As the leading authority on under-resourced communities in U.S. metropolitan areas, Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) plays a unique role in local investment and public policy decisions. Applying sophisticated analytic methods to public and proprietary data, our research highlights the strengths as well as the challenges of under-resourced ... Read More

How the Coronavirus Recession and Recovery Affected Businesses and Jobs in the 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas  Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) presented the most detailed and comprehensive information about what happened to businesses and jobs in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas during the coronavirus recession and recovery. Every ... Read More

A look at what happened to established business owners and lessons for the next crisis by Howard Wial, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, and Devon Yee, Senior Research Analyst, Initiative for a Competitive Inner City December 2021 During the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, ... Read More

Mona Ahmad decided to leave her job at a bank in Boston to take care of her daughter and newborn twins. But more time at home allowed her to cook her traditional family meals—that’s when her love for cooking really took off. Ahmad turned her passion into a business by ... Read More

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) has examined the pandemic’s impact on under-resourced communities and small businesses. How the Coronavirus Recession and Recovery Have Affected Businesses and Jobs in the 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas (Report Series, 2021-2022). On a quarterly basis, ICIC presents ... Read More