100 fastest growing inner city businesses

6. Hillard Heintze
6. Hillard Heintze
Terry Hillard and Arnette Heintze
2009 Revenues: $5.9 million
5-year Annual Growth Rate: 89%

CEO:
Arnette Heintze
Location: Chicago, IL
Year Founded: 2004

About the business:
Hillard Heintze is the product of a partnership between former law enforcement professionals Terry Hillard and Arnette Heintze, sealed by an injection of a mere $6,000 in working capital. Located in the heart of Chicago's financial district, the firm offers strategic security and investigative services for a stable of domestic and overseas clients.

With an annual growth rate of 89% over the past five years, Heintze has high hopes for the company, expecting revenue to continue its upward trend for up to 10 more years and anticipating proceeds to reach $30 million. He also aims to acquire other businesses to complement his company's offerings.

Despite the high costs of operating in Chicago, Heintze is confident in the business prospects the city has to offer.

--By Marc Francis and Mack Davidson


The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) defines inner cities as core urban areas with higher unemployment and poverty rates and lower median incomes than their surrounding metropolitan statistical areas. For the 2011 list, ICIC received more than 2,000 solicited nominations using its database of small businesses and through the support of its nominating partners, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Staples, and the Small Business Administration. Companies were ranked by compound annual growth rate (CAGR) based on their revenue over the five-year period between 2005 and 2009 (the last year for which complete data was available).
Last updated May 18 2011: 5:14 PM ET
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