areas.
Although I had never read the article (or practically any other business publication except for Jay Conrad Levinson’s Earning Money Without a Job), I was destined to be one of many entrepreneurs who proved that Professor Porter’s ideas on inner city competitiveness were real world. A few months after the article appeared, I visited every subway stop on the MBTA Red Line, looking for a spot to locate my new used computer store. I went from Harvard Square, where I had seen a retail space with no parking for $2,500/month, to Andrew Square, where a larger space could be had for $800 for the first year, building up to $1,600 in year three. It was directly across from the subway station. And it had tons of parking! Read the rest of this entry »
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If you like this then please subscribe to the Jason Morris jolts Madison Park high school students with a demo on computer power use
Students at Madison Park’s Information Support Services and Networking program were surprised to learn that the computers in their new computer lab were more power efficient than the old ones. Jason Morris, our Sustainable IT Coordinator, conducted a program at the school last week to familiarize the students with the basics of green computing. The highlight of the program was when students used watt meters to measure equipment around the lab. Instructors David Case and Jack Casey, along with Joe Chard from the Boston Private Industry Council, were there as well.
Inner City 100 Awards
The Inner City 100 Awards were created as a way of recognizing thriving businesses who create jobs in low-income urban areas. For several years, Tech Networks has been one of the thousands of businesses applying for this national award. This year, I was thrilled to learn that we were selected as an award recipient.
During the two days of activities that preceded the awards ceremony, I met fellow urban business owners. Some of them were born in the areas where they started their businesses. But many others were like me. They came from outside the community to start their businesses. Conventional wisdom would suggest that it is unwise to start a business in a low-income, high-crime neighborhood. Yet the organization that created the award, the Institute for a Competitive Inner City , had conducted research to show that there are three good reasons to locate your business in the inner city:
- Proximity to Downtown
- Convenience to major transportation hubs
- Highly available workforce
Certainly convenience to major transportation hubs was foremost in our minds when Yves Dehnel and I hopped on the Red Line almost 15 years ago to find a location for our retail store. We had reached the upper limit of how many used PCs we could sell out of my livingroom in Somerville. We wanted to be on the Red Line because we were currently shuttling potential customers back and forth to the Sullivan T station and we preferred the Red Line to the Orange Line.
When Yves and I disembarked at the Andrew Station, we immediately noticed a For Rent sign on the building across the street. The 1,000 foot retail space, formerly the location of “Pick-a-Pasta,” had been vacant for over a year before we arrived on the scene. Our new landlord was extremely generous. Our first year’s rent was pegged at just one-half of the full rent, while the second year was pegged at three-quarters. We signed the lease, purchased some used store fixtures, and had our grand opening on January 2nd, 1996.
Fast-forward to last week. The two days of festivities that were part of the Inner City Awards were wonderful. We had a mentoring breakfast with participants in another ICIC program, “Growing Up CEO.” These kids, the oldest of whom was 20, had tremendous savvy. Some of my mentees were giving me advice, instead of vice versa.
Other activities included case studies and lectures at Harvard Business School, including a piece on strategy from Michael Porter that emphasized the importance of segmenting the market and emphasizing uniqueness instead of trying to compete head-to-head.
But the most spectacular moment of the conference was the awards dinner held in the Grand Ballroom of the Boston Convention Center. The hall was filled with tables decked out in black velvet and huge dogwood branches illuminated by candlelight. What a lovely backdrop for an awards dinner. It was only at the dinner that we learned our ranking on the list. I was extremely gratified to be named 83rd. Thank you, everyone, who helped make this moment possible. Next year, if I’m nominated, I’m going to buy a few tables and invite my entire staff .�
Something Really Nice
When was the last time you were really down on yourself, and someone came along with a kind word, a sympathetic smile, or a little gift to brighten your day? For me, that moment came last Thursday. I was walking around the office in shock, unable to believe that I had missed an event that meant so much to me. My Outlook calendar had let me down in a big way. Mayor Menino had invited me and the six other Boston winners of Inc Magazine’s Inner City 100 Award for Urban Excellence in Business to an exclusive award ceremony at City Hall.
This award meant a great deal to me. Yet, unbelievably, the appointed day had come and gone, and I was oblivious to my error until someone forwarded me a copy of the Boston Globe article the next day. When I realized my error, I was devastated. I told a few people around me, including my HR director, Donna Barry. “I can’t believe it,” I told them. “This is an award I have been working towards for three years. And now I’ve missed the ceremony!” I was really sad. I had let everyone down, including me, my staff, the other award winners, and even Mayor Menino.
For the next few hours, I tried not to think about my mistake. I buried myself in work and kept my head down. I didn’t notice any unusual activity until Donna pulled me out of the conference room while I was in an interview and led me over to another office. Surprise! At least 20 members of my staff were standing in the room, waiting to give me the award, which Donna had picked up, along with a delicious cake from Rosie’s Bakery!
As I looked around the room at everyone’s smiling faces, I realized that this was better than any award ceremony at City Hall, no offense to Mayor Menino! This was an act of pure kindness, and one that I will not soon forget.